price difference between dealerships? which one to go with? | GTAMotorcycle.com

price difference between dealerships? which one to go with?

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ice05

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Hi Guys,
Am I being naive thinking pricing from one dealership to the other should be at least comparable? Im lookin at the 2011 Ninja 250 and I was expecting maybe a 50-100 difference between one dealer over the other. I wasnt expecting a huge difference on the same bike... now I contacted the original dealer and they said they would "make it worth my while" and offer me the "best" price...he wont give me a price over the phone/net but is it odd that he now is willin to drop?
It just doesnt seem right...or am I just not used to the ways of motorcycle dealerships?
should I just go with the place that gave me the best price, or take my chance with the company that was gonna charge me more had I not asked around?
 
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ice05 said:
Hi Guys,
Am I being naive thinking pricing from one dealership to the other should be at least comparable? Im lookin at the 2011 Ninja 250 and I was expecting maybe a 50-100 difference between one dealer over the other. I wasnt expecting a whopping $500 on the same bike... now I contacted the original dealer and they said they would "make it worth my while" and offer me the "best" price...he wont give me a price over the phone/net but is it odd that he now is willin to drop $500?
It just doesnt seem right...or am I just not used to the ways of motorcycle dealerships?
should I just go with the place that gave me the best price, or take my chance with the company that was gonna charge me more had I not asked around?
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Go to each dealership with cash in hand and tell them what the other dealership is offering and ask if they can beat it. If they can't, go to a different one. Rinse and repeat until you find the cheapest.
 
ya place #1 is hinting they will match/ beat the best price ive gotten...but wont say it till i go into the stealership...
of all the kawasaki dealers in the GTA listed
Burlington
Kahuna
Sturgess
Snow City
 
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Just because you buy a bike somewhere doesnt mean that you have to take it there for service. Buy the bike from the place thats cheapest, get the service done somewhere reputable. A lot of people buy the service manual and learn how to do at least the oil change on their own.

At the end of the day this is not the last bike you will be buying and the price & service you get from a dealership is likely to affect where you go shopping for your next bikes, dealerships are aware of this, although some don't seem to care too much.
 
Manual : The bikes only come with the operators manual. The service manual is alot more detailed and specific. You can find it online.

With regards to dealers and their pricing. The first thing to do is to go to Kawasaki Canada web site and find out what the current manufacturers suggested retail price is. Sometimes the manufacturer has specials going on that only some dealers have taken into consideration. Then use that price as a guide to the maximum amount you should pay. Just an opinion here but the 250R can be considered a high demand bike and dealers rarely drop their prices below manufacturers suggest retail price. Again just my opinion, the profit margin on that bike isn't very high so there is little negotiating room.

Good luck.
 
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ice05 said:
ya place #1 is hinting they will match/ beat the best price ive gotten...but wont say it till i go into the stealership...
of all the kawasaki dealers in the GTA listed
Burlington
Kahuna
Sturgess
Snow City

ive been a few bad things said about Kahuna so do I go based on reputation or based on strict pricing? what would you guys do?
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It all depends on your bartering skills, if you walk into a dealership and you look like you're going to just listen to whatever they tell you and say "oh. uhm, can you go lower than that?" they'll just respond with "no, this is already a great deal, I've cut $500 off the MSRP".

At which point you'll NOT buy the bike for that price. Of course they can go lower.

I've had no issues with Kahuna, and gotten my bikes well below list price.
 
Zaneris said:
I've had no issues with Kahuna, and gotten my bikes well below list price.
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+1, I consider myself a master shopper/bargainer, Kahauna gave me the best price on the 08 R6 new.

-Jamie M.
 
i got my kawasaki vulcan 500 from kahuna a few weeks ago and they were $1500 cheaper than any other dealer for a brand new '09 model (still in the crate)...too far for me to go for service, but well worth the drive to save that kind of money...
 
$$ talks... B.S. Walks

Cash in Hand means a lot

as for them willing to lower the price...

either they lower it and make some $$ or keep it where it is and make $0 from you..

they need to sell more then you need to buy...
 
haisam10 said:
Any ways to counter their psychological attacks? Or to attack them psychologically?
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Be prepared to get up and walk out, if things aren't going in a direction that you like. Ultimately, you don't need to buy a bike from that dealer.

I wouldn't consider myself to be any sort of power negotiator but I don't buy, if I don't hear a price that I'm willing to pay. I also want to know the out-the-door price, not 'sale price.' What I'm going to pay is all that matters, to me.
 
When I was buying my bike I just emailed places and asked what their lowest out the door price was. Whoever was lowest was who I went with. A few places responded with something like, "Blah blah sales pitch blah blah call us to discuss blah blah" and I just replied saying if I wanted to talk on the phone I would've called them on the number that was listed 2 lines above their email address. Then they replied although most of them replied with crappy prices.

I ended up going with Warp 9 Sports in Orangeville as they originally had the best price (it beat Kahuna's "show special" price) but then on the pickup day they charged me a $300 financing fee that they never mentioned before (even though they knew for 2 months before I actually came to pick it up that I was financing it). If I wasn't dedicated to getting the bike that day I would've told them to screw off and left but I had already booked the day off work and made the drive all the way out there. Then the guy came back to work from home to let me park the bike in the shop after I crashed it in Ajax after 107 km so I guess he was nice at least.

They also had a few demo units and old stock that were thousands cheaper than new bikes so if that's something that interests you, it might be a good place to look.
 
unL33T said:
When I was buying my bike I just emailed places and asked what their lowest out the door price was. Whoever was lowest was who I went with. A few places responded with something like, "Blah blah sales pitch blah blah call us to discuss blah blah" and I just replied saying if I wanted to talk on the phone I would've called them on the number that was listed 2 lines above their email address. Then they replied although most of them replied with crappy prices.

I ended up going with Warp 9 Sports in Orangeville as they originally had the best price (it beat Kahuna's "show special" price) but then on the pickup day they charged me a $300 financing fee that they never mentioned before (even though they knew for 2 months before I actually came to pick it up that I was financing it). If I wasn't dedicated to getting the bike that day I would've told them to screw off and left but I had already booked the day off work and made the drive all the way out there. Then the guy came back to work from home to let me park the bike in the shop after I crashed it in Ajax after 107 km so I guess he was nice at least.

They also had a few demo units and old stock that were thousands cheaper than new bikes so if that's something that interests you, it might be a good place to look.
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If you had been willing to walk out, at that moment, then the 'financing fee' would likely have evaporated.
 
Hi Guys,
I went with Kahuna, they were great and worked with me. Im due to pick up wednesdays so hopefully no surprises or anything...
thank you for all the advice!! hopefully itll help all the other prospective buyers at dealerships
 
I've had good experiences with Kahuna, so far, despite who one of their salesmen is. The guy in charge, Alan, strikes me as being as straight up as you can hope any salesman to be.
 
I have personally found the best way to buy anything with wheels is to call all the dealerships you are willing to buy from. I did that with my wife's bike (07 ZZR250 bought in 08), and Warp 9 was cheaper by $1,100 than anyone else (on a $4,500, that is a lot). I tried the walk in with cash in hand deal with Sturgiss, and said I would debit $4k right then and there and be back on Saturday, and they said no. Final price from Warp 9 was $3,400.

Also, be very careful of additional fees. Advertised price from Norwich Honda dealer was $7k for a 750 shadow, and $7,300 from Waterloo Honda, but out the door Waterloo Honda was cheaper by $100 (and they let me test drive it) as Norwich added shipping fees of $400.

I have also been successful doing this with cage vehicles. Dealers have different motivations, like if its on the lot, how their line of credit is looking with the manufacturer, volume discounts etc etc etc. Sometimes one guy will move it for $100 over his cost when he is paying too much interest, or has too many. Prices can vary a lot.

Based on my ZZR250 experience, average price was about $4,500 with some dealers as high as $6, and Warp 9 at $3,400. Hully Gully cleared them for $3,000, but my wife and I were 30 mins late on their last one. There is a large difference between $4,500 and $3,400, but $3k to $6k is insane.
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