vader1

Looking at trying to pick up one of the CB500 variants, either the X or the F and I have no experience with powersports dealers. I generally consider prep fees crap, but since we are going into the end of season, can I expect to get any kind of discount off MSRP?

One local dealer has an ad for a CB500F (2014) with a reference to $400 Honda bonus bucks. I see no mention of it on Honda's sight as an incentive and googling it I see a few references to $100 but not $400.

Anywho, do Honda MC dealers generally budge a bit or am I gonna have to pay sticker?

Saki GT

When I bought my last Honda, I found dealers to be very stodgy with prices - some had new models from three years back that they wouldn't discount. Fwiw, I ended up buying a used bike with some mods I liked that was practically new for less.

Jtanaka

All depends on your dealers, how quick they want the bike gone or if they are getting $$ for selling it quick. Bikes unfortunately are not cars so there isn't a lot of incentives from the manufacture that pushes for discounts.
BUT the bike shop does make alot of profit from the sell so its up to them on how less of a profit they want to make.

Super Nintendo Chalmers

Your best bet is to find a volume dealer. Most smaller dealers won't budge on the price. Also, getting an older model year will save you money since they want to clear out inventory for the new model year. I bought a brand new 2012 CBR1000RR in 2013 for just over 10k (not counting tax, title, warranty, and finance charges).

EDIT: D'oh, didn't realize this is an old post. Any luck?

vader1

Still have not pulled the trigger.

What I want is one of the Honda CB500s with ABS. I would take the R the F or the X. What I have noticed is that nationally there are some volume dealers, especially in the south that seem to offer low prices. Up here, the bigger dealers seem to be dicks and the smaller ones advertize more bargains. They also seem to stock very few ABS models. I am keeping my eyes peeled for one of those in the $4500 range used, or a good deal on a new one. The are a couple 2014 500s with ABS in dealer stock around here and when spring comes I will send a couple emails and see how far they move when Honda offers spring incentives.

One is a 2013 500r ABS that I see a couple dealers (very far away) on Cycle Trader are offering for $4500, and I will offer that and see what they say when the time comes. If I could throw in a couple hundred more and get $5k OTD I would do it. But a used Craigslister is fine too.

Many more non-abs, but I only have a few thousand miles under my belt, and really like the idea of being able to stand on the rear in a panic stop with no lockup. I saw one ABS F for $4k and one R for $4500 but was not ready to buy yet and missed them. That gives me some hope that laying in the weeds and keeping my eyes peeled will be fine.

vader1

Good lord. Honda dealers seem to feel that a) Leftovers from the previous year are worth their weight in platinum (even if the have a truckload of them) and b) it is freaking impossible for them to tell you the price.


I am about to buy a leftover CB500f from a dealer simply because they .......drumroll...... told me how much they want for it.

There about about a half dozen left in town and so I called each dealer with one simple request, "How much do you want for it out the door with a tax and fees?"

One gave me the price, and a fair one. One pretended like the incentive did not exist and played phone games. "Why don't you come in and sit on the bike and we can talk?" "Set up fees? Well we won't know that until we reach a deal." "I can't give you a price on the phone."

Four dealers took my name and number, said they would see what they could let it go for and never called me back.

What a bunch of tools. How do they stay in business if they don't actullay tell people what the freaking thing would cost.

I even went to one dealer for their Costco price on a new model. Sat with the sales guy for a half hour. He told me his sales manager was out but he would get back to me. He never did either.

Just had to rant. It seems they are not in a rush to sell bikes that they could not find a customer for in an entire season.

Saki GT

Now you know why I've never bought a new bike from a dealer.

King Tut

I feel like most of the Japanese bike dealers simply exist to get people to sign up for the Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, Kawasaski card. They expect people to come in and buy the bike regardless of price because all they care about is if your credit is good enough to get the card and they will sell the bike based on the minimum monthly payment. Hence the reason tons of people are upside down on new bike purchases.

Jarshie

done it once, and wouldn't really recommend it (mainly did it for the credit history anyways, as I couldn't get approved for any other loans, but needed history). MOST dealers don't care if its 1-3 years old, they're gonna ask for that original sticker price and they'll let it rot, till they get it

jkelley

This is actually a pretty decent summary of the current American retail market in a nutshell. It's amazing anybody makes money. Crap economy? Give me a freaking break, these companies are doing it to themselves. I'm not saying all businesses (especially small businesses) don't have a hard time... but if you're struggling and you can't even try to give it to people STRAIGHT as a FALLBACK... then gtfo.