[desert_drifter]

I'm on the market for a pair of 2018 or 2019 TW200's. Does anybody have any tips or advice on how to get the best no-hassle deal on a pair of TW's? I'd prefer to finance about half of it (maybe not through dealer), but can pay all cash if that would get a better deal. I'm located between San Diego and Los Angeles. What OTD price should I be looking for? I also need helmets, boots, pants, goggles, gloves, racks, bags, handlebar guards, etc. Is there a way I can call a sales manager or someone besides the typical floor salesman and have them put together a package deal for bikes and gear? I'd rather do it over the phone or email because I don't like having to make a decision with a sales team breathing down my neck. Any guidance would be appreciated.

 

[M C Toyer]

I'm on the market for a pair of 2018 or 2019 TW200's. Does anybody have any tips or advice on how to get the best no-hassle deal on a pair of TW's? I'd prefer to finance about half of it (maybe not through dealer), but can pay all cash if that would get a better deal.

The advertised price for new TWs will not include transportation and set-up which the dealer will mark up to increase his profit margin. They will also try to plug in title and registration procssing fees for filing in addition to what the state charges.

No advice on haggling - that is pretty much a supply and demand deal, but if California has a business inventory or personal property tax that is appraised at the end of the year then selling before then will save the dealer money which he may or may not be willing to pass on - again supply and demand.

If you are going to finance any part arrange that beforehand with your own source. Dealers make big commissions on arranging high interest financing and will convince you they can get a better rate than you can - don't believe them. They would rather do that than deal for cash.

 

[bartruff]

Shop for the best price...tell the dealers in a EMAIL that you are going to pay cash for the best " out the door price " and that you will contact all the dealers within 200 miles..... and that you will only consider their first offer as their best......no bs...no "I will match any offer nonsense...."

Only use Email..... because then you will have a record of all communication....NEVER use the phone ….Never meet in person with the sales manager until the deal is done. Don't change anything at the closing..

Ask only for out the door offers....that include all charges, taxes, paperwork......everything.... ..you just want the total out the door.....one number...one time.

Do not buy any service contracts or extended warranties or any dealer financing.....no gear...nothing but the bike(s).. you need to be able to compare a orange with a orange...don't let them complicate it..

Be straight with them and they will appreciate that and the ones that are interested in a 20 minute deal will reply....

I don't know that market but I would guess about 9k for two bikes would be ball park..

 

[KLRCris]

My experience on this particular bike is the dealer is very reluctant to reduce the price by much. It's a inexpensive bike and the margins are low. I managed to get the bike reduced by $200.00 and they waived shipping/prep and documentation fee. I thought it was an ok deal. These bikes sell well also so no factory to dealer promo's on them. Of course I had to pay registration, title fee and sales tax which in RI adds another $460.00. So out the door for about $4800.00 in the Ocean State.

 

[GaryL]

I have been very successful buying new vehicles, MCs, ATVs and Autos by first locating honest local dealers. The creep ones are very easy to find and always have lousy ratings on google or other rating sites. I prefer to deal in person with one salesman I make a judgement on in the first few minutes of meeting him/her. I make it very clear that I am a cash buyer and know exactly what I want with no BS and the sale depends on his willingness to deal straight with me minus all the BS ad on fees. I simply tell him to quote your best final price and don't waste my time or yours. Every salesman has a book showing the absolute bottom line price his dealership is willing to sell the vehicle for so it actually is a very easy sale if the guy/gal wants to get it done without all the sales gimmicks. I have walked right out of more than a few dealerships because of stupid salespersons. I also make it very clear that if I get the right deal I will also be buying additional items such as racks, helmets and other riding gear as a package. If you can deal directly with the sales manager chances are he will quote the final numbers and then pass it off to one of his sales persons to write up the deal with his pricing instructions.


As far as actual price for a new TW that is highly dependent on the region you are in and if the bikes you want are in stock at that dealer. $4599.00 is the suggested price here in NY but you should be able to make a deal for around $3799-$3899 plus tax and registration fees. You do not want extended warranties or dealer financing at any cost.

When I was the GM at a big Honda, Kawasaki and KTM dealership I would not even entertain dealing over the phone with prospective customers. We did have an internet sales person for that but he could not do any better deals than a floor salesperson in all honesty. It is simple math and in clear black and white to every sales person in the dealership. They paid X amount for the bike and must make X over what they paid to keep the lights on and pay the sales commission. Where this goes out the door is when you are dealing with left over machines they are paying the floor plan on every month they have not sold the unit. If you can find a pair of 2017 left overs and the colors suit you there is absolutely nothing different on the 2018 or 2019 models but the dealer wants them gone and will or should take a loss. Phone buyers wasted far too much of my time and if I gave them a price OTD for what they wanted they simply called the next dealer who would cut me by $50-$100 over the phone but then run the deal up when the buyer arrived. In my world a face to face hand shake is golden.

Good luck and go get them. Your job is to play the game a tad better than the salesperson but never be afraid to walk right out the door.

GaryL

 

[stagewex]

I don't know anything about your negotiating skills but "In your face" is going to work better than over the phone.
Plus all that other stuff you want to buy (helmets/boots/pants/etc) you are better to try on if you can and compare brands and makes. You may also want to buy those from a different source or store/on-line unless there is a real incentive like a discount (because you are buying a couple bikes). Otherwise most dealers do not carry every brand.

The local Yamaha dealer by me probably sells 3-4 TW's a year. and that's exactly what they had on the showroom floor 2 weeks ago There is a little "feel good" $$ attached to their asking price so a customer has some wiggle-room. But they don't make a lot on these base-line bikes. They are going to move off the floor one way or another because they are so popular. If you could find someone that might have a couple leftover 2018's...
Really pretty much the same bike.

Dealer Prep, DMV costs, tax. are over and above obviously.
I have to call the dealer later on about some work I need done on a different bike. I'll find out what they were asking though each market (I'm 50 mile radius of NYC) has it's own pricing.
You seem to be located between two pretty high-priced markets yourself.

 

[GaryL]

No deals here on Yamaha. I was at the dealer last week for parts and fluids, Suzuki, Yamaha and Polaris are his brands. Not a single TW in the store but he can get one in a week and quoted $4599. He did have a Suzuki Van Van on the floor that looked pretty decent and for the exact same price. He raved about it saying he does not order TWs because his customers want the fuel injected Van Van when they compare the two side by side. OK, so I was not a buyer and did not haggle with the salesman so I have no idea what I could have bought either bike for OTD after some cash in hand discussion. Dealer prep is a very subjective number and IMO all BS. When I was in the business bikes like these came crated 2 per crate and only needed to have the bars mounted and a few minor adjustments out of the crate. It took longer to un-crate them than it did for my prep guy to get them set up. Taxes and title registration fees are unavoidable no matter where you buy and honestly should not be considered in the OTD price. Another typical scam the dealers try is delivery destination fees. This is a real fee if and only if the bike you want is a special out of stock unit that has to be shipped separate. We got absolutely free delivery on every bike we ordered during our stock annual order period. Sometimes 30 units came in one truck as long as we pre ordered for showroom stock and never a delivery charge for them.

GaryL

 

[desert_drifter]

Wow, thanks for all the great advice. So far, my take away is that I should skip gear and financing and keep the deal simple: OTD cash price for two bikes.

GaryL: I appreciate your insight as a former GM at a dealership. I understand what you are saying about making the deal in person. Problem is, I'm Sicilian and therefore very short tempered. When salesmen start to pressure me and feed me a bunch of BS, I get annoyed, and then I get angry, and then I get all mafioso on them and have to get escorted out of the dealership. No kidding! Been thrown out of two car dealerships and now one motorcycle shop. I just can't deal with the in-person process. I realize that I have anger management issues, but I'm sure somebody wants my cash anyway

I like the idea of an email campaign. It seems like the easiest thing for me and for the dealer. They spend 5 minutes answering an email. I drive to dealer in my truck and exchange a pile of Benjamins for two bikes. I'm not looking for the deal of the century here. It's just that the two dealers I've visited so far had bikes with stickers showing OTD price close to $6K. When I asked what they would REALLY sell the bikes for, they wanted me to sit down in the negotiating room and fill out some paperwork first. I'm just not willing to have to drive to a dealership and then be hounded by a sales team before they even give me the price.

 

[desert_drifter]

GaryL, what do you think of the email campaign method as a next best alternative to going in person? Would the dealership where you were GM have given out competitive quotes this way?

 

[bartruff]

You are not going to out wit the sales manager...he may sell a dozen or more bikes a day....you will likely only buy that many new bikes in a lifetime so your only advantage is to price shop for the total price....let him itemize the cost and he will be able to " fiddle " with it to avoid some sales tax or some item....I find talking to sales people annoying and a waste of time, my time and their time...

I always do that...…. for example I just bought a welded aluminum boat with a outboard and a trailer.....and I got prices by email from dealers from Salt Lake City to the Bay Area.....and I bought from a Oregon Dealer, largely because he would give me two bills of sale....for the boat and the trailer ….and for the Motor....so he was able to sell me a package with the smallest amount of Washington Sales tax.....

By shopping I was able to save more than 15k on the listed price of boat at home..... of course they are expensive and the margins are large so they have a lot of room to fiddle..

You may get a terrific offer for one bike...... so you might consider buying one new...... and one used.

I would absolutely buy both used if I could...the TW is essentially unchanged for 10 years or more...... and are usually ridden by adults..... some with very few miles on them and in as new condition.... and the sellers are anxious to sell them and..... they are not making a living doing it...

 

[GaryL]

I am American with Irish and German mixed in so you being "Sicilian" has nothing on me. Anger management may be in order however as long as your "Benjamine's" remain in your pocket there is very little to get angry about other than some wasted time. Maybe go find an Italian salesman and I do mean a man because Italian woman are well versed in how to deal with overbearing men. Ask me how I know being married to a Sicilian wife who had 2 brothers and a father with an iron rule mentality.

So far it sounds like the dealers you visited are way out of line and not where you need to go. Check around with other members out by you on which dealers are worthy, I am sure we have members here who can guide you and better yet if one has a particular sales person to send you to. You need to have the "ICE" broken before you even get there and knock the chip off your shoulder before you exit the truck. Calm down and go with a positive attitude. You might even try a different tactic that does work quite well. Tell the salesperson right up front, "I have right around $7600 plus the additional tax and registration fees to spend and I want 2 new TW 200 motorcycles. How close can you come to win my business?". If he comes back with a number like $7800 then make the deal as long as there are no other hidden fees over and above Tax and registration on each.

GaryL

 

[Fred]

Do TWs still come packed two to a crate, unassembled?
Maybe you can find a deal where they forklift a unopened surplus crate of TWs into your truck or trailer.

Better yet PM forum member TWEAKER. Due to a health problem he is selling his and his wife's immaculately cared for low mileage consecutive serial number TWs in San Diego. You won't find two better matching low mileage TWs and you can deal with an honest really nice guy.
Here is one of his bikes last summer running away from me, charging healthily from 8,000 to 9,500 feet. Nicely jetted, aftermarket exhaust.

Here is a bit of back story on why bikes are available: Bad news

 

[GaryL]

GaryL, what do you think of the email campaign method as a next best alternative to going in person? Would the dealership where you were GM have given out competitive quotes this way?

Some but not all dealers have an internet sales person and presence on line. Those that do can play with the numbers a bit better than with in person sales simply because when the bike leaves the dealership they will likely never see it back for any service or warranty repairs. I don't know the regional geography or popularity of TWs out on the left coast being here in NY. What I do know is the profit margin on the bike itself is rather small and unless there are some corporate incentives to get particular models sold most dealers just can't give them away. It has been 18 years since I left the business but I have to think a bike like a TW with a MSRP of $4599 probably costs the dealer somewhere around $3700 or not far off. There are a couple member here who are still in the business and might have more accurate numbers today. At my dealership we made our killing on all the additional stuff especially financing and extended warranties that were not worth the powder to blow them to hell. Racks, boots, helmets clothing and ad on farkles were also good profit margins for us but the bike itself pretty much had a set dollar figure attached to it. My sales guy would make right around a $100 commission on a TW priced bike or ATV. As the GM I was not privy to all of the corporate incentives the company gave as kick backs but there were many things like advertising and even ones for selling lots of units. The only that killed me as a GM was we were forced to carry lots of other things such as generators and even freaking lawn mowers in our MC/ATV shop.

GaryL

 

[stagewex]

"Problem is, I'm Sicilian and therefore very short tempered. When salesmen start to pressure me and feed me a bunch of BS, I get annoyed, and then I get angry"

Good one. That my friend should help you!

So I called the Yammy dealer. They are asking $4800.00 for the 2019's. When I told them I was asking for a friend and they realized it was me they said to come in and they could discount it $300.00+ to $400.00. So basically about the same as everywhere else. They have no 2018's.

This is definitely a model they don't make much on but as I said folks still want to by no matter what. That's why they really haven'y improved it much in years. It was already pretty good.
I've noticed the VanVan (they don't sell this at the Yammy dealer) is priced exactly the same.

When I first bought (actually leased) my current Jeep Wrangler back in 2013 there was no "better time of the year or season" where it was discounted. Mind you I just wanted a plain-old 2 door, manual shift Jeep with zero bells and whistles. I barely got anything off the price and shopped at 5 different dealers. When there is a market for "plain" and everyone wants it...

 

[Tiny-Wheel-200]

as others have noted the tw isnt a high margin bike and the dealer could hardly care less if you buy one or not so theyre not going to drop the price to incentivize you to buy one. the same is true for any base model car or similar things.

Sent from my LGL63BL using Tapatalk

 

[bartruff]

I have bought two new bikes using email twice and was able to save more than $500 on each bike each time as opposed to paying the handle bar tag plus all the extra charges......I had to travel 40 miles to a dealer once and 85 miles on the other occasion...

It didn't take me anymore time than I have spent on this thread.....a simple email ….a reply....a agreement....printed out...check paid...out the door...no arguing, no haggling, no more personal involvement than buying a hamburger at McDonalds ...no bs.....

Now maybe a $1000 is no big deal to some but it was a easy thousand that was on the table...waiting to be picked up...with little or no effort..

 

[desert_drifter]

Just located a dealer in my area who has both a new 2017 and 2018 advertised for $4K each. I'd like to make a cash offer for both bikes. I don't want to rip off the dealer. I just want a square deal. What would be a fair OTD price on these bikes? Sales tax is 7.75% in my town and dealer is in east San Diego County if that helps.

 

[desert_drifter]

...Better yet PM forum member TWEAKER...

I would totally consider buying his bikes. They already have most of the mods I'm looking for. His latest post says he's not quite ready to sell but I'm eager to buy! I'll PM him anyway

 

[GaryL]

Just located a dealer in my area who has both a new 2017 and 2018 advertised for $4K each. I'd like to make a cash offer for both bikes. I don't want to rip off the dealer. I just want a square deal. What would be a fair OTD price on these bikes? Sales tax is 7.75% in my town and dealer is in east San Diego County if that helps.

If both are new I already answered your question. $3800 each = $7600 + 7,25% tax = $8150. Decent deal but not the best I ever heard. $8,000 OTD would be a sweet deal IMO over here.

I would certainly contact Tweaker first and see what he is doing. Apparently a few members know him and how he treats his bikes so there should be no issues with them and if he is ready it is nice to help a member out and keep the bikes in our family. Just be pleasant because his health is failing and drama or anger will not help.

GaryL

 

[desert_drifter]

If both are new I already answered your question. $3800 each = $7600 + 7,25% tax = $8150. Decent deal but not the best I ever heard. $8,000 OTD would be a sweet deal IMO over here.

I would certainly contact Tweaker first and see what he is doing. Apparently a few members know him and how he treats his bikes so there should be no issues with them and if he is ready it is nice to help a member out and keep the bikes in our family. Just be pleasant because his health is failing and drama or anger will not help.

GaryL

Thanks. Wasn't sure if I could offer even less with one of them being 2017, but I'd be totally happy to take both home for $8,150.