Why is there an assembly for a used motorcycle is what I would ask them? This is outrght greed and where the word stealerhip comess from, but unfortunately, due suppy shortages, the bargaining power for buyer has lessened considerably. When contacting dealers I would suggest asking what the out the door price is. That will give you a better basis to compare and contrast what the price is. The CB500F is a nice bike, but the more flexible you can be, the better choices you'll have. There are lot's of good bikes in the 300-600cc naked or sport segment from lots of manufacturers. You cn also search on Cycle Trader by zip code to find bikes closer to home. If you're willing to drive three and half hours to get a bike, there's got to be better options out there. Good luck my friend.

 

Yeah, it's beyond ridiculous in terms of added fees but almost doubling the price? That's insane.

I test rode a really nice used Street Triple at a dealership a couple years back. Price was "fair" and I knew there would be some extra fees involved but when it rang up a little over $2k more than the price, I left. Got a call from the manager on the way home and knew I would never go back after he told me some of the mark-up was for a new $400 rear tire.

 

When I bought my Versys a couple years ago, the dealer wouldn't budge on the price.... but the "added fees" were sales tax, title, and registration.

 

Those extra fees are a common tactic when buying from a dealer. It is a way for dealers to make more money. The person at the dealership is usually called the finance person and he makes good money on selling you these extras. The best thing to do is refuse them all. If you want any of them, you can go elsewhere and get them for a lot less.

 

Sorry to hear that....

Rule #1 get an OTD price before driving more than 15 minutes.

I was shopping around for a bike earlier this year and when I asked for an OTD price 2 dealerships never called me back and that may be a good thing.

Your offer sounds reasonable BUT what do you see other (comparable) bikes priced at in your area? The way I look at it I'm only concerned at the OTD price if it's better than the other comps I buy if it's not I don't, the dealer can charge me $2k on assembling a used bike as long as the deal makes sense.

What did you do?

 

I found the exact price at another dealer in Lowell, NC (Indian Motorcycle). Was super excited, called Saturday and started the buying process. It was interesting that their buyers order on a 2022 had no assembly fees added. I was approved by CU yesterday, I called sells men to start the process. He sent buyers order, I asked if he needed a deposit, so they can hold it until Friday. He said, he'll follow-up with his manager, In the meantime CU was was on ready for purchase, I called Progressive to purchase insurance, secured my trailer to carry the bike back 3 hours, BUT low-an-behold, the manager called 1 hour ago and stated, another store sold the bike and it was no longer available, but they had other bikes I could look at. For some reason after I told them the interest rate from my CU the tone appear to change. All of a sudden, the bike was know longer available. Do they make money off of financing??? Well anyway, I'm starting to get a back taste in my mouth regarding dealer purchases. I'll start researching private sellers.

 

Be patient and go private!

 

Due to low supply, prices for motorcycles, houses, cars, etc., are all up. The dealerships sees this as an opportunity to extract more money from you. The best tool you have is to walk away if you feel your getting fleeced. I would reiterate that expanding the motorcycles you'd consider buying will give you more options. There are a lot of good bikes similar in performance to the CB500F competing for your dollars. Used is good for paying less, but can be more risky because you don't know the history of the bike and it's hard to tell from looking at it.

 

Assembly Fee: $1,297.65 - this is pure theft and wrong. The original purchaser paid to have the bike assembled
State Taxes: $441.81 - no getting around this
Documentation Fee: $499.00 - should be half that amount, at most
Extended Warranty - $999.00 (2yrs) - Give or take 1,2, or 3 year price varied. - you're buying a Honda, skip this nonsense
Life-time battery fee: $499.00. - no, just no. Benefits the dealer, not you

FWIW - I like your choice, the CB500F is cool

 

Hello Chadio, so I just found another CB500F (2022 - 4000 miles) in South Carolina and asked to send a buyers order. The only thing there buyers order had listed was the doc fees for $299.00. NO OTHER FEES!!! How crazy is that! Hoping to purchase Monday, but as I'm typing this,. their trying to get me to finance with them. Which I'm not, they can't beat CU interest rate.

 

Private sellers are best IMO, but ask around for the OTD price as well. There was at least one dealership somewhere in the South East... Tennessee? Kentucky? Cant remember now... That advertises their OTD cost is MSRP + TTL with no further charges, I imagine if one has found a way to make it profitable, a few others have as well.

 

This is one way for a dealer to make more money from a sale. It’s simply outrageous that the price on the website is one, but in reality, you have to pay 2 times more. Prices are already rising exponentially. However, I have a question: is it possible to refuse all the additional expenses that the dealer offers? For the dealer's price comparison, I can recommend Priceva.

 

This is one way for a dealer to make more money from a sale. It’s simply outrageous that the price on the website is one, but in reality you have to pay 2 times more. Prices are already rising exponentially. However, I have a question: is it possible to refuse all the additional expenses that the dealer offers?

Sure but that will likely mean that you don't buy the bike.

The best practice is to call and get the OTD price even better if you can have them email you those numbers.

 

These are junk fees and should be banned whether it's a motorcycle, car, flying on an airplane, the cable bill, going to the hospital, etc. It's a way to lure you in and then disclose them at the last minute or not at all because they know when you get right to the end, peoples natural inclination is to close the deal. The price should be price + tax and that's it. The onus of figuring out how to fund those costs should fall on the dealer or seller. It would make the whole process more transparrent and easier to cross shop.

 

These are junk fees and should be banned whether it's a motorcycle, car, flying on an airplane, the cable bill, going to the hospital, etc. It's a way to lure you in and then disclose them at the last minute or not at all because they know when you get right to the end, peoples natural inclination is to close the deal. The price should be price + tax and that's it. The onus of figuring out how to fund those costs should fall on the dealer or seller. It would make the whole process more transparrent and easier to cross shop.

"We" have these junk fees because we agree to pay them.

 

The worst ones I've seen are the utility companies charging a fee to bill you. "Billing fee".

 

While it's true we play our part in the transaction, it feels dishonest to advertise one price to get you in the door, but then jack it up later, which is why it should be barred in my opinion.

 

Ok guys, thanks for all your feedback, I stayed the course and located a 2022 low mileage in Greer SC. Asked for buyers order, they sent me a copy with the listed price from the website, and get this, the doc fee was only $250, half of what I was quoted in Huntsville. And that's was it !!! Deal closed. Again, thanks for helping out this newbie.

 

Did you buy it?

 

Yes, delivered this past Tuesday.

 

PICS!!! Oh, and congrats!

 

Internet price and $250 doc fee (ONLY)!

 

I think these guys are the ones I was thinking of, appears they are in Tennessee,:

Nofeesever | Southern Honda Powersports | East Ridge Tennessee

Southern Honda Powersports offers flat, out-the-door pricing for every unit we sell! That means there is no doc fee, setup fee, destination fee, transportation fee or any other fees whatsoever. Get financing through Honda and save even more.

www.southernhonda.com

Looks like they are about 1.5 hours from Tail of the Dragon, so fly in, grab your bike, run it through its paces then road trip home... If you are anywhere not terribly far away this seems like a sweet deal.

These guys seem to be advertising something similar out of San Diego if you are closer to the West Coast:

Honda & KTM Motorcycles in San Diego | Poway Powersports

Shop new & used Honda & KTM motorcycles, dirt bikes, UTVs & ATVs in San Diego. Poway Powersports offers sales, service, part, accessories, & financing.

www.powaypowersports.com

 

As a dealer owner I can tell you that freight and setup has to be charged on powersports. To ship bikes in alone is $750 then we have to pay to have them assembled and a PDI done. We wish the manufacture would just raise the msrp of the bike to cover those fees so it’s not a break down between customer and dealer. It a manufacture issue. They don’t hesitate to charge us though. Per machine and we do massive amount of inventory now over $1000 on a motorcycle is crazy high we charge $895 just to pay for freight and the other to cover the employee for time of assembly it takes around 2 hours to assemble and PDI. Hope this helps.

 

As a dealer owner I can tell you that freight and setup has to be charged on powersports. To ship bikes in alone is $750 then we have to pay to have them assembled and a PDI done. We wish the manufacture would just raise the msrp of the bike to cover those fees so it’s not a break down between customer and dealer. It a manufacture issue. They don’t hesitate to charge us though. Per machine and we do massive amount of inventory now over $1000 on a motorcycle is crazy high we charge $895 just to pay for freight and the other to cover the employee for time of assembly it takes around 2 hours to assemble and PDI. Hope this helps.

Okay.
Lets say someone looks at a website and sees a new motorcycle advertised on sale for $3,000*

*Plus destination, assembly, tax, title, other fees.

I can figure tax & title is about $400 in FL on a $3,000 bike but without knowing it is $895 (in your example) for freight and assembly I am wondering how much that is.
I call and ask for a "out the door price". True example:
I'm told to come to the dealer for the "out the door" price. Big Red Flag, but its local so I go anyway.
Sale price is 3k, but the "out the door" price is 5k - that is $1,600 for freight, assembly and whatever fees + about $400 for tax & title. I'm not expecting a motorcycle advertised for 3k to be 5k total.
I'm not happy. I walk. I buy used one owner bikes from the original owners.

My suggestion to all dealers is advertise the cost of all the fees, as you did with the $895, because not every dealer is as forthcoming.

 

We do I put it on every price tag and tell everyone. We don’t hide fees. I want to be up front and honest and that’s the way we do business.

 

Some of them are for sure price gouging to make more money on it for sure. We have seen that here. That’s why we sell more bikes. It doesn’t cost anything to be honest.

 

And you get the best advertising out of it...word of mouth.

 

It varies wildly. Like much with motorcycles it is enough of a niche market not to cause enough of a squeaky wheel to get the issue fixed. When my wife wanted a new Rebel 1100 back in 2021 I think we paid 2-3k, maybe even more in dealer markups.

Honestly, dealing with dealerships is a big part of the reason I would just rather buy used from a private party if at all possible. I have bought a couple dozen used vehicles from private parties over the years, sometimes under sketchy circumstances, and never once have I ever felt as throughly screwed as I have from EVERY SINGLE dealer purchace I have ever made, new or used.

 

It's always good to hear a dealers perspective There's always two sides to a story. I don't doubt you are a reputable dealer and there are some out there. I bought both my new bikes from the same dealer and consider them to be great values, though this was pre-pandemic and both were new old stock bikes the dealer was motivated to move. I'm not so sure if I dipped my toe into the water nowadays that I would have the same satisfactory experience as before given how much the paradigm has shifted. The fees need to end and this is not germane to motorcycles. The advertisement or price tag should be the out the door cost plus tax. not the price plus a bunch of fees and tax, regardless of what product or service you're buying.

 

 

Another dealer to avoid if they don't want to negotiate.

 

My 2023 NINJA 400 non-ABS had 77 miles on it, and minor cosmetic damage to both sides. $4000 OTD

 

My 2023 NINJA 400 non-ABS had 77 miles on it, and minor cosmetic damage to both sides. $4000 OTD

😲 You nearly stole it; I'm envious.