New Bike Purchase: Extra charges?

It has been about 10 years since I have purchased a brand new bike from a dealer, and the last one was from a dealer where I was working part time, so I got a sweet deal.

Now, I am about to buy a new R1200GS and want to hear what I should expect in terms of added charges and fees and whatnot that dealers may like to tack on to the price. I would also like to know if there is any sort of official BMW policy about how sales are to be conducted.

Thanks!

Your dealer can tell you exactly what it will be. I recall a set up fee of 4 hours labor and a big sales tax. There may be some local title application fees. etc.

"Out the Door Price"

When comparison shopping, simply ask for the "out the door price." If they play dumb, say, "All I want to know is the amount to have put on the cashier's check that I will bring when I pick up the bike. I don't care anything at all about tax, transportation, set-up, profit, cleaning, documentation fees or any other hogwash. How many dollars do I need to bring in the door to take the bike out the door?"

A guy I work with bought a car on the internet by contacting dealers within 100 miles of where he lives and asking for "internet sales." He sent emails on a Thursday saying exactly what he wanted to buy and that he was going to buy it on Saturday from showroom stock. He asked for their best possible price saying that he didn't want to haggle. He also said that if someone gave him a price and then offered to match or beat another price, he would feel that they had lied to him in the first place and would not do business with them. He refused to give out a phone number, saying he didn't want to waste his time or anyone else's. "Just give me your price and if it is the lowest, I will buy it from you on Saturday." The warranty is the same no matter where you buy. (Because of sales commission structures, it helps car shop with the intent to buy on "Saturday" when that day is the very last day of the month.)

He spent a total of about an hour and a half car shopping via email and got exactly what he wanted for WAY under invoice. That tactic might work with bikes, too. I dunno.

Mr. Frank said:

Your dealer can tell you exactly what it will be.

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Well, yeah, but the point is that I want to hear what the common practices are "out there" before I try to work out the details with the dealer.

Now, it may be that the dealer will be totally straightforward with me and not try to tack on extra profit, but I wanted to hear the actual experiences of more recent purchasers than I.

For what it is worth, the big fold out ad for the new R1200GS says "MSRP includes destination and handling charges but excludes license, registration, taxes, title, insurance and options.

I recall a set up fee of 4 hours labor and a big sales tax. There may be some local title application fees. etc.

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This is good info. I understand tax, title and registration fees.

No fees for me

The dealer I shop at, has no fees other than sales tax. The reason he does not put them on the sticker is cause there are lots of variables, what state do you live in, is it a lease... well you get the idea.

I would simply ask. I personally like the dealers that just put up a price of $x,xxx plus tax. Those are the ones I purchase from. My Yamaha was $5,495 plus tax, plus bike prep, plus.... so it ended up being plus $1,000!!!! oy! My BMW's shown price plus tax. Much happier.

I have purchased two BMW's from that dealer, I don't go back to the Yamaha dealer for anything, not even cleaning supplies.

My percption is the following:

If the dealer does not include cost of sales in the "shown price" what else is he going to do that with?
A dealer has the right to ask for more than he is willing to sell for. If a buyer is willing to pay that much, why not profit?

HTH.

Thanks for the replies, folks.

I think I have been unclear. I am not asking anyone to predict what my dealer might tack on, nor am I afraid to "just ask". I just want to hear about your experiences BEFORE I walk in to my dealer and fill out the papers.

I have seen lots of sales contracts over the years and depending on the shop or the salesman, some of them will try to add all kinds of silly items. What I was asking for was examples of things that they tried to tack on when you were going to buy a bike.

Thanks again!

When I purchased my new RT the dealer quoted me a price and
the payments. When we got down to making the deal I found
an add on charge for shipping and set up. That was about a-
nother $500.

I was checking on a CS for a friend of mine at another dealer
and when he gave me the price, I asked him to add in the
shipping and set-up charges. He told me the price he gave me was the out the door price.

Guess which one I am most pleased with? You just need to ask the dealer the out the door price and then you will know where you are. Some include everything when they quote you a price
and some do not.

Gerald

I think we paid 3 or 4 hours of set up time when Tina bought her Roadster. They really do spend some major time putting these bikes together when they arrive. When we got the bike, we got a checklist of things that had been inspected, assembled and adjusted when the bike was prepped.

Given that nearly two years later we haven't had a single issue with that bike, I think the money was well spent.

I think, aside from sales tax and other government fees, that was all we had to deal with for charges.

I was not complaining about the shipping and set up charges. I
realize these are necessary and legitimate expenses for the dealer and they have to be passed on to the consumer if the
dealer is to stay in business.

I just think the dealer should be up front about these charges and include them when he is quoting a price right from the git go,
not at the last moment when you sit down to do the paper work.

Gerald

Gerald said:

I was not complaining about the shipping and set up charges. I
realize these are necessary and legitimate expenses for the dealer and they have to be passed on to the consumer if the
dealer is to stay in business.

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I was told (may have been misinformation) that the BMW MSRP includes shipping and setup. But, BMW cannot dictate what a dealer charges. My belief is that MSRP + Tax, Title and Reg is a fair price. If they insist on adding stuff then just haggle down the starting price.

MarkF

MarkF,

I'm not sure about BMW motorcycles, but on my Nissan pick-up
the MSRP is shown at the top of the window sticker and then
everything else is added in, the shipping and set up being the last thing.

Please don't tell me that I have been had on my deal. Now that
you mention it I did not get any paper work from BMW that
would be the equivalent of a window sticker like on a car or
truck. Is this normal?

I do love my RT and BMW is still making the payments on it for me
so I can't get too upset, I hope.

Gerald

Gerald said:

Please don't tell me that I have been had on my deal. Now that
you mention it I did not get any paper work from BMW that
would be the equivalent of a window sticker like on a car or
truck. Is this normal?

Click to expand...

I would never do that. Besides, I paid shipping and dealer prep on my 2000 BMW. I was told that tidbit of info a year or two later. I don't know, I never got a window sticker, either.

MarkF

Very recent experience

I paid less than sticker price on my 2004 R1150R (rockster). The price was discounted around $800, the "Normal set up fee of $500" was discounted to $200, and I paid for a different set of bars and seat plus about an hour of labor for the change. I got the bike with the new bars and seat and I also got the original bars and seat. That, plus t,t, and l. Oh yeah, a $25 document fee.

I was a fairly strightforward shopper. I told the guy that I wanted one of two bikes and that I would be making my decision "next tuesday" when I could ride both bikes. He was also straight with me on the deal.

Out the Door Price

I'm an impulse buyer when it comes to buying cars, trucks, and bikes. I just stopped at my nearest BMW dealer (about 265 miles away), saw what I liked, and expected to pay $16,290 plus TT&L. Instead, I got offered the "make no payments for 90 days", then BMW makes the first five payments, and $1K knocked off the retail price and no other hidden fees like preparation costs. Nothing beats riding for 8 months without making a payment. Now that BMW has made its five payments I've refinanced with a local bank for a better rate. I think I could have spent 3 months doing a detailed study of where to buy and what to pay and still not have gotten such a good deal. I checked other places after my buy and they all had the full retail plus a preparation fee. It pays to get lucky every decade or so!

I am also somewhat of an impulse buyer because I don't like the stress of haggling... I bought my new 2004 Rockster in November from BMW of Fort Worth, the breakdown was as follows:

$11838 - Base Price - I think at the time MSRP was $11780
$50 - Documentation fee
$716 - Tax
$74 - License & Reg

Extra stuff they wanted me to add to the loan:

$790 - Optional Life & Disability insurance
$1188 - extended warranty coverage to 5 years/unlimited miles
? - id etching for theft protection/recovery

At .9% and first 3 payments made, I couldn't resist.