Wonky New Bike Pricing - What's your take?

Lol!!!! LMS Discount $2224 and then add Markup of $1295? Why not just discount the price $1000 and be done with it? Now they look stupid. I can’t with dealers 🤦🏼‍♂️

Unfortunately, consumers will look for the "cheapest price" and this way they can advertise the bike for $5875 to get the customer in the door.  Call multiple dealers and get the absolute OTD price and go from there.

They forgot the "Because fuck you fee" lol

At that price you should just get a Kawi or another brand. That's steep for a bike that hasn't changed in awhile and no e start. Hell, that's almost what I paid for my KX450 a year ago...Try Berts or Malcom Smith. They always seem more competitive than the other dealers around here. 

why don't USA retailers just put the price you pay on shit?  

Send 4-5 dealers the same email asking for the OTD price, then call the dealer who has the best value for you. I’ll pay a couple hundred more for a dealer who’s a lot closer or has known good customer service.

LOL, the US doesn't have laws that require the advertised price to include all taxes, and fees.

I purposely go out of my way to avoid any dealership that plays these stupid games.   I bought my last new bike from a dealer that advertised the OTD price - which was good, but not great by any means.  It was very fair.  Gave them a cash downpayment to hold it.  Went to the bank, got the rest of the cash out while they were detailing the bike for me.  Came back in 2 hours with cash, loaded her up and went on my way.  I still try to do business with that dealership when possible.  I looked at some other dealers recently and couldn't get over the stupid games.  I'm not trying to talk them down and I don't like negotiations.  Tell me the price, make it fair and I'll decide if I want to buy.  Usually if it is a reasonable price, I'll jump on it.  Same thing with cars.  Buying stuff shouldn't be a shitty, painful process.

when shopping for a bike, if I ever see that BS, I go somewhere else. simple as that.

Wouldn't it be great to be able to buy a bike straight from a manufacturer and have it delivered to your door in a crate. 

My child support goes to what 3 bikes would be if financed. My priority changed, but if I can get financially stable enough, I picture myself on a 06+ YZ250 or newer 150. It's tough times man. These prices mean nothing if everyone is balling. But we're all broke as hell right now. Is what it is. Hunker down.

Because the entire monetary system is designed to pull the wool over your eyes. 

Trickle down economics. 

Because the laws are written by guys who work for those who built the monetary system. 

Conscious consumer is the answer 👏🏽

Bait and switch…

And it still isn’t including the “documentation” fee. Going through this right now trying to find a 300xcw, at least you got an email breaking most of the price down, I mostly get “call us”

Check shops in the high desert or ones more "out in the boonies" in areas where the cost of living is lower.  When I bought my wifes XT250 in 2017 the OTD difference between Performance in Lake Forest and B&B in Victorville was a whopping $1,200'.  I don't know if they're still there or not but it might be worth calling some places 2-3 hours away. 

I’ve personally never asked for price breakdown or believed the tag on the bike. Ask or call your dealers within what you believe is a reasonable driving distance their OTD price and go from there. I also pay attention to how they act on the phone or in person. I don’t care if your bike is $200 cheaper, if you’re an asshole I’m not buying. I generally go three hours to WV because they don’t play games and the prices are always on point. 

Lie to them, tell them you can get them for x amount out the door and see if they have any interest in matching said number 

It's all mind games to try to make a sale. Looks stupid, when you know better, but they want the buyer to feel like they won by getting a "sale".

That’s a clear case of a dealership thinking their customers are as dim witted as they are. 

Have you read threads on vital lately? maybe the dealerships are correct. 

I hope this day comes. The bullshit $400 "Dealer prep" really crushes my soul. $400 for someone to install the front wheel and handlebars... but I still have to grease the linkage and head tube, and add more oil to the air filter before the first ride. Buying direct would make the process much more straightforward, too. Give me the flat price and I'll buy. I don't want to haggle with a salesperson, but I also don't want to get ripped off with hidden fees. 

Yup…out in the bookies…or an honest to goodness “family shop” in small town Murica. 

During the Panickdemic, I for bikes for people in Redding California (Fator’s Suzuki/KTM & Lee’s Honda/Kawasaki) and in Independence Missouri (Donnell’s).

This makes me think of and miss VSK. They were awesome and I remember they always made things super easy when my dad bought a new Kawi every year.

Dealers can usually tell if you're full of crap, because many consumers say their best price is $2000 or something. (Or they say "I know what you pay for these things.") Here are some takeaways:

1) You don't know what the dealer pays for these things. Even most salespeople don't know. There are layers to the pricing.
2) That said, there's a lot less profit in MX bikes than you may think.
3) Dealers like Langston Motorsports, who are really awesome people, have to play the game too. Otherwise, they'll get swallowed up by bigger stores that started the game of advertising a BS price and then adding BS fees to come back to the real price. Note that in the example above, the price is really only $399 cheaper than retail, even though it looks like $2,200 off. But if the Langstons advertised $399 off, the other stores would attract all the buyers with less-than-scrupulous advertising tactics that promise something better. LMS is forced to do it, too. 

Your best bet as a buyer is go with the store that treats you the best and use MSRP as a guide. If a dealer is charging well over MSRP for the bike, that's not a fair price. MSRP + a couple of bucks for setup (within a few hundred maximum, that is,) is a fair price. Anything less is a good price. Significantly less is a great price. Just don't expect them to take $2,200 off, because there isn't that much margin in the pricing. (Make sure they are giving you credit for any and all factory to dealer incentives, however - this is the variable that may make all the difference. I don't know if Suzuki is offering anything to the dealers right now.)  

I never go up there anymore so I could be wrong but, think B&B cycles was the only remaining dealership in the high desert and they shut down awhile ago. 

Sadly the local family shops are about gone and I think that's the way the manufactures want it. They want dealerships to mimic big box stores, the days of getting an honest price on a bike are about gone. I have bought one bike in my life from a big dealership (mountain motorsports in conyers GA) and that was a cluster F. Biggest unnecessary, waste of time dog and pony show I've ever seen. Made me walk through the dealership and meet every dept and draw cards to play a poker hand at the end. Wouldn't give me bike until I did their little tour, pissed me off. I'll buy lightly used if it comes to dealing with that shit again. 

It's not as far off as you might think. I know there has been talks of the dealers just becoming service centers and you would buy the bike direct from whichever oem you choose. It was pre-pandemic, The last time I was in one of these focus group meetings but it definitely got me thinking of the dealer business model here in the US. I work for a family owned dealership and like Falcon said above, There are a ton of layers in pricing. your dirt bike is priced off of the general volume of total oem sales(utv,atv, street etc...) or at least it is in my small ass region our unit pricing seems to work that way.

I always used to take my bikes home in the crate (and save the prep fee). But a big part of the enjoyment for me was putting it together, torquing the bolts, greasing the bearings, adjusting the bars and the chain just right, prepping the filter etc, then adding the decals and graphics kit. Then giving it that first kick and hearing it fire up.