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Back in the 90's, when I was in my 20's (when they were in their previous location under previous ownership), I actually did like to kind of hang out in there each time I was buying something. But that was a different time, both in my life and in the world.
Same here up in Norcal. Yamaha Motorsports, biggest dealer in the area. I really wanted to support them, but they suck balls big time. Been ready to buy a new bike a few times when going in there, and been buying parts in there for years. The salesman literally avoid eye contact and a friendly hello when looking at bikes. The concept of, support your dealer and they will take care of you, doesn't apply to a vast majority in my humble opinion. Koodos to the fellas that get treated right at there local dealers, I now buy mostly online.
Same, I liked the smaller car dealership building they used to be in. Now I walk in the door and I feel lost, let alone it seems like I never have the same parts person either.
SVC is one of the last, true throwbacks to how a dealer should be doing business. Nick, Jef, Kevin, and Duane are a great team, and they do a great job at being upfront about costs and otd pricing. And Chris runs a great service department.
I never feel lost. Because as soon as I walk in, some salesman comes over to me and starts asking what bike do I ride and what kind of riding do I do and what do I want to buy today.
The Shop
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when I went to buy my 24, they took my bike back inspected it for trade in, did all the paper work, etc etc. I signed and thought everything was good, ready for my shiny new bike. Dealer says yah we should have that to you by this weekend(its tue), oo yah its still in its box its not assembled, so you can come back and pick it up fri. I lived 90mins from the dealer i voiced my frustration, called the guy an idiot for selling a bike thats not even at the store, but in a box two hours away from the dealer.
lesson learned just assume the person you are dealing with is retarded and their only away to increase their IQ is to get your money.
What if one of my local dealer's were price gouging all of us during the pandemic?
I told everyone they wouldn't be getting our business again. Never forget.
There is that aspect as well. I just walk in like George Costanza when he pretends to be too busy to be bothered. 😂
Last new bIke i bought my 24 zx4rr msrp was 10,099. I was getting quotes locally of 12,500 12,600 otd. One shop was adding on top of freight/setup and taxes and docs fees. 389 misc fee's.
Ended up driving 4 hrs where I found a shop sold it to me. No freight no setup fees. Was in oregon so they didn't charge me taxes. I got it at msrp otd. I reg'd it paid taxes myself after everything saved $1200.
Similar experience when I bought my 21's ktm's. Both I bought at same time 250/150.
All the shops around here are all for the msrp + added on fee's. Rarely have any parts in stock minus things like oils maybe some gear or tires they might have.
Coming from someone who worked at a dealership for many years and tried my nuts off to make us the “moto” go to dealership in the area, 99% of local dealers simply don’t give a shit about stocking parts to make sure you can get to the next race. I haven’t bought one single thing from the dealer I worked at after I quit because I know they’re not going to have anything I want or need when I needed it. After I quit I used to drive past the place I worked and would drive another 30 minutes to a different dealer on the other side of town, but after their only moto guy got fed up and left the inventory dropped substantially and it was like pulling teeth trying to even get a brake lever for a current model KTM.
Selling $100 baseline HJC helmets to someone who just bought their first bike? That’s where their focus is.
I’d happily drive 30 minutes one way to order parts and support a quality local dealer, but until one appears I’ll continue ordering parts on my couch with my feet up and wait until they show up to my door.
rockymountainatvmc.com is the way to go..
I like calling shops for OEM parts with the OEM part numbers just to hear they don’t have it, then drive over and ask for an OEM x, y, z it out a part number and watch them grab exactly what I asked for on the phone with the PN blasted on the front of it. Can’t tell you how many times that’s happened.
I called once and gave the KTM OEM part number right off the fiche from RMATV and got hit with a “I can see if we have it, what bike is it for?” Just put the fuggin part number in Lightspeed 🤦🏻♂️
Agreed. Love the old TO years ago. Same with KSV years ago as well. We could go in and just BS for hours with the guys there. Simi is the only place you can still do that whether it’s Gary, Jeff, Duane, Kevin or even Nick(which I don’t know anywhere near as well as the others). I wish I was closer to them to go in more, but I have literally zero reason to ever be in that area anymore.
Lol!!!! Sounds about right! That response has always made me laugh
Many dealers have a modern checkout system that will track your purchases, usually based upon your phone number or email address. Now, if you don’t want to give them this information, then they won’t be able to remember that you spent thousands over the past few years.
That said, the new salespeople won’t automatically know you have a history, so you’ll have to let them know and then they can look it up. If they’re smart, they’ll treat you accordingly.
Is that snickers bar 2wd or 4wd ?
call your local dealer and if they dont have one, ask them to call around and do a trade. IOW, you can get your dealer to do the search for you
That doesn't really sound like a "relationship" so much as a spending history. Which maybe was what OP was actually talking about? Or was he talking about how you have to be "buds" with somebody at the dealer?
Pit Row
Let me guess, Power motorsports
I was just shopping around for a new 250 or 300 KTM and called a few places and some were hesitant to give me OTD pricing over the phone but a couple did. The couple that did had great prices, Best prices I saw were a 24 250XC for $7950 and a 2024 GasGas EX350 for $7500.
Unfortunately I was pretty set on a 300 and went with a low hour one last night and decided to keep my 2021 350 in the garage as well.
If he’s talking about a relationship with the shop owner, that could be possible with a small shop, but it is not likely to happen with a large, multi line powersports operation, where the millionaire owner is probably out on his boat most days. In that case, one’s spending history will be the only leverage available.
Honda has an Inventory locator on their website, but I do believe the dealer has to opt into it.
It eve let's us list units that have accessories added and what they are.
My local doesn't really have that much of a turnover I guess? I talk to the people there and ride with a lot of the employees. I know all of the 12~ employees by name and always shoot the shit when I'm in there. I pay less than online retail for all of my parts.
It's not like you're walking into a Walmart with 200 employees right?
The last bike I got was the easiest process ever, texted salesman and within 5 or so texts had a bike. no calls or any bs. Wired money as was ready to go.
I'll even plug my dealer. If you're ever doing a cross Canada tour, or the Lake Superior Circle tour, you'll drive right past. Swing on by! I'll probably be there bullshitting. 😆
https://www.excaliburmotorcycle.com/
Ayyyyy
the dealership model is archaic and needs to go away...why do we have to buy a bike from a dealer? Just have the manufacturer ship it right to my house...I don't know why ANYONE would ever use a dealer for service (there are local service shops around here that do the same service for a fraction of the cost)...and all parts (including OEM) can be purchased online...
The ONLY perk of a dealer, is if you wanted to trade in a bike when buying a new one...that wouldn't be possible buying online direct from the dealer...but that just means it would have to be sold directly. Not a big problem, minor inconvenience at best.
Warranty and service.
Generally, I agree.
Since we switched to Beta's ~7 years ago (and Sherco seems similar), the dealers i've worked with between a few of our moves seem to be much more of a mom-and-pop shop. Friendly, have parts, know the products, remember who you are and for the couple minor warranty things that come up are quick to get on it and repair.
If all dealers were like this, I'd be more inclined to have some level of loyalty if looking at other brands.
You guys complaining about dealerships are always in California. I feel bad for you guys. My local dealer has sponsored me for over 15 years and has always gone above and beyond to get me what I need at the best price. There's been several different parts and service guys in that time frame but I have built a relationship with many of them and most of them have always been helpful. I even use a competing dealer sometimes and they know that I am sponsored rider of the other dealership but they are still friendly and helpful and I want to support them as well.
Sounds to me like you have a people problem and not a problem with the motorcycle dealership model...
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