big crock of crap!

[Bailey28]

Hey everyone!

Listen to this! I just walked out of my local dealership- Streits motorsports in Gainesville FL after they told me that in addition to the regular MSRP on a new 650l that I had to pay a "shipping charge" of $400.00. Then pay an $80.00 prep fee! I understand the prep, but never before have I heard of this shipping crap! I have bought three new dirt bikes throughout the years and have never been assessed a fee for shipping, and prep always went for $75-$100. So, in other words, if you haggle with them about the price, they knock off the bogus charge and you wind up paying list for the damn thing anyway. I guess they think you will feel like you got a good deal. Thanks for the input, if you've ever experienced this major shaft!

[Jeremy]

The only price that matters is out the door. My local dealer wanted about $600 more for my bike than a dealer in Los Angeles. The problem was that my dealer charged me $50 freight and prep and the LA dealer was charging more than $800 freight and prep. The out-the-door price at my local dealer ended up more than $200 cheaper. Low up-front prices sound great, but they mean nothing once they are artificially inflated. I discovered this dealer (Honda/Suzuki of Madera) when another nearby dealer tried to charge me $600 freight and prep for a GSXR. I told them to be honest and call it additional dealer profit, but they insisted that it was an "honest" charge they incurred. Honda of Madera charged me $100. Now I take my business to Honda of Madera. Price is important, but it's equally important to find someone that you trust and will take care of you for the years to come, not just today.

[TX-SANDMAN]

I live around Houston and was willing to drive with a smile on my face the 150 miles to Louisiana to save 2K. in town they wanted 6400.00 OTD and I paid 4600.00. OK maybe not 2k but darn close. Cash talks and OTD means the most!

[qadsan]

I just ordered my XR650R from out of state and saved $1,000 over the best price I could find within 45 miles of where I live and I was treated very well. In the process of shopping, I had several local dealers who assured me that if I came down in person to talk to them, they'd either meet my best price or come very close it, but it all ended up being a complete waste of time for everyone involved because they weren't willing to even come close to the OTD price I got.

They knew very well before I made the trip that they weren't going to come close to meeting my price, but all they've done by doing this is ruined their future potential for business with myself, family & friends. I was planning on buying two Honda XR200's and one Honda XR100 before Christmas for the rest of the family and my brother was 'possibly' going to buy a CRF450, but I won't be buying from my local dealers since they didn't want to play straight on my first purchase. All they had to do was simply say something like "I can't beat that price" or "The best I can do is..." instead of trying to pull the bait and trap crap game.