"Mystery" dealership

[pechorin75_imp]

There's a Honda dealer in my hometown that has old inventory like that. He has an 1100XX Blackbird that's brand new. When did they stop making them, almost 10 years ago? He will not deal off MSRP, either. I guess he stays in business because some people don't know to not pay full price.

Yikes...I think the last XXs came in 2003. Unless they have it "pickled" pretty well, a bike that's been sitting unridden that long could have some real issues. At this point he must just be hoping it'll be worth something as an antique someday. Good luck with that...

I'm not sure anything will compare to Harley dealerships in the late 90's and early 2000's. Buyers would happily pay 20-30% over MSRP, they'd bribe the managers to get moved up on the waiting lists (often a year long). A friend bought a Buell he didn't really want just to get on the list to buy a Fat Boy a year later. It blew up in '08 though when all that home equity money dried up. Ft. Lauderdale went from 4 dealerships to 1 in two years.

It's interesting to browse Craigslist and see the ridiculous prices guys are still hoping to fetch for Harleys from that era. They're trying to sell something 12-14 years old with 30,000 miles for about the same price you'd pay for a 2 year-old version of (essentially) the same bike.

Times change....

[kmoney_imp]

Curious if anyone knows what the actual cost or pricing scheme would be to hold a dealer franchise. We have a little hole in the wall here that is a licensed Suzuki dealer. They have never had a single new bike (at least that I have seen) and all their income seems to come from gear, maintenance + dyno work and used bikes. Just seems odd that they would bother going through the process of maintaining their status as an AD unless it is free (i.e. no recurring fees and the manufacturer makes their money floorplanning bikes).

[The Spaceman_imp]

Yeah, I know all about the Harley wait lists back then, and the dealers did suffer when the market blew up, but H-D themselves sure didn't suffer. They went from worldwide sales of a little under 100,000 units (then) to the 300,000 units today.

That's true, and although they had a HUGE (almost 50%) drop in sales volume '08 to '10, they've managed to recover nicely. Although I thought it was pretty outrageous that they lined up for a government bail-out after all those gravy years. I guess they manage their money about as well I as manage mine.

A lot of long-time HD franchise owners got crushed in the process though. HD demanded they build "Taj-Mahal" stores, or even multiple stores, to keep their franchise. I don't know if you've seen it in your area, but a LOT of HD franchises in FL changed hands in the past couple of years because the prior owners went deep into debt to meet HD's requirements and couldn't make the payments when the sales dropped off.

[AzBob_imp]

I'm always mystified by the attitudes and practices described in this thread by dealers. Apparently, they don't know how to do simple arithmetic, vis-a-vis depreciation, net present value, etc. They most likely did not pay cash for the bikes from the manufacturers -- they're financed. Every second the thing sits on the floor, they lose money, whether they own the property or not. If they would drop their prices a bit, they'd sell a hell of a lot more product. Airlines are masters of figuring out the sweet spot of price vs. volume, something mom & pop shops just don't seem to have any interest in learning. "It's worked for us for 40 years, why change now?" "Worked" is relative and amorphous.

[ClassicVW_imp]

They can have a lower net profit on new bike sales because they more than make up for it by aggressively selling needed services like coolant changes on our CBs !