09-02-2014, 11:17 PM
I do not believe that dealers can special order a bike from Honda. If this were possible, why wouldn't every dealer take a deposit from you and then put the order in? It's a guaranteed sale for him and no need for him to "buy" it from Honda and keep on his showroom floor unsold. I think what is being done are dealer transfers.
I've done auto transfers when I was a salesman and it's a true PITA. The dealer office has to do some paperwork, the dealership has to approve letting go something in the dealer swap, and it's usually something they don't want to let go, and the salesman needs to bring the swap and take back the vehicle he is selling to his customer. Depending on distance, the salesman is out of the dealership for several hours, maybe even the better part of a day. Also, when you show up at the other dealership, they just don't drop everything and take care of you. You will probably wait around more than an hour while their office does the paperwork, accept the swap vehicle, and goes and gets the vehicle you are taking. So you can't meet any new walk-ins at your dealership and may miss another sale. Since he's working on a commission basis, when all his time and trouble is factored in, he's probably making like $40 on the sale. This is why many dealers won't do it.
I've done auto transfers when I was a salesman and it's a true PITA. The dealer office has to do some paperwork, the dealership has to approve letting go something in the dealer swap, and it's usually something they don't want to let go, and the salesman needs to bring the swap and take back the vehicle he is selling to his customer. Depending on distance, the salesman is out of the dealership for several hours, maybe even the better part of a day. Also, when you show up at the other dealership, they just don't drop everything and take care of you. You will probably wait around more than an hour while their office does the paperwork, accept the swap vehicle, and goes and gets the vehicle you are taking. So you can't meet any new walk-ins at your dealership and may miss another sale. Since he's working on a commission basis, when all his time and trouble is factored in, he's probably making like $40 on the sale. This is why many dealers won't do it.