Gouda welcome to the forum. All the upgrades put on the used one are good ones that are well liked and on point. I would negotiate on that bike. Still plenty of mods left to do to make her yours.

 

Welcome Gouda,

The choice would be a no-brainer for me. If the prices are more or less the same I'd pick the new one over the already customized used one, mostly because you'll know the exact history of the new one. And as DL points out, you can enjoy making it your own instead of living with someone else's choices that might not be quite what you'd have chosen, or trying to justify changing something out that's already been changed.

My guess is that the dealer didn't give the previous owner much for the changes he made, but I'll bet they are going to add those costly items into the price of the bike. Still, could be a good deal if the changes are exactly what you'd have picked, but then you still won't know the history.

My 2018 LR is also my first Harley. Used with about 3K mikes, but was bone stock.

 

Where are you located and what type of price are you shooting for out the door? Feel free to PM me if you don’t want to post it.

I got my 2020 FXLRS for $17k OTD right after it was released and when dealers across the country were trying to up-charge over MSRP. There are other people who got a brand new FXLRS for about ~$17k OTD and I’ve even heard better than $17k OTD. The actual dealer cost for a FXLRS is about 85% MSRP, so they actually do have plenty of wiggle room. So unless you are getting some insane deal on the used 2020 and those upgrades are exactly what you want, I’d be looking at the brand new 2020 at a discount or even negotiate for a 2021. Unless someone lives in CA and absolutely needs to buy a bike in CA for emissions, I have no idea why folks are so reluctant to travel to another dealer and even another state or spend a weekend negotiating over the phone. In the past I’ve literally hopped on a plane to purchase a bike if the price was good enough.

Also, if any dealer is saying they can’t come down on prices or these bikes are selling hot right now I’d laugh, that’s not the case. There are plenty of dealers who are drastically discounting old new stock, now that the 2021s are out. In fact, right now Moonshine HD in TN ( very well known large dealer) is offering a free 131 HD big bore kit or custom 128 kit with any purchase of a 2020 FXLRS at MSRP. So I’d be curious to know what type of discount your dealer is offering.

 

Agreed. Money is money. Though, if you get a smoking deal I'm going to start doubting everything I've read over the hears about that great Harley resale value. ;-)

 

Thank you, it's nice to be here!

Pretty much the only price I could get over the phone that wasn't MSRP on a new bike was for the used, modded one. He mentioned $19k, which is ridiculous for a year-old bike with $1.8k in parts. I'm open to having a conversation with them in person, and I'm thinking it wouldn't feel right unless they were willing to come down to around $16k. Another factor is the dealer will pay the sales tax on a used bikes only this month. That would save quite a bit, but I'm not willing to let them make it back by inflating the pre-tax price.

Appreciate all the insight on market prices. So the dealer cost is about $15.3k on the $18k MSRP? Great info for negotiating.

I'm located in Northwest WA, way up here by Canada, so the closest half-dozen dealers are 1-3 hours away. I'm not opposed to traveling for a bargain, and I've considered that on previous purchases. If I could stay local, that's more convenient, and I'd rather stay off of planes right now. That means a potential road trip, but realistically limits my range for dealerships. The included BB kit at MSRP is really intriguing. I haven't heard of an offer like that from the dealers I've talked to so far. It's been a headache to even get them to name any starting price at all over the phone, and no one has been willing to start any negotiation without an in-person visit. I wonder if my experience with the dealers in the PNW is unique compared to the rest of the US, or if I've just had bad luck so far.

​​​​​​​lol right?

 

(double post)

 

Here’s how I negotiate and have had luck for years (cars and HDs): draft up an email and send it directly to the Sales Manager and cc the General Manager. Only discuss OTD price and mention you are ready to place a deposit via cc over the phone before stepping into a dealer in person. This is 2021, not 1985, dealers are very accustomed to digital negotiating and digital marketing or else they’d be out of business; regardless where you are in the country. The idea of getting you in person is because a HD purchase is an emotional one, not a necessity such as a car or commuter type motorcycle. Emotions are easy to sway when you’re in person at a dealer and standing in front of a bike.

In the email clearly state you are contacting xx number of dealers within xx miles or hours of your location. You are intended to purchase a bike as soon as possible and even say you are willing to close out the deal and pickup this weekend for instance. $17k OTD is 100% reasonable for a vivid black FXLRS, especially a 2020 left over. If a dealer says otherwise, go somewhere else. Send this email to as many dealers as possible within so many hrs of where you live. You will absolutely get plenty of responses asking for you to come in person or saying they won’t negotiate via email.....but I can guarantee you will get some that 100% will negotiate via email. Especially with COVID, you can clearly state you are only ready to purchase a bike and stop in a dealer when it’s time to sign and you are not willing to negotiate in person beforehand due to safety.

With an FXLRS it’s easy.... there are only 2 options for 2020 and 2 options for 2021....color. So if one dealer has a bike, it’s not like it’s unique to that dealer unless they already installed a bunch of accessories, which should be irrelevant. I sent out my emails to about 15 or 20 dealers and received offers from about 10....and great offers I might add. I then took those offers and used them as leverage to negotiate even further....it’s a game. The dealer will still make a profit, even at $17k OTD. Plus remember, some dealers get incentives to sell units as much as they get incentives to make money on a sale. So, selling a certain amount of units in some cases could be more important than reaching a certain profit for the month.....in addition, they absolutely need to get rid of 2020 models if they plan to get more 2021 models delivered; that’s just how it works. In addition, being where you are, it’s the off season I would assume and not dead in the middle of riding season, even better to negotiate.

BTW, I’ve seen multiple dealers this time of year doing ‘free’ 131 big bore offers with a new bike purchased at full MSRP. Of course, they get you with the tuner, installation fees and exhaust on top of the price though.

 

I don't know how much has changed over the last few months and how much it depends on where you are buying, but when I bought my 2020 the dealer gave me MSRP, but wouldn't negotiate anything below that. He was pretty honest in saying it was Harley's most popular model at that time, and the inventory around the country was incredibly tight, so they just weren't going to cut the price.

 

All depends on the dealer or what story they are trying to tell. The local dealer by me had 6 FXLRS in stock, yes, 6. Plenty of inventory and this was a few months back when supposedly HDs were so hard to find....they even had custom color ones and one with a 131 pre-installed:

 

Unfortunately, when I bought mine, I went the email route and got nothing. Unlike your experience with the dealer having 6 on the floor, most of the dealers here (Denver area) had none, or only one in gray, which I didn't want.