Get over there and talk to someone who can make a deal. that used bike is probably one of the few things You can negotiate a real deal on. If you have cash, the owner will be more apt to sell it to you chea if you tell him something like " I'll give you $12,000, $8,000 on the reciept and $4,000 in the hand. At this point he'll be glad of the cash in hand.

 

I'm thinking your numbers are a little high here George, not that it changes much. I'm pretty sure the moco shipped 352,000 two years back and expected to finish 07" with 18,000 less.

 

I'm sure you are right about the final numbers Wally. 400K was just sticking in my head, but like you said, 352K or a few less won't really impact the what's been going on.
Fact is that it will be a rough and bumpy ride over the next few years for those who aren't liquid, or for those who have given their customers enough reason "during the good times" to go elsewhere.

Ipredict that we'll start seeing ahugely competitive marketplace, which may lead into a total dog fight in the next few years. Tons of dealers like mine have built multi-million dollar facilities, with equally huge facilities just 40 miles away in either direction, along with the responsibility ofa huge weekly payroll to run them.
It ain't gonna be pretty......

 

The Key is just as you said... How were the customers treated previously when times were good?

 

Very important. Customer service will be the key. If they treated you well in past you will be inclined to use them in the future. Biggs must have pissed on few peoples cornflakes in the past. This could of been a contributing factor but probably one none the less.

 

Extended warranties can be handled by other dealers, but.....

What happens to the prepaid maintainance agreements? Isnt' that a local dealer item? I bet there's gonna be a lot of p.o. customers that bought those...

 

I would be very leary of offering anything cash or otherwise for anything involved with a defunct dealership. Unless they can guarantee a lien free, merchantable title to the goods I purchased, and that probably would take a ruling from a bankruptcy judge. If you're not careful, you may end up paying for that bike twice.

I predict a major consolidation within the MoCo's dealer organization with little guys in good territories being bought out and others in dead areas closing up for good. We consumers will end up with less dealer competition for our businessafter this process completes itself.

The MoCo can simply cut way back production, lay off workers, shut down a line or two and survive the economic down turn till it comes back...A dealership isn't so equiped. They have payroll to meet every week, Daily fixed expenses, andcan't just shutter the doors and wait it out for better times.

 

When a bussiness goes belly up it is always cause by poor management, poor ownership and not taking care of the customers. Try to do bussiness without a customer and see how long are you going to last. The one part I hate is when this owners usually inherit the business that their ancestors started and then they run it to the ground because the lack of experience and wanting to overrule their managers.

Also the so called managers that they put in place that do not have a clue in running a bussiness.
I have seen it so many times over and over...

 

I beleive it was a thread here that referred to the MoCo changing the way they built relying on the old pre-order method for more instead of the Automaker method they have been usng for the past few years.... Thatshould hit our local Mikes Famous dealership as they do a lot of financing and selling the preconfigured bikes.

 

If you think Biggs is having a tough time, just take a ride up to Quade in Temecula. There prices are rediculous... They had an 03 Herritage up there with 20K miles for 16 grand, and an 07 deluxe with a chrome front end and a "Special" pink and black 2 tone paint job (nothing special about it other than someone had to paint it) for 28K.... For god sakes man, how can they charge those kind of prices and stay in buisness?

Chris