Went to the nearest one, found the bike I wanted, bought it.

 

I went to 5 dealers around Cleveland.I knew what bike I wanted and 3 of them had it in stock.I then went with the best price.It was the dealer that was farthest away.So when I picked it up it was a sweet 50 mile ride home.

 

I was stationed in Norfolk, VA and the 3 local dealers did not treat me like someone in customer service should. No greeting when I was browsing thru the bikes. Prices nowhere near MSRP. Most every dealer I have gone to on the east coast was the same way. There were some exceptions but I was not ready to buy new at the time. When I transferred to NY I went to school in Pensacola, FL. The local dealer in NY was pretty much the same as the VA dealers. The Pensacola dealer was way worse. Snotty, snooty... I drove out to Mobile, AL for S&G's and customer service was great. Greeted at the door, but not pressured. Prices were on the bikes and they were MSRP. Salesman was a good guy. Didn't try to BS me on anything. It helped that his name was Gene. (same as mine). Gave me some free shirts. Got a free local chapter membership for a year but didn't use it since I was headed to NY. They let me take the bike and leave my truck at the dealer til the next day. Gave me a HD helmet. Loaded it on my truck for me after I put about 300 miles on it the first day. Everyone I met there was down to earth. Service manager, parts manager, motorclothes chick. I was satisfied.
Anything else I need I have an indy here local. Don't like to deal with the dealer for anything but warranty if I ever need to.

 

I chose the one with the bike I wanted but I will not do that next time. I will get the dealer I now trust to get the bike I want.

 

I live in a rural area with only two dealers within a reasonable distance. Only one had the bike I wanted. Turned out to be one of the bad dealers. Wise azz sales manager lying jerk owner and lying service writer. Of couse that was after I paid for the bike.

Went to the other dealer since then for parts and will buy my next bike there.

 

I chose my local Harley dealer although other nearby dealers offered incentives like $500 in free accessories or other little perks. I have known the people at my local shop for a long time and although they don't offer any freebies it was important to keep my business with them. I guess it's a loyalty thing. Plus, the service guy there is very good and has been there over 20 years.

 

They were the third dealer I went to. The first tried to lie and told me he was selling at msrp. But when I added everything up it was $800 over MSRP. I don't deal with people who try to cheat me.

The second dealership acted like they didn't want to sell me a bike. Told me he didn't know if they could accept a check from USAA (MY finance company). Told me I couldn't buy the bike because my wife's address on her driver's license didn't match my address. Like wtf difference did it make to him. I had listened to him not trying to sell me the bike for about a half an hour and then I told him to go f@@@ himself and left.


Third dealership told me how much the bike was. Told me they had already gotten 3 checks from USAA for bikes that week. Had the bike in the color I wanted and were actually not rude. Go figure.

 

Drove pastthenearest dealer on my way to work every day over a 2-3 year period. I'd stop in to look at bikes about every other month. Always greeted and askedif I needed help, generally by one particular salesman. He always had time to chat,busy or not, even though heknew I was only looking. The time frame was so long heactually had even left for a few months and came back.

The week before I bought, I visited three other dealers that had the same model in stock that I intended to buy. Explained straight up to each that I would be walking into a dealer thefollowing Wednesday and buying a bike with cash. Had each give me the best price they would sell at. Got a good feel for how their pricing compared to MSRP.

On that Wednesday, I went into nearest dealer that I had been visiting regularly. Using the pricing comparisons, I told my friendly salesman that I would buy on the spot this particular bike, with this particular list of installed accessories, for this exact dollar amount. He walked into their business office and came back in a matter of minutes and said we're good to go.

-stef

 

I contacted my closestdealer after I knew what I wanted. I called all of them in the arearequesting the bike and what model, color and setup. If you want to believe it or not a couple of them never called me back. I went with who I knew and got a fair deal. In this kind of economy a simple call back we don't have the bike and can't get itor could I show you something else would have gone a long way. I made sure I went into the other dealers who had not returned my calls to make sure that they knew I was indeed in the market after I had purchased a new bike.

 

After we decided to but a touring bike & started shoping I went to all 7 dealers within 100 miles of us to feel them out. After multiple trips to each one over the course of six months we bought from the one closest to us. They were always pleasant, helpful, no pressure and it turns out the service dept. is pretty good too.