Remember that HD is skimming a license fee off of every item manufactured and sold to the dealer.

 

Going back to the OP, I think we've learned the answer is, "no". No one can tell you the "invoice price" as it's been come to be known, in the manner of a kbb or edmunds. Dunno why, but the info doesn't appear to be "out there".

Fact is, many, if not most, pay around MSRP for a new HD. Some find deals (leftovers, hungry dealers, poorer selling machines, etc...), some bend over and take it hard and deep (brand new model, buying in the spring, etc...). Some straight up lie about the deal they got to make themselves feel better, so it's going to be tough to tell if you got boned, or the deal of the century. I think most of us would agree that a "good" deal is straight up MSRP out the door, with no BS added, and some goodies thrown in (whether that is some gear, some service, or a discount on parts).

I think you should be encouraged to go ahead and try to do better. It's an "at will" process, you don't have to buy it at their price, they don't have to sell it to you at your price.

Good luck.

 

Maybe this will help, I was talking to a guy at the River Run who had a brand new Limited. He said he and his wife (She picked the color, which was very nice) when they started looking got prices from 24K to almost 33K. The first one they knew they were getting their chain yanked,and the last one they almost choked on.
His final deal with all the bells and whistles was around 27K. They were from the L.A. area so the had a wide selection of dealers to work with.

 

Your post makes way too much sence. .. ......We cannot have that on this forum!

 

I wasn't flaming the OP....and it is indeed a legitimate question, but it has little use in negotiating a final price with a Harley dealer. For many of us the competing dealerships are significant distances...which eliminates a great deal of competitive pressure (as compared to auto dealerships). In my neck of the woods it's 300 miles to the next dealerships (and they're located in a much larger metropolitan area, with much higher average household disposable income, and therefore even less likely to sell below MSRP).

For a the purchaser of a Harley, the biggest leverage you've got is what kind of other stuff they might be willing to throw in to get you to make that purchase at MSRP....and shopping that information around with what the limited number of competitors might offer....and then weighing the disadvantages of buying a bike with a distant dealer. Sure, MoCo is going to cover legitimate warranty items at any dealership, but if you have the good fortune of having a decent local dealer, you're going to get better treatment there because they're looking at the long-term profit prospect of being the pusher to a seriously addicted HD junky. Face it, HD ain't Walmart...these bikes are high-end luxury drugs.

 

Ok, I'll tell you this, I was a Sales and Finance mgr for a mid sized Harley dealership in 05 and 06. I kept all MSOs locked in my desk. The only people who saw the "true cost" of any bike in our inventory was myself, the GM, and the owner. The profit for a touring bike was somewhere between 3500 and 4300 (06 dollars). The dealer will really make his nut on the Screamin Eagle bikes, their profit will range from 6500 to 8000, depending on the model. After a bike sells, the MSO $ number and the floor plan fees are deducted (rent most dealers pay Harley Davidson to keep the bike on the floor) from the final sales price. This is the bottom line profit that the dealer realizes on the bike sale. One more thing, when a dealer sells a bike, the shipping charges are reimbursed from HD, so the freight charges the buyer pays is pure profit for the dealer.

 

My uncle was a historian, and avid collector of antique tools--the items that helped build this country. Most were bought at auctions.

His favorite saying (poking fun at himself), was, "Value is established when two fools want the same thing."

No different when dealing on a vehicle. If there are no other customers, a dealer will negotiate more. If demand exceeds his inventory, why should he?

 

The invoice is NOT what the bike costs the dealer. It is his initial purchase price that he is paying interest on the loan to floor plan it. He then has utilities, insurance, real estate property tax, employee wages and benefits, phone, internet service and the big one paying for his building and the cost of all the parts and inventory that must be carried. Don't you understand that many have went out of business in the last year and many more are failing?

The overhead costs of a HD dealerships are higher than car dealers per unit sold. All are having a tough time right now.

I almost forgot the salesman's commission.

 

If you guys think that dealers only make a few thousand per bike, then your kidding yourself. That $9800 markup sounds right. You need to factor in the overhead. After all that, the dealer still has to make a profit. Otherwise what's the point of being in business?

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by golfblues

I don't know why no one will just answer the OP's question....
$15,789.28 is the cost!
OK, was that hard fellows?

HEY FOLKS, I"M QUOTING golfblues PRICE. I didn't come up with it. In fact I was a little stunned when I did the math..... Don't yell at me! If that number is good, then it explains some of the other comments..... That's all I'm saying.