Hi,

Im thinking about trading my bike for another one at a smaller used bike dealer. Ive always bought my bikes from an owner not a dealer and Ive never traded one in before. Ive always sold mine outright. Any opinions on the preliminary numbers the dealer has thrown at me?

My bike: 96 Electra Glide Classic 55k miles fuel injected. Good condition.

Dealer bike: 01 Screamin Eagle Road Glide 28k miles. Good condition.

Dealer wants to give me 5000 and will sell me the RG for 10500. The price on the RG seams fair but the I think Im getting low balled on my trade.

Any opinions or ideas on how to negotiate a better deal?

 

I know I'd pay $5,000 for a good running Harley tourer in a second if I was in the market. That's Sportster money.

On the other hand they need to make money and that's ok. BUT if they would hold to that sale price on the new bike without a trade and you like that price then maybe you'd want to sell the EG privately? Just remember if you negotiated with the trade figured into the equation up front it's only fair if they change their price- they've factored in what they can get for your trade already. Some people don't want or need the hassle of selling privately.

 

The market value on a '96 doesn't seem to be more than 6K-7k (looking at sold bikes on eBay) so that's probably a pretty fair trade in price. You might be able to get a tad more out of him, I seriously doubt that he gave you his top trade in price. you can probably get 500-1K more out of him. It may be off the bike price partially, but that doesn't really matter now. Don't expect him to come down much until you are ready to go in an write the check. Hope it works out for you.

 

Trade in price seems reasonable considering. Determine your botttom dollar, tell the dealer what it is, leave your number and go home. If he doesn't call you in a couple days you know you have to go higher. I did that when I bought my sons bike and the wifes car. On the bike I wasn't 5 minutes away when they called, on the wifes car we weren't even buckled up yet.

 

Would he take $10K on a cash deal? Could you get $6500 for your bike on a private party sale? Is it worth paying an extra $2000 for the luxury of not dealing with the sale of your bike? It wouldn't be for me, but its not my deal.

 

$5,500 for a bike that is 5 years newer, has 27,000 less miles and is a Screaming Eagle seems like a good deal to me.

 

..personally I don't think the trade-in offer is out of line, BUT!, due to the LOW miles for a bike as old as yours, I think you could pretty easily get $6500 this spring(now). Think of how many guys out there who want a full dresser, but don't have $15-$20 grand for a newer one... I bet yours would sell in a week...either or it's a fair deal, but I would throw it on Craig's list, then offer cash on the SE bike....good luck

 

sometimes you have to strike when the iron is hot though. yeah, he maybe able to get more out of his bike on private sale, but that price on a screamin eagle bike is pretty darned good. theres a good chance that if he doesn't get it now, then when he does sell his bike, it'll be gone.

plus, look at the tax liability as well. if he trades his bike in, that's 5g that he doesn't have to pay tax on. so he gets a thousand more in private sale, but has to pay $450 or more in sales tax.... that thousand is now like $500. worth it to me to let the dealer handle it.

 

Sell your's yourself if you can.. for $7 K.
Offer him $9 K settle for $9.7 or so.
Best of both worlds..

Or, take his deal..
What's your hurry?

 

If you haven't negotiated with him, ask for 6000 for trade and 9500 for the new one, expect to split it or at least get 500 more on either side. I suspect that extra 500 on the 10500 is a dealer fee, so you can mention he's already getting a hefty dealer fee. $500 is almost 5% of the 10500, whereas a new bike, it would only be 2-3%.

Make sure you find out what the "out the door" price is for the bike you are buying. Make sure you thank him/her if you get what you want or expect.