Not in Kentucky. You pay sales tax on the full price of the bike, not the difference.

 

The dealer does not want a cash deal they want to finance you. They get paid either way but with the financing the profit margin is increased. It is how the business model works.
Here is what you can do.
Go for MOCO financing. This will enable you to snag a price roughly 10% below MSRP.
ALSO: Tell the sales mgr you want 20% all future purchase of HD accessories for your MC. You know you are gonna be buying things right?
After one month, you call HD financing for a payoff quote and send them a check for your outstanding balance. You will have paid interest for only one month.
Trust me. This works.

 

I went to several dealers but all wanted MSRP. In fact most of them wanted OVER MSRP and included BS charges like "prep" and "environmental crate disposal fee" on top of that, but if you call them on that stuff they won't put up much of a fight and come DOWN to MSRP pretty quickly ... in fact, the sales guy that I dealt with kind of said they don't EXPECT anyone to pay that stuff, but it doesn't hurt to ask. Sucker born every minute.

The only difference was the sales tax rate from one county to the next. Eventually, the local dealer that I bought my Buell from discounted the price of the bike to offset the lower sales tax I would have paid elsewhere and threw in $2000 in gift cards and 20% off parts. Considering the bike was ordered for me from the factory and wasn't off the showroom floor I think it was decent. Especially since while I was there to sign the papers for the bike someone saw it and offered the dealer $2000 over MSRP for it. It was a white 2012 RKC. It was a cash deal.

Generally, the dealer won't want to budge too far from MSRP on a cash sale because they make a bunch of money on financing (I think the rate is like 10% at the LOW end) - The dealer still has to make money somewhere...it's just a lot easier to hide it with financing and make you feel like you're getting a deal. So when you say "I just want an out-the-door cash price" you're pretty much taken away every opportunity the dealer has to play the "hide my commission" shell game and MSRP markup is all they got. Harley Corporate also discaurages selling bikes at below MSRP unless there's a damn good reason to protect the price point. You're more likely to get "added value" than you are to get a lower price so you may want to look at it this way: you're going to pay MSRP or damn close (unless you live in the middle of nowhere)...how much can you get? You can probably get a few grand in accessories and labor.

 

Bummer, oh well, you got yourself a good deal on the bike. I miss South Dakota, used to live there, when it came to buying used, they didn't charge tax at all, that was nice.

 

Good point! My dealer automatically includes a parts/accessories and service discount for 1 year after purchase. I can do a lot of damage in a year, just ask my wife.

 

Always amazing how many dealers won't come off MSRP. I knew people and was having a hard time getting off MSRP. I played a few against each other and then ended up getting my best deal 2 hours away in another state. It was about $2,500 and the bike was in-stock so I rode it home.

Just b4 heading out to that dealer to finalize things, I stopped by my local dealer one last time. Went straight to the Sales Manager. Told him the deal I was getting elsewhere but was giving them one last chance to match. That I would rather support my local dealer. They still wouldn't come off MSRP. Off I went o buy my bike. They even bought the family and I lunch at a nice deli and threw in t-shirts.

Bought in Delaware which is tax-free. Had to pay MD the tax anyway though. If I had it to do over again I would've started an LLC in Delaware and saved another grand.