Thinking of selling my 05 ultra and buying one of the many 13's on dealer showrooms. Local dealer is not offering any thing off MSRP for 13 ultra . DO not want a 14 ultra. Any of you that have 13's with low miles i am looking.

 

Regarding trade-in values: The first question I ask myself...Would I pay $20,000 for a used 2012 Ultra Limited or would I step up a little more and get one of the new 2014's? Most want the 2014, for good reason. Its a vastly updated and improved bike..Full disclosure. I bought a 2014 Limited....With large numbers of riders looking to trade-up, it has to bring the used prices down. Most buyers are not going to buy a used bike unless it's a huge savings. The dealer must factor in that reduced demand, he is not in business just to help us get what we want, he must take in the old bike for a price that allows him to pay flooring cost as it sits, he has to pay a commission to the sales person, have the bike checked out for safety and then gamble on making a profit. I traded in a low mile sweet 2007 CVO Ultra. I was happy to get what was offered and really feel it was fair, considering the market. I purchased the new 2014 at MSRP. Something to think about.

Selling a bike on your own can be difficult or worse. I did not want strangers coming to my home, I did not want to worry about all the scams going on, It's not worth the extra grand or two that I might get.

If you do go for the 2014 Limited, you will be amazed at the improvement. Better in all respects.

 

I'm certain that all of you are aware of this - but in your excitement over getting a new ride don't forget, if you trade, you pay sales tax on the DIFFERENCE - if you don't trade, you pay sales tax on the FULL POP! So, if for instance, you think you will sell your ride for 18,000.00 and buy the new ride for 28,000.00, you will have to eat the sales tax on an extra 10,000.00. Take that into consideration and get enough for your bike to cover that difference. One way around this scenario is to get your buyer to agree to go to the dealer with you and show the bike as a trade in, then have the dealer "courtesy" bill it out to him for the agreed upon price. Usually the only cost your buyer will incur is "dealer prep" or a "documentary fee" if the dealer is charging everyone else one of these fees. The other hangup here is that the buyer will pay sales tax on the REAL purchase price. Most times our buyers want us to put a much smaller sales price figure on the title to save them money on the taxes.

 

In California you pay 100% of the sales taxes regardless. It does not matter if you have a trade-in or not, its the price we pay for the weather I guess?

Might as well look at the bright side cuzz I wont be able to change it.

 

Kalifornicate is a nice place to visit but this old pirate could never live there.

 

I don't have a crystal ball; I really think used values are going to drop over the next 12 months as more and more riders trade or sell their old bikes for the new ones. Once the motorcycle magazines hit the stands and more and more know about the 2014's it has to bring down the value of the older bikes. If you really want one, I would recommend trading or selling sooner vs later. The blue book and black book guides are going to reflect the market changes. In the car industry they update Kelly Blue Book weekly so that dealers can stay on top of changing markets.


If you have a bike that you are happy with; keep it. At the end of the day, they all do the same thing, put you in the wind.