I've gotten pretty good at negotiating when it comes to a car lease or purchases. My wife's car last year listed at $28,xxx. but we managed to get the OTD price at $23K. We felt pretty good. This was 2 years ago when the economy as kicking @ss.

2 weeks ago we stopped at our local HD dealer to look at all the new pretty shiny bikes and were convinced to test drive one of their ultra classics. My wife loved it, I loved it, and I could also trade in my 1 year old FXD. Well, they offered a very low trade-in for my 08 FXD and would not budge on the price of the new Ultra - OTD $23,600. WTF? Not 1 little dollar less.

more relevant to this site -
Figuring the new touring HD would have to wait I figured I'd try to trade my KLX in for what I've been wanted for years - DR-z400SM. I called and they had 2, both white. I really wanted a black one but I figured I'd go check them out anyhow.

Long story short - 2 hours of arguing with the sales guy - final verdict, trade-in for my 2006 KLX250 was $1600. Cost of the new toy would be $6699.00 + freight + dealer fees + tax +title + whatever else they could think of. OTD ~$7800.00. Again, they would not budge on either price.

WTF I thought the economy was bad. I know last year I could have talked this bike down to $6000.00 at least.

 

try a different dealership. im sure some are more eager for a sale than others depending on location/business.

 

otdcyclesports.com you won't find lower prices out the door hence OTD.

 

Well I guess your not as good a negotiater as you think you are.

 

True True. May need to rethink my strategy

 

Wile brand new things are getting more expensive in this economic crisis, you will find 2nd hand things are getting cheaper!

Look around at the 2nd hand models .

 

$1600 trade in value!! Holy crap, I'd just keep it for sure! At least you don't pay taxes on that 1600 of value if you traded. :-)

 

Its just the wrong time of year to haggle on Bikes. You can get a killer deal on a snowmobile right now. Wait until November if you want to worm them into a deal.

 

Car dealers, especially Saturn (one of the worst off) aren't dealing either. It's as if they're unaware that car sales are in the toilet. I finally just resolved myself to keep my 2006 Mazda with 9000 miles on it and a 6yr/100K warranty. Their loss. :-)

 

""Its just the wrong time of year to haggle on Bikes.""
That's what I was thinking. This is prime time for bike sales.