When I get there there is a really beat up 2005 (that wasn't there on Friday) right in front. All scratched up, threads showing through the back tire, etc. I'm starting to get pissed...
Pissed about what? Did you bother to ask if the bike you had called about was at the dealership? From your post, you didn't, because the bike you wanted to see was in fact there. So...You got "pissed" about nothing.
He says oh no, you can only take it out for five minutes around the dealership. Well then, you can forget it...Comes back, owner says no, can't do that for insurance reasons (after he's asked for my insurance info). Now I'm starting to get up and walk out...I have to be back in about an hour fifteen. I feel like saying "and what's gonna happen if I'm not"
If you were selling your SV and some guy came to your house and wanted to take your bike out for an hour-15 would you let him? If you did let him, and he didn't come back by an hour-15 and 30 seconds, what would you think? Why do you think dealers are any different. They don't know if you can ride. They don't know if you are handing them a stolen bike to steal anohter one. They know NOTHING about you, yet you want them to trust you with $9k of their inventory? Sure...Their insurance may cover it if you crash it or steal it, but if someone crashed or stole your SV, how much will it cost you to replace it?
Stop by a local independent shop to see if they can take a quick look, but unfortunately the sign says they'll be back in 90 minutes.
Why would you stop there? Were you going to pay them the $45/hour to look at the bike, or were you expecting them to do you a favor too? If they did charge you, were you going to throw a hissy fit and be pissed about that too? Do you even know if the guys there are competent? I have $10 they couldn't even get the plastic off the FJR without a service manual.
Head back and sit back down with the sales guy. Now I'm starting to get annoyed.
So...Now you're annoyed again because you're not getting your way?
Sales guy is walking out with a temporary tag in his hand and the F&I guy has all the sales papaerwork printed out on his desk. Now I lose my temper, I told you four or five times that I wasn't buying the bike but would give you a deposit and come back on Wed.
Don't let this surprise you...That's what dealerships do. They SELL bikes. No one likes to hold a bike for someone with a deposit, becasue if the customer comes back and demands thier deposit back, the dealership has to refund it. Lots of people have pulled this scam having one dealership hold a bike/car with a deposit while they go test drive another one and try to make a second deal. People with crappy credit are notorious for leaving deposits and then going searching for financing they will never get. Meanwhile, the car/bike is sitting, unable to be shown becasue it's "sold."
A private seller will do it. Not many dealerships want to deal with holding someone's money. They want to sell you the bike so you take ownership and believe it is yours.
...but I need to sign the papers to hold the bike. I ask him if he thinks I'm an idiot, once I sign the papers I have bought the bike and I have said repeatedly that I'm not doing that. Somewhat heated conversation with the F&I guy goes down, what would happen that you wouldn't want to buy the bike, how do we know your serious, a discussion about if deposits are refundable, this is our policy, etc.
So I walk, stopping to tell the sales guy to let me know if they change their mind about holding the bike for a few days with a deposit.
YES...You need to sign papers so they can sell you the bike. Really??
I don't think he's actually a bad guy, but I'm officially pissed off now and even drop the first f-bomb of the day(actually somewhat surprising for me that it's the first one). Calls ends relatively well with him saying I can tell you are frustrated, why don't we talk next week?
If you woulda dropped that f-bomb on my or one of my guys, you would have been hung up on and we would have never done business with you again. The fact that the salesman held it togethe and actually offered to call you next week says alot about his character.
Now that I'm all calmed down and thinking rationally again, I realize that I really do want to buy this bike. My plan is to call them tomorrow and say we can do $8,500 but I want you to throw in an engine oil, gear oil and coolant change (they do not have records for the 6,000 mile service). Also, I do want to trade my SV and I want them to pull the Penske off it for me and mount some new tires on the FJR as part of the deal (the tires aren't terrible but they are the originals and it lloks like Motorcycle Superstor has a pretty good sale and I can get a set of Pilot Road IIIs for ~ $300 delivered, so why not?).
So...NOW, here is the problem with leaving your deposit. Because now, you want them to make the same deal you were willing to sign off on, but you want them to sweeten the deal for you. Dealer service department oil changes are around $200. The gear oil will be another $50. The coolant change is probably around $300 due to the labor involved. You now want to trade in the bike you got mad at the salesman about AND you want them do at least another $50 worth of work for you to benefit YOU...AND you want them to mount $500 of new tires for you at around $40 per tire to mount...so you want $1140 worth of stuff added to your deal, but you won't pay any more, and you'll never go back to them for service?
Tell me how this is a win for THEM?
So, does this seem like a reasonable deal?
Nope
They want to finance the bike and make the $$$ in the deal. Screw them. Keep looking you'll find the perfect FJR deal soon enough, Buy from a private seller, besides Black sucks!
