BakerBoy
Well-known member
https://www.costcoauto.com/powersports/
I recently went through the Costco Auto Program (CAP) through the above link in attempting to buy a FJR, and thought it worth describing here.
Upon submitting my information into the CAP website form (info: bike of interest, name, phone number, Costco Member number, email address, and consenting to CAP following up on the dealer's Pricing sheet), the CAP system immediately sent me an email providing the nearest Authorized Dealership with the names and phone numbers of the Authorized Contacts in sales at that dealership.
One of those salesman (happened to be their sales manager, who also sold me my 2004 ST1300!) then called me within a few business hours to describe the process and to setup an appointment in the dealership. Once at the dealership, we went to the bike (a 2015 ES) on the sales floor and he 'answered any questions'. He made a copy of my Costco card and ID (required by Costco as proof that I was a member), and prepared the CAP pricing sheet. As I wasn't sure of whether the A or ES model was the best buy through the program, the salesman produced a CAP pricing sheet for both models.
We sat down and he went through the numbers on the Pricing sheets. The Pricing sheets showed Costco's logo and colors prominently placed on them (were clearly printed from an online CAP quote system), were simply laid out with terms, were non-editable by the dealership, and used the following pricing model:
Yamaha MSRP $$
+ $999 'Shipping'
- CAP discount ($1675 for A, $1825 for ES)
= Purchase Price
The only costs not in the above pricing model were document fees ($189), and taxes.
So for the FJR1300 at my location, the Costco member prices shown to me were:
2015 FJR1300A: $15890+999-1675=$15214 (plus $189-docs and taxes)
2015 FJR1300ES: $16890+999-1825=$16064 (plus $189-docs and taxes)
Also, the CAP Pricing sheet stated that they require the dealership to provide 15% discount on all parts and accessories at time of purchase of the motorcycle. (Note: the CAP allows 15% discount at all times at Authorized dealerships if you show the parts department your Costco card.)
The above process was as painless as it gets, and it was very obvious that the CAP is very serious about their Authorized Dealerships following the rules, as the CAP sent me a detailed email before the meeting and followed up with a detailed survey after the meeting, the Dealership salesman described the process well, and they didn't vary from the Costco script.
All things considered, I politely told the salesman that I had expected a better pricing from Costco, and offered $14.4k for the ES, adding $450 for the 4yr YES, justifying the price with a long list of new 2015 prices extracted from CycleTrader and links to the YES pricing I'd found online. After the salesman reviewed my offer with the Dealership manager, they politely said they wouldn't move from the CAP price (I thought they'd at least counter-offer, but they held firm to the CAP prices).
So, I'm not a new FJR owner ... yet.
I recently went through the Costco Auto Program (CAP) through the above link in attempting to buy a FJR, and thought it worth describing here.
Upon submitting my information into the CAP website form (info: bike of interest, name, phone number, Costco Member number, email address, and consenting to CAP following up on the dealer's Pricing sheet), the CAP system immediately sent me an email providing the nearest Authorized Dealership with the names and phone numbers of the Authorized Contacts in sales at that dealership.
One of those salesman (happened to be their sales manager, who also sold me my 2004 ST1300!) then called me within a few business hours to describe the process and to setup an appointment in the dealership. Once at the dealership, we went to the bike (a 2015 ES) on the sales floor and he 'answered any questions'. He made a copy of my Costco card and ID (required by Costco as proof that I was a member), and prepared the CAP pricing sheet. As I wasn't sure of whether the A or ES model was the best buy through the program, the salesman produced a CAP pricing sheet for both models.
We sat down and he went through the numbers on the Pricing sheets. The Pricing sheets showed Costco's logo and colors prominently placed on them (were clearly printed from an online CAP quote system), were simply laid out with terms, were non-editable by the dealership, and used the following pricing model:
Yamaha MSRP $$
+ $999 'Shipping'
- CAP discount ($1675 for A, $1825 for ES)
= Purchase Price
The only costs not in the above pricing model were document fees ($189), and taxes.
So for the FJR1300 at my location, the Costco member prices shown to me were:
2015 FJR1300A: $15890+999-1675=$15214 (plus $189-docs and taxes)
2015 FJR1300ES: $16890+999-1825=$16064 (plus $189-docs and taxes)
Also, the CAP Pricing sheet stated that they require the dealership to provide 15% discount on all parts and accessories at time of purchase of the motorcycle. (Note: the CAP allows 15% discount at all times at Authorized dealerships if you show the parts department your Costco card.)
The above process was as painless as it gets, and it was very obvious that the CAP is very serious about their Authorized Dealerships following the rules, as the CAP sent me a detailed email before the meeting and followed up with a detailed survey after the meeting, the Dealership salesman described the process well, and they didn't vary from the Costco script.
All things considered, I politely told the salesman that I had expected a better pricing from Costco, and offered $14.4k for the ES, adding $450 for the 4yr YES, justifying the price with a long list of new 2015 prices extracted from CycleTrader and links to the YES pricing I'd found online. After the salesman reviewed my offer with the Dealership manager, they politely said they wouldn't move from the CAP price (I thought they'd at least counter-offer, but they held firm to the CAP prices).
So, I'm not a new FJR owner ... yet.
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