Hey guys. This is my first post so I will try and not sound like and idiot. I am buying my first quad in a couple of weeks and I was wondering about pricing. I have a quote from a dealer in Birmingham, Alabama for a ’05 Predator TLD for $6050. I thought it was a good price for a hot new model so I jumped on it. My plan was to put half down now and the other half on delivery. Only thing is, when I got the invoice I saw that there were extra fees involved that pretty much pushed the price back up to MSRP. Now I am starting to have second thoughts. Is this normal? There were fees for transportation, dealer set up and processing. I guess all vehicle purchases are the same when it comes to that. My only hope now is to get him to cut me a deal on a helmet. Thanks for your help.

 

Time to shop around - there's plenty of other dealers out there.

In our area, I've noticed a trend: The dealers who are closer in town make their deals more like an automobile showroom - They start with a lower base price for the quad but then tack on many extras (things like delivery charges, set-up, processing fees etc.) They will present these charges as a non-negotiable add on that they "have" to do. Usually, these extra fees more than cancel out any 'savings' from the original quoted price.

While some extra fees can be legit (there is a delivery cost to the dealer) I've found that the dealers who operate further away from a large city area tend to be much more basic in their pricing. They may quote a higher beginning price for the quad but they don't add on any extra fees in the process. Best advice: Make comparisons only by looking at the Out The Door pricing - the actual total cost to you to put that quad on your truck.

A dealership has got to make a profit - you can't fault them for that, but many of the extra fees are either BS or can be negotiated out of the sale.

Jaybee

 

When you are getting quotes make sure to get <U>written</U> "out the door" prices.

 

I agree. Always get all price quotes as "out the door price". That's the only way you can compare between dealers. I also do the same when car shopping.

 

The low price is to get people in the door. This is a common practice, so dont feel like you are getting the screws put to you. Dealers try it on everyone, but some of the charges are legitamite. Make sure you get an otd price before you buy, and take that and compare with other dealers, as was said.

 

Lesson #1. Always make that one of your first questions to the dealer. I recently bought mine out of state, and they charged me a respectable fee. I think it was like $38 for title fee, and $15 or something like that for documents. With shipping and everything to the Southwest I still saved $1000!!
Honda/Yamaha East Toledo Ohio. If you go with them mention my name so I can get a small referral reward. They use a shipping company which very reasonable, plus they're main hub is in Columbus. If anyone's interested let me know and I'll put you in contact with them.
I just got my Grizzly on monday in a top notch built crate in perfect condition. Haven't even had a chance to ride it yet!!!

 

Thanks for all your help guys, I talked to my dealer and told him about my issues with the extra fees and he knocked them off. So now my out the door price for a ’05 TLD is $6050 + tax, not the best but well under MSRP. It didn’t help much when I showed him a print out from the web of a store 150 miles away that were selling them AT COST ($5599, BTW). Once I kindly explained to him that I would much rather purchase the quad from his establishment seeing as how he was a lot closer but I would make the drive if I had to, he quickly lowered the price for me. Got him to throw in some gear too. Still, I think I should have taken the drive. Would have saved some $$$. Here is the web site if anyone is interested: http://www.polarisofchattanooga.com

 

Chalk up another win for the forums, I'm glad you got your deal.

While I can understand traveling to save some big bucks on your ATV purchase, there's something to be said for establishing a relationship with your local dealer. Look at where you are now: The next time you go back to purchase a quad, you may not have to dick around with pricing as much, as the dealer already knows that you will not accept the add-on fees. You may be able to get other service or accessory deals in the future - good dealers want to keep good customers.

A dealership cannot continually sell ATV's 'at cost'. Maybe every once in a while for a promo or to unload last years model. Unless there is a manfacturer's discount of holdback, the dealer has to mark up their quads and accessories or their just not going to be in business for long.

Good luck with the Predator.

Jaybee

 

NMgriz - How much if you don't mind did the 05 griz cost? They shipped the Griz to your door step and all you had to do was open the box and ride off? Or did you have to assemble it? Also isn't the dealer required to go thru an orientation of the quad with the new owner?

I was under the impression that I couldn't get a quad in the box because liabilitys and such. I would MUCH have rather assembled the quad myself.

btw my 2005 Hardwoods edition Grizz with 2500 warn winch installed OTD was $8300.00

did you beat that price much? It was the cheapest price within 300 miles of my home and it happened to be the closest dealer too, go go small town dealers [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]