We are making recreational trail riding our new family activity. Along with 2 other friends and thier kin we ride all over our combined 50 acres. This summer we are looking to do some weekend trips to some trail areas that I've read about on this website and in magazines. First,however, I need to purchase 2 new atvs so everyone in the family will have a reliable machine to ride.(Don't want to spend the trip making repairs) .. I,m strongly leaning toward the arctic cat 400 4x4 automatic for me and the 250 for my son. MY question is, what should I expect to pay in relation to the dealers list price and set up fees? I realize theres not a whole lot of markup and the dealer has to pay bills too, but I need to save every buck I can to afford this new hobby. I would think a dealer would be willing to deal a bit since I,m wanting to buy 2 atvs. Anyone have any recent experience or advice to relate as o what a good deal is?? Thanks and happy trails!!

 

fish give coast to coast a call in forrest city arkansas, i don't know what part of missouri you live in but I am only 40 miles from the mo. state line. the coast to coast dealer in forrest city is a western auto store , who sales and services artic cat. I have shopped my area and they are the cheapest price around here, you can get a 500 auto for around $5800.00 and they told me a 400 is around $800.00 less. they are a swell bunch of down home folks and they will treat you right, I am a customer for life woth them.here's their phone number and address. WESTERN AUTO 906 N. WASHINGTON AVE. FORREST CITY, ARK 72335 PHONE (870)-633-8424,
you can even buy a trailer to haul your new atv from them, I did and it is the best built trailer I have ever owner. give them a call. you might just get a heck of a deal from them on 2 units. grizzly271

 

It really depends on the atv dealer. Some dealers buy in larger quantities so they get better prices. It also depends if it is a new model that everyone wants or an older model that has been sitting on the store floor. Some dealers might give you a good price just to overcharge you in other fee's. (Like filing or paper work fee's) I try to ask for a "out the door price" so I know exactly how much the total will be. It's probably better to get loans through a bank or credit union. (If you can find lower rates) You can probably save as much or more money by getting a lower interest rate. People will try to get a dealer down a few hundred only to pay more through a loan. I've watched some people walk into a showroom and pay ticket price. I've also seen people arguing with the sales person about the price. I would just look into a bunch of ads to see what the atv's are being sold for. Try to go to at least 3 dealers to compare prices and attitudes. If you can't find 3 of the type you want. Go look at some other makes and models just to get an idea how much those dealers will go down on their prices. I've seen new models retail for 6500. advertised for 6000. but this is probably before tax, tags and other fee's. There has also been older models advertised for 1000. under retail. Gather prices from a dealer and then go to the next dealer and get more prices. Have them write the prices down for you so you can try to get the next dealer to beat the other prices. Some will not deal but some will. Good luck.

 

Griz // CC... thanks for the replys.. Griz I just might give them downhome folks at western auto a ring. see what they have to say, I'm bout 3 hours from Arkansas line, if prices are good would be worth the trip. Plus I dont mind a good road trip,, I could stop over and campout on the 11 point or spring rivers if thats close to where you're talkin'bout, do a little fishin..(I'll have ta check the map..) .......CC I'm with ya on the overall cost when interst rates are considered. I checked out the fine print of the Arctic cat offer, after the 6 months are up they hit you with 19.9%..I can get 6.75% from my credit union so I'm only intersted in out the door price. I bought a new 2001 recon 2 years ago at that time it listed for 3650$. I checked with both Honda dealers in my area each quoted the same. I went online and found it advertised for 3450$ so I knew it was sold for that .I was able to get it for 3500$.. the dealer kept telling me how theres not much markup on the smaller bikes, but if i was interested in a bigger machine he could do more dealing.. I've been checking the web 4 Arctic cat prices but they don't advertise anything but list..... The closest AC dealer who I've talked with and checked with people who are past customers, seems like a great place to do business ..(real nice and hear its great service dept)... so I'd like to do business close to home. He has basically quoted me list prices when I was in just looking..Now I'm ready to buy and would like to know whats a realistic price to offer.I got the info on more AC dealers near me and will take your advice n call around ,who knows maybe I'll take that trip tp Ark if they make it worth the while..The local dealer quoted 5650$ on the 400i 4x4 auto and 3800$ on the 250. Thats 9450$ total, am I being unreasonable to expect to get them for 8750-8900 range?? Thanks again..hope to be riding a cat within the next 2 weeks......happy trails......

 

When I bought my 2001 Recon, I talked to at least 5 different dealers. (within a 2 1/2 hour range) I bought the Recon for $3300. OTD including a hitch, taxes, registration, title, everything. Some of the dealers would not hardly go down.(and they would have added other fees) One gave me a price for around $3800. (?) Another gave me a decent price over the phone without even trying to get them down. A few of them didn't even have the color that I wanted. The last one just happened to give me the best deal 2 1/2 hours away. But I was still able to take it to the local dealer for servicing. I'm just trying to make the point that you can always get a better deal somewhere else and take it locally for servicing. (Just from my own experience)

I think that the Arctic 400 4x4 retails for $5999. and they said $5650. I'm assuming that the 250 was also a 4x4 because a 2x4 retails at I think $3599. So I think that the retail for a 250 4x4 is $4399. and they gave you a price of $3800. (It's kind of funny because they gave you about $600. off the smaller model and only about $350. off the larger.) Are these prices OTD or are they going to add other fees?
Watch out for the paper work or filing fee. I've seen it as high as $80., $90. The price for the 250 seems ok but I think they should do better with the 400 price. I would GUESS at least another $250. off the 400.
Is there any reason that the price for the 400 isn't as flexable? (Like a new model or an improvement on an original model?) You could always say that you would like to buy them for $8900. or $9000. and if they don't go down. You could say that you'll split the difference with them and buy them for $9200. (Just in case you don't get better prices somewhere else.) At least you'd save $250. from the $9450. There could be other reasons why they should go down further on the price that I'm not aware of. One reason could be if the sales are just terrible for the specific model or if they plan to faze the model out for a new model.

Wording is important and they've heard it all. Example: Don't ask. Can you go down on the price? Ask. How much will you go down on the price.

 

Go to http://www.atvtaderonline.com/adsearchprocess.html for some examples of 400 4x4 prices.

 

fish I did some calling around yesterday and found some really good prices in kennett mo. the dealer priced me a 500 automatic with the mpr rack, but no winch for $ 5950 that is a 2003 model, the winch runs around $400.00. their phone number is 573-717-7777. and the dealer in sikeston has a couple new left over 2002, 500 auto's models for. $ 5499.00 in red or green. his number is,573-472-4002. they by far have been any one's price I have found on the 500 auto's. if you are looking for 400 or 300 IU really don't know much about their prices. but if I can help you in any way give me a call, I am retired/disabled and have plenty of spare time on my hands and I sit in front of my computer the majority of the time doing research for my friends, so drop me a line if I can help you. talk with you later. be safe and keep the rubber side down. grizzly271

 

Also, you can check out atvprice.com. You can buy a rundown of the dealer invoice, which shows the MSRP, Dealer's cost, Dealer's holdback, and other info. They are sold for $10 each with special pricing for multiple sheets. I bought one for the Vinson and it helped me save about $800 because I knew exactly what price range I was dealing with. Puts the ball in your court for a change.

 

Griz/CC/FF75 thanks for the replies..I tried looking at that atvprice.com but they only listed 02 modles under arctic cat, I did get their 800 num will call'em see if they have anything on 03's.... CC that 3800$ price was on the 4x2 he said 4500$ on 4x4 , which I thought seemed high.. I plan on calling around tomorrow to see what I can get over the phone. I have a list of 9 dealers that are within 100 mile radius,plus the ones Griz gave me numbers on.they are about 150-180 miles.With some luck,hopefully I'll have a couple cats in the barn in time for my sons birthday on the 13th......I've heard that a few people have seen or tested 04's..Only thing I could find was that there isn't much change except for a new EFI on some of the bigger machines later in the year and its going to be costly..I still havn't eard when the 04's will be hitting salesfloors but if its soon then maybe they will come down on 03's to get'em out the door..I hope...... thanks again..........Fish..soon to become a "cat"fish....

 

609Fish, That dealer just doesn't seem to be giving very good prices. $3800 seems too high for the 2x4.(Maybe the Cats are worth their weight in green.) Maybe you should post a question on an Arctic Cat thread. Ask them what they've paid for the two models you're interested in to get some ideas. Hope you have better luck with the other dealers. Just remember that wording is everything and don't give away too much info. to the salesman. Just enough.


Just a little example: Over the weekend, my washer needed replacing. I went to a well known store to price some washers. I didn't want the sales person to know that I needed one really soon. I didn't think I'd get a good price. But I did want them to take me serious about me buying one soon. I asked the saleswoman: "How much will you go down on this washer?" She said that "they don't go down on prices because they already offer cheaper prices." I talked to her a little while and she ended up taking $30.00 off. Alot of people wouldn't say anything more but it never hurts to because the worst they can say is "no". I didn't buy it at that price because I believe that I can do even better after a little research. I did the research tonight and things are going to work out nicely.