They are 1 of the nicest looking quads i've ever laid eye's on!!!!!!!!! If i wasn't in love with my raptor than i might be looking to defect and join the dark side.
Chris

 

They are pretty sweet in person, but I like the 50th even better. It has the same raised decals and that blue is awsome.

 

my dads getting his very soon. leaving the factory friday. that way i get his 2004 predator. But predman, 5099 otd? Did u have no tax or what? i payed 6000 otd and that was dealercost plus tax.

 

I'm all for getting a good deal too, but I've worked in the ATV as well as small equipment industry.

Unless you own a chain of dealerships, or a large multiline dealership, there isn't much money in ATV sales. A $1000 markup sounds high, and it is high. But think about all the bills to pay in running a business and the number of ATV's sold, and you don't make much money.

The real money is made in your equipment. While I've never worked with John Deere I've worked with competitors, and if their markup is similar, you should see the markup on those. HUGE. $1000 is NOTHING. But you have to do it, because you don't sell too many.

But since your dealer sells ATV's AND equipment, I'm willing to bet his money is in the equipment and his ATV business is his hobby side. You can't survive and realalistically be profitable just selling ATV's, even at full retail. And even then everyone has to get a discount, just to be competitive.

It's a little but different if you sell multi-lines as well as bikes, boats, sleds, and everything else besides ATV's. You sell more total volume and can give more discount. And if you're big enough to have a club or race team bringing in business, that changes things too. I'm not saying don't try to get a deal, I'm just saying if you deal with a smaller family run dealership cut them some slack and let them EARN your business by the service they provide.

Nothing wrong with working a deal. That's with anything, it's my hard earned money and I want to keep as much as possible too! But some people make it sound like dealers are crooks for charging MSRP. It's simply not the case though Don't go to a competitor to save few bucks and then come back to the small guy for warrenty work. Find a dealer, and stick with them. If you buy it 4 hours away, then service and repair it there too. For the small guys, warrenty work hurts.

It's been a few years since I worked in the industry, so it doesn't affect me anymore. I remember thinking dealers were crooks, and a few are! But first couple months on the job were a definite eye opener. Just an FYI....... Sorry for the rant, I'll step down off the soapbox.

 

If your getting that kind of deal from your dealer, Maybe I should buy my new Polaris ATV's from your dealer instead of from Polaris
direct like I do. I would be saving alot of money buying from him instead of Polaris. I guess I'll be stuck with the eight Dale Jr models
I have in stock if he is selling them for that price.....


The one thing I agree with you though, It is a VERY sweet looking Quad.... As well as the 50th Aniv Model, has a Awesome Blue with Flake color

 

I'll be honest, I really don't know the arrangement dealers have with the factory when it comes to warranty work. How is it that the dealer suffers? Are they not compensated by the factory for warranty work?

 

Yes, dealers are compensated for parts and the number of labor hours paid is based flat rate. The amount per hour is their own rate for labor they see fair. On average, the number of hours and pay alloted is reasonable.

The problem is that many times the labor dollars compensated aren't as much as the shop would usually be making on another customer's machine. So it's like taking a pay cut. That and sometimes you might spend an extra hour or so troubleshooting that isn't covered by flat rate.

If you sold the machine though it isn't a big deal to lose a little money or warrenty work because you're taking care of your customer and their defective machine is technically your fault and responsibility. But you don't want to have to take a pay cut to work on a machine another dealer profited from, and it's possible the problems could be from faulty setup/check out at the other dealership.

Plus, if you stick with one dealer you'll be likely to get better deals on future pruchases whether it be another bike, service, or accessories. Often times your dealer may help componsate at a reasonable level for work beyond warrenty time or still allow warrenty to cover parts that wouldn't normally be covered do to add-ons to the machine.

 

Good advice. I'm fortunate to have a dealer who's mechanic is top notch. Even though all his work is warranty work thus far, I slip him a healthy tip when he's done. No big deal, but I bet he puts a little extra effort into taking care of my bikes.