Hi folks! Earlier in the year my bride & I purchased a SP400 w/EBS from a local dealer who was competitive on price, considering he threw in the EBS. Now she is liking this ATV thing and may want the SP400 for herself. Therefore we are entertaining adding an ’05 500HO (or just another sp400) to the ATV toy box between now and the end of the year (paying cash). We would like to get a 500HO at a price close to the $5533 price at Polaris in Chattanooga, but also understand we are 700 miles away from them. When doing some visiting with my local dealer and others in the area there is at least $610 difference from the Chattanooga price. They all say that Chattanooga is far below their cost. With that being said, if we drove the 1400 mile round trip to Chattanooga and purchased one there it would cost us about $300 in driving expense. So I figure if I offered $5833 for a 500HO that would be fair. (I’d rather give the money to the dealer than the gas station & hotel.) But I’m not getting any nibbles on that offer either. How have some of you folks presented this issue when purchasing a quad? Is $5833 ridiculously low for all dealers except Chattanooga? I would really like to get closer to the $5533 since there is evidence that a dealer CAN sell for that. I’d even consider driving 4-6 hrs one-way to get a price closer to the $5533. Am I asking too much?? Any thoughts??

 

Are you telling them you are ready to buy right now or telling them you may buy in the future. Your best bet would be to go in with the cash you want to pay tell them you want and show them the cash then if they won't take it go home and decide if you really want to make the trip. Maybe you and the wife can make a little vacation out of it. There really is no way to make a dealer do anything you really can't do much more than make the offer and show the supporting paperwork from the other dealer and from there it's all in the dealers hands.

 

If you wait until fall when your local dealer has got the 06's in he will be glad to deal on any 05 models he has left. It worked for me last fall at the end of September. CASH talks BS walks!

 

Your dealer cant compete with those prices. Chattanoga buys such a volume that they get a killer discount, and us other dealers cant compete, just think about this my good man. When/if Polairs issues a recall, or if you need any service done to your atv you will have to drive it all the way back to Chattanoga cause your dealer that is 20 min away went out of buisness casue people like you want to save a little money. Support your local dealers they do the best they can

 

I considered buying from Chattanooga as well but decided to go locally. I am in business and I hate when people try to beat me up over a few bucks.

It is definitely OK to negotiate with dealers and I am sure CincyScrambler will agree. But, geez, these guys have to make a living and the mark-up isn't big enough when you consider floor planning, rent, employees, insurance, benefits, etc... It's not like the average dealer is selling 100 bikes a month.

Hey Cincy...It least you have the service and parts revenue.

Good luck!

 

I agree buy from local dealer. I recieved a recall from polaris factory stating that my ECM module needed to be replace. When I went to my dealer he told me that he Polaris sent him ECM's based on the number of effected units he sold. I doubt he would have installed one of them in my 500 if I would have bought it from TN.

 

Thanks for the replies folks! I'd much rather buy locally than make a blazing trip to Chattanooga, actually buy from the dealer I purchased my sp400 from and continue to support him. I suspect that if he can get within about $400-$450 of Chattanooga's price I shouldn't have any regrets. He did mention that if I'm not in a hurry that around Sept./Oct through the end of the year would be a good time because that's when '05 closeouts will be starting and Polaris may have incentives depending on how much inventory they have and how their year is going. One more question I have is, from the dealers perspective does actual "cash", "frog-skins", "green", etc. carry more negotiating power than a personal check? I suspect it does. But if it makes no difference I'd rather not carry that much cash at any one time. Thanks again!

 

Actual cash makes no real difference to a dealer. They get their money from the finance source very quickly (usually EFT). That is, unless the dealer is unscrupulous and puts the cash in his pocket and doesn't plan to pay taxes on the profit :-)

 

I went to Conyers Georgia, to polaris Of america to buy our new Ranger, I saved 1,600 bucks over mY local dealer.
Thats too much of a savings to pass up. It was a 700 mile round trip, I spent about 200 bucks in gas and food, made it all in one day.
As for local dealers, Some of has have idiots for local dealers, My local dealer doesnt know the difference between a 500, or 500ho Sportsman, I had to tell His customer. Smaller dealers seem big on Setup fees, etc.. adding a few hundred bucks onto the price.
When we bought our sportsman, I drove an hour BEYOND the dealer I purchased it from to get service, Which is what I will do with the Ranger. Money is Money, and saving it up front on your purchase leaves you room for more accesories, or just to keep it in your wallet. I was worried that Local dealers wouldnt service my machine, Im not worried about that anymore. At any rate, other than Warranty work or outright problems, your ahead to service your machine yourself, as Polaris dealerships are like a shot in the dark, There are a few Outstanding dealerships out there, but alot more of them that run a family business with a 14 year old as the head of the service department.

 

I agree but at the same time I have four to five local dealers and when I was calling around for prices on my 04 700EFI's it was the local dealers that have been around since I was younger that gave me the highest prices. it all comes down to the price of the machine, the way I see it is that if someone who thinks as I do gets a killer deal on the machine up front they will be so happy with the dealer that they will keep going back to that dealer for parts/labor and future machines. this comes from past experiences from buying this and that, I got a great deal on my machines up front from Weiss Equiptment in Frankenmuth, MI so I go back to them for all my parts/service and warranty stuff even though they are further away than the three closer dealers because they treat me good and are honest and fair up front.