Warning: This is a long post! If you don't want to read it, that's fine... But please don't respond unless you've read it completely!

Here is where it gets tricky. It's all in how you word it. You can say that it cost extra for the warranty, or you can say that it's cheaper if you don't get the warranty. I can't say what happened in your situation...I wasn't there. But many times a customer will say "give me your bottom dollar price." So they look at their papers and see that cost is $1000. If they don't include the warranty, then their cost is $800. So they start at their bottom dollar, add whatever margin they need, and give you their BOTTOM DOLLAR.

Now if you called and said, "What's your bottom dollar including the warranty or free accessories etc" then that's another thing. But you when you ask for the rock bottom price, you are asking for the rock bottom price! That's not how all dealers do it, and that's not how I do it. I'm just telling you how it works in many cases.

You can go to the Polaris website right now and look for yourself. Click on "offer details" and it states, "At participating dealers only" on the top line of the details.

If you are strictly concerned with getting what's advertised, Polaris advertises MSRP. Oh, now nobody is concerned with what is advertised. If you paid MSRP then you better get all offers! But if the dealer cuts you a break... Can you complain? You saved BIG off of MSRP!

Do you know what MSRP means? It means Manufactures Suggested Retail Price. It is what the manufacture recommends that the dealer sells the machine for. It is not an inflated number that the manufacture pulls out of thin air, knowing the dealer will cut the price. They take into account what it cost the dealer to buy that machine, what it cost to run a dealership, and what a fair margin is to help the dealer pay his bills and make a profit. Obviously a bigger dealer that sells a lot of quantity and is multi-line on top of that can operate on a lower margin. It's business. But does that make your small dealership a "stealership" just because they can't survive off of making $100 a unit or only making money on service work? If you were buying your quad for the sole purpose of reselling it to make a profit, would it be worth getting loan for $8000 to sell it for $8100? Not hardly.

That being said, I hardly ever (if at all) get MSRP on a bike. I'm not saying you shouldn't shop for a good deal! I'm just saying that MSRP doesn't make a dealer a crook. Now, adding excessive freight, setup, and market adjustment fees is another issue.


Nope! But again, it's all in the presentation. To be completely honest with you though, I usually don’t even bring up the extended warranty. I give it to them by default because that’s what is advertised. If the customer still wants a better price, then I’ll give them the option of a lower price WITHOUT the warranty.

I'll give you a price (including the warranty), and then offer a discount if you don't want it. So you could say I'm charging extra for the warranty if you want... But I say I'm offering a discount if you don't want it. Sounds fair to me. Another dealer may quote the same two prices, but instead say that it's extra for the warranty. It’s all the wording.

A competitor down the road almost always beats me on the price of the quad, but adds excessive freight/setup charges. My price on the bike is higher, but I have no freight/setup charges. In the end, your actual out-the-door price is cheaper with me. I could play the other game; it sure hooks more customers having a lower initial price! But I feel it’s misleading.

If I charge $5000 for the quad with no freight or setup and my competitor charges only $4500 for the quad, but wants $250 for freight and $250 for setup, we really have the same price. Neither one of us are crooks, it’s just different presentations. However, many times they beat my price on the quad by $1000 to hook my customer, then end up $300-$800 more on the out-the-door price. I just feel that’s misleading.


What if you told the dealer you didn't want the free accessories or the warranty? He would have probably taken off $200 off the price, as that is the amount actually credited to the dealer (or at least was last month, it's changed now). So now the price DOES change. Of course it's a better deal to get the warranty or the accessories, but none the less if you really break it down you are paying more for the warranty. So you paid $7199 with either a warranty or $400 free accessories. If you had been offered it at $7000 with no extended warranty and no free accessories, does that make your dealer a crook? Or is that the bottom dollar?

I don't want anyone to misunderstand me here. I don't think it's wrong to get a good deal! I encourage shopping to find a good dealer. I have experienced this myself. I have owned a wide range of ATV's from all manufactures. I've only bought one machine brand new though. It was a Polaris and I bought it in 1998. I asked the dealer for the bottom price, it was a great price! When I asked about the free accessories, he said he couldn't give them to me at that price. I was a little ticked because I had my heart hooked on some free goodies! Then a few days later I thought about it... It was still cheaper than buying from another dealer and getting the free accessories! So I still got a good deal, I just wished the salesman had mentioned that I got no freebies at that price before hand.

When the dealer warranty registers the bike with Polaris they have a pre-determined list of promotions (if any) to choose from. This is when they specify the warranty, rebate, special financing, etc. Not all dealers get the same promotions either. A dealer that orders a lot (in proper relation to their dealer size) gets rewarded with bigger rebates and extended promotion deadlines. A dealer that doesn't order enough might not get any of the advertised special promotions. Most of the time though each dealer qualifies for the same promotion though, but not always.

You hit the nail on the head. You should shop for more than just the lowest price. I had a customer that I quoted a 500 EFI to and he bought the machine after the promotion had already started, but knew nothing about it because he had been shopping before they started the free warranty deal. Since it was already a working deal, I forgot about the free warranty as well. When processing the paperwork I realized what had happen and called him to let him know he had a 3 year warranty, suprise! I could have pocketed an extra $200 but took care of the customer instead.

If you don't support you local dealer and they go out of business, you'll not only have to drive 12 hours to buy a quad but you'll have to drive 12 hours to buy an oil filter.


Do whatever makes you feel better but if the Polaris advertisement says “at participating dealers only” then I would check to see if my dealer was participating before a purchase.

I want to state again that I don’t intend any of this as a personal attack on anyone. This is just me expressing my opinions and views. As long as it stays adult conversation and not name calling and finger pointing I’m open to talking about this further, even in private if anyone wants…that way I can stop hijacking this thread! Whether anyone understands what I'm saying or not, I've spent quite a bit of time writing these post trying to put together a logical explanation from a different perspective. I'm not saying you have to agree, but at least try to understand what I'm saying.

Bottom line... Most dealers are enthusiast too just like you. Only their 9-5 involves your hobby. I’m sure you have similar situations in your business, every industry does. I got involved because I was so caught up in the sport that I just couldn't get enough of it! I wanted to be involved in every angle! What stinks now is that there is no where else to ride anymore and I spend way more time staring at them on the showroom then enjoying them.

 

what State are you from?

 

Texas---A huge state but all private land. You have drive 6 hours to just ride somewhere (that's legal). I guess there are couple motocross tracks if you're into that, a few mud parks too... I like the track & I like mud, but those have to be the two hardest things on a machine & rider! I just enjoy trail riding, hill climbing, riverbeds, sand etc. Five years ago there was quite a few places. Fort Hood military base had thousands of acres, it got closed to public. You could also ride all the waterways (riverbeds & creeks), 1/2 of which were dry and a lot of fun. There were a quite few great rivers to ride in Texas! And close to home too... That all got taken away in '04. They say it was because of "erosion" but the truth is that irresponsible riders were getting off of the river and onto private property, even cutting down fences in many cases.

 

I don't mind paying extra for my atv's if it means the dealer will take care of me if I ever need him to. If I worried about paying a couple hundred less, and was willing to drive farther to buy it, then I better be willing to drive farther to get it fixed. I've always been open and up front with my dealer, especially when buying from him. And he's been the same way with me. it's a lot easier that way I think! I know I could have purchased my wheelers a little cheaper at other dealers in the big city, but I don't regret I paid more, It's all come back to me in the service they have supplied!!

 

OK Fellas, Today I recieved a letter in the mail from POLARISTAR saying that my 2006 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI is ineligible for the service contract. It says "it was determined that your vehicle does not meet our underwriting guidelines and is therefore ineligible for coverage for the followinf reason(s): CONTRACT REJECTED DUE TO VEHICLE ELIGIBLE FOR PROMOTIONAL CONTRACT". I immediatley get on the phone calling my dealer and find out that they filled the wrong papers. They filled out paperwork as if I were buying a an extended warranty contract. They dealer says that the extended warranty is automatic through POLARIS.

Still a little hesitant I get on the phone with GE Capital Management Corp who handles the POLARISTAR PROTECTION PLANS. Their story is that the dealer filled out the wrong paperwork and that he must resubmit the correct papers to activate the contract. This is straight from Jose who works at GE Capital. I will be calling my dealer back tommorrow first thing to see about the new paperwork.

I keep ya updated on the dealers response.

Robedoll

 

JFC...what a mess. The left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing.

 

AMEN!! Looks like POLARIS would have sent out some information packs to all dealers a week or so in advance of announcing the promotion. Does anyone have any contact numbers for POLARIS???

 

Me too. and same thing. I cleaned up my quad and put new tires that I got as a PERK for working at ATV Dealership and have not even worn the little nubs off. Plenty of places, just no time or no one to go when I do have off.

Dealers not knowing the Promotions???? Those guys are lame....... I look on my Polaris Dealer web site every morning and read what is going on, I treat that site like it was the word of GOD.

 

you know things are REALLY bad when the CUSTOMER has to call to figure-out the DEALER'S SKREW-UPS!

for a Dealer not to know how to do the very BASICS like filling-out a WARRANTY it just shows what an incompetent group they all are!


-half the Polaris Dealers don't know about CURRENT INCENTIVES!(ie the FREE 3 Yr Warranty)

-over half don't know how to fix the ATV's!(hard shifting, stalling, ect)

-now they don't even know how to fill-out THEIR OWN PAPERWORK!(the CUSTOMER has to call to straighten things out!)

noone on this Forum can tell me with a straight face that ALL Mfgs have this problem. i don't buy it! Polaris has very low standards and it's starting to show clear as day!

~MT

 

Oh my god, please chill out. You sound like you're trying to start a rebellion to storm Polaris' fortress and burn their board-of-directors at the stake. I have a strange feeling that if you had bought a Honda and not a Polaris you would be in the Honda forum stirring up all this smoke because your Honda dealer couldn't remember how to put your new Foreman into reverse.

You definitely see more 'good ole boy' type Polaris dealers than say Honda or Yamaha, I'll give you that. But that's because 10-15-20 years ago all the major motorcycle dealers refused to pick up the Polaris line because of their ridiculous "design flaws" like CVT transmissions on an ATV. Well times have changed, and Polaris has become a major player in the ATV industry. There are still some old dealers out there that probably don't meet your 'big city standards' but stop judging an entire manufacture by a few dealers that need to get organized. Get out on the internet and you'll find people complaining about the exact same things you are about Ford and Chevrolet too. When a company has as many customers as Polaris does you're definitely going to hear a lot of BS. But if Polaris dealers as a whole were really as bad you say they are, I don't think Polaris would have gone from "joke" even 10 years ago to "benchmark" today. And before you get all huffy and puffy and say Polaris isn't a benchmark... Copying is a sign of flattery and Polaris has been copied more than anyone in the last 10 years. The real proof if is the Polaris customers... Most of them are repeat buyers, and if EVERY Polaris dealer was THAT BAD they would switch brands.

As a whole, I would say Polaris dealers are more educated on general industry knowledge than the other manufacture dealers. I mean come on, Polaris dealers get to ride all the competitors’ machines on Polaris' tab! Most Polaris dealers can actually tell how you how a Sportsman 700 compares to a King Quad, and not because they read it in Dirt Wheels but because they actually rode both. Your average Honda/Yamaha/etc dealer has ridden what they sell and that's it. Ask them some questions, they prove it. "Don't buy Polaris." Why? "They are junk" Why? "Um..." and that's about as far as your product comparison goes. If you’re lucky, they have read Dirt Wheels and quote a few lines for you about how the Magnum isn't the hot ticket on a motocross track.

I just need to stop reading these forums, I get too fired up. I apologize in advance.