The biggest problem with buy a new or newish car or bike is having to deal with dealers. Foccing snake pits.
They don't seem to want to sell you a bike very much VNA.
You are right Hugh, they all seem to make me feel wary, uncomfortable and somehow a bit of a pest. I mean how dare I suggest that the bikes comes with the wrong tyres for me, and perhaps want them changed.
My son recently bought a 14 plate MT-09 from a dealer in Peterborough. He had a test ride, no mention of a £2,000 excess, certainly wasn't asked to provide credit card details.
What I do remember from a debacle years ago when I somehow managed to stuff a Honda Hornet demo bike into the side of a car is – that it is your responsibility to ensure that any vehicle you take out on the road is ensured. So my guess is most folks have no idea of the excess on the dealers policy, or in my case with the hornet that the dealer had not provided me with any third party cover.
Celticdog, The fancy new place by Hillington. Is this shit all sold on PCP? Times are hard I’m told, but never have I seen so many flash bike dealers. Foc me, they even have a designer café selling proper cappuccinos and paninis.
I'm pretty sure most dealers won't offer you a test ride unless they're reasonably confident of a sale.
All three main dealers I visited yesterday offered me a test ride. Triumph were a little different in that they offered to wheel the bike out there and then. It’s the way to sell bikes. And of course, with PCP everybody is a potential new bike buyer!
Which brings me neatly to last years visit to the Yamaha dealer in Kilmarnock. Had the demo been ready – they were running it in – I might have purchased. But I quickly detected one problem. They took me through the deal – PCP – and asked me what I thought. I replied – not interested – I’ll pay cash thanks, well as long as you can cut me a decent deal. They were clearly disappointed that they had a customer, for once, that could afford to buy what they were selling.
Anyway need to decide if I am buying – when I’m buying – and of course what I’m buying.