Test Rides

[Millietant]

I'm with you on that, full payment as a deposit. Unless it's someone I know and trust.

I don't really understand why anyone has a problem with dealers asking for damage deposit - I'd ask those who've said that here if they'd be happy to let just anyone turn up and ride off on their bike, for a test ride, without some sort of security deposit - that's all the dealers are doing, so why should we complain.

I'd be happy to leave a deposit - I know our local dealer has a pretty big excess on his insurance - so if a test-rider damages the bike, it comes straight out of his pocket - unless the trusty rider agrees to stump up the cost of any repairs (which I would).

[fazersharp]

Ok we are paying their £500 excess, my excess is £100 on my insurance. Why theirs so high.
£500 is a massive % amount towards the total cost of the bike.
Does anyone know a dealer that instead of that - has a damage waviour fee instead, which is basicly an insurance to cover the £500 excess

[lew600fazer]

[quote author=lew600fazer link=topic=14476.msg163946#msg163946 date=1409005846]
When I was selling my SX I asked the guy that was buying it to give me his car keys

I'd be careful of this approach, how do you know it's even their car, could be stolen and he rides off on your bike leaving you with a load of hassle to sort out with the police and no bike.

Full payment deposit if anyone wants to ride my bikes first.
[/quote]
How does he know it is my bike I am selling , arranged to meet him in a car park , I have his car keys he disappears over the hill I am in his car and gone!!!!! has to be a certain amount of trust, not everyone is bent.  :rolleyes

[Dead Eye]

Ok we are paying their £500 excess, my excess is £100 on my insurance. Why theirs so high.
£500 is a massive % amount towards the total cost of the bike.
Does anyone know a dealer that instead of that - has a damage waiver fee instead, which is basically an insurance to cover the £500 excess

It just amuses me that we get to the stage of buying insurance against an insurance policy  :lol

I totally agree with you and would rather opt to pay a non-refundable fee, but it still tickles me as to how backwards it is that this becomes a reasonable option

However, I don't think I have much against a £500 deposit - it's a little uncomfortable being that high but yeah...

[fazersharp]

Wait a cotton pickin minute. I throw it down the street and cause say £1200 damage and loose my £500 to the dealer to cover their £500 excess then what happens is that the dealers own workshop do the work for the £1200 damage and insurance company pays them £1200. BUT £600 of that is labour and part of the amount of the £600 on parts would also be a mark up on said parts so in total out of the £1200--- £500 of that is profit to the dealer.
So they patch it up and send it out again and again so by the time the bike is finished its demo life it has paid for itself in profit to the dealer in the dropped repairs. And then they sell the bike on as an ex demo and make even more dosh as the bike has now paid for itself. 

  Im not sure on the markup un parts or what the labour aspect of £1200 total would be. All of my maths has been made up - but do you see the angle on this.

Sorry YAMAZA for taking your post off track

[lew600fazer]

Fazersharp, the bike surely would have to be declared as a cat D ? repaired bike? therefore effectively reducing the value of the bike by thousands.
Surely the only concern about the £500.00 excess would be if you were involved in a no blame accident and the other party either failed to stop or was not insured. I am sure the dealer would sympathetic but suspect you are down £500.00, life sometimes is not fair but it is the world we live in.

[Fazafou]

How does he know it is my bike I am selling , arranged to meet him in a car park , I have his car keys he disappears over the hill I am in his car and gone!!!!! has to be a certain amount of trust, not everyone is bent.  :rolleyes

If someone is happy buying a bike from a guy in a car park that's their lookout, but that's another no no.

As a buyer, it should be from a legit address on the V5 or at least proof the guy lives at the address on the V5. If not, I walk away, plenty of bikes out there to choose from to risk getting turned over.

I agree not everyone is bent, but plenty are, and if you're giving someone thousands of pounds payment or selling a bike worth it, then it's daft not to cover yourself.

[Robbie8666]

I recently took a honda NC750S out for a pre-arrranged test ride from a Dealer in Cornwall, they took a swipe of my credit card as insurance for upto £1000 incase of any damage& a copy of my licence.
I didn't mind the preauthorisation as I would with a hotel room! and they did destroy the details in front of me.
they weren't too happy I had 6 points on my licence and said that i could have bike for an hour. and I had to sign with date & time of ride. I only had bike for 30 mins as I soon realised it wasn't for me. I made him sign with time i handed keys back just in case someone else took it back out after I finished with it!

must admit that I probably didn't enjoy it for a couple of reasons but knowing that if I had an off would cost me a grand just made me bit too nervous at the start & on A30 couldn't relax enough even though its a road I know very well!
Still thinking about a 2nd bike but having just added a project freelander to my stable think it will have to wait till next summer!

[esetest]

I did half a dozen test rides with various dealers in 2010 and was never asked to pay a deposit , is this a new thing , and do car dealers take a deposit for test drives .
You would think with plummeting bike sales the dealers would do everything they can to encourage people to buy  bikes , as has previously been said why can't they have some kind of waiver insurance similar to when you hire a car .

[fazersharp]

No- car test drives do not ask, its not a deposit as such but you sign to agree to pay up to £500/1000 IF you damage it, snap a mirror- you get your dosh back minus the cost of the mirror, its to cover the bike shops OWN excess that they have to pay on their insurance if you bin it.
Like I said before the shop pays the insurance excess (or rather you do) then the insurance pays out to the shop the cost of the shop fixing it - on which the shop makes a profit, we are not talking about write offs but just a drop will do £500/£1000 damage once you add labour cost, so you pay the shops excess and they make a profit on the repairs, sounds like a scam to me. Would not be supprised if the excess is much lower than tey say anyway.

[fireblake]

Me and the Mrs recently bought a new car and whilst visiting the dealer the salesmen let us take a demonstrator out for a couple of hours. Twice.
I wouldn't of paid to ride a bike I know that much


Mickey