How much does a dealer make on a new bike?

FerretFing · World Chat Champion Joined: 12 Nov 2007 Karma :

hi, looking to buy a new bike soon. Anyone have any idea what kind of markup/profit margin there is for the dealer on a new bike? I want to negotiate a great deal for myself & it would help if I knew roughly what their starting point was - eg they pay £3500 on a bike retailing at £5000.

cheers for any info Thumbs Up

AngelGrinder · World Chat Champion Joined: 09 Jun 2007 Karma :

Kickstart · The Oracle Joined: 04 Feb 2002 Karma :

Hi

Realistically they make very little at all on an individual deal. Nowhere near the amount you mention. With the big 4 probably the biggest part of their profit margin comes from bonuses for selling a large enough quantity.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

FerretFing · World Chat Champion Joined: 12 Nov 2007 Karma :

Thanks for the prompt reply guys. Maybe a few freebies & a few hundred quid off for cash is the best I can hope for then Wink

I`ll see if I can play a few of the dealers off against each other - nothing wrong with trying!

cheers Thumbs Up

tutton · World Chat Champion Joined: 04 Jan 2008 Karma :

Well the local garage down here was offering 500 quid for a 250yz and was told it'd be going up for sale at 1200. lol, you know what he did haha Laughing

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Past: '05 Peugeot XPS '99 Aprillia RS125 '94 FZR600R
Current: '02 ZX636 A1P '51 CCM R30

SonicTheHedge... · Nitrous Nuisance Joined: 04 Mar 2007 Karma :

Ask nicely for bits and pieces (can't really hurt), but I don't think it's much.
They seem to make their money on accessories and servicing mainly.
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Previous: '00 G2 Bandit 600 Naked. Now: '08 BMW GS Adventure.

MarJay · But it's British! Joined: 15 Sep 2003 Karma :

D O G · World Chat Champion Joined: 18 Dec 2006 Karma :

AngelGrinder is probably very near the mark. I used to audit several large motor dealers, and they would be making around 500-1000squid gross profit on each car sale - about the 7.5% mentioned.

As kickstart says, however, they rely on volume and hitting thresholds to get bonuses from the manufacturer. The cutoff for these is quarterly, with the biggie at the end of the calendar year - which is also generally a shitty month for demand.

If you can hang on to late December then you will likely get a good deal, particularly in the current economic climate where car/bike sales are going to be squeezed a bit.

In terms of getting free accesories instead of cash discount, then as previously said you would likely to get more value there then a straight cash discount. Gross profit on these items is generally in the region of 40% - so a jacket selling for 200squid would only have cost them 120 or so to buy, they would be much more likely to chuck that in than give you 200quid off the bike.

Kickstart · The Oracle Joined: 04 Feb 2002 Karma :

NexusDragon · Scooby Slapper Joined: 23 Oct 2007 Karma :

When I got the FZ6 I talked my dealer into fitting Datatag and a Datatool Red alarm system worth £350, all for free.

I really like my bike at the moment, I've been looking at an R6 sometime in the future and when I mentioned it to them, they said they'd do me a part exchange and also rip £1000 off the R6 (which came to £6500).
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DAS Passed 19th April 08. 07' YBR125 > Yamaha FZ6 S2 '08 > 1998 YZF600R ThunderCat