Private vs Trade

[Mord]

Private vs Trade? If you had cash where would you buy a bike?

I'm not going to get a bike from a garage I think. Fair enough when you need a finance and are forced buy there, but imho they have way too overpriced bikes for what they are and pretty much all those bikes are sourced from part exchange and as such are probably rather poor condition.

So my question is.. Is a warranty from a garage worth that much that you would buy overpriced poor condition bike from a garage rather than much cheaper and mint bike from a private seller?

[Blackwolf]

For me it all depends on the condition of the bike. you can usually get the dealer to give away some freebies too so its not all bad..
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Current: Ducati Multistrada 1200s

[multijoy]

[SW Motech Shop UK]

Most dealers are pretty good and will put a bike through the workshop and make sure its ok before letting it go. You can always haggle too. At least you have some comeback if you buy from a dealer. Ive noticed a lot of dealers trade the crappy part exes through ebay these days at trade sales with no warranty so its often the better bikes that they tend to sell though the showroom.
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https://www.motorcycle-road-and-race.co.uk and https://www.sw-motech-shop.co.uk/ and https://www.motorcycle-luggage.co.uk/

[Teflon-Mike]

It all depends. Dealers HAVE to make a profit, and its only fair we should expect to pay them mor for the same bike than we would private.
May not seem like they are adding much value, but just holding stock and offering a choice of bikes IS a service.
They ar also subject to consumer protection law, there IS come-back on a bike bought from a dealer, and you should be able to be a heck of a lot more confident that the bike aint nicked or rebuilt from three or four different bikes.
They normally do give it a service and detailing, and put it in teh show-room with a VALID MOt and some kind of warranty.
How much its worth REALLY is dependent on what you are looking at, and how big the difference is.
Yeah, if we are looking at fifteen to twenty year old bikes, like my CB750F2, I know that private I could pick up a nice bike for about £900 where a dealer would be asking £1500, and hoping to get £13 for it.
So is thier service and assurance worth £300ish?
Probably.
If you are looking at a two year old bike, costing say £6K, the difference MIGHT actually be LESS than on the older bike!
Becouse they have probably taken the bike in PX, and made thier money on THAT bike, with the new sales commission and finance, and they can put the old bike in the show-room pretty much for what they gave the seller in PX on the new one.
Its STILL all dependent.
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My Webby'Tef's-tQ, loads of stuff about my bikes, my Land-Rovers, and the stuff I do with them!
Current Bikes:'Honda VF1000F' ;'CB750F2N' ;'CB125TD ( 6 3 of em!)'; 'Montesa Cota 248'. Learner FAQ's:= 'U want to Ride a Motorbike! Where Do U start?'

[radical]

Private if you know exactly what to look for in the bike and have some mechanical knowledge, if not go to a dealer and get a warranty.

[The Original Muzza]

Bought my TT from dealer, got restriction and new MOT thrown in. Had a few problems needed ironing out within the first few months, covered by dealer warranty.

All in all, if it had been a private sale (the exact same bike, from previous owner), I would've paid a lot less, but then I would've spent cash restricting it (ca. £200), MOTing it (£28), fixing temp sensor electrical problem and snapped throttle cable (£mostly labour charges probably, as I didn't have a workshop manual at the time).

Despite all this, I will still be buying privately in the future.
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Current Bikes: Husqvarna Svartpilen 401 (2020)
Former Bikes: Honda MSX125 (2014), BMW Funduro (1996), Honda VT500 (1983), Yamaha FZR250 (1989), Suzuki GZ125 Marauder(2005),:Triumph TT600 (2002) (stolen)
From then on, I and the bicycle feelings deeper.

[Ingah]

[27cows]

Private every time. Most dealers are bigger crooks than even the most dubious private sellers, trust me.

Just use your common sense. I've been buying and selling bikes for 25 years and have owned something like 160 bikes now. I've had almost entirely positive experiences. Keep your wits about you and always take an objective second person with you when you go to look at a bike, if at all possible.
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The RXS100: vehicle of choice for Chuck Norris

[Inkognito]

I can see the advantages of buying from a dealer but i think i prefer to buy private myself.
It's not a problem for me to get bikes fixed if there's something wrong anyway so doesn't really bother me.

I will never buy a bike or a car on finance anyway. If i can't afford something cash i'm not buying it

[G]

[The Shaggy D.A.]

I prefer private, but sometimes being able to trade in your existing bike can save a lot of sodding about, and it's nice to have a desk to thump should you need it. You have to take each purchase on a case by case basis.
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Chances are quite high you are not in my Monkeysphere, and I don't care about you. Don't take it personally.
Currently : Royal Enfield 350 Meteor
Previously : CB100N > CB250RS > XJ900F > GT550 > GPZ750R/1000RX > AJS M16 > R100RT > Bullet 500 > CB500 > LS650P > Bullet Electra X & YBR125 > Bullet 350 "Superstar" & YBR125 Custom > Royal Enfield Classic 500 Despatch Limited Edition (28 of 200) & CB Two-Fifty Nighthawk > ER5

[The Shaggy D.A.]

Another thought, certainly in my area - there's not many dealers who'd touch the older/cheaper bikes I'd be interested in, so if you want something decent for a grand or less, you need to go private. Most dealers I've experienced have prices starting at £1200, and that's for the 125s. 500cc bikes tend to start around the £1500 mark.
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Chances are quite high you are not in my Monkeysphere, and I don't care about you. Don't take it personally.
Currently : Royal Enfield 350 Meteor
Previously : CB100N > CB250RS > XJ900F > GT550 > GPZ750R/1000RX > AJS M16 > R100RT > Bullet 500 > CB500 > LS650P > Bullet Electra X & YBR125 > Bullet 350 "Superstar" & YBR125 Custom > Royal Enfield Classic 500 Despatch Limited Edition (28 of 200) & CB Two-Fifty Nighthawk > ER5

[Polarbear]

I use a dealer for new or relatively new bikes. ie top end dealers, not those back street shit holes where they do little more than buy cheap & sell expensive.

Better off private in the cheaper end of the market
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Triumph Trophy Launch Edition

[defblade]

Trade.

I can't be bothered with the hassle of selling cars privately any more and bikes look like they'd be even more trouble (test drives, for a start).

So long as they offer me a good trade-in price (and as I ended up at the same place I bought my 125 buying my Bandit, they did give me top book for my 125) I'll take the small possible loss against private.
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Honda Varadero 125cc => Suzuki Bandit 650 33bhp => 77bhp =>
BMW K1200R Sport 163bhp => Aprilia Shiver GT 750 95bhp

[yuri2085]

[radical]

My worst ever experience in buying a secondhand bike came from an offical Honda dealer back in the late 80s. I had spotted a must have CBX550 f2, so immediately traded in my old cb400at which I hated and drove the bike home. I though I would check the oil so put the bike on the centre stand and removed the dipstick and the oil was right to the top of the crankcase. I phoned the dealer who played stupid and drained the oil to the corrct level only to find that the timming chain and tensioner were knackered and that the oil had been overfillled to silence the noise. I ended up repairing the bike myself as the dealers would not honour their 3 month warranty, Thankfully they are now banned from running a business due to selling rebadged chinese copies as genuine Hondas.

[Dom]

Private every single time. I don't see the point in spending 20% more for the dubious benefits that a dealer offers. Even if you are paranoid and want some kind of warranty there are companies that will offer them on private sales for pretty sensible rates. I think when I bought the KTM I got 60 days of warranty just because the guy had sold it via MCN (not that I used it).
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Photos and that

[MaybeGuy]

reasons i buy private:

gsxr 600 bought privately by me
£900
one from a dealer near me
£2100

r6 bought privately by me
£1250
one from dealer near me
£3200

so basically if i had bought a shed privately, which i didn (i just turned them into sheds) i could have bought another bike and still saved a few hundred.
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Blue_SV650S wrote: it was a sh1te wheelie, but it proves that he can get it up in 3rd and can do angles. In summery, mattsprattuk is a gobby little sh1tebag, dopehead tw4t, but sadly for all of us, he probably isn't THAT full of sh1te!!
Kickstart wrote: Hi I tend to agree with Matt. All the best Keith

[Mord]

[swiftb]

[Spit-Fire]

i agree with most of whats send above about dealers not being as trustworthy as you would hope,