Laguna Motorcycles - daylight robbery

[rhhmunro]

Ok I am never, repeat never, going to trust a bike dealer again.

When I bought my KTM Duke II, I offered a Honda XR 125 in part exchange. It
had 630 miles on the clock and was in mint condition. The reason I
had it was because I have an amputation and needed a small bike with a
hand gear shift adaption for a few months to pass my test. I was told
by a dealer that I could sell it on with a small depreciation cost which
seemed reasonable at the time.

But when I offered it up for the Duke I was told that no one would
want it and was offered just over 50% of the original cost by the KTM franchise.
This is less than 2 months after buying the thing. Like a mug blinded by supermoto lust I
believed them. I have just seen it for sale on their website for £700
more than they paid me. The only cost to them is putting it
in their showroom.

Why do they do this stuff, it makes no business sense? I would have
bought my next bike and the one after that ad infinitum if they had
treated me well. Instead they took me for a fool and I'll never go
near them again.

I can understand being ripped off in a private sale, but by a main dealer such behaviour is very short-sighted.

Sheeesh!


BTW, the dealer in question is Laguna Motorcycles in Maidstone, Kent

[G]

[rhhmunro]

Hi

I was referring to all dealers including the one who sold me the XR in the first place.

And I don't think a 55% mark up is reasonable or usual.

Rob

[G]

Reasonable? No, that's why I don't buy bikes from dealers?

Usual? Unfortunately it is, especially on cheaper bikes that they can sell for that much.

Trade in values aren't usually that great either... a bike is worth less to them than the same amount of money so they aren't going to give you a 'private sale' price, nevermind anything near what they hope to get*.

*And remember they do have to pay rent and for staff, cleaning the bikes (the good ones may even service/fix the bikes as well) and lots of other bits, then still make a profit.

[rhhmunro]

That's put my mind at rest, thanks.

I'll just have to erase the memory of the guy telling me he was going to put it on sale for £1400 instead of the £1890 he's now asking for.

I just think if dealers want our custom, and God knows they need it, they should be a little more honest.

What goes around very much comes around in this world.

[Fortuna]

I applied for a job at Laguna's

[Claud 14.7 to 1]

Dealers Suck, and I avoid them as best I can. I'd never buy a bike from one.

[mchaggis]

Dealers are only trying to make as much money as possible. In a lot of cases, it's to the detriment of the customer. CMC were telling me that my £1500 budget for a second hand 125 couldn't possibly be enough... Thankfully I saw the light.
____________________
I must not be a troll...
Mmmm, Guinness
Discovering the delights of Hammerite and a 3/4" brush.

[tintin]

Why don't you write to them and say how disappointed you are and how they have lost a potential long term customer? Say that you understand that they have to make a profit to stat in business but that you feel they took advantage of you and the situation. Don't get arsey and start ranting, keep it polite you never know you might get offered a deal on servicing or something.

Most dealers want to hang on to loyal customers, it's worth more to them in the long run.
____________________
The older I get the better I was

[rhhmunro]

Good advice Tintin.

I'd already written to them about other issues regarding the sale which I was unhappy about. The part-ex thing was just the last straw.

Anyway I got a call from the head honcho this morning who's looking into things so we shall see...

[Dom]

It's only semi-relevant but there was an article Jeremy Clarkson wrote recently which actually made a decent point (Unusual eh? ). If you rang up harrods and said you wanted to go and spend £4000 on perfume they'd treat you like royalty for the duration, whereas you walk into a bike/car dealer and you can guarantee they'll just cheat you out of as much money as possible and screw you over for anything you want after having bought the thing.

Nice to hear you might get somewhere.

[rhhmunro]

I think it's very relevant Dom , a very good point.

Heard nothing back from the dealer yet. Maybe they saw this thread and are sulking!

[octane]

I bought my current bike from Collin Collins in Watford late summer this year as it semed in good nick and rode well enough, but upon having my local mechanic inspect it, it needed £4-500 worth of work. I phoned 'em up the day after and they then spent around a week trying to wriggle out of it. It wasn't until I threatened legal proceedings they swallowed. Needless to say I won't be recommending them.

On the flipside after dealing with loads of crap workshops when I first started riding I came across Hyside motorcycles in collier row(plug); I've always had good service from these guys and never felt ripped off(I killed my original bike by not putting any oil in and the mechanic said don't worry about the bill since it was dead); consequently I recommend them to anyone and everyone and have now had two friends buy used bikes from them and a futher two now use them reguarly as mechanics.

So yeh, I'm one million percent with you that them mugging you off like that just makes zero business sense. Guess when they're just another bankrupt large dealership they'll see your point.

[Fortuna]

I find my small local bike shop the best.
I bought a KR1S of them many moons a go and it blew up a week later. They bought all new parts for it and went halfway on a new barrel. This is why I still use them today.
Did you know though that second hand vehicles if they go wrong legally only have to be replaced with second hand parts or half the value of the new parts. Weird eh?

[Fortuna]

[Harold_Shand]

Mmm, bought my scooty from Colin Collins in Harrow. Had it for two months and top end went whilst I was on the A40. They fitted a spark plug first and charged me £23. I took it out and it came to a stop again. Got to work after a couple of fits and starts and then wouldn't get going again. They had the thing for the best part of two months, I shit you not. I ended up chasing the parts. The 3 month warranty they gave was worthless and then got done for near enough £300 for the work.
The riding school upstairs is top class though.

[octane]

[M1ke]

If you were that bothered about it you could have done some research to find out what the private sale value was first... Thus avoiding being ripped off. Dealers will tell you anything to make a profit.

To be honest if you expected to get a good price from a trade in then you have been seriously misinformed somewhere...

[rhhmunro]

Hey! Thanks for that startling insight M1ke, I have now had I AM AN IDIOT tattooed on my forehead.

Is that the point you're so helpfully making?

[M1ke]

Not an idiot, no, just misinformed. I can easily see how a dealer could con someone with little knowledge about bikes/just starting out as I was in that position not too long ago.

My personal view point is to avoid dealers like a fresh lump of turd on the pavement because I have yet to find a decent, trustworthy one.

Just next time (as im sure you have learnt now) its worth being slightly more patient and sell the bike privatly for £500 more than the dealer offered... Unless you have money to throw away.

[rhhmunro]

Actually it gets worse. Here's a little selection of the other issues
I have with these people.

They charged me £105 to fit a Kliktronic gear changer (supplied by me)
that was so badly installed, the manufacturers said it would never
work properly. The salesman told me I was lucky they had even tried
and that the workshop staff 'hadn't wanted to go near it'. I really
wish they'd stuck to that plan as I had to shell out another £100 and
have the bike transported over 100 miles to get the job done properly
by the experts at Kliktronic.

I also discovered that, as part of their bizarre installation, they
had lengthened the gear lever by welding another bit to it. This alone
meant the Kliktronic would never work. When I asked for an OEM lever
to replace the one they had mangled, they told me I had to pay for it.

The toolkit was missing and the salesman told me the Duke II 'doesn't
come with a toolkit. Two other dealers have subsequently told me it does.

The chain was rusty and mildewed despite the fact it was supposed to
have been serviced as part of the deal.

It was too loose according to the criterion specified in the owners'
manual. Of course I couldn't immediately adjust it because the tool
need for the eccentric hex socket would have been in the missing
toolkit. On inspection the hex socket looks damaged like the wrong
tool has been used...

Anything else? Oh yes, only one key supplied as the other had
apparently been 'lost during a test drive'.

Marvellous![/img]

[Rob W]

They sound like a right bunch of wank3rs. No wonder your'e so pi$$ed off mate.


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TS50 > Senda 125 > ZXR400 > CB-1 > GSX-R1000 > Bandit 600 > ZXR750 H1 > GSX-R750 SRAD > '98 RR-W Fireblade > T595 Daytona > Hornet 900 > '04 Fireblade > GSX-S1000F (x2) > '23 XSR900

[rhhmunro]

BTW if anyone is wondering what a Kliktronic is, here's one properly installed on my Duke:

https://us.f1.yahoofs.com/groups/g_405474/Expert+Kliktronic+install.jpg?bcC7duBBygwuukZL





And this is how Laguna did it (check out all-new mile-long gear lever):

https://us.f1.yahoofs.com/groups/g_405474/A+$180+dollar+mess+-+Laguna+MC.jpg?bcC7duBBS8.l1wPT

[Fortuna]

You are talking about Laguna in Maidstone?

[rhhmunro]