Dealer or Private

[mrchips]

Where do you generally purchase your bike from? Dealers or privately?


Personally I'd rather buy private as I believe you pay a lot more than you need to with dealers and can get yourself a bargain.
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Northern Irish? www.nibikers.com

[KevTM]

well i bought my bike from a dealer as i got a good px on my old one and wanted a 'big' bike asap after passing my test..

buying my next bike privately though, should pick it up monday (hopefully)

Would always buy privately unless the dealer was doing a good deal, which is unlikely.

[JodieWodie]

I don't know what I am looking for private, so tend to go for dealer as you get a warranty.

My FZR was a pretty good deal I think...2K, and he gave me 1,200 for my CG !! So only 800 cash.

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Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "I will try again tomorrow"

[WildGoose]

i have always bought from dealers, but am slowly learning that there are no advantages over buying privately

you will kid yourself that because a dealer acts nice to you, that he is a genuinely nice member of the human race.... but you would be wrong, he will spout whatever crap he can get away with in order to remove the bike from his showroom floor and into your garage, 95% of the time he may get away with it

if, like me, youve got one of the 5% that pulls a major problem, then the dealer is still laughing all the way to the bank, because once you get into trading standards and warranties, you will learn that a dealer warranty means ....absolutely fuck all

if you buy a new bike, you have 14 days comeback, on a used bike you have 7 -and that is the bottom line- after those 7 days, the dealer has no obligation to do anything, as he can turn round almost any problem on a used car or bike against the owner, unless you are willing to seriously get into the courts then you will get nothing from them

you are gonna get problems with used vehicles they fall apart from the day they are created, so you might as well pay less for the privaledge



goose - still paying over the odds for everything
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So in other words, he stopped you for being flagrantly in posession of a motorcycle in direct contravention of the Hippies, Darkies and People Whose Face I Don't Like The Look of (Police Powers) Act. 1976

[the grim reaper]

I've bought privately for a few years now. Seen a few dogs and walked away as well. If you are confident, or have a mate who is then buying private should be hassle free. Always be prepared to walk away though, you are under no compulsion to buy.

Cheers

Grim
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Adverts don't always work: Remember that advert, where the army are running across the desert and they have a wounded man on a stretcher. They get to a ravine, the bridge is down and a caption pops up that says, 'What are you thinking?'. I don't know about you but I was thinking, 'Christ, I'm glad I'm not in the f***ing army'.

[karen_moomin]

1st car - bought privately
2nd car - bought from dealer
1st bike - bought privately from a BCF member

I think when I come to sell my NSR and buy a new bike my first port of call will be this very forum.

[Keith]

Will always go to a dealer.

The first road bike was from a dealer (Derbi Senda), the second (Honda NS125) was a private bought bike which killed its bottom end about 3 weeks after purchase. The third (RS125) was from a dealer and lasted a very long time, was very pleased with it. The most recent being my Bandit6, that was also from a dealer.

Amongst those was also a CG I bought off ebay for £200. Lets just say I learned a lesson never to purchase a bike without viewing first, was an expensive one to say the least.

So yeah, I tend to buy from reputable dealers.
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Aprilia RSV Mille R Edwards Replica - Aprilia RS250 - Suzuki GSXR600 Supersport Race Bike

[TheShaggyDA]

I'm happy buying from either, but I tend towards dealers as if there is a problem, there's a desk to thump.
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Current: CB500 Previous: CB100N, CB250RS, XJ900F, GT550, GPZ750R/1000RX, AJS M16, R100RT, Enfield Bullet

[i:6e3bfc7581]But still I fear and still I dare not laugh at the madman...[/i:6e3bfc7581]

[JonB]

I tend to go to dealers just cause i'm lazy and it's nice to have a load of bikes in one place!
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Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it?s worth.

[Dom]

Bought both the RS and SV privately, as I have ideas above my station and tend to want something better than I can afford. Imo both purchases were bargains (touch wood) and I wouldn't have got anything like what I did from a dealer.

Dealer's are a nice idea if you can afford them.
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Photos and that

[cagiva gezzer]

First bike from a dealer who shafted me over 110%. Paid an extra £200 for some warranty supplied by a third party. Dealer never passed payment on to warranty company, so I had no warranty…..

Bought my next one from a dealer, by I expressed my wishes to have absolutely no “warranty” except for my rights as a seller. Bike was immediately a few hundred less and I was happy. They still replaced stuff when I phoned them up two years later…..

Next one will be private as you can also gauge the previous owner and guess what sort of use the bike had.
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"because one stroke isnt enough and four strokes waste two"

[Nath]

Private - I don't have enough money to pay the inflated prices that you get with dealers.
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Hard livin', hard luck.

[mrchips]

I was looking at NC30s in a dealer the other month, and privately around £1800-2000 would buy you a mint one. In dealers they were all looking around £2500 for them, and none were overly clean either. The way I see it if you know what you are looking for you are better off going private. Dont like the thought of getting my old bike butchered in PX either, I'd sell it privately too.
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Northern Irish? www.nibikers.com

[scottiel]

JodieWodie just out of interest what year is the FZR600.

[dodsi]

I would allways try and buy/sell private.

dealers are out to make a living so have to stick to profit margins.

If you look around and find a good bike private you can save a tidy sum.

Downside is you buy a bike 260 miles away from where you live

[Andy C]

yep never want to do trade, waste of money i think as i prefere scanning autotrader mag/website till i find exactly what i want for right price, takes a while but worth it!
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99 RS125 --> 02 SV650s --> 03 Speed Four --> 92 RXS100 --> 93 CB400sf --> 01 CB600f Hornet

[ZaphodBeeble]

I'll buy private, always have, always will. Even though I usually end up buying sheds of bikes, I still end up with a decent bike because I do all the work myself. I think I'd rather buy a cheap bike that is a bit knackered just so that I can get to know it intimately by stripping the guts out of it and fixing it up.

The next thing I'm going to do though is to go to a dealer and ride a few bikes to see which I like the most, then buy private.
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Current bike: VTR1000F Firestorm. Previous: Firestorm (written off) - XJ600 Divvy - NSR125 - DT125 and a load of offroaders.

[colin1]

with ebay you can used the advanced search feature to find things withiin a certain number of miles of your postcode

i like to keep an eye out for what things go for too so when i eventually do buy i wont be paying more than i need to
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colin1 is officially faster than god

[J.K.R]

Buy privatly although my stepdad owns a bike shop, hes been in the game for a long time though buying and selling!
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www.oldskoolsuzuki.info

[PsychoHippy]

I would only buy from one dealer, and he is a good friend of mine so will always give me a good deal.
I'm always very careful when buying privately - HPI, a thorough look over and a good test ride are essential. Any complaints from the seller about any of my checks or taking a ride and I would (and have) walk away.
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I spend all my money on bikes and beer, the rest I simply waste!

[kaillum]

Dealer.. nearly all of the time.. In fact, just bought my next bike from a dealer.. but then again, he offered my £3800 trade in for my '99 CBR600 with no MOT but that was against a new Aprilia RSV Factory

only time i've not bought from a dealer was my RGV.. and that was a bit of a gamble.. but as it was money I could afford to lose I wasnt that bothered...

[MarkyPancake]

My first two bikes have come from the same dealer as they offered me a good deal on the bikes and extras and have never pressured me into buying, so if it carries on like that then I'll continue to buy from them. Plus you get a lot of choice under one roof.

[fuzz]

Bought the NSR from a dealer and had no problems (though I did pay too much for what I got). I bought the SV privately and got a good deal. I'm more confident about buying privately now as I know more about what to look for.

If I sell the SV soon I will but a sports 600 privately as I'll be looking to make some extra money on it. I'd get a CBR600/GSXR600 for about £2000 and sell the SV for around £2500. At a dealers I'd be lucky to pay £500 with p/x.
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https://www.bikepics.com/members/fuzzbcf/
Bikes: '99 NSR125R, '00 SV650S, K1 GSX-R600, '97 CB500, K3 SV1000S, '16 VFR800

[Kirmit]

I've just bought a new sv650s. You won't get a private bike for £1 deposit and 0% interest
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When riding fast, think fast. When riding slow.. speed up.
Grey Honda Cityfly 125 || Red Suzuki Bandit 600 & Blue Suzuki SV650SK5|| Red Honda VTR 1000-F2

[Nath]