Buying second hand from a dealer

[JonT]

Hi folks I was wondering what your experiences have been buying second hand from a dealer. I'd be especially interested in any dealings you have had trying to get your warranty fulfilled when problems have occured.

I'm considering getting my first big bike from a dealer since I want the ease of trading my old bike in and getting another with a warranty for peace of mind.

So please give me your advice from your collective experience!

[Black Knight]

My advice - Buy private.

Dealers are there to run a business and make a profit.
A private sale is much more likely to see a fair price agreed.
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Where does a turn end? 'Where you can do anything with the gas you want to, where you are brave again, where your attention is free from the turn, where you are sure you can do it better next time; that's the end' - Keith Code.

[TOM M]

ive bought one bike from a dealer, cracking bike, shite service, and even shiter back-up service and trying to get warrenty onered?? i was told to go home and do the repairs myself, after having the bike for 24 hours, so after dealing with this dealer in stafford ( ive heard a mr mcjamweasel may have delt with this place) i tend to only look at private ads now
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Now owner of a 1200 Bandit

[White Noise]

also if you buy private, you can meet the guy/girl that has owned it and judge if they have taken care of it or not!
WN
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Buy my wife: 96' Yam XJ600s (Diversion)
Wing Commander White Noise - SE Clique
Riding Tip #86: See God, then back off a bit: Problem is i haven't seen god yet, just a close up of tarmac on revett straight

[dodsi]

My first bike I went through a dealer, paid over the odds for a bike and when a REALLY basic thing went wrong with the bike (split in the spark plug cap causing it not to spark every time) They failed to fix it and looked pissed off with a thing that would take 3 mins and cost them 50p.

Getting a dealer to honour his warrenty is not allways as easy as it sounds.

with private you know once you bought it, its yours. even when you snap an indicator off its YOUR problem. and you accept this.

I bought the rest of my bikes private and got them cheaper.

[Black Knight]

Hmm, the jist of this thread seems to be dealer warranties aren't worth the paper they are written on
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Where does a turn end? 'Where you can do anything with the gas you want to, where you are brave again, where your attention is free from the turn, where you are sure you can do it better next time; that's the end' - Keith Code.

[JonT]

Another concern of mine was to do with selling my old bike.

My RG125 which served me well for training and passing my test has to go before I can get another bike due to financial concerns. If I go to a dealer I can part exchange and get the new bike right away.

If I sell my own bike private it may take some time, a lot of hastle and also leave me without transport once its gone until I can find a bike I want to buy.

Which option do you think I should take?

[G]

[Davo]

I've bought the last two bikes from a dealer, and my experiences have been positive.

Last year my clutch started slipping on the busa 4 months after I bought it, I took it to them expecting them to tell me it's wear & tear. When I went to pick the bike up, they said not a problem we've replaced the clutch on it. I asked "how much?" they said, "nothing its still under warranty". Saved me £400, also got them to replace the chain & sprocket under the warranty.

[dodsi]

Well put a post up in the exhange and mart section on here plenty of pics and a good description, offer the bike for a reasonable price and you might well sell it.

I have sold 2 bikes through this forum.

And check autotrader/ebay etc (even this forum) for a bike you want.

easy!

[colin1]

buying from a dealer is for lazy people with money to burn

the good dealers will charge over the odds but will have checked over the bike and fixed any problems

the bad dealers will charge over the odds and will have damaged the bike while it has been in their care so it was worse than when they got it

private sellers seem to be more honest as most are decent people who dont lie to make a living
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colin1 is officially faster than god

[iCraig]

I have bought a majority of my bikes from Dealers and a few from private sales.
All the private sale bikes haven't been great, and you don't get much come back with them either.

My current bike was bought from a notorious dealer in Newcastle-Under-Lyme, who every one say is crap and their aftersales is shit too. But so far they have been amazingly great for me and honoured the warranty even after it'd expire cos they were so busy they couldn't fit me in till it had.

Every bike I've ever had a problem with I've just taken it back to the dealer and asked for the work to be done kindly and it gets done?
It maybe just be me?

[colin1]

craig it may seem like they fixed the problem for free, but as its a dealer price, you have already paid for the fixing fee in the price.

if a bike is £500 more with a dealer, id prefer to get one private and spend £250 having someone fix it

im not sure you shd be grateful that they fix the problems which the bike had when they sold it to you. I know of at least one dealer who has a mechanic check the bike over first to make sure there are no problems before a customer takes it.
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colin1 is officially faster than god

[Russ]

I have bought three bikes from one dealer now, and I have to admit that all the bikes have been of good value.
They have always honored the warranty with no qualms. The latest bike I have is a ZZR600 P reg 97 with 12400 miles on it. The bike is absolutely mint and I paid £2200 and the last owner left a full set of Givi paniers on it back and side.
The down pipes have been replaced from the manifold as these are a problem on the ZZR.
So you tell me has this dealer stitched me up?

I feel that if you stick with one dealer time and time again they sort you out with a good price, that's my feeling anyway
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knock on the devils door and HE will answer...............

[G]

[cagiva gezzer]

Both my bikes came from dealers. The first one shafted me 125% by not passing on the money I paid to him to the third party warranty company. Needless to say, that warranty was worthless as it didn’t exist.

Add to that when it was pulled apart a few thousand km’s later it had had suffered a seized topend which I didn’t do.

Up yours Fastline Motorcycles Sevenoaks!

My present bike was brought from a dealer in Exeter. As I’m in London I expressed my wishes not to have any warranty other than the basic rights of the buyer. They agreed and knocked a few hundred off the price. They still replaced the light unit when it failed its MOT 2 years (yes TWO) after I bought it.

Dealers do suck, but I’d buy from them again, but express my wishes not to have any warranty other than basic rights. Less hassle trying to get them to do work, and you’re a few hundred notes up.
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"because one stroke isnt enough and four strokes waste two"

[White Noise]

[cagiva gezzer]

Motorcycles Unlimited.

An ok place. Gave a very poor / selective description of the bike before i drove 100's of miles down the country, the bars were bent to hell and the fork seals past it. Knew screw all about the bike, told me it was full power when it was restricted.

Should of asked for more money off it for not having the pre sale check, as they didn't do anything, even top up the gear oil.

They were the dealer on the service history and judging the the quality of the parts used, they're a over priced dealer which doesn't care what parts are used on what bike.
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"because one stroke isnt enough and four strokes waste two"