Texas Dealers Suck..?

[Mulholland]

What are most people paying out the door for their facelift ninjettes? The LOWESTotd quote I have recieved from local DFW, Texas dealerships has been $5100 for a basic black bike, and also been told they cant pick what bikes they get and I just have to wait and check if I want the white special edition...

The price is much higher than I am willing to pay for a ninja 240r, period, and is the last part true also? I really want a new ninja 250 as my first bike, but I'll be hard pressed to rationalize any more than $4500 or so for a 250... I had one clown say "about $7k" otd... of course he was also trying desperately to sell me on a zx6r, and looked to be about 17 years old...

I am becoming very frustrated, anyone chome in with help/advise? looking in North Texas/Oklahoma even if I have to.

Thanks for the input,
Richard

[Linuss]

$4300 OTD... before I bought a bunch of gear. I went to Johnson County Kawasaki.


I don't know if they have any 250's left as there was only 1 left after I bought mine, and they didn't know when they'd get any new ones, but they'd be the place I recommend... especially compared to a couple of the other metroplex companies.


Looking on Cycletrader, I've seen a dealership in Greenville advertising $3299 for '09-'10s, don't know what the OTD would be but you can check with them.

[TXJ]

Have you tried Louis Powersports in Greenville? I have a friend up in DFW and he got a honest otd price with no added charges.

If you're pre-qualified or have cash just talk them down in price. If they don't budge, just leave and go somewhere else. Generally they will try and put on $400+ in "freight/Prep" fees ontop. If you have cash it might be easier to buy a like-new one off craigslist. Private sellers are generally easier to work with. Good luck regardless!

[Mulholland]

yeah I've seen 0 miles 09/10 bikes for msrp otd basically, but prfer the 2011 gauges and fell in love with the white bike... and am now becoming depressed with the situation and how much easier it would be to get any number of much too powerful bikes... its like I want to buy a base cobalt in blue and all people want to sell me is a damn zr1 corvette... because a zx6r is a great beginner bike, just ask captaim squidly the salesman, he's 19 and his jixxer is mad sweet for a starter bike, until he can get his hi'boos...

[Mulholland]

all of the good used bikes I have seen are $3500+ so I figure I would rather just own it from new. Cheapest 250r I have seen was a blue 08 with 22k miles, went down on gravel and rashed up both sides hard, and he wanted $2400 bare minimum.

...the used market here seems too steep to merit buying used if I can get brand new for 10/20% more cost, considering it'll be 2/3 years newer, and 0 miles plus warranty, not that the warranty is really worth much if anything to me as a mechanic honestly...

[kkim]

in the past, I've seen people getting excellent deals from dealers in Oklahoma. Try searching and calling dealers there to see if they are priced any better than TX.

[cuong-nutz]

Before I bought my bike for a private seller, I went to Team Mancuso here in SW Houston and they had a black 2009? 250 w/ 400 miles on it. I got them to get it at 3500 OTD cash after some haggling. I didn't get it as it seemed too much for me as I could get a decent used 600 for about the same price.

[Mulholland]

on another note... when are the 2012's hitting showrooms? August-ish?

I guess it doesnt matter what color I get etc. since they are all the same, but I dont like settling, for anything... and I want what I want... but I am not paying 30% or greater mark up... it is supposed to be the cheapest entry level sport bike, and has new competition at the $4k price point...

The real kicker is the price difference in a 2011 black vs special edition is much greater than the cost of the special edition option. Thats crooked business... and as I havent checked all dealers in a reasonable range, I am so far not even wasting my time with people asking $5-7k for a damn 250r... its not even worth the time, stresa, or value of having me as a customer to cater to these con artists. I understand profit, I work for car dealerships... but if you just try to rip off educated consumers you lose business. I'm not some shmuck who walked in and went "oh this one looks neato, how much and where do I sign- and do yall offer in house financing? maybe even a kawasaki credit card so people ask if I ride when I buy other stuff?"

I am sure I will find the right dealer soon, just embarassing how bad they have been so far. Honestly if a guy in his mid 20's pulled up to my motorcycle dealership and got out of his ///M3 with his fiance with a big rock on her finger and his younger friend in tow, all interested in 250's in the near future... I would probably try to catch their business now and in the future...

[Mizono]

grapevine kawasaki told me they can get bikes from the warehouse depending on what they have. Plus they had a white one about 2 weeks ago when i was in there. good prices too.

[Mulholland]

yeah I have heard and seen great revues of grapevine kawi, and am planning on heading there soon to check it out, I have high hopes. they even endorse one of the msf's classes I found and offer discounts for completing, which I thought was great. They also sound like a larger operation, not an old matress giant/rooms to go got shut down and they ripped up the carpet and parked bikes there and called it a showroom...

Like I said, I work at car dealerships, I am used to the way things go... but motorcycle shopping has been shockingly worse than anticipated. Pehaps I should just give up and get a beginner friendly zx6r, they are really willing to sell me those *shifty*

[Mizono]

One other thing to add. I personally would stay away from D&S in Arlington. Dealt with them today regarding my bike and their attitude was appalling. I wont go into details but from the salesperson up to the owner they were rude. I know some have had good experiences there but i did not.

[MrBrownTX]

I have seen several used new gens on craigslist lately for $3,000. If you have the cash that is going to be way easier on you than dealing with the lying scumbag dealers around here. I have had REAL bad experiences with Louis PowerSports in Greenville lately, they do have a Green SE 250R in stock that they sold me and then screwed me over on at the last second so I had to back out.

[Liber]

I toyed around with Family Powersports over there. The guy tried to sell me a used 2010 for $4900 before fees. I got a new 2010 in North Louisiana for $3800 before fees.

Be careful on cycletrader.com. Dealers will leave "too good to be true" listings on there so you call them and then they say "o i need to take that off of there, but let me tell you about X Y and Z". Funny thing is, after talking to FPS, they left their listing for a 2009 ninjette at $2900(1k miles) on there. I think It's still there.

Dallas had some good craigslist listings, but everything east of there was a no go a month ago. Thankfully I got mine new right down the road, cheaper than some used listings.

[MrBrownTX]

Originally Posted by Liber

I The guy tried to sell me a used 2010 for $4900 before fees.

Holy Smokes!!

[Bill N]

Increasing gas prices are not gonna help buyers of new 250's. The demand for these bikes will only increase along with the gas prices. Dealers will certainly take advantage of the situation just like they did in 2008.
Good luck, Bill

[whiteboy]

If you dont mind going 3 hours here in Lawton ok they have a few 250s and told me they can get just about any color cause they have 2 stores ( Lawton powersports). Just gote a 09 0 miles otd 4800 with all the warenties and tire packages a lol high in price but great service they even delivered and offered a msf course