Over here they call it 'dealer delivery', which is all the dealer makes on the sale. There are some wild anomalies, for example I was looking at the Honda Monkey for um... somebody else. On the Honda Australia web site the RRP is $6,000, and the dealer delivery is $2,000!! They cannot be serious.
Maybe your dealer is trying to be clever by advertising a great base price. At the end of the day you have to decide if you like the total price or not.

 

I usually negotiate the cost of destination and prep charges out. Sometimes the prep can be challenging to remove all of prep cost, if the dealer uses a third party to handle setup. Much easier to reduce these costs when dealing with a left over model.

 

It varies market-to-market. I haven't paid a setup or delivery fee, but also didn't get a break on MSRP. Some dealers charge quite a lot in fees, but I bet in those markets you find all the dealers do. I guess the bottom line is it's a marketing gimmick. They caught your interest with a low sales price, but then added fees. Kinda a sucky way to do it, but it is common and normal.

I wouldn't stress over it. Buying the bike costs what it costs (bike itself plus fees), and it is worth the price to you or not. You can get it cheaper elsewhere or not. But it doesn't matter what they call the components of the final price.

Setting up a bike, etc, is part of the overhead of selling motorcycles. It gets incorporated into the selling price of the bike, or broken out as a special fee, but either way that cost is accounted for. The place needs to keep their employees paid, lease up-to-date and utilities turned on.

 

The nice thing about those high fee's is that... they are generally negotiable. When negotiating a new purchase I always have an ace up my sleeve. When we're through negotiating and I've got the pen in hand to sign the contract I draw my ace. That's when I hesitate, put the pen down and tell them I'll sign if the throw in heated grips((or any other accessory I want) I'll sign the deal. This almost always works for me me. I'm always prepared to walk away if the dealer won't play along and make sure the dealer knows that. There are other dealers to try.

Paul

 

As a business owner I always felt that it was the industry's and my obligation to put product in front of my customer.
It is not the responsibility of the customer to pay to get the product unless it is bot available locally.

The arrogance of the vehicle industries to charge customers for"freight or delivery" always infuriated me especially in the last decades where major foreign auto manufacturers have factories right here in the US. In many instances cars and motorcycles are coming from a state oir two away not theother side of the world ,YET they charge the same in either case.

Now, someone has to pay for it but put it in the cost of goods and don't make it an "add-on" and insult the customer's intelligence. I've never seen an appliance store charge shipping on a fridge or washer and dryer or big screen TV... all products that are shipped by truck. You can negotiate a delivery charge and installation to your house and often they blow that charge off to get the sale.

As for dealer prep... if you're in the business of selling a product that requires uncrating, some assembly, and mechanical prep you absorb it because you usually have an entry level, lesser skilled, and lower paid employee doing it. That is an insult because your new and expensive vehicle starts its life at the hands of a grunt who barely knows what they are doing. I haven't bought a motorcycle or car or truck in decades that has been properly PDI'd. Dealers know that and are ready for the "love letters" they get from new customers at the initial 500 mile "customer pay"service after they have charged you for PDI/setup at time of sale.

JMO YMMV

 

I am the starter of this thread. Was at the same dealership but this time they had a leftover 2019 Street Twin for only $7700. $1800 off price.Great deal.I told the salesman lets try and work out a deal with my 2011 Bonneville SE as a trade.But again $1000 freight and prep. Plus a ridiculously low offer on my near mint,low mile trade in.And they were giving me absolutely nothing extra for the accessories I have on the bike.I was not expecting much for having added a center stand and color matched fly screen (both Triumph parts).But I expected something for the $800 Corbin Smuggler seat with color matched storage compartment.A little something at least.But was getting zero dollars for any of this. Yes I could take them off the bike and sell them on my own but still the trade in offer was still not worth it.Plus all the other fees they add on.So no deal was made.They did not even try to negotiate.And the fact I was a return customer meant nothing(the bike I was trading in was bought there).So I ended up leaving with my bike I still like.No hard feelings.But if the numbers were more realistic I would have done the deal.And yes I could sell the bike on my own but I am sure that $7700 Street Twin will be sold by then.

Oh,and when I asked him why the freight and prep cost was so high he said "the bike was shipped a long way from England(freight cost) and we have to put parts of the bike together here when it arrives(prep cost)". Ha!!! The bikes are made in India I believe and I watched a video on line of a T100 being uncrated at a dealership.There was nothing to put together.The bike comes complete.I guess thats why people end up buying used instead of new. Im ok with my dealer making a profit.Need to keep them in business.I get it.But don't insult us with stories and made up costs.I would actually be ok with paying full MSRP for a bike.But end it there.Stop with the made up costs you add on.

 

$1900 in CA. $995 freight, $895 to put the fender and handlebars on

 

$495 freight and $0 prep at my dealer (colorado), but it's all in how they play with the numbers. One may discount more, but have a larger fee for other stuff etc. They're going to make their money one way or another. That's why they're there.

 

Check out this link.Street Twin. As I said these bikes come fully assembled.So that high a cost for prep is bogus.Yes I am sure some bikes require more assembly but not these.

triumph motorcyle being uncrated - Search Videos

www.bing.com

 

And here is one of a T120.Same thing.Comes fully assembled.

triumph motorcyle being uncrated - Search Videos

www.bing.com

 

$495 seems standard for shipping. That’s what BMW and Triumph charge. Docs/admin and title and registration.l are real costs. They have to spend time with the DMV to get this stuff processed. Dealer prep is also a real thing, although not sure how much is needed for a ST. The new Rocket from crate to ready is quite a production.

The accessories and mods you’ve done are worth nothing to the dealer and perhaps either to a private buyer. They’re all looking at the KBB. I’ve had a lot of Triumphs and they all have crap resale.

If the dealer is giving you $1000 on the bike, he’ll give you the mid or low KBB value for your trade. If he has inventory on the floor, you just have to insist on what you want. Try a different dealer. Also, try to sell privately.

 

The doc/admin and registration costs were not part of the $1000 freight and prep.They were a whole other charge.And from what I have seen from past experience purchases those "office fees" are quite absurd also.But if I really wanted a bike in the past I just payed it.

As for my trade they showed me the NADA values.Probably because the KBB values were higher.I checked both before I went into the dealer.And they went with a mid value.Considering the low miles on my bike and the exceptional maintenance and condition I keep it in it deserved the highest value.They barely even looked at my bike.10 seconds literally. They did not even start it.And yes selling it on my own gets me best value.A private buyer will appreciate the condition of the bike and all the maintenance records.And the accesories I would think.But I took a shot thinking that since it was a 2019 left over they would have tried a little harder to make a deal.First thing he said to me when he came back from valuing my bike and talking with the sales manager was"try selling the bike on your own".Never even asked me to negotiate at all.But again all fine with me.Took a shot.Went home with my bike which is still fine to me.I knew going in this was pretty much how it was going to go anyway.