Handling fees?

[ablock]

For those of you who bought new, did you have "handling fees" included in the out-the-door price? I normally think of these as pure dealer padding and have never paid them on past Honda bike purchases, but am curious as to others' experiences.

 

[Philip]

There shouldn't be any such fees. I was an fool myself when one of the dealers added a "destination charge" on my invoice and I didn't question it. This is all BS.

 

[snydes]

 

[OneLapper]

Well, there certainly is a destination fee for the John Deere dealers, I paid $50 per lawn tractor and up when I had my dealership. The industry I'm in now we charge the OEMs the fee to move your new McLaren, Ferrari, Porsche and Tesla, so.... the fees exist and are very real. Those fees are passed on to the dealer, who then passes it on to you. As far as the Altas and other ICE bike manufacturers, I can't say but I suspect they are charged something unless the OEM offers free shipping for early orders (which Deere did on residential equipment). The dealer I purchased the MX added on the destination fee, and based on the what they charge I would assume it's padded, as almost all dealers do. I negotiated it down to a reasonable number. I would assume the OEMs pad the fee they charge to the dealers as well. In the end, the consumer pays it all. Otherwise, dealers, truckers, and OEMs would cease to exist.

 

[ablock]

The dealer I purchased the MX added on the destination fee, and based on the what they charge I would assume it's padded, as almost all dealers do. I negotiated it down to a reasonable number.

That makes sense. The $495 I was quoted seems excessive.

 

[OneLapper]

I have a lot of sympathy for dealers. It's not easy to make money selling whole goods (serialized items).

The money is in parts and service. Knowing this, the most important department in your dealership has to be the service dept, they make you or break you. One hack mechanic can leave a bad taste in the mouth of every customer he has had the chance to. You need a good parts dept that follows up on questions, gets stuff ordered on daily, weekly or monthly stock orders (less and less of this happening but that's a whole different discussion), and passes on good prices to customers. Too many of us just order online for the price or convenience, so the dealers charge list price (or list plus 10-20%) as many NE dealers do. That leaves another bad taste in a customer's mouth. Anyhow, I need to send some invoices to McLaren, Ferrari, Porsche and Tesla now......

Oh, you know what the finance and insurance manager at the dealer says, right? "Its not F&I, it's Effin'You". Remember that the next time you finance a car, or bike, or anything! The dealer will try to make money on the front side and backside of a deal. They HAVE to.

Keep smiling guys, this is why, as consumers, we all have jobs. Or had jobs, to all those that have retired.

 

[Fod]

That makes sense. The $495 I was quoted seems excessive.

Unless you live in the middle of the amazon!

 

[strider]

Interesting discussion. I've never bought a motorcycle new. Is there wiggle room on Altas? I will be in the market for an EX-R soon. Should I be prepared to haggle or stick with MSRP+tax and govt fees (or is even that not done)? The last car I bought from a dealer was a Corvette in 2005 and although they left the destination and "marketing" fees on the invoice they discounted the car an equal amount.

Tesla charges a fixed fee for shipping. It means they make money on Bay Area deliveries and lose money on deliveries to the East Coast. Maybe Alta is the same?

 

[ecd]

Being charged $500 for the basic charger is also ridiculous. I believe it used to be included, but not any longer (at least for me)

 

[Fod]

Being charged $500 for the basic charger is also ridiculous. I believe it used to be included, but not any longer (at least for me)

Marketing to show a lower sticker price I guess. I had to pay for both chargers also.

 

[Philip]

Being charged $500 for the basic charger is also ridiculous. I believe it used to be included, but not any longer (at least for me)

It was included when the Redshift cost $15K. With that, I'd say, a 240V generator should have been included!

 

[snydes]

Marketing to show a lower sticker price I guess. I had to pay for both chargers also.

Both??

 

[Fod]

Both??

Yeah standard and rapid charger. At the time we didn't know what was what. So we got both. Not much info to this day unless you are part of this forum...

 

[snydes]

So you bought both when you picked up the bikes and they had both?

 

[Fod]

Yeah both fog and I got both. By the time we picked them up all the chargers were there...But when we order the bikes they only had one of chargers.

 

[snydes]

Thats a bummer your dealer didn't know enough about them to maybe question your motives. I guess it sounds like you were under the impression the "standard" only charged 110v and the "Rapid" 240v? From what I've been hearing, you were/are not alone in that assumption so don't feel bad if you did.

 

[ecd]

Thats a bummer your dealer didn't know enough about them to maybe question your motives. I guess it sounds like you were under the impression the "standard" only charged 110v and the "Rapid" 240v? From what I've been hearing, you were/are not alone in that assumption so don't feel bad if you did.

My understanding is that to use the Rapid Charger with 110v source, an adapter cable is needed. However they aren't generally available for immediate sale. Alta corporate may provide them but it was not clear how long that would take. I didn't feel comfortable jerry-rigging one myself

 

[snydes]

My understanding is that to use the Rapid Charger with 110v source, an adapter cable is needed. However they aren't generally available for immediate sale. Alta corporate may provide them but it was not clear how long that would take. I didn't feel comfortable jerry-rigging one myself

Call Elite Motorsports. They made some up for sale. You can also just change the plug.

 

[ablock]

Bringing this thread back a bit...the dealer showed both a $500 delivery fee and a $250 dealer prep fee on the sticker. Negotiated the combo down to $250 flat, plus 9.5% discount on the base price.

 

[OneLapper]

Bringing this thread back a bit...the dealer showed both a $500 delivery fee and a $250 dealer prep fee on the sticker. Negotiated the combo down to $250 flat, plus 9.5% discount on the base price.

That's a pretty good discount and reduction of the delivery fee! Was this on a 2017 or a new 2018?