Dealers

[guest2360]

If a dealer is giving you a price for your old bike straight out of the book you are probably not getting the best price.  Wherever and whatever vehicle you are part exchanging, what you are changing to will make a difference as a dealer will offer you more for a more expensive replacement. His commission on that will be more and that is what he wants to persuade you to buy.

[guest3074]

Never had a bike serviced at Allan Jefferies, but IMO, it's too big a dealership for the personal touch.

And yet they are currently expanding the size of the building so must have happy customers to finance it 

I had my bike serviced on the 10th of this month and they rang me a couple of days afterwards to see if I was happy with the service 

[David.]

A used bike, (part ex.) has a trade value, this is the price which it stands the dealer at, anything over this is discount/profit taken out of what you are buying.

An example, the used 2012 TC I bought 2 years ago had a screen price of £10,450. The value of my 2010 RT was given as £7,450. I offered £3,000 plus my bike, ended up paying £2,920 in lieu of 1 years tax at £80.

The sales invoice had a selling price of £9,770, less a gross p/ex value of £6,850, leaving £2,920 to pay.

Therefore, the trade value of my bike was £6,850. AJ's were offering £600 off a new LC or as it turned out, £680 off the used 2012 bike.
Got more discount off a lower value used bike than a more expensive new one.

[guest2360]

That's probably because they bought your bike in cheap so had more of a margin on it than on an LC. 

[David.]

In 2014, AJ's gave a trade value of £6,850 on a 4 year old (2010) bike with over 36,000 miles on the clock.
I was told a 4 year old bike is booked at 17,000 miles, but given a good price because of it's condition.

This week, Cooper gave a trade value of £6,500 on a 4 year old (2012) bike with only 15,000 miles on the clock.
Depending on what I purchased, this figure could be up to or over £7,000.

Like for like, AJ's offer at the time seems better than Coopers.

Here's an example of a similar RT to mine for £9,300 at a BMW dealer,
http://www.bmwapprovedusedbikes.co.uk/b ... pXNDg2Njk=

[David.]

In 2014, the bike which I part ex'd was up for £8,450, the Gross P/Ex Value was £6,850, that's £1,600 mark up.

[ds99]

In my experience of dealers they vary a lot.


The BMW dealer in Wolverhampton were very good to me when I bought my 2007 RT, another small garage I visited couldn't even be bothered to wheel the bike out of a cramped corner so I could take a proper look at it (this was a £5,000 used RT)


But in searching for used bikes the general pattern seems to be dealers are really only interested in a) selling you a new bike on finance, or b) wildly overpricing used bikes and letting them sit for months until some mug comes along.

[Casbar]

I've only telephoned one dealership ! They couldn't be bothered be bothered to get to me , are you saying they are all like that ? I have a triumph and two Hondas and the service I get from the dealerships is exceptional, maybe I am expecting too much from BMW ?

I used to have a Triumph and a Harley, they dealerships were nothing to write home about. I have two BMW dealers within an hour of me now, they both seem pretty good, well at least they phone me back.


Buy another Honda, if you are already hating BMW dealers, its not going to go well later on. Perhaps a personal visit might be better, you will have to go at some point if you want a bike. Alternatively think any dealer will sell you a bike and deliver anywhere in the country.

[Boroboystu]

Think it will be Barry Robsons then for me , I know what I want , but I want decent service and back up and I've heard good things about Barry Robsons , to be honest I haven't heard anything positive about coopers at boldon , I did have a test ride there a few years ago , they instantly took £2000 off my credit card just in case I dropped the bike , but took nearly 7 days to put it back on again

[Boroboystu]

Got my heart set on a new RT nothing else realy comes close

[David.]

Think it will be Barrie Robson then for me, I know what I want, but I want decent service and back up and I've heard good things about Barrie Robson.

Hopefully you won't be disappointed, IMO, Kevin is spot on.

[Our Gee]

Having bought three bikes from Coopers over the last ten years or so I have always found the "buying" part to be problem free and always achieved a deal to my satisfaction. The reason I advised boroboystu to contact Steve is that I have always found him to be pleasant and professional to deal with, even if he had to run back and forth to his manager to gain the ok as I squeezed the last shilling out of them. I recently contacted Coopers on behalf of a friend who reluctantly has to give up biking due to health reasons and wished to dispose of his K1200LT. Steve rang my friend withour delay and spent quite some time going through the possibilities and although Coopers couldn't buy the LT they did give good advice as to values etc.
Unfortunately I can't recommend Coopers service Dept.

[David.]

In some BMW dealers, the sales & aftersales (service) departments seem to be two different operations.

Locally, Cooper Sunderland are likely to give the best deal when purchasing a new bike, but not always the best aftersales service.

You may pay slightly more at Barrie Robson for the bike, but get a better overall experience & aftersales service.

At the end of the day, you can purchase your bike from one dealer, then have your bike serviced at any other, it's your choice.

We all have our own experiences, some better than others, you can only see as you find.

[Boroboystu]

i don't mind paying a bit extra, as long as i am getting good service and back up ,. and at the end of the day i am paying the best part of 20k i am not going to haggle over a few quid at the likes of barry Robsons

[Boroboystu]

Just spoken with Kevin at Robsons of York , he was very pleased that folk were recommending him , and he was very helpful in answering a few questions I had , I will be purchasing my new RT  from his dealership when the new 17 plates comes out in march