Posts
63
Joined
4/28/2016
Location
Saint George, UT
US
Edited Date/Time
10/18/2019 5:55am
I’m trying to get to the point in life where I can buy a brand new bike and pay cash for it. How many guys do it and how do you do it? Do you find you have better bargaining power with the the dealership? Any other tips? I’ve only ever financed my bikes and I’m tired of being upside down in a year old bike.
Some dealers actually list a higher price for cash deals in their advertising.
Some tack on 100s or 1000s. Others the price they advertise is it. Once you find a good dealer who prices aggressively youll be amazed at how much you can save.
If you finance, they see that you have no limit basically. They will try and work numbers, subtract here and add there to make it look like a good deal. Lower the monthly payment but raise the term and people tend to give in more because they see it’s $100 a month. When I go in with cash I know no matter how they play the numbers at the desk, what I came in with is all i’ve got and not a cent more. Hope that made sense. I’m not saying one method of payment is better than the other but when I have been able to pay cash that’s how I do it.
The Shop
-have a payment of $200 a month. Emphasis on needing to keep your job. Payments are stressful.
-unless you have an 850 credit score and get a deal, you pay more than the bike is worth due to interest.
-the bike loses $1500-$2000 in value the first time you ride it.
-youre making payments on a toy.. not a house
Positives of financing
-if you dont really give a shit about the above, youll keep more money in the bank and not have a huge chunk taken out at once.
I used to dabble in debt and have avoided it completely for a few years now. If i dont have money to buy it, i cant afford it. Nothing sucks worse than having payments and getting laid off from work. Id rather just own it outright.
Many studies showing that when u pay with credit you spend about 40% more than if you paid cash. Easier to spend someone elses money.
Theres less emotional response paying with plastic or with a loan then with cash. So unless your getting over a 40% return on your investments your likely losing even though you think you are outsmarting the system.
Loans are bad. Credit cards are bad. Even if you think you are the exception to the rule.
If you and your wife both make good money, zero of it should be going to make banks or lenders rich with interest.
Do you have a good credit score?
Do you have a secure job?
Have you shopped around for current lending rates?
Sometimes your bank or a credit union will give you a better rate than the dealer.
Does it make sense to pay "cash?" Maybe, maybe not. Did I make money buy using "free" money, yup.
Got my husky FX450 for 8200 out the door once the 2019s were on the showroom floor.
Pit Row
Only a couple hundred bucks, but still adds cost.
Whatever youre most comfortable with is the best way.
It’s always worth shopping all the dealers in your area by phone.
I buy a bike every year (KTM).
Every year I call the 6-7 dealers reasonably close and make a low, but reasonable offer to buy the model I want.
I never ask ‘what’s the lowest, or best deal’, I make an OTD offer I’m happy with.
Doesn’t hurt to tell them if you have a better price from a further away dealer, but I’d buy from you if you beat their price because you’re closer.
Every year I find the best deal from diffferent dealers.
I’ve come to the conclusion that it is situational for each dealer and one year you catch said dealer wanting some cash flow and they are willing to go $500 lower than their competition.
The next year they may not budge, doesn’t hurt to ask.
There's pro's to paying it all up front and being done with it, and pro's to having that extra money in the bank. You'll get the people who listened to a Dave Ramsey podcast once tell you financing is the devil and if you can't afford to pay $10k out of pocket right this second for a dirt bike, $50K for a truck etc, you can't afford to participate in the sport you love.
I can tell you, my parents paid cash for cars, houses etc. their whole lives. They each made well into 6 figures. Once they got to a point they could truly afford to pay cash for the finer things in life (very nice homes, boats, luxury cars etc) my dad was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and passed away 3 months later when i was 8 years old. I think of the multiple decades of overtime and sacrificing the things he truly wanted to get to that point, and he never got to enjoy it. I recommend finding a balance between living beyond your means, and making the absolute WISEST financial decisions. Life's short.
I have been able to live pretty well somewhere in the middle of recklessness, and being ultra conservative.
I am not saying you should buy something on credit if you can't pay it off at any point after the loan is taken.
If you can can borrow money with no interest accrued and pay it off within terms you lose nothing and potentially gain. Essentially, I am saying you can make money by responsibly using credit.
It’s stupid to finance a liability (something that depreciates in value).
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