Deal of the year

[DG6n26]

I saw a local dealer had a close out sale on their website on a '21 base first edition sticker price was right at 23,000 sale priced at 9995.
I missed it by less than an hour. Anyone seeing deals like this?

 

[adamchandler]

It makes total sense, honestly. those were sitting around $12,500 with incentives for almost all of 2022 if you shopped around. We’re 4-5 months through the 2023 model year and you have a 2 year old bike siting there taking up space. A dealer is happy to lose 1-2K on this thing (with incentives) to move inventory. It is a good deal but not surprising.


https://m39t6.app.goo.gl/nh1id


There are a few dozen new / demo R18s for sale nationally under $12K and some at the price you mentioned. Likely BMW incentives directly to dealers to get these things the heck out of showrooms.

 

[adamchandler]

Looks like Baggers are around $18,500 now with incentives., Classics are sitting around $15 and Pures are sitting around $12K on average. With some outliers that are demo bikes (never titled) that you can get for 1-2K less.

The best time to buy an R18 always seems to be next month..they just keep getting cheaper.

 

[Tenn R18 Bagger]

I got my 2022 R18B fully loaded with all the rebates for $16,300.

 

[Rufus]

Looks like Baggers are around $18,500 now with incentives., Classics are sitting around $15 and Pures are sitting around $12K on average. With some outliers that are demo bikes (never titled) that you can get for 1-2K less.

The best time to buy an R18 always seems to be next month..they just keep getting cheaper.

They’ll pull the plug on it. I would. slashing prices like that ($9995) can’t be economically worthwhile plus it’s not good for brand image. Costco next?

 

[eurospeedimpots]

They’ll pull the plug on it. I would. slashing prices like that ($9995) can’t be economically worthwhile plus it’s not good for brand image. Costco next?

Bmw has way too many models of bikes currently in my opinion. Unfortunately BMW USA is much greedier the BMW AG. Just take a look at their automotive product line way too many models and all of them depreciate like it’s no tomorrow. I guess resale value is not their problems or concerns.

 

[kratedisease]

I got my fist edition for exactly $11,500 after all incentives and I know the dealer still made some small profit. So 9,999 looks like that dealer did not want a new older bike sitting on the showroom, so have they might have let it go at cost or small loss. That dealer (Gateway) is a huge Motorrad dealer doing lots of volume of all BMW bikes. The are one of the largest volume BMW bike dealers the world, possibly #1 or #2 in sales volume world wide. When I bought my Ducati Xdiavel it was the same situation. two or three years later I saw that a new Xdiavel was for sale by a dealer still, but that dealer still wanted full sticker with zero discount, because they were a tiny dealer with extremely low allocation volume and knew they were not getting very many bikes to sell going forward so they didn't want to sell it at cost or a loss. Some dealers that are very small will hold a bike no matter what. Other volume dealers want the metal out the door because they are volume dealers. The volume dealers need to move bikes including all models in order to get allocations of desirable in demand models like the adventure bikes in the future. So those dealers will take a loss on a R18 to keep their sales statistics numbers/volume high to keep their large future allocation of profitable adventure bikes with huge margins from BMW going forward. Dealers want the very profitable BMW adventure bikes to sell at a huge profit, so they will discount and sell others like the R18 at cost with no profit just to keep their sales volume statistics high in order to get the future adventure bike allocations that they make huge profit on. Thats how it works. Harley is the same way. I spoke to dealers and the HATE the trikes that Harley dumps on them because they are almost impossible to sell because they are $35k sticker and the market for them is tiny. But Harley dumps these trikes onto dealers who don't want them so that the dealer can get the allocations of the profitable touring and profitable softail models. This is what a dealer owner told me. Harley dumps the trikes on dealers because Harley can book a huge profit from the trikes to push up their corporate profits. The dealers HATE them.

BMW wanted to brag that the R18 was a corporate sales volume winner. They needed to put in their year end corporate report and as a bragging right to the media motorcycle magazines and websites that the R18 was a huge sales success with huge volume of R18 bikes sold. That is why they dumped more R18's onto the market than the market would accept or bear.

Its a strategy that is also good in that more bikes in dealerships and on the road attract attention and create more interest in the platform, as more eyeballs see them in the flesh. The more exposure the bike gets on the street, the more curiousity and inquiries that prospective interested people that might be interested in buying may end up at a BMW dealer out of curiosity.

It was a good strategy by BMW to make more bikes than there was demand for on launch of the R18.

And The best part is that I got my first edition new for just $11,500. Thats cheaper than ANY cruiser form ANY manufacturer, and that s for a legacy manufacturer with a premium reputation. A HUGE WIN For me.

In summary, BMW pushed more R18's onto dealers than the dealers could sell due to market demand. Believe me..... if BMW made only 3,000 of these R18's on launch world wide, dealers would be getting full MSRP and even over. Every Ducati that is made in limited edition micro small batches gets bought out on 48 hours at HUGE sticker plus markup ( $40k) because they only make a few hundred for all dealers. If the R18 was limited to only 500 total the first year, trust me, dealers would easily get a few thousand over sticker.

Its all about market penetration. BMW wanted market penetration.

The ONLY people unhappy with this........... are the early adaptors who paid $21,000 for their first edition.

My $11,500 first edition is NOT depreciating at all, because I purchased it at the market adjusted price.

 

[Rufus]

I see your point but your position is very much ‘I’m alright Jack’. It’s great for you to have picked one up at a bargain basement price but for the majority who bought an R18 before you it’s a bit of a stinker and an own goal as far as BMW are concerned because I think people will be very reluctant going forward to do this again on any new BMW bikes. I would. When a bike is being discounted so heavily then it does affect resales because a trade in value against a ‘new‘ R18 at $9995 is going to be embarrassing low really. It can’t not be. Dealers are sharp and they will go out of the way to show you what they think your low mileage pristine R18 is worth. Peanuts. Oversupply isn’t a good thing and people can see through marketing BS. The only way to limit the damage is to 1) try not to think about it and 2) keep it, because that way you limit the depreciation.

 

[ZogJones]

I wonder if this is a regional thing. I live in an area where cruisers are very popular and my dealer has had no problems selling R18's. Last time I spoke with the sales manager, he said that they sell more R18's than anything else except the GS. I've even see a few other R18's out on the road.

 

[Frenchie]

Here in Guadalajara Mexico I paid MX$375k for a pure FE with no cruise and 1600km a discount of MX$80k and they offered 0% finance.
Even searching CDMX I couldn't get a better deal, now they only have 2023's in showrooms. Remember there is 20% import tax here for European goods.
The only folk here that buy these types of bikes as well as the RnineTs and GS' are the well off.
Average José is buying Chinese imports.

 

[adamchandler]

One thing I wanted to interject on for the benefit of all is none of us should lament or pick fights with people who got their R18 for less than us. I get it, it sucks to see your bike suffer a 50% off the showroom depreciation in just 2 model years but the alternative is BMW could stick to their guns and just let the model die in order to protect their pricing structure. Apple famously does this. They release a thing for $999 and over the course of 4 years, they never discount it because that's the price even as component costs go down. If it doesn't sell, they kill it but never lower the price. BMW could take that strategy and to what end?

1. Less R18s out there getting modifications made for them for us
2. Less used bikes and parts and other things we need as fans of the bike
3. More money for Harley and less competition in the American cruiser market

Sadly, motorcycles aren't investments at least not in the first 20-30 years. They depreciate. Even kratedisease's comment about having no depreciation is invalid. You're going to have a bike that depreciates.It will get lower than you paid but the % drop will indeed be much lower than people who paid MSRP back in 2020.

I got my bagger for $19,500. That's about $10K under sticker. It's going for $17K now. zero regrets. I rode it all summer and got 6,000 miles on it so far. That's worth $2500 to me.

 

[kratedisease]

The bottom line is that I NEVER NEVER buy a motorcycle or car expecting for it to hold its value. Its purchase price is money thrown away... thats my mentality. I use every vehicle I buy and try to hold onto it forever.... if I can.

You have the right to be upset about your home value, but it is known that eventually most vehicles will only be worth their value in scrap metal eventually.

So who cares what you paid and what its worth. Its only worth th enjoyment you get out of it.

I get much much more angry when I spend big bucks $7-$8k on a fancy cruise or vacation and it rains for the entire trip and the have rough seas where I am stuck in the cabin throwing up with nausea .

losing $10k on depreciation is nothing as along as I had tons of miles with smiles riding it. Priceless !!!

 

[nielsm]

The bottom line is that I NEVER NEVER buy a motorcycle or car expecting for it to hold its value. Its purchase price is money thrown away... thats my mentality. I use every vehicle I buy and try to hold onto it forever.... if I can.

You have the right to be upset about your home value, but it is known that eventually most vehicles will only be worth their value in scrap metal eventually.

So who cares what you paid and what its worth. Its only worth th enjoyment you get out of it.

I get much much more angry when I spend big bucks $7-$8k on a fancy cruise or vacation and it rains for the entire trip and the have rough seas where I am stuck in the cabin throwing up with nausea .

losing $10k on depreciation is nothing as along as I had tons of miles with smiles riding it. Priceless !!!

Agree. While anyone can appreciate a good deal, I think of the delta in cost amortized over the financial life of the bike. I assume the financial life of a bike is 5 years. That means I expect that the acquisition costs are amortized over the first 5 years fully. If I can't afford that or the value for money doesn't work for me, I walk.

I don't concern myself with resale costs at all. I think of those as a bonus, since they are impossible to accurately predict ahead of purchase. Same with ownership beyond 5 years, that's a bonus. So if a bike costs $20K, I assume it really costs $4K/year over the financial life. Think of my running costs (maintenance, gas, insurance) combined with purchase & you can calculate overall cost per mile.

If I assume I do 6000 miles/year and insurance is $1000/year & maintenance is $1000/year & the bike gets 40MPG at $4/gallon, my annual cost is ($4000 purchase, + insurance + maintenance + ~$600 gas). $6600 a year to do 6000 miles is $1.10/mile. Saving an extra $2000 up front on purchase, only drops that to $6200/year. That's about $0.07/mile savings. If you do more or less miles per year your maintenance & gas will change, but purchase cost isn't the whole story in cost. Registration is a rounding error, but good to include.

Every year I get beyond the financial life is a bonus. The bike is paid for as far as I'm concerned, so this is just extra fun (and my costs drop to just insurance, registration, maintenance and gas). From the above example numbers, each year after the 5th if I do 6000 miles, my cost per mile drops to ~$0.43/mile. Often insurance drops on older bikes too, so it becomes even cheaper. If I sell the bike & recoup some money, that's also a bonus. Maybe if I use that as a trade-in it makes the financial life equation viable for me on another bike, but I don't worry about resale on the new bike either.

This is why I tend to keep bikes longer. If you switch bikes every couple of years it will be very expensive any way you look at it. Depreciation exists & most of it hits in the first 2 years on new bikes. I did that my first few years riding & it was very expensive. By assuming 5 years and no resale value, I'm more realistic about the cost up front & don't waste energy fretting over potential depreciation since you can't predict what it will be. The more time I have the bike & enjoy riding it the better. Saving by waiting often means losing out on the fun & we all get older every day we wait. As Adam mentioned earlier, seeing a deal $2500 less 6 months later is annoying, but he got 6 months of riding during that time. Over the financial life of the bike that purchase cost difference is negligable.

 

[cabanza]

If anyone did the 0% financing from BMW, you will definitely be ahead as the value of the dollar will be less in 4-5 years.

I just did an inflation calculator and it showed that $1 in January 2018 is now $1.20.
https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm

BMW's 0% offering in a time of high inflation was the real winner in my book.

 

[Deleted member 1618]

One thing I wanted to interject on for the benefit of all is none of us should lament or pick fights with people who got their R18 for less than us. I get it, it sucks to see your bike suffer a 50% off the showroom depreciation in just 2 model years but the alternative is BMW could stick to their guns and just let the model die in order to protect their pricing structure. Apple famously does this. They release a thing for $999 and over the course of 4 years, they never discount it because that's the price even as component costs go down. If it doesn't sell, they kill it but never lower the price. BMW could take that strategy and to what end?

1. Less R18s out there getting modifications made for them for us
2. Less used bikes and parts and other things we need as fans of the bike
3. More money for Harley and less competition in the American cruiser market

Sadly, motorcycles aren't investments at least not in the first 20-30 years. They depreciate. Even kratedisease's comment about having no depreciation is invalid. You're going to have a bike that depreciates.It will get lower than you paid but the % drop will indeed be much lower than people who paid MSRP back in 2020.

I got my bagger for $19,500. That's about $10K under sticker. It's going for $17K now. zero regrets. I rode it all summer and got 6,000 miles on it so far. That's worth $2500 to me.

I keep telling myself that my initial R18 model has more metal parts vs plastic parts, which often get used to lower the cost to build these machines as times goes by....

 

[adamchandler]

I keep telling myself that my initial R18 model has more metal parts vs plastic parts, which often get used to lower the cost to build these machines as times goes by....

Haha, I like that. It’s certainly been true for our VWs. The last generation Tiguan was really solid, heavy, almost no cabin noise and heavy doors that took worse to close and supple thick leather seats. Our 2022 model, very loud, noisy, clunky, light doors, some parts already failing under warranty and slightly lighter weight or same weight with more features and the motor is all aluminum. It costs $10K more though.

 

[BobW]

Agree with all the above as the adds are not one offs, but this is still a cluster phuck as to value. I've owned many Brands motorcycles including many BMWs and overall I am a long time, long dollar customer of my BMW shop where this is the first time I'm uncertain where my $ will go for my next purchases.

Anyway, IF I were to trade my R18 now it would be the worst value trade of all my many motorcycles to include multiple R, S and F models. Not sure what I would do differently, but the slash and burn with such a downward spiral each quarter is leaving a bad impression on such a great motorcycle (IMO). With relatively few units involved and what this has cost as to value/reputation I think I would have made them part of huge giveaway to every fund raising group, veteran support programs, global rally raffles, etc. and write off the costs as advertising and their supporting "good causes". I appreciate supply issues, covid shut down, etc., etc, created a perfect storm, but I bet the majority saying the undercut pricing is good will be singing a different tune even when they "bought low" as offers will be made on that low price and it is embarrassing to think of just how low that will be.

 

[kratedisease]

Agree with all the above as the adds are not one offs, but this is still a cluster phuck as to value. I've owned many Brands motorcycles including many BMWs and overall I am a long time, long dollar customer of my BMW shop where this is the first time I'm uncertain where my $ will go for my next purchases.

Anyway, IF I were to trade my R18 now it would be the worst value trade of all my many motorcycles to include multiple R, S and F models. Not sure what I would do differently, but the slash and burn with such a downward spiral each quarter is leaving a bad impression on such a great motorcycle (IMO). With relatively few units involved and what this has cost as to value/reputation I think I would have made them part of huge giveaway to every fund raising group, veteran support programs, global rally raffles, etc. and write off the costs as advertising and their supporting "good causes". I appreciate supply issues, covid shut down, etc., etc, created a perfect storm, but I bet the majority saying the undercut pricing is good will be singing a different tune even when they "bought low" as offers will be made on that low price and it is embarrassing to think of just how low that will be.

I understand and respect your point of view, especially if you are financing your purchase of your R18 if you did not have the funds handy for an outright cash purchase. No one wants to make payments on a bike that now is worth half of what your payments will be over the next few years.

BUT.....I would never buy any motorcycle with the thought of trading it in EVER. I take my time, calculate what i want, do my research, shop for best price and then buy. I am the opposite of the enthusiastic or impulse buyer. I can sit and wait for the perfect pitch before I swing or pull the trigger..

In fact I am happy to wait a few years for depreciation to hit a bike that I like, but am not willing to pay full price for.

Honestly, as much as i like the R18, ( hope not to offend anyone) but I would NEVER EVER paid the MSRP for it. Never. In my mind, I was waiting for the bike to depreciate after a few years, I figured two or three years, and then I would pick up a minty low miles bike for around $10-$11k.
But it just turned out that BMW dumped so many that they needed to move that I did not have to wait as long as i had anticipated due to the massive incentives.

 

[LCRC18B]

I don't worry about what others paid. If you get an awesome deal then that's great. Bikes, cars, trucks, are depreciating purchases. My hope is to put a ton of miles on it, that's where the value will be. They are awesome bikes. Don't really understand why they haven't sold as well as planned, but I don't really care either. It would be nice if they keep the model around for a while so spares and accessories will be readily available. It's also been a really weird time for a lot of things, for a variety of reasons.

 

[Rufus]

……….“But it just turned out that BMW dumped so many that they needed to move that I did not have to wait as long as i had anticipated due to the massive incentives”…….

Thats exactly what I feel about it. I am at the other end of the scale to you though and more impulsive, and yes sometimes this does cost me. Over here (UK) Honda had a similar ‘problem’ with the very short lived 2014/2015 Valkyrie GL1800C (the unfaired Goldwing). I forget exactly what the MSRP was now, but it was expensive, somewhere around £18k and the dealers could not sell them. Honda pulled the plug after two years and the leftovers remained gathering dust in the back of showrooms. I’ve even seen 2019 registration plates on them, so that’s four even five years sat somewhere. I’m sure they even went down to £10k as pre reg bikes and still no one wanted them. I picked one up (pic below) and enjoyed it, it had a lot going for it. Ironically they are now worth more than they were new because they are very thin on the ground, quite exclusive so if you want it you have to pay the price. I will be interested to see the 2022 & 2023 figures for new R18 registrations. I bet the numbers will have fallen off a cliff. I haven’t looked for a few weeks but there don’t appear to be that many used R18‘s around but (even as a an impulsive person) who is going to walk into a BMW showroom and buy/order a brand new 2023 plate bike when used ones are half price? Beats me