Trade in Value

Berardi3

Active member
I have been considering trading in my R 18 B and possibly Trying out another Brand its a 22 model and the dealer is only willing to give me 12 k for trade what the heck talk about depreciation .
 
I have been considering trading in my R 18 B and possibly Trying out another Brand its a 22 model and the dealer is only willing to give me 12 k for trade what the heck talk about depreciation .
Of course trading it in you're gonna take a big hit. Dealers buy *used* bikes at wholesale prices, and sell at retail used prices. Car dealers do the same, as do musical instrument dealers. Suggest you sell it outright..but bare in mine new models are being heavily discounted. Additionally, there's a *hit ton of perfect, low mileage bikes for sale.
 
Sorry, but anyone who thinks any dealer who wants to stay in business will offer a "fair" value on trade in is living in fantasy land.

$12k is dealer price. I guarantee you the private sale price is MUCH higher than that. Research Kelly Blue Book and you'll find that your bike is worth MUCH more on the private market than trade in. IMO, depending on your miles and the condition of the bike, knock off enough $$$ to make it attractive enough to make a would-be buyer buy from YOU instead of the demo bike from the dealer ;).

Another thing: Dealers use something called "Black Book", which is essentially a KBB, but on steroids. It is available to the public, but does cost a subscription fee. Unless you either have money to burn, or just enjoy plugging in VINs to check their trade in value, it's probably not worth subscribing to. I did want to mention it here simply to make everyone aware of its existence https://www.fremontmotors.com/black-book-vs-kelly-blue-book-trade-in-values.html.

Mike
 
Of course trading it in you're gonna take a big hit. Dealers buy *used* bikes at wholesale prices, and sell at retail used prices. Car dealers do the same, as do musical instrument dealers. Suggest you sell it outright..but bare in mine new models are being heavily discounted. Additionally, there's a *hit ton of perfect, low mileage bikes for sale.
Yep, plenty of 2022 Demo's still for sale, with 2023's now coming on board too, 0 to 200 miles with 0% to 0.9% loan rates and first four payments of $333 made by BMW too. You never get those kind of interest rates on used bikes. It's nice being retired and having frequent flyer miles, able to go anywhere in the USA to buy a bike and then have a fun Adventure trip riding it back home.
 
Interest rates are one of the biggest hurdles even for a dealer. BMW Financial has some very good used rates compared to many other banks/credit unions, but they are still stupidly high and when one compares a "free" % loan bike off the dealer floor to a used one the used option has to have an insultingly low price point to make the out the door price work or the dealer will see little chance of moving the product. It sucks in more "normal" times and now sucks by multiples given inflation and high rates competing with OEM incentives. We are selling some property and a year ago it would have been $1000.00 USD a month cheaper than it is currently with just the interest rate increases and then there is the property taxes hikes too. Bottom line, plan for the worse if you want to trade soon after a purchase as that is always the most costly depreciation period. Good luck.
 
I picked up my Mustang Cross Country seat from Max BMW last Thursday. They’ve got a 2024 Rocktane on the floor! So now we basically have 2021 thru 2024 new, lightly used, leftover and demo bikes all competing against each other. This puts huge downward pressure on dealer pricing, across the board. Which in turn, pushes trade in and private resale prices downward as well. All you can do is buy as well as you can and hold onto your bike. 5 years from now my 100 years bike might not be worth much, but I don’t mind - I’m looking at its value 20 years from now…..
 
I look at it this way... Whatever is the best price I can get from any dealership here in the USA, minus $1,333 payments made by BMW is my cost on a new "Demo", most of which have never even been test ridden. All the other fees on top going in taxes and registration don't matter what it cost the first owner. Once a new bike leaves the dealership floor, it's lost, at a minimum, another 20 to 25% of value in depreciation. That's going to be the original owners cost while they used the brand new bike for a year. Sale tax, registration, license fees, doc fees, all of that gets paid for by the first time buyer. It's lost.

For example, there was a Manhattan Metallic demo R18 B for sale a while back, and the dealership was asking US $16,000 for it. Take out the 1333 and now you're at $14667 for a basically brand new bike. That's cost on a brand new bike.... That's not even taking in to account 1st time buyer depreciation, once it comes off the showroom floor, if you're looking at a used bike. And that's a 2022 at 0 % interest rate.

Add in that the bike may be coming up on an annual service or a 6000 mile service, and needing a set of tires, front and rear, depending on how the previous owner was on the throttle and the brakes, maybe even that much sooner to needing the brakes done too. Parts on a BMW are Rolls Royce level expensive.
 
I was offered $12,500 for a bagger at BMW Charlotte with 6K on the ODO. I paid $20,500 and owe $15,000. That was the end of that conversation. That was with the 6,000 mile service completed and paid for by me.

I have it listed for sale but used, these are going for $16K privately…well listed for $16K. Not sure they’re going for that. At this point, everyone is well aware a brand new R18 is 30-50% cheaper than list price. New Roctane is listed at $19,500 at every dealer. Anyone who pays that just hates money because in 12 months, it’s going to be a $15K bike.
 
This isn't just a BMW motorcycle thing- buy a new BMW car or most any other car or motorcycle and you're going to face the same issue. Heck, I bought a used Harley from a dealer last year and was offered a trade of 60% on it if I wanted to trade it on a new bike. That bike didn't even have the new price depreciation on it.
If you want an investment buy gold or bitcoin. If you want to enjoy a motorcycle, buy one and recognize it's gonna have a cost associated with it. If your whole goal is to minimize the depreciation, buy a $3,000 bike or a newer used bike from someone desperate to sell.
 
I was offered $12,500 for a bagger at BMW Charlotte with 6K on the ODO. I paid $20,500 and owe $15,000. That was the end of that conversation. That was with the 6,000 mile service completed and paid for by me.

I have it listed for sale but used, these are going for $16K privately…well listed for $16K. Not sure they’re going for that. At this point, everyone is well aware a brand new R18 is 30-50% cheaper than list price. New Roctane is listed at $19,500 at every dealer. Anyone who pays that just hates money because in 12 months, it’s going to be a $15K bike.
Nobody knows what they are going for privately, that's pure speculation. Another gent here visited a dealership for trade in on his 1200 mile Manhattan Metallic R 18 B and was offered $12000 for it, I believe last week. Used Manhattan and Black R 18s are common for sale, everywhere. With 0 or .9% interest rates and a full 3 year warranty, and the way the Adaptive headlights, at $3100 a pop, locally, before 9.5% sales tax, are failing.... someone, if they eat a headlight out of warranty, is never going to fix the damn thing. BMW warranty, according to some here, isn't worth the p aper it's written on. I speak from experience dealing with warranty issues on German car companies, regardless the brand.... getting them to do warranty work is a full 4 wisdom tooth extraction problem... very painful and very slow to resolve, at least here in the USA.... all the parts are inventoried in the Motherland and take forever to get here.

Honestly, the price of that replacement headlight, the way BMW Motorrad USA is handling it, 75 or so on backorder, customers not being taken care of until 4 weeks out in September for installation, and that's AFTER waiting for the part to come in from backorder, for who knows how long.... It's really making me think twice, do I really want to even get a R 18 B and go through the major inconvenience and hassle, and risk of failure on a very expensive headlight on a bike that for me is only a Want, not really a need, since the Sport Glide is doing just fine. I can afford the new bike, I can afford the payments, and I can afford the depreciation... but down time from my bike when I'm retired and I don't know how much longer I can go riding, is a big number in the negative equity side in a T account of reasons NOT to buy an R 18. It's like buying a potential headache. Even worse if you don't have much warranty left on a used R 18 and it has failed once already. Nobody is convinced that BMW or the light manufacturer has redesigned and solved the problem
 
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If you want an investment buy gold or bitcoin.
Pete, you said what I wanted to say, but I didn't want to come across as too much of an a**hole. You managed to make it sound MUCH nicer in totality than I would have! :ROFLMAO:

People whining about dealer wholesale trade in prices should be reserved for millennials and gen-z.

....I just sounded like an a**hole, didn't I???

Mike
 
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