Why so many used low-mileage late model BMWs in dealer showrooms?

[Jafran456]

I'd like to get some opinions as to why there are so many used late model BMW bikes in dealer showrooms. I live in the southern half of Florida and enjoy window shopping at motorcycle dealerships. My current ride is a 2008 Honda ST1300A (hold your boos, please!). While out riding, I enjoy stopping in at dealerships including BMW, Harley, Honda, etc. One thing that I notice most at BMW dealerships is that they seem to have more used bikes on the floor than new ones. This past weekend, one particular BMW dealership had several K and R series bikes that were one or two years old (2008 or 2009) with 1100 miles, 1800 miles, 2500 miles, etc on the odometer. So I got to thinking....why would someone drop over $20k on a new bike, hardly put any miles on it, and then return it or trade it back in to the dealer in less than one year. This is clearly a lose-lose situation for the buyer. Can I get some opinions on this? Thanks for any feedback.

[Firefight911]

Pick up the latest copy of Anytown, USA newspaper. Most likely the answer will be right there. 12.5% unemployment in CA, discretionary income gone, keep the bike or the business or the house?

 

Friend of mine just picked up an ST13. Good looking bike!!!!

 

Oh, and welcome! There are some great people here. Hopefully, you'll get out to some of the great events that expose you to the greatest people you'll ever know!!!

[upflying]

Easy answer, they re all repo's.

My local HD dealer also has a plethora of used bikes, all bought at an auction. HD had one of those "screw it let's ride" low down, no down finance deals. I bet the finance side of Harley lost big time.

Bad economy means the toys are first to go.

[Jafran456]

That's a hard pill to swallow. Everyone knows the economy is in a slump and if things are looking a little shaky at my job and I'm having trouble making the mortgage payment, then why would I go out and spend $20k on a new bike knowing that I may not have a job at the end of the year??? If I'm lucky, I may be able to unload it on someone for $15k. Now I'm out another $5k and probably worse off than I was before. It kinda doesn't make sense to me.

[FLrider]

So I got to thinking....why would someone drop over $20k on a new bike, hardly put any miles on it, and then return it or trade it back in to the dealer in less than one year. This is clearly a lose-lose situation for the buyer. Can I get some opinions on this? Thanks for any feedback.

 

I kind of agree with your second post. The economics argument doesn't make sense to me either.

 

I think the real answer is : "Because they can". What I mean by that is that your typical BMW buyer is not financially strapped. Some may be, but not most. Unlike Harley, which may have had "zero" down deals, BMW bikes can't be bought that way. So, the buyer probably either paid cash or put a fair amount of downstroke on the bike.

 

Now, I certainly am no multi millionaire however, if I spent 20k on a BMW (which I did) after riding another brand for over 20 years (which I did) and didn't care for the BMW experience, I would drop kick that bike and couldn't care less about a 5k hit. .....because I can..

 

Think about it. 1500 miles, 2500 miles. Just enough time for the buyer to know he doesn't like the bike or the BMW "culture" or lack of it.

 

I may be way off, but you did ask for opinions didn't you?

[Selden]

I suspect that the mileages on the used HDs are in the same range. There was a minor motorcycle boom over the past few years, with a lot of boomers deciding to get back into the sport, after not riding since college, and discovering they no longer enjoyed it as much as they remembered -- and possibly being half scared to death by being surrounded in traffic by large SUVs. Their loss, our gain.

 

Tightened budgets just made it that much easier to walk away, despite the financial cost. Last spring, I saw a custom HD and two Ducatis on consignment, all from the same seller, none with more than 2500 miles on the odometer.

[Rphoto]

Frustration with bad switchgear, stalling and generally poor service?

[upflying]

That's a hard pill to swallow. Everyone knows the economy is in a slump and if things are looking a little shaky at my job and I'm having trouble making the mortgage payment, then why would I go out and spend $20k on a new bike knowing that I may not have a job at the end of the year??? If I'm lucky, I may be able to unload it on someone for $15k. Now I'm out another $5k and probably worse off than I was before. It kinda doesn't make sense to me.

These repo bikes were bought 2005-2008 when the economy was booming.

Sign and drive, just like the sub-prime lending market. They all got burned.

[outpost22]

My current ride is a 2008 Honda ST1300A (hold your boos, please!).

 

First off, welcome, and I seriously doubt anyone here will "boo" anyone's ride.

 

There may be another angle to this. If motorcycles are like cars, there is more profit in selling used vs. new, provided the dealer bought the used inventory well. Maybe they are just after more profit for the fewer sales that are available?

Another item that could be true is that BMW's generally have a higher seat height than say a Harley. Older folks buying BMW's like to be able to flat foot the bikes. Maybe the BMW was too tippy for them and they never got comfortable with it, thus the resale. (or they read this forum and are afraid of the final drive )

[tallman]

This isn't new.

May be they bought a nother bike.

We had several customers who had multiple bikes.

They put 10-12,000 miles/year on BMW's, just not the same bike.

Every year they sold one of the 3 or 4 and got a new one.

No matter what marque, people either keep them a long time or sell them.

Some BMW owners keep the bike a long time, some don't.

Some switched to K bikes from boxers and liked them, some didn't.

No single reason will provide the answer.

[EffBee]

There may be another angle to this. If motorcycles are like cars, there is more profit in selling used vs. new, provided the dealer bought the used inventory well. Maybe they are just after more profit for the fewer sales that are available?

 

Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner!

 

True dat. There's more money in used bikes than in new bikes, both from the raw $$ perspective and in ROI. Dealers, some of whom have reasonable cash reserves, are finding customers who are VERY willing to get out from under their bikes at very low prices. If the public doesn't have the cash to buy them, the dealer does and can then provide the financing to prospective buyers that makes selling them easier. And since they're buying them cheaper than ever, they can sell them that way and make a good profit while passing on the savings.

[ChrisC]

....why would someone drop over $20k on a new bike, hardly put any miles on it, and then return it or trade it back in to the dealer in less than one year.

 

If the price is right, this is your chance to trade up to a new low mileage BMW.

[10ovr]

Frustration with bad switchgear, stalling and generally poor service?

:rofl:Thanks,I needed a good laugh today

[Jafran456]

Frustration with bad switchgear, stalling and generally poor service?

:rofl:Thanks,I needed a good laugh today

 

That thought obviously came to mind as well. I have nothing against BMW bikes. I hope to own one someday. One can't help but notice negative comments in forums and in magazine articles. No bike is perfect, every bike is going to have some issues. The manner in which the manufacturer addresses the issues is key. We all read the magazine articles. Does this sound familiar....sweep things under the rug? "No, there is no problem with our final drives". "No, there is no engine stalling problem". Etc, etc. Maybe that has something to do with it.

 

Prior to my ST purchase, I owned 4 Harleys going back to 1998. I logged a combined 70,000+ trouble-free miles on them. As best as I can remember, there was only 1 recall notice (on my '03 Ultra Classic). They installed a maxi-fuse or something. If there was a problem with my bike, H-D sent me a recall notice, I took the bike in, and they corrected the problem. No questions asked. And so far, the ST is proving to be a very reliable low-maintenance workhorse.

 

I guess what I was initially getting at is that I (personally) didn't see too many used low-mileage 2009 Ultra Classics or Gold Wings in their respective showrooms but I certainly do see lots of BMWs. This isn't based on just one weekend either.

[bimmers]

My little one has only 2k on it and I may trade it. In general people may find that having two or three bikes is not cool anymore and let some go, just anohter angle. I also agree with the one of 5k lost on a 20k bike, not that big a deal for many and it may make the wife (or husband, boyfriend...etc) feel better.

Repos I believe probably less on BMWs, on crotch rockets yes and lower priced ones.

 

Pick one up and enjoy it.

 

h

[Twisties]

Welcome!

 

Well, I'll just add another angle: BMW has introduced a lot of new models in the last two years. Possibly this has two effects that come to mind.

 

1. Folks hankered after a new bike and traded early. We have some members here that have done so.

 

2. Folks got a new model and it wasn't what they wanted, so it went back.

 

I'm not saying this explains what you are seeing. Just some thoughts. Probably everything that's been said here so far has some merit.

 

Here's another thought. It might also just be something local, or transient. Inventory can turn over quickly. We had a new, second, dealer open here in SLC this summer and they sold 30 some bikes in their first 30 days. I walked in for the first time and all I saw were used bikes, and not too many of those. When I asked the explanation was that they were selling all the new bikes they could get, and taking some from the other dealer in town.

 

I've seen other dealers change inventory fast too.

 

So really, it could be anything. Why don't you ask them.

[mbelectric]

There may be another angle to this. If motorcycles are like cars, there is more profit in selling used vs. new, provided the dealer bought the used inventory well. Maybe they are just after more profit for the fewer sales that are available?

 

And since they're buying them cheaper than ever, they can sell them that way and make a good profit while passing on the savings.

 

Yea, that's the ticket.....passing on the savings....

 

MB>

[Lets_Play_Two]

I only can speak for 2 dealers in south Florida, both of which I was in last week. One had 1 late model used bike and the other had three, hardly an overwhelming number of used BMWs.

[bmwk100]

I have also recently visited dealerships here in South Florida. I noticed a few low mileage bikes at BMW Miami and at least of few of them were demo bikes.

[BanjoBoy]

I have also recently visited dealerships here in South Florida. I noticed a few low mileage bikes at BMW Miami and at least of few of them were demo bikes.

+1 That was my first thought while reading down, is that BMW are the only ones with demo & loaner bikes.

 

[Paul Mihalka]

Demo bikes in the show is definitely part of it. BMWNA has a very aggressive demo program giving very high incentives to the dealers if they register bikes with them as demos and keep them around for over 3.000 miles. It is frequent that a trustworthy customer can take a bike home for the weekend. Yeah, BMWNA does some things right. If a dealer sells them earlier, they lose the incentive. So if you see at a dealer a current model bike with less than 3.000 miles and no sale price on it, most likely it is a demo.

[Boone60]

Dan's top ten reasons for low mileage used BMW's

 

10) The future wife puts a 3 bike limit on you ( Jim).

 

9) Your riding buddy dripped some gearlube on your rear wheel when you weren't looking, and now your final drive is surely about to fail.

 

8) BMW riders don't wash their bikes, new bikes come cleaned.

 

7) Serious improvements on new models, such as one handed turn signal switches.

 

6) Sneaky sales people foist test rides on unsuspecting customers.

 

5) BMW riders are old foggies unable to remember how long they have actually owned their bikes.

 

4) The used bikes are on consignment, as the owner rides his new Honda ST for a season, before he comes back to a BMW.

 

3) The used bike got a small scratch on the engine case protector.

 

2) Bikes are like wrenches, you own the right one for the job it's to do.

 

1) The darkside continues to entice riders, until the troopers send them back to the clear path.

 

[flars]

"...at least of few of them were demo bikes..."

Without asking the dealer we don't really know where the bikes came from, but I would think at least one of each model on the floor could be explained by the word 'demo'.

But I also think there are a lot of people in South Florida that are dumping their extra toys - boats, bikes and Hummers - because of the economy.

[tallman]

Glad your HD experience had miinimal issues.

They did just recall over 111,000 bikes including the kind you rode.

I'm sure they'll fix the problems in a timely manner.

 

Selling previously owned bikes happens a lot.

I've sold one bike 5 times, a K75 and another bike 4 times (an oilhead).

 

MOst likely the bikes you saw were too fast for the owners so they sold them to get a KLR.

[Kinsley]

I'm currently looking for a late model GS with low miles.

I figured the economy would make my experience rather satisfying, especially if I buy privately, but I'm not finding much out there. I can find other bikes, but the GS prices are very high and there aren't many listed privately.

 

[rob1100r]

There may be another angle to this. If motorcycles are like cars, there is more profit in selling used vs. new, provided the dealer bought the used inventory well. Maybe they are just after more profit for the fewer sales that are available?

 

Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner!

 

True dat. There's more money in used bikes than in new bikes, both from the raw $$ perspective and in ROI. Dealers, some of whom have reasonable cash reserves, are finding customers who are VERY willing to get out from under their bikes at very low prices. If the public doesn't have the cash to buy them, the dealer does and can then provide the financing to prospective buyers that makes selling them easier. And since they're buying them cheaper than ever, they can sell them that way and make a good profit while passing on the savings.

 

...Plus most of these bikes have a remaining factory warranty, another incentive to buy it used for less $$, an easier sale for the dealer.

[NonComp]

+1 on the demo bike theory. Our 2 local dealers have been pushing quite a few late model demos on Craig's list recently.

 

I watch the used market all the time because I'll probably never drop $20k on a new bike. The pattern I see in used BMWs is that they tend to accumulate more than average mileage in the first few years of ownership. You seldom see really low mileage beemers offered for sale. They are often in the 20 to 40k range. And you seldom see them in the really high range either - usually under 100k.

[Marty Hill]

[quote=i

I owned 4 Harleys going back to 1998. I logged a combined 70,000+ trouble-free miles on them. quote]

 

Really could not this one slide.

 

Since 2002 when I bought an RT I have logged over 250k on BMW's. From 2k to 43k on the various bikes. 3 light bulbs and a couple of simple recalls.

 

Oh, what the hell. The number is 15!

[olddude53]

My current ride is a 2008 Honda ST1300A (hold your boos, please!).

 

 

(or they read this forum and are afraid of the final drive )

 

IT sure has me questioning getting the RT instead of the gl1800 wing, or another ST1300..

even though I like the bmw best..

 

[tallman]

Why?

Do you get a prize for riding a bike you don't want to?

Seriously, get what you want and ride it.

St, Wing, Beemer, it may run forever, it may not.

They are mechanized and sometimes break.

If you worry about something, don't do it, choose and enjoy the ride.

Best wishes.

[Selden]

I've sold one bike 5 times, a K75 and another bike 4 times (an oilhead).

You have sold the same 2 bikes 9 times???

Is this like the cat that came back?

[tallman]

Nope, people rode them for a year and traded them in on new(er) bikes.

Then I sold it again, and again, and again, and again...

They were reasonably priced (each time) and rode nicely.

[Paul Mihalka]

There may be a misunderstanding. I guess Tim sold the same bike 5 times, as a salesman. They were not his

[tallman]

Paul,

I keep my bikes for a while.

Who can afford to buy a new bike?

[Lets_Play_Two]

But I also think there are a lot of people in South Florida that are dumping their extra toys - boats, bikes and Hummers - because of the economy.

 

Is it likely you will find those on the dealer's floor? I still see plenty of Hummers, Porsches, etc. on the road. I rent in a neighborhood of 100 moderately priced homes and there are four Hummers, two Porsches, a DB9 and my next door neighbor with a Maserati!!! Doesn't even count the Audis and BMWs and Mercedes. Maybe they bought these on Craig's List.

 

When I lived in Chicago, in an economic downturn, you could buy cars, jewelry and houses, etc. on the floor of the Board of Trade!!!

[NoHeat]

regarding trading in a late-model bike:

8) BMW riders don't wash their bikes, new bikes come cleaned.

 

That's a good one.

[olddude53]

Its not just BMW's as most other brand dealers have late model bikes with very little mileage on them.. Some used bike dealers have tons of them as this is what they specialize in. There are enough reasons listed above to keep the bikes comming.

[Indy Dave]

That thought obviously came to mind as well. I have nothing against BMW bikes. I hope to own one someday. One can't help but notice negative comments in forums and in magazine articles.

 

1) No one else seems to have seen all these bikes for sale in S. Florida (or at other dealers), please feel free to let us know where the used bonanza is.

 

2) So BMW is the only brand to suffer this 'indignation'? You've left out all the best bike and bike of the year awards as well as recognizing that BMW also leads at least one market segment.

 

3) Forums in general primarily exist to exchange info on maintenance, repairs and modifications. Pick a forum and read and you might wonder if the subject's brand ever worked to begin with.

 

But you already knew that...

[cali_beemer]

There are always different situations too. My friend bought a used K1200GT with 1000 miles on it. The previous owner died and the family took it to the dealer to see if they would buy it. It went on the floor and he went and got it. Personally I bought my new 99 RT and had it for about 6-8k miles and went in one day and was offered a test ride on a new K1200RS. I left with the RS. Nothing worng with the RT and it never let me down, I just fell in love with the K motor.

[DaveC]

As mentioned in the previous posts, there are many reasons for people to sell a bike with low miles.

 

I have bought 2 BMW bikes with less that 2k miles on them less than 2 years old. In both cases, the sellers life had changed in some way and they had decided to sell it.

 

One former owner was a small business owner. He bought the bike planning on riding it on the weekends. After 18 months of ownership he recognized that working 60 hour weeks running his business did not leave much time for rising a motorcycle.

 

The other former owner got married and had a baby. His wife demanded he sell the bike because he was a new father, and she considered motorcycle riding a dangerous activity. She did not want to risk being left a widow with an infant.

[upflying]

 

The other former owner got married and had a baby. His wife demanded he sell the bike because he was a new father, and she considered motorcycle riding a dangerous activity. She did not want to risk being left a widow with an infant.

 

That's weak. My wife never blinked an eye when I was a motorcop with small two kids. Good life insurance/survivor benefits sure does sooth all that "widow" crap.

[Quinn]

Historicly, there have always been a lot of low-mileage, late model bikes for sale at dealers. Especially with the influx of returning riders with more money than sense. Not just the "only been dropped once" people but also the "I tried it and didn't like it", "never could get comfortable", and "it's not as much fun as I remembered." Guess I should include those who trade up to the next model up for the added features because, although they like what they've got, they want more. Kind of like skirt chasing golfers. Also, dealers will tend to only display and sell the late model trade-ins; the rest are disposed of in other ways.

 

BMWs may be the bike that you either bond with and keep forever or divorce quickly when the fit isn't right. In any case, I'm used to seeing late model bikes for sale at my local dealer.

 

---

 

 

[Bill_Walker]

I don't think you can blame it all on the recession. When I got my 2004 RT in February '05, it had only 3600 miles on it, and I was the third owner!