I learned a hard lesson when I bought my 2012 Zero 9DS.
The dealer I was working with told me the bikes were in high demand, were commanding full list and would have to be ordered. Well, part of that turned out to be true. My bike did need to be ordered. In fact, the dealer had one on order so I just took that one coming in. There were none on the showroom floor (apart from the demo) because the dealer did not want to stock them, not because they were not readily available. To give the dealer credit, they had generated interest in the bike and did have two on order to stock should they not pre-sell (as mine did). I believed the dealer and paid full list. Do me once, shame on you. Do me twice and shame on me.
Fast forward a year. I want the new DS and have my 2012 up for sale. Zero has made significant gains and announced the 2013 model half way through (roughly) 2012. Customers decision process is frozen and existing dealers now have 2012 stock that is not moving. The 2012 stock is discounted and thus the value of my 2012 plummets. I do sell my 2012 at a $1 per mile in depreciation. I knew what I was getting into, made the decision to get the 2013 and am comfortable with my decision. I also LEARNED from the process.
There was little to no demand for my 2012 9DS. Zero is new to managing model transition and their channels. Many of the dealers are new which causes confusion and leaves opportunity for buyers. Zero made no provisions for customer loyalty (think $5K Ford credit for replacing your Ford with another Ford) while they helped their dealers with the $2500 credit for any ICE on trade for a 2012 Zero.
Combining the above and I know there will be initial demand for the first few 2013 bikes. Once the first units are delivered, we will go back to the normal demand for a $16K electric motorcycle sitting next to a $14K liter class sport bike at your average dealer, that is to say, darn near zero. I believe there is significant opportunity to shop around and I would strongly encourage you to get quotations from several dealers. I do not personally believe in playing dealers against each other. I tried it a few times when I was younger and came away feeling slimy. It is not to say that it does not work; it is just not for me. I prefer to ask everyone once for their price and then make a decision based on their first answer.
Most manufacturers will try to limit the geographical area their dealers sell in. If successful, the dealers can then demand full list plus every fricken fee in the world they can tag on leaving the customer with little to no option. I do not think Zero is there yet and even this approach will break down with a little effort from the customer. Do your homework..... The demand is not anywhere near enough to maintain list price not to mention list price plus hundreds in extra fees. A little effort will go a very long way. If you start feeling any remorse, just remember what the residual value of the bike will be and you will feel a lot better about reducing the initial cost to acquire it.
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Topic: Negotiating the Purchase of a new Zero (Read 3152 times)