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[Richard230]

I don't think this has been discussed before, but it would be interesting and informative if we could develop some experience with what various Zero models and years are actually worth and have been sold for, both as private sales and as trade-ins.  Right now I have no idea what a used Zero could be sold for - other than I fear it would not be all that much, compared with the initial cost.  I suppose it would have a lot to do with the location of the market and the time of year, as well as local gas prices.  But any information would be worthwhile to have.  I might add that I have never seen a used Zero being offered for sale in the local dealer's showroom over the past 6 years that I have been buying them.  I have said before that my guess is that electric motorcycles loose about 50% of their value per year, but I do know that the California DMV, which charges yearly licensing fees based upon the vehicle's value, seems to think that the value of every motor vehicle drops only 10% each year. 

[frodus]

I think the BIG problem is that not only do you have depreciation, but the cost of production is coming down, so future models are cheaper to build and are being sold for less than you bought a previous year model.

So you're fighting depreciation and manufacturers lowering their prices. It really hurts the early adopters.

Why would someone buy a 2 year old Zero for $X when he can buy a new one for another $1k?

There's no stability in what Zero, Brammo, etc are charging for their bikes over the last few years.

[labrat]

I have been looking for a few months now. If there are any that are offered for anywhere near 50% after a year I sure can't find them. I believe it would be an ideal bike for me (20 mile commute each day to work). I see 2014 bikes for around 7,000 but they are one year from Battery warranty being gone. 2016's are at least 10,000. I would prefer buying used but at this point I am resigned to buying new with warranty over buying someone's used demo that had the warranty begin a year before they even bought it.

[JaimeC]

If there is any one issue I have with Zero, it's that damned warranty policy of theirs.  Every other manufacturer warranty I've ever dealt with began with the day the vehicle was registered by the owner.  That means, if you bought a year old demonstrator, it was still warranteed from the day YOU bought it as the first owner as a new bike.

Zero's warranty begins the day the bike leaves the factory, so if your bike was sitting on the sales floor, you lost that warranty time and you only have what is left from the day the bike shipped.  I really don't understand how they get away with that.

[domingo3]

I have been looking for a few months now. If there are any that are offered for anywhere near 50% after a year I sure can't find them. I believe it would be an ideal bike for me (20 mile commute each day to work). I see 2014 bikes for around 7,000 but they are one year from Battery warranty being gone. 2016's are at least 10,000. I would prefer buying used but at this point I am resigned to buying new with warranty over buying someone's used demo that had the warranty begin a year before they even bought it.

  This was a big factor in me buying new as well.  The market is so small that you're unlikely to find a used bike near you, and a used bike seller is unlikely to find a buyer near them, with the possible exception of the California market.  We all know that there are some lemons out there, so even if I found a used one a great distance away, I'd have strong reservations about buying one shipped or investing in the trip to go check it out in person.
  I think if you happen to have a buyer and seller nearby, that might result in a fair sale price.  I'm personally considering selling my 2016 FXS, but if I may keep it rather than give it away.  I agree that it would be interesting to see actual sales or trade-in prices that have been negotiated.

[labrat]

No one seems to understand the warranty on demo bikes, I see lots of adds saying they have full warranty. A dealer even told me it didn't start until I bought it.

[JaimeC]

Their warranty isn't secret, it's right on their website written in pretty clear English (Note:  This is for US bikes; not sure about other countries)

http://www.zeromotorcycles.com/warranty/?my=2018&m=s

[Richard230]

I know what sellers are asking for their bikes, but what I was wondering was what they were actually getting for them?     And I really wonder what dealers are giving Zero owners as a trade-in on a new purchase?

[calamarichris]

  And I really wonder what dealers are giving Zero owners as a trade-in on a new purchase?

That is the 64-dollar question.

[NEW2elec]

Like most sales ads you can get a bell curve and figure you'd have some wiggle room but no one asks $12,000 for something and takes $4000 for off that ad.

As for production costs coming down i don't really see it.  Zero F bikes are still at the 10ish range the S bikes down a little at the 13ish range and the R bikes have went up to the mid 16 range.  Some improvements for sure but not huge leaps from 2013.

Trade in offers are a joke.  They know its a hassle to post it and meet ups with looky lews and joy riders and they twist your (insert body part here) hard.
The offer I got I turned around and told them I'd buy two more bikes just like mine at that price please get them for me.  He stopped smiling at being called out in that way and we just moved on.

As I've posted before Zero misses a great opportunity by not taking in used Zeros letting the dealer go over them "certified" and offering a one year or more warranty even at say a 6 or 7 hundred dollar cost to the buyer.  These bikes are a whole new ball game to most people and they want their butts covered if something goes bad that they don't even understand. 

As for the Demo bikes' warranty yeah that's kind of crappy.  The only thing it does do is gets the dealer to start dropping the price so he isn't stuck with a 3 year old demo bike.

 Richard I have set up a Cycle Trader search for Zeros and just saved the link.  I check it pretty often and I have to say when I see a "real good" price it gets picked up in a week or so.
The 2012 is harder maybe $3500 in CA to the right buyer that can fix or upgrade it if needed.
The 2014 w PT about $9500 to get some interest.  But I don't think you want to sell that one.

[Richard230]

Like most sales ads you can get a bell curve and figure you'd have some wiggle room but no one asks $12,000 for something and takes $4000 for off that ad.

As for production costs coming down i don't really see it.  Zero F bikes are still at the 10ish range the S bikes down a little at the 13ish range and the R bikes have went up to the mid 16 range.  Some improvements for sure but not huge leaps from 2013.

Trade in offers are a joke.  They know its a hassle to post it and meet ups with looky lews and joy riders and they twist your (insert body part here) hard.
The offer I got I turned around and told them I'd buy two more bikes just like mine at that price please get them for me.  He stopped smiling at being called out in that way and we just moved on.

As I've posted before Zero misses a great opportunity by not taking in used Zeros letting the dealer go over them "certified" and offering a one year or more warranty even at say a 6 or 7 hundred dollar cost to the buyer.  These bikes are a whole new ball game to most people and they want their butts covered if something goes bad that they don't even understand. 

As for the Demo bikes' warranty yeah that's kind of crappy.  The only thing it does do is gets the dealer to start dropping the price so he isn't stuck with a 3 year old demo bike.

 Richard I have set up a Cycle Trader search for Zeros and just saved the link.  I check it pretty often and I have to say when I see a "real good" price it gets picked up in a week or so.
The 2012 is harder maybe $3500 in CA to the right buyer that can fix or upgrade it if needed.
The 2014 w PT about $9500 to get some interest.  But I don't think you want to sell that one.

Thanks, that is interesting.  I need to visit my BMW dealer tomorrow to pick up a part that I ordered (a "rain guard" fender extender, just like the one that Zero sells, but at twice the price). If I don't suffer a short term memory lapse and if the salesman isn't busy, I plan to ask them what a 2012 and 2014 Zero S is worth wholesale and retail.

[Ndm]

I can only offer the Canadian perspective, I checked about trade in in the summer and was given a $6500 offer ($6500 minus tax obligation =$7345) plus they would only give me that on one of their leftover bikes (2015-2017) which they have held for some time and weren't discounting by much ($500) i'm of the opinion that I should keep it and buy a cb500x  for a light touring bike but my wife and insurance have kept me from venturing further! so with exchange I would say a 2013s with 2015 battery is worth $5800 usd

[labrat]

Sounds about right to me, Not bad resale for a 5 year old out of warranty bike. Kills the 50% a year theory though.

[MostlyBonkers]

This is a great topic Richard, thanks for starting it!

I have a couple of stories from the UK that I can share.  First of all, we're going back a little over two years when Justin was looking to trade in his 2013 S for either a 2015 or 2016 SR.  I was interested in buying Justin's old bike so we had a chat about prices.  IIRC, Justin was willing to sell his bike for around £5,500 privately.  I think that price may have included the soft panniers, his Elcon and the cables he has made up.  His bike was only about two years old with around 20,000 miles on the clock and in good condition.  Or was it £4,500 we settled on? I'm not sure. Two years is a long time.  In the end, I got an opportunity to buy one of the 2014 DSP bikes for £6,500 and that was that.  With the benefit of hindsight, I'm glad I did.  The two year warranty I got on buying an unregistered bike has saved me a lot of money due to reliability issues.

I'm pretty sure Justin only got around £3,000 for his trade-in.  That sounds terrible considering the bike would have retailed at around £12,000 new in 2013.  However, bear in mind that he may have got a good deal on the 2015SR he bought to sweeten the deal.  I don't know more than that and it would be remiss of me to divulge all the details if I did.  After all, that was Justin's business.

I do seem to recall that Justin's 2013 didn't go on sale. I'm pretty sure that it was absorbed by Zero. There may have been a defect along the way too.  I'm sure Justin will clarify if he sees this post and has the time.

Also, keep in mind that depreciation on a new bike is partly due to tax.  In the UK, we have 20% VAT (sales tax).  So a bike retailing for £12,000 has had £2,000 of tax applied to it.  As soon as you've handed your money over and ridden it out of the showroom you aren't going to see that £2,000 again.  The tax man doesn't do refunds. VAT is also part of the reason a second hand bike costs more from a dealership.  There's something called the Margin Scheme in the UK that means a dealer only has to charge VAT on the margin they sell a second hand bike for. However, it could still add a few hundred pounds to the price.

The other story I have is my own.  A few months ago I asked my local dealer what they'd want for the 2016 DSR demo bike they've had for about a year or so.  They answered my question with a question and asked me what I wanted for my 2014DS.  I scratched my head for a moment and said £5,000.  The salesman said he'd have to prepare some figures and he'd give me a call.  The call never came...

My gut feeling is that I'd be lucky to get £5,000 for it privately.  I would probably only get £3,000 for a trade-in.  Again, that's shocking for a bike that retailed for £12-13,000 in 2014.

I was fortunate enough to get an extra year's warranty out of Zero after the fiasco with the bearings in my rear wheel.  The bike also still has 3 of its five year warranty left on the battery.  That helps the resale value of my particular bike at least. If anyone wants to make me an offer, let me know!

[JaimeC]

Not too sure about the rest of the USA (let alone the world) but if you're looking for trade-in values here in New York ALL of the dealerships refer to the "Blue Book."  That is either the Kelly Blue Book, or NADA.  Unfortunately, the latter doesn't even LIST Zero as a manufacturer, but here is a link to the Kelly Blue Book page:

https://www.kbb.com/motorcycles/zero-motorcycles/

Even they don't list resale values for all of the models.  For example, in 2016 (the year I'd be interested in knowing) they only list the resale/trade-in value for the SR model, not the S models.