August 31, 2010, Two-Wheeled Tuesday at the Ninety-Nine Restaurant in Littleton, NH.
September 4, 2010, Sell Your Own Bike Day AND Swap Meet! Bring your bike down and sell it. Onsite Financing. Or, sell some of your old parts and accessories laying around.
September 18, 2010, Biketoberfest Party; 5 to 9. Come listen to live music from NEX and have a beer or two while enjoying some giveaways and friendly games!
YOU KNOW WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT FREE LUNCH...
Wilkins HD Buying Tips
(we encourage you to print this off before you shop at other dealers):
Bill of Sale. When you are shopping for a Harley-Davidson always insist that the dealer "write-up the deal" for you to take HOME and review. If you sense reluctance or unwillingness to put things on paper, pay close attention to that. Insist that you want to see "All the numbers" and NOT just the payment. Any dealer that just talks about the payment is called a "Payment Seller." It is easy to hide hidden fees in the deal. Some Sales Managers push just the payment and continually dance around your question of the interest rate and/or total financed amount. It's a shell game. They give you a low price on the new motorcycle, and a high price on the trade, but hide all those hidden fees to make up the difference.
Hidden (surprise!) Fees. Always keep your eyes peeled for hidden fees. Charges such as freight and setup are customary, however, they can easily be adjusted and tucked away into the deal. Typically, you will see freight at $300 to $375 and setup from $200 to $300.00 per motorcycle. Outside of freight and setup, there are no grounds for you to pay Administrative Fees or Documentation Fees or "Restocking Fees" in addition to the motorcycle. In fact, you can refuse to pay the documentation fee if you are financing the motorcycle since it is contrary to most state laws to charge you to prepare finance paperwork.
Maintenance Packages. VIP Specials, Platinum, Gold, and Silver, Maintenance packages. You are a Very Important Person regardless of whether you purchase a maintenace package or not. Call it what you want,these Maintenance Packages are NOT yet endorsed by Harley-Davidson. Many dealers offer these VIP/Platinum Packages to customers buying motorcycles. Many of these range in the thousands of dollars. Often, the standard services on their service wall are inflated so that it appears you are saving money. Additionally, many of these items included in the VIP Maintenance Packages are actually covered by the standard two-year warranty. Lastly, these packages lock you into doing maintenance with your selling dealer. That dealer will have no incentive to treat you well since you have to do business with them. We have investigated these maintenance packages and feel it is better to purchase each individual service on its own rather than be locked into one whole plan for your service needs. By law, you are entitled to cancel this if you financed it with your motorcycle. Always ask the dealer that question before purchasing any maintenance package. If they dance around this, see your State Banking and Insurance Professional.
Interest Rates. Always have a couple interest rates from local banks handy when you are visiting a dealership. Interest rates vary dealer to dealer. Some dealers inflate the interest rate greatly to make up for giving you such a great deal on your trade-in or throwing in an accessory. Watch them closely.
Harley-Davidson Literature. Ask for a copy of the Harley-Davidson literature. Ask them to compare what they are selling their Harley-Davidson for in comparison to what the literature says. Tell them to justify how they arrived at the price using the literature.
Ask to see a copy of the dealers most recent Customer Service Score from Harley-Davidson. This is a prime indicator on how the dealer is going to treat you after the sale. Every dealer is furnished a copy of this score quarterly, however, some are not inclined to show you. Wilkins HD will gladly show you their scores since we are consistently ranked in the top ten dealers in the United States.
Are the staff commission based? You will need to know this in order to avoid being sold items you don't want or need. All staff members should listen intently to you and see what it is YOU want and not what THEY want to sell you.
What is the guarantee or warranty if you purchase a preowned motorcycle and decide not purchase an Extended Service Plan? On all new untitled motorcycles, the Harley-Davidson Motor Co., gives you a two-year factory warranty. On preowned models, many dealers sell you the motorcycle "As-Is." At Wilkins HD, all of our motorcycles leave with at least a 90 day guarantee on parts and labor.
Hang Tags: Does the motorcycle have a hang tag clearly displaying all of the vehicles options, and the price of the bike, including an out the door price? If not, can you get a price from the salesperson with reasonably little effort, or will you be passed around to other staff to negotiate your life away. If you find yourself at a dealership with no tags, ask multiple times for the price to see if salespeople quote different amounts. An honorable dealership will offer the same price every time.
Incentives: Some dealers offer no-payment and interest rate "incentives" that have a cost associated to the dealer, yet they pass the fee for the program onto the customer. You know what they say about free lunch.
The Value of your Trade: Beware of trade-in offers that exceed a normal market value. Ask questions like: "What is the actual cash value of my trade?” and, “What is the price of the bike without my trade?" See for yourself what trade values are running by researching NADA, Kelly Blue Book www.kbb.com, and the AMA Black Book. Also, be careful of the above market trade-in figure because sometimes it is just plain added into the new motorcycle sale.
Some dealers use dedicated staff to survey you, while other dealers use full-time telemarketers from outside states like Florida to call you repeatedly. Showing a customer you are interested in earning their business and being a nuisance are two different things. We all deserve to eat dinner without a telemarketer's phone call.
We hope these tips are helpful in your search for a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. If we can answer any questions, don't hesitate to e-mail us at info@wilkinsharley.com or call us at (802) 476-6104.
We must be doing something right!! Above, (Left to right) Barbara Wilkins (Founder of Wilkins HD), Howard Miller (Longtime Customer), and John Lyon (General Manager and grandson of Barbara). Howard Miller has happily purchased 23 Harley-Davidsons from Wilkins Harley-Davidson over the years.
