Kawasaki Dealership Bites the Dust

[carolinakid1]

Just learned that "Top Gear Motorsports", the Athens, GA dealership, just closed its doors.

[ringadingh]

It appears that more are closing than opening lately. I think the only way for them to survive is to become a multi line dealership. HD seems to be the only one to make it on its own, and even some of them fail.

[davidjmurphy]

Most Dealers only like their product under 1 roof. The problem is they force dealers to take so many bikes ATV etc.,even when they have products from previous years. Then after 3 or 6 months they have to pay interest on all new products that are not sold. Then they may lose the rebates which are only on for few months. Four small dealers have closed their doors in the last couple of years here.

[landman]

this is what you get when so many folks expect dealers to match online prices from companies who have no store overhead expenses.the trend towards buying
online has caused many small bussinesses to close.i'm not pointing any fingers hear as i am as guilty as the next guy but if we want the convience of nearby dealers for service we had better find a way to support them.very little money is made on the sale of the unit and most dealerships are supported by the service and parts dept.

[cactusjack]

Originally Posted by landman

this is what you get when so many folks expect dealers to match online prices from companies who have no store overhead expenses.the trend towards buying
online has caused many small bussinesses to close.i'm not pointing any fingers hear as i am as guilty as the next guy but if we want the convience of nearby dealers for service we had better find a way to support them.very little money is made on the sale of the unit and most dealerships are supported by the service and parts dept.

You're right, service and accessories is where they make the most profit. It's too bad most dealers don't understand the concept of service, and I don't mean just repairs and maintenance - I mean customer service.

[ringadingh]

If dealers were to sell accessories on volume, perhaps online shopping wouldn't be as popular. and actually quite a few online sellers are dealers.

[cnc]

Originally Posted by ringadingh

If dealers were to sell accessories on volume, perhaps online shopping wouldn't be as popular. and actually quite a few online sellers are dealers.

I think your right Steve, It seems a lot of the bigger power sports dealers, or at least ones with a fair bit of stock sell on ebay to move things along before it gets too stale.

[minst7877]

I went to the local Kaw dealer to pick up some parts for my bike. I needed some banjo bolt washers as I'm having a couple of lines made because of adding risers to my bike. Don't want to reuse the old seals. They had to order them then they had the gall to charge me a special handling fee on top of the part cost. It's no wonder everyone is getting their stuff online. These dealers are their own worst enemy.

DC

DC

[AlabamaNomadRider]

Always hate to hear of a dealership closing. The dealership that I have now bought four bikes from through the years is located at Gadsden, AL. This is a 30 to 40 minute ride for me from my house. The first bike I bought from them was a new 1981 Honda 650 and they were in business years before I bought that bike. They are doing something right. It isn't their price so I guess it must be the good customer service they offer. They do offer Honda, Yamaha and Kawasaki products. Most parts I need have to be ordered but they will be in the next day. I can even call them and they will order for me without me coming in. They will call and let me know the part or parts have arrived. Guess that is what keeps me doing business with them.

[okiecop]

Dealers around the SW Oklahoma area normally don't want to deal on motorcycles so Kansas gets a lot of business from Oklahoma. As long as a person is treated fair, they'll be a repeat customer. Sad to hear of another dealership going under and it seems the trend is to have multiple lines of motorcycles these days. The local dealership here just took on Victory along with Kawasaki and Suzuki and in a different town they sell Kawasaki, Yamaha and Honda.

I also heard, don't know if it's true, that Harley no longer allows dealerships to sell their genuine Harley accessories online anymore. I was told that if you want genuine HD accessories, you had to go to a shop.

[Tiger J]

My local dealer carries HD, Kawasaki, Star/Yamaha, Honda and Suzuki. However, they recently acquired the building next door (used to be a local hunting supply and gun store that got killed when Bass Pro and Cabelas moved nearby) and now they have converted it into a seperate HD showroom. I think they were the only or one of the only St. Louis area HD dealers that carried new metric lines as well in the same showroom. I wonder if HD was behind their decision to seperate the HD product.

[cactusjack]

Originally Posted by okiecop

Dealers around the SW Oklahoma area normally don't want to deal on motorcycles so Kansas gets a lot of business from Oklahoma. As long as a person is treated fair, they'll be a repeat customer. Sad to hear of another dealership going under and it seems the trend is to have multiple lines of motorcycles these days. The local dealership here just took on Victory along with Kawasaki and Suzuki and in a different town they sell Kawasaki, Yamaha and Honda.

I also heard, don't know if it's true, that Harley no longer allows dealerships to sell their genuine Harley accessories online anymore. I was told that if you want genuine HD accessories, you had to go to a shop.

I've heard that too. I don't know how true it is, but Zanotti's HD is closing up and they are a huge online seller in the midwest. I know that North American dealers can't ship HD parts to Europe anymore. The European dealers were complaining because dealers in other countries were getting all their P&A business.

[ponch]

Originally Posted by landman

this is what you get when so many folks expect dealers to match online prices from companies who have no store overhead expenses.the trend towards buying
online has caused many small bussinesses to close.i'm not pointing any fingers hear as i am as guilty as the next guy but if we want the convience of nearby dealers for service we had better find a way to support them.very little money is made on the sale of the unit and most dealerships are supported by the service and parts dept.

With the internet, the world is getting a lot smaller. It's possible to research pricing and get some competitive deals on most products. The thing is to weigh is the hassle worth the savings. The problem I see is that sometimes local dealers either aren't savvy about the competition that exists beyond their horizon, in which they believe they have a captive market, or they don't care because they believe locals will buy local because that is the culture. Times are changing and dealers that don't adjust to the realities will go away. In a sense that is a sort of natural selection and probably a good thing in the long run.

I won't go out of my way to save a few hundred bucks on a new bike through buying it out of state, but I would for a couple thousand (whose money is it?). I don't use a dealer for anything but warranty service. On the other hand, I really don't hear from dealers after I've bought cars or motorcycles from them. If a dealer is smart, they work to keep a relationship with a customer too. For instance, in the last month I have been inundated with calls and mailings from the dealer where I bought my suburban that encouraged be to trade my 2009 Suburban in for a new as the values of used cars are up. Well, perusing their site, I saw that they had a bunch of 2011 high optioned Suburbans in stock they obviously haven't been able to sell. I hadn't heard from them in two and half years and now I do when it suits them? I don't need to trade the vehicle in for a new one and to be honest, it's the last GM I'll ever own from a quality/price/value proposition and I told them so and not to contact me anymore.

The bottom line is that any dealer is going to have to figure out how to be competitive beyond their area code if they want to stay in business.

[Loafer]

We had a great dealer with nice employees about 8 miles from me. They had Honda, Kawaski, Suzuki, and Yamaha motocycles, ATV's and snowmachines. They did have some accessories available and were dealing on-line. Sadly they decided to close this dealership and reverted back to having just their original dealership 50 miles from me. Money talks in this world.

[ringadingh]

Originally Posted by minst7877

I went to the local Kaw dealer to pick up some parts for my bike. I needed some banjo bolt washers as I'm having a couple of lines made because of adding risers to my bike. Don't want to reuse the old seals. They had to order them then they had the gall to charge me a special handling fee on top of the part cost. It's no wonder everyone is getting their stuff online. These dealers are their own worst enemy.

DC
DC

When I replaced the brake lines with SS lines the guy gave me new crush washers with the brake lines. I rarely order parts from my local dealer because he never carries anything in stock, never gives a price break and usually wants me to come in and pay for the part first. Then I end up making two trips to the dealer.