Harley - Sheldons VS. American

With the good weather and all, I started to think about getting a bike. I looked at a couple on CL and test drove one. Well, 2 days after I test drove the one on CL, my son comes home to tell me that he just bought a new Harley. No Research at all. So I went down there (Sheldon’s in Auburn) when he was at work the next day. The sales staff were real pleasant. The finance staff was also great and helped find a bank and all. My son isn’t the best negotiator, so I decided to give it a shot, knowing that I may be buying one too. I tried my best to get something. The original deal for my sons bike was MSRP+Shipping+dealer fees, and 10% off accessories. Their stance was that they do NOT negotiate. The only thing I was able to get him was a Harley camping lamp and a coke. So my wife and I (who was with me BTW) looked around and actually loved the Heritage. We got the best deal as we could. And the same camp light for free. I asked for almost everything, but they wouldn’t budge. OK…So I left there and called Marlene at AMERICAN HARLEY in Leominster and asked her if she had the Black version of the Heritage. She said that she just sold the last of three that she had, but had located one. I went up there the next day (Friday) and told her that I wanted to leave today with a Heritage. They went through hoops to get one from Laconia and the Cape, but there wasn’t enough time in the day to get the deal done on Friday. So she called the guy who bough the other identical Heritage and asked him if he could wait 2 additional hours on Saturday before he receives his and he said ok. So now I had to negotiate with her and here’s the best deal they made me. $2400 less than MSRP, no shipping fees or dealer fees. Not one, but 2 Free helmets ($90/each), a plastic shield for one mask, two t-shirts, 1000 and 5000 maintenance free and 20% off accessories. So In my opinion, Sheldons and AMERICAN HARLEY in Leominster, had great customer service, but AMERICAN HARLEY, was way more flexible with their pricing. They were able to be creative to get me the bike I wanted, on the same day, for a great price. I highly recommend AMERICAN HARLEY in Leominster.

Here are some pics....

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Congratulations on the new bike. I guess I should have talked to American. I bought from Sheldon's two years ago. The negotiation was horrible, and I walked out once, hung up on them twice, and finally ended up getting out the door for a bit under sticker. The 'sales manager' told me my offer was BS, that I didn't know what I was talking about on invoice and fees. Oh, and the $400 security system mysteriously appeared on the bike, then just as mysteriously disappeared when we got within $400 on pricing. Funny thing is, if the security system hadn't come up, we probably could've made a deal the first day. However, they were good about letting me take a test ride, and they were reasonably friendly.

Paramount, by contrast, wouldnt let me test ride ANY bike, quoted me $1500 over sticker plus fees, and told me they weren't interested when I offered cash if they would beat the deal I got at Sheldon's.

My assumption, based on being a customer and also having worked at a motorcycle shop many years ago, is that motorcycle sales are even worse than car sales, and that the only happy customers are the one who are blissfully clueless or just dont care about how badly they are being taken.