Opinions for a new purchase

Hello all.....

I am looking to purchase a VFR and have found the following:

2009 With less than 2500 miles ABS and color matched bags appears to be in great shape they want $7800

2009 New non-ABS from dealer its new and has a warranty they want $8500

What in your informed opinion(s) should I be paying for either of these bikes?

From what I have found the pricing seems all over the place

thanks for your time

 

Get the bags and the ABS. Just my opinion. More bike for less scratch is a winner every time. 2500 miles isn't even broken in.

 

I would go for the used one. If you really want bags, you're going be paying at least another $800 on top of the cost of the new one. A warranty seems nice on paper, but it's likely you won't even use it. I also think ABS is good thing to have on a bike, even if you're an experienced rider. $7800 seems a little high, but if it's the year you really want, I say go for it. I was dead set on a red 2007, so I was ok paying a bit more to get just what I wanted. It is an outstanding bike and as you've probably already figured out, this site is an outstanding resource if you own one :wink:

BTW, I paid $7600 in 2010 for my 07 with 1600 miles, ABS and no bags + $300 for a 2yr warranty that I never used + $600 to have it shipped (from a dealer out of state).

 

Big_Jim- I am leaning very much to the used one. I think I can get it for $7500 but I will have to ship it or go get it.

Dave-How did the shipping work out any issues or things that you did not expect? I am a little nervous buying out of state and shipping it.....

 

No problems shipping. This was actually the second bike I had shipped with no problems. First time was an older bike from a private seller. Both times I used www.haulbikes.com

 

Thanks Dave. I saw them earlier when I was doing some research. I hope the dealer that has the bike on consignment will handle all of the shipping stuff for me. They are supposed to get a quote from "there carrier" Monday and get back to me.

 

I think 7500 is a tad high still. But just a tad. It is a 5 year old bike regardless of the low mileage and no warrantee. As stated here, you are not likely to be om need of that warrantee but you may be able to use that point as a bargaining tool. The factory hard bags are a huge plus if you use them. Otherwise they are not much to consider. I do wish that when I bought mine I had gotten the factory bags. As it is I bought them used and had to get them painted to match.

 

Hit the "bluebook" sites for pricing. Check out the dealers website and any search engine comments associated with the dealer. "Their" shipper?? Same deal, if you are not in control of things they are.

 

Thanks, the bags do add value for me since I will use them probably daily

 

Thanks, I hit the blue book places already and the price is either a bit above or a bit below what they have the retail for depending on which site I go to. Looking at other used '09s the price seems ok not a fire sale but ok.....

They use Old Dominion to ship bikes, I contacted my brother since he's a trucker and he had good comments for the carrier overall. Do you have any knowledge on them? I figure it would cost me $500 to go get the bike so anything around that or less would be a wash $ wise.

Dealer wise there is not a lot of comments on the search engines and the ones that are there are a bit old. Most of the bad is from the parts/service being very busy. About the same as my local dealer

 

If you're planning on spending around $500 anyway, I would seriously consider haulbikes.com That's all they do, and they do it well. I think that's about an average price for halfway across the country. Probably a bit more going coast to coast. Old Dominion is just a basic LTL carrier. The driver that picks it up may or may not have any experience loading/securing a motorcycle. And they would need a big ramp or loading dock to unload it. On haulbikes' trucks, the back door is the loading platform, and they can drop it at your house (assuming a big rig can drive there). Just my 2 cents.

 

Thanks again, good advice. I am interested to know how they want to ship it as well such as on a pallet, a crate, or just the bike. Insurance etc.

When you bought from out of your state did you buy it "sight unseen" with just pictures or did you make a trip to see/hear it first hand? I have issues with used motorized vehicles but especially sight unseen seems a bit nerve racking.

 

I got both of mine sight unseen. It really comes down to your gut feeling about the seller and quality/quantity of the photos. "Generally" a dealer should be a pretty safe bet, and you have a bit more capability for retribution if they lie about what they're selling. They're is always a risk when buying a bike, and yes, it is higher without seeing/riding the bike first. At this point, with my experiences, I would need some pretty big red flags to be scared off a bike I really wanted. Maybe I just got lucky, I don't know.

Bottom line, it all comes down to how YOU feel about the whole potential purchase.

 

Why don't you see if a VFRworld member in the town where the bike is located would mind going to visually inspect it for you. There are a lot of really nice people on this site, I would think someone would be willing to take a look at it for you.

 

The bluebook prices only assist in obtaining a ballpark price. Lots of variables going even there. Bike sales in the middle of Frozenass, Minnesota are not going to be as good as in SoCal this time of year. Dealers own the bikes and the longer they sit the less they are worth.

Never have shipped a bike mself. Never bought one sight unseen. Never bought a used bike from a dealer either. I am a doer of lots of homework and many questions. IMO if you ship either of those bikes go with the experienced outfit.

Search engines also have attached blogs and several operators to suss out info. Try "dealers and stealers" . Even then watch for "salting" .

If one of the dealers is in Nigeria, or even East Timor bag it..

 

That is an interesting idea....I would feel like I would need to pay them something for their time....also what if that someone decides to buy the bike themselves that would sorta suck on my side?

 

More good input thanks!

 

is there anywhere to find the colors available for a given year in the USA?

2009 was black the only color choice?
2008 was silver the only color choice?
2007 was RWB or Dark red the only choices?

If the above is correct then the '09 I am looking at is really a '08 which really changes the game
I just found a '08 supposedly in Red with 23 miles......its local so I could actually see it in person....

 

Yoi could just ask a Honda dealer. I can't see why they would not look it up. They did come in different colours depending on where you purchased the bike. Example in 09 you could get white in Canada but not USA.

As far as confirming the year of that bike, all sorts of info is contained in the VIN. Use Google to find out how to read the vin. The year is there for certain. Just not recorded the way you think.

Sent from my SGH-I727R using Tapatalk 2

 

True. I believe I found the info in Honda's site if the older information is correct.

For USA:
'09-Black
'08-Silver
'07-Dark Red or RWB 25th
'06-Black or White
'05-Light Silver or Red