I just wanted to share my motorcycle buying experience with you guys.

1) Never co-sign with anyone when buying a motorcycle even if its your best friend.

My two buddies and I are into bikes, one bought a new one from the dealership, and the other buddy wanted to buy one as well. Since he has crappy credit, he and the other guy talked me into cosigning, which was a bad move. Lo and behold, after I cosign the credit app gets approved and he proceeds to buy a ninja ZX6RR.

After I got home and thought about the whole thing I called my buddy and told him I didnt want him to buy the bike for XYZ reasons, and asked him to respect my wishes.

Later that night I called the dealership and told them the deal wasnt going thru, and they got mad and tried to penalize me $500.

I said BS, its nowhere stated in the sales contract. The sales contract said clearly that by backing out of the sale we can lose the deposit, but everything else in the clause was vague

In addition they charged us $7399 for the bike and added 600 for freight and like 49 for dmv paper work which was a rip since another dealership told methat they were just trying to milk us for more money.

anyhow I called Yamaha and Kawasaki credit cards and had both accounts closed, and told my buddy that he was gonna lose his $100 deposit.

Question, they charged him a $25 app fee for the Yamaha card, was that a rip off too??


overall the dealership was real nasty to me and tried to kick me out. In additon they never gave the bill of sale to my buddy, so i had to demand it from the guy. he proceeds to ramble on, as if to make me feel guilty, but hey I had to do what I had to do.

Later on that night I learned that my buddy didnt have a penny to his name, in addition, he was irresponisble with paying bills, etc etc, I'm glad I got out of it

 

Most places charge you a crate and shipping fee/assembly fee. I think they were fair. Just don't cosign for anyone again. Sorry dude.

 

you did the right thing. how much money are you out right now? $25? consider that the price of a lesson well learned.

plus, your credit report has this activity on it now. its not necessarily bad, but i have done the same thing and multiple inquiries to loan money do look bad and will hold down your credit score.

NEVER cosign for anyone except family, and EVEN THEN dont cosign unless you're willing to take over the payments. thats literally what you're saying when you cosign. so never do it just for some friend etc.

thanks for sharing this.

 

nice move, you wouldnt want to be stuck in that crap

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by falcongsr &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">you did the right thing. how much money are you out right now? $25? consider that the price of a lesson well learned.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I didnt spend a dime, the buddy who wanted to buy the Ninja spent the $25 for the app fee and $100 for the deposit. He even tried to ask me to take money out of my pocket for the downpayment, I refused.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
plus, your credit report has this activity on it now. its not necessarily bad, but i have done the same thing and multiple inquiries to loan money do look bad and will hold down your credit score.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I'm not too sure how bad it is, but the last time they checked my score it was a 750....but I've always paid my bills on time....

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
NEVER cosign for anyone except family, and EVEN THEN dont cosign unless you're willing to take over the payments. thats literally what you're saying when you cosign. so never do it just for some friend etc.

thanks for sharing this.
</TD></TR></TABLE>


Yep, I would like to repeat what this posted has said. Never cosign no matter how close you are.... I may cosign for my wife but other than that....no fat chance In this day and age credit is everything, and I have good credit and want to buy a house someday....dont let anyone screw it up for you

 

man thats wild. funny how they tried to act all wierd when you told them the deal was off . thats just horrble customer service. even if someone doesnt want a bike, they should try to make their experience as good as possible.

glad everything worked out man

 

you cosigned for a FRIEND?!?!?!? I wouldn't cosign for any of my brothers! Now you know. live and learn.

Tell your buddies that want to buy bikes, BUY A BIKE THAT YOU CAN AFFORD!!! It's that simple. there are bikes available in every price range...even if you budget is only $1000.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 04 Blue SRT4 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
I'm not too sure how bad it is, but the last time they checked my score it was a 750....but I've always paid my bills on time....
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i had one credit card payment not make it when i mailed it from work. DING! that was 2-3 years ago, and my credit score slightly below yours. thats going to fall off the record eventually and it will go back up.

 

what a ding dong... congrates to coming to your senses. I wouldn't even co-sign for a family member. I guess you must not have a lot of contractual buying experience, i don't know how long ago this whole thing took place but you have the right of recision... for ANY reason... ANY. within three business days you can cancel ANY business contract here in california, it varies from state to state. Unless the contract states loss of deposit... small claims, and you WILL get it back

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MAD1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">you cosigned for a FRIEND?!?!?!? I wouldn't cosign for any of my brothers! Now you know. live and learn.

Tell your buddies that want to buy bikes, BUY A BIKE THAT YOU CAN AFFORD!!! It's that simple. there are bikes available in every price range...even if you budget is only $1000.</TD></TR></TABLE>


the only bike he could afford is probably a moped, a used moped, but because of peer pressure from his friend getting a new 04 R6, he wanted a new 04 Ninja 600RR

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MSchu &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">what a ding dong... congrates to coming to your senses. I wouldn't even co-sign for a family member. I guess you must not have a lot of contractual buying experience, i don't know how long ago this whole thing took place but you have the right of recision... for ANY reason... ANY. within three business days you can cancel ANY business contract here in california, it varies from state to state. Unless the contract states loss of deposit... small claims, and you WILL get it back</TD></TR></TABLE>


i was pressured by the both of them to cosign, and they were telling me all the benefits if I did... i did it to get them off my back...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 04 Blue SRT4 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">


the only bike he could afford is probably a moped, a used moped, but because of peer pressure from his friend getting a new 04 R6, he wanted a new 04 Ninja 600RR</TD></TR></TABLE>
Give me a price range and i will easily find bikes for sale in that range. board members are selling bikes for $1500...and that is a 600cc supersport with tons of extras...no it isn't a brand new bike, but you guys have to use common sense when puttin your credit on the line. if you guys are pressuring your friend to get a bike that he can't afford, then you all need to be smacked.

give the guy a break and allow him to buy a bike, not regret his purchase and loose a grip when he decides to sell it next year after he dumps it and it is now worth less than he owes on it.

 

Obviously if your friend has bad credit to begin with, this shows a lack of responsibility. You shouldn't have signed for him to begin with but what is done is done. Next time you'll know better

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 04 Blue SRT4 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">


i was pressured by the both of them to cosign, and they were telling me all the benefits if I did... i did it to get them off my back...</TD></TR></TABLE>

I meant ding dong in a positive way... glad it is going to work out for you. For t6he rest of you, remember!!!! you have a right to recision!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tlaskin &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Most places charge you a crate and shipping fee/assembly fee. </TD></TR></TABLE>Never pay these charges when buying a bike. Atleast I dont or any of the riders I know personally.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by R6 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Obviously if your friend has bad credit to begin with, this shows a lack of responsibility. You shouldn't have signed for him to begin with but what is done is done. Next time you'll know better </TD></TR></TABLE>

the stupid thing is that I do know better but I wasnt using my head. I cosigned to get them both off my back....but anyhow, I should have been more aware of his financial situation....

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Son &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Never pay these charges when buying a bike. Atleast I dont or any of the riders I know personally.</TD></TR></TABLE>


what about the credit application fee? They charged him $25 to run that? Are we supposed to pay that as well?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 04 Blue SRT4 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">what about the credit application fee? They charged him $25 to run that? Are we supposed to pay that as well?</TD></TR></TABLE>Its 25 bucks, make them pay for it.

Just some tips from me thats all

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Son &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Its 25 bucks, make them pay for it.

Just some tips from me thats all </TD></TR></TABLE>

ohh okay, I guess we got ripped off on that as well... lessons learned.

 

They were fair. This is comming for a guy who sold cars for more than a year. I'll explain.

First off, I dunno about the laws in your state, but in cali, there is no cooling off period. Which means, as soon as you sign the paper work, its all final. Bascially, whenever you take the vehicle off the lot, the dealership is no longer responsible, it is yours, and you can't bring it back for no matter what reason. The only reason the vehicle can come back is if the finanacing doesn't go through cause you got rejected, then in that case it comes back, which sucks for the dealership cause they didn't make a sale, but thats not the big problem. The vehicle is now considered an "unwind"

I'll explain now. Now you didn't give too much information on how it went, so i'm gonna assume, you and your friend bought it, signed the paper work, got all the papers for the bike and were all done, all you had to do was come the next day and pickup the bike (unless you took it home that day). You all know how buying a vehicle goes, you pay interest, tax and license. Tax and license is about 10%. That is what goes to the DMV. Those who have bought used cars know when you goto the DMV to register it, theres a square to put in how much you bought it for, and they tax you off the amount, which is why many of us put a lower amount of what we really bought it for. Anyway, since you signed on the paperwork, and all that, the deal was technically finalized and all you had to do was take it off the lot. Well, things take into effect right away as soon as you sign the paperwork. They send it in and register it, thats why you get the temp registration at the dealership. Well now that you "bought" it went home and changed your mind the dealership loses about 10% cause of the fact they had to register and license the vehicle to you, you backed out, so now its comming back to the dealership and must be registered and licensed to them once again. Kinda a bitch isn't it? Cause you backed out of a deal, and they had to pay up the fees while you just walk away.

Heres the part that sucks. The vehicle is now considered a unwind. They can no longer sell the vehicle as "BRAND NEW" it is now considered a "USED VEHICLE" because it has previously been registered before, even if it was only for a day! Not to mention, they lost about 10% (or less) of the vehicle into registering and liscencing it so it will be added into the selling price. Have you guys even been to a dealership and seen a brand new car that was labeled "used" had about 3 miles on it was selling for about 2k higher than the "brand new ones" thats because its an unwind. Who would buy that? When there are 10 others exactly like it, cheaper, and considered "new" even though the car is practically new. And the fact the dealership lost money on the car already. There at a lost already. Thats why its maked up higher than the others. Some dealership might mark it lower, but they will take a even bigger hit selling it and no salesperson would want to sell it cause it kills his gross. Technically, you sell an unwind vehicle, the dealership will most of the time lose money just selling it cause they had to pay the registration and licenses fees twice already. If they are lucky, they won't make a dime on the vehicle. Come on, we all know the DMV likes to rip off people, of course they would hit the big money dealerships too.

As for them telling you, you gotta pay this much and that, dunno about the laws in your state but most likely its scare tactics. They are prob just saying it so you just decieded, aw **** this hassle, whatever i'll keep it. But there could be laws in your state that you might have to pay the dmv fees but thats prob to the DMV not the dealership. I know in cali, nobody has to pay when it unwinds, only the dealership and the person walks away like nuttin happened.

Well anyway, be careful in the future about descions like these. I don't think its really fair that you changed your mind after you "bought" it. In that case you shoulda thought long and hard before you bought it in the first place, even though you were consigning for your friend. Should have known what you were getting into.

As for the credit application fee...never heard of it, even if its off the yamaha/kawasaki finanace card. Scare tatics.

Well man just be a tad more responsible in big descions like these in the future. It will save you a lot of headaches, like getting married then thinking the next day, i change my mind.

 

Thanks for chiming in, I appreciate the insight you have shared. nope we did not take the bike home. The very same day my buddy signed the bill of sale, I called the dealership a few hours later and told them that the purchase wasnt gonna happen for XYZ reasons. The next morning I called them too and told them the same thing. My buddy called and cancelled as well. Thats when the dealership started giving us the scare tactics, ohh you're gonna hear from my legal dept, your gonna get billed for the bike anyway, you're gonna pay a $500 penalty etc etc.

I wasnt buying that crap since early in the morning I called up Kawasaki and yamaha credit cards and had BOTH accounts closed. In addition when we got to the dealership, the bike was still sitting in the showroom, not prepped etc.

Anyhow, I only co-signed on the credit app for the Yamaha and Kawasaki credit cards. Nowhere else is my signature on anything. My buddy signed the bill of sale though...but I went to another motorcycle dealership, where I bought my Honda snowblower from and they told me not to worry about it, as long as I cancelled both credit card accounts and as long as I didnt take the bike home..

all in all, my buddy lost out on his $25 for the credit app, and lost out on the $100 deposit he left for the bike.

I didnt lose anything at all, well, actually I had to go thru a lot of aggravation speaking on his behalf, since my buddy isnt really too bright, so I had to get myself and him out of the jam... i'm glad it all worked out though

 

Well, like i said i don't think they can force you to pay ****. Anywho, did you get temp registration paper for the bike? If thats so the dealership is prob gonna lose on those fees if they sent it in already. They are prob just pissed. But sounds like they are a lil lazy, who knows maybe they didn't send it in yet. Scare tatics.

Tad diff than cars, cause when you buy a bike, not everyone takes it off the lot that day.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BallHawk3 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Well, like i said i don't think they can force you to pay ****. Anywho, did you get temp registration paper for the bike? If thats so the dealership is prob gonna lose on those fees if they sent it in already. They are prob just pissed. But sounds like they are a lil lazy, who knows maybe they didn't send it in yet. Scare tatics.

Tad diff than cars, cause when you buy a bike, not everyone takes it off the lot that day.</TD></TR></TABLE>


Nope, my buddy didnt even start any paper work on his end for the new bike.
The dealership claimed that all the paper work was done etc etc. but I wasnt buying into his scare tactics.

Another scare tactic he tried to use one me was that because I cosigned on the kawasaki credit card allplication, I automatically committed myself to buying the bike. I was like BS. I cosigned to credit app to see if I'd be approved, I didnt sign a bill of sale to buy the bike....