General topics » Thinking about selling...

Rode to my local dealership to get my annual VA state inspection today and asked the service manager what it was going to cost me. His answer was "you have 2 choices- either $12 or free". My response was "nothing's free- what's the catch?". He informed me that if I agreed to test ride any demo bike that the dealer had, there would be no charge for the inspection. Being cheap and only having to ride a demo around for an hour to take advantage of the deal, I accepted his offer.
Speaking to the dealer-principle, I asked if he had a GS available, telling him that I had never ridden one and would like to give it a try. He had a 2016 standing by, and after showing my license and signing a release, off I went.
I'll start by saying that I really do love my RS (2016- all options), but when I spent some time with the GS, I was smitten. The most compelling feature for me was the riding position. While I have grown to adapt to the RS riding position, this was a completely different and absolutely comfortable ride. The bike was certainly taller, but I was able to flat-foot it easily. the dash- analog- was easier to view and just seemed to make more sense.
I returned to the dealer and said "what it's going to cost if I trade my RS?".
After careful deliberation, I was told that my RS would be worth about $9500 for trade, and the cost of the demo GS- a 2016 with 1800mi- would be $19000, leaving me with a cost of $9500 before taxes and admin fees. When I bought my RS in June of 2016, it was a "Showroom Queen" with every option available except the alarm. It had the side panniers and top case and BMW engine guards, and without taxes, I think I paid about $19000 for it. Needless to say, a bit of a shock when I heard the trade in value as well as the price of a dealer demo that was now 2 model years old.
Now my RS has only 6500 well cared for miles on it, and never dropped or even scratched. What I'm thinking is that while I'm still very happy with the RS, if someone was to make an offer on her that makes sense, I'll let her go. I recognize depreciation, etc, but think I could do better than the dealer's offer.
I know I may get replies that will suggest I just go buy the GS and keep both in the garage, but that's not practical (happy wife/happy life). I've had as many as 4 bikes in the garage at 1 time, and it was not worth the cost domestically.
If anybody's interested, please PM me. The RS is a great bike, but I'm thinking I might like the GS better...

Good feedback although dealers are a bit far apart here. Going to try another one here next week...

Your dealer was actually fairly generous with trade offer.

He's way overpriced on his '16 GS.

The used market is weak for the RS. Without aggressive pricing he'll sit on your RS until next spring.

Right! The dealer has to make a profit and he can't get any more for the bike than you can if you sell it yourself. Therefore, there is no way a dealer is going to give you the current "value" of your bike. If he did, he'd be soon out of business. SO...sell it yourself if you want maximum money. OTOH, there is something to be said for trading it in at the dealer/lower price but not having to deal with the hassle of selling it yourself/dealing with the calls/tire kickers/Ebay, or whatever. I think I'd check around and see what a used RS is typically selling for - NOT the asking price - and then decide if the difference in that price and the dealer's trade-in price is worth the effort of selling it yourself.

All good feedback- thanks!
Looking around, it seems that the 2016 dealer demo is at least $2k over what similar used GSs are going for. I just posted the RS on the MOA Marketplace, so we'll see what interest it draws. There are a couple of (seemingly) nice LC RSs on there, all priced well over what my dealer was proposing. We'll see if they sell...

It’s worth talking about taxes too. If you sell privately and then buy new you pay full tax on the sale price. If you trade, you pay taxes on the difference between the sale price and the trade value. In my state (PA) that would save you $600.

Can't fault you liking the GS it's BMW's best selling motorcycle for a reason. If I had only one motorcycle it'd probably be a GS.

For reference I recently traded just the opposite, my 2014 GSA on a leftover 2016 RS, reasons being I have an Africa Twin which somewhat duplicated the GSA, my GSA had 32,000 miles while the RS has 25 miles, is two years newer, warranty til Jan 2021, and I've had a number of R and K RS's and like the riding position. My GSA was well optioned with Nav prep, esa etc. and had factory bags. It ended up being my bike plus $1,000 for the RS w/o bags, after adding bags and doc fee the difference was $1,900 which I felt was fair. I used, and would suggest at least trying, Kissel in Tyrone PA which is just south of State College PA. They're not afraid to trade in fact I think they had 80 used bikes when I traded including two 14 GSA's the same white color as mine on the floor.

You can do way better. I was offered $9000 trade for my RS with 24,000 miles on it. I put it on Craigslist and sold it in a week for for $13,000.

And yes, that dealer is way way overpriced on that 2016 GS.

Unfortunately it doesn't work that way in Va. The trade in value is deducted after the sales tax is computed. Stick.

Zitat von MrVvrroomm im Beitrag #4

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Your dealer was actually fairly generous with trade offer.

He's way overpriced on his '16 GS.

The used market is weak for the RS. Without aggressive pricing he'll sit on your RS until next spring.

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Zitat von Stick Rockwell im Beitrag #12

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Unfortunately it doesn't work that way in Va. The trade in value is deducted after the sales tax is computed. Stick.

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I bought '16 RS with 12K miles, oem side cases, top case rack, Nav V, oem cylinder guards for $10500 last September.