What to ask$$$

Hey all,
I have a 2008 rs sm5 w/ 12,500 on it. It has: led lights, additional signaling lights, twin brothers exhaust w/ juice box, highway boards, bluetooth speakers w/handlebar controls, usb plug, ram mount w/large phone adapter, millennium yellow paint, custom pinstripe job, brand new ultimate seat w/drivers backrest, oem passenger backrest/sport rack...and I think that’s it.

This was my first Spyder and it came to me with all of these add ons. I’ve looked at the standard trade in values and it’s giving me 4900-5300 as a number. Obviously that’s not looking at mileage or accessories. If I’m walking in to a dealer looking to trade,OR looking to sell, what would be a fair number for the bike?

Thanks for any input!!!

That is a question that is near impossible answer... too many ifs to get a straight answer. And this is true for any vehicle.
Depends on location, dealer, market, what kind of loss you are willing to take?

One thing that is sure though, if you want the money is always better to sell it private than to a dealer.
Dealer will never pay you the actual value.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mrNewt

That is a question that is near impossible answer... too many ifs to get a straight answer. And this is true for any vehicle.
Depends on location, dealer, market, what kind of loss you are willing to take?

One thing that is sure though, if you want the money is always better to sell it private than to a dealer.
Dealer will never pay you the actual value.

---

:agree: But, if you are only talking a few hundred bucks difference between trade-in and private sale, then keep in mind that the trade value comes off of the sales price, so you save state sales tax on the trade value. For CT at 6.35%, that would about $317 on trade value of $5000.

Well, typically the accessories count for 0$ unless an interested buyer really wants them so they shouldn't effect the retail or trade value. Mileage will effect the value but I find the effect is minimal unless you have an extreme mileage difference from typical (for the year) in either direction.

If it were me I'd search Craigslist or Cycle trader for models similar to yours and see what people are selling them for. That's a better indicator of "real world" value. Note: just because a person is asking a certain price doesn't mean the bike is actually being sold for that price. My rule of thumb is......trade value is about $2K less than retail.....depends on the dealer of course.

In my experience your bike (or whatever) is never worth what you think it is and unless you are prepared to hang on to it for a long time and hold out out for a certain number they always sell for less than you expect them too :)

I don't know about anyone else, but when I look at a used item I go for the nada book value, and the condition of the item! I do not give extra for add on's, and a dealer would do the same! I hate selling things out right, I think it stinks, I try to price it to sell and 95% of the time people will try to beat you down without even looking at it!! Good Luck, hope you get what you ask for it.

Like others have said...on a 2008 the accessories are pretty much worth zero $. Age also takes its toll, mileage or not.

NADA or KBB private sale numbers are going to be a good indicator of selling price. Dealer trade in is a rip off for many reasons. They have so much to play with on a new machine...they can play with various prices and you never know what you are getting for what amount. The "real" trade in price is usually clouded with mystery.

Good luck with your sale

You need to have patience... don't rush for a sale.
You will get a lot of people that are in the business of buying for as cheap as possible to resale it higher for a profit, so do not get frustrated.

Be patient... and as I mentioned earlier... figure out how much of a loss you are willing to take and work from there with whatever offers you get.

Example: had some parts for a car (rare parts) and price them at half the price of what they usually sell for; and people were still trying to get it out of my hands for half of what I was asking.
Waited 2 months, but eventually I got what I was looking for.

The trade in offer would probably be pretty low to begin with. I bought my 2009 RS SE5 in November 2016, with 23,000 miles, and paid $5000, I bought it from a dealer. Bought it in November, and it was a cold 90 mile ride home. Dealer wanted to get Spyder out the door to get SxS’s and snow machines moving. I have no clue what they gave the PO for trade in on a Harley, but sales person told me they were selling for what they gave PO for trade, but I am not sure he was not stretching the truth a bit.
So my guess would be that they might offer you as little as $3000 for it on a trade, depending on what you are buying. But used bike prices around here seem to be a bit lower on older bikes, than other parts of the country.

Keep in mind also that with the introduction of the Ryker and the lowering of other spyder models retail purchase last year... the market for a used spyder of any model has fallen. I believe this year, only a few months after my purchase from a private seller, I could have found the same Spyder I am riding for 1000 to 1500 less. Its like fishing ... should have been here yesterday or tomorrow. Again, the value is in the riding ... for as long as we keep them. They are poor choices for resale value (as are most other cycles/brands)! I have friends that work for Harley and gone are the good old days when they could buy at their harley employee rate and flip them (after a year of riding) for more than their purchase pricing from the company.