UK Dealer Response to Mileage Rant

MIKE R

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Joined
Feb 5, 2012
Messages
722
Location
Lancashire, UK
I think this really highlights a problem in the UK market.

My S10 was first registered in 2015 and today I booked it in for the front brake switch to be replaced when the current Corvid lockdown ends.

I was asked for my mileage and replied '46'

'Is that 46 thousand?' he replied

When I confirmed the mileage was indeed 46000 miles he simply said 'WOW'

Some sources say the average mileage per annum in the UK is 2-3k or 10-15k in a 5 year period (haven't counted 2020 for obvious reasons) and many dealers aren't interested in a bike with more than 10k on the clock.

Pre Corvid I was travelling to Europe twice a year (I have 3 trips optimistically planned for 2021) and each individual trip would exceed the quoted higher annual mileage figure!

So if you buy a touring bike in the UK and use it for touring it soon becomes virtually worthless even though the bike is immaculate and running perfectly.

I did enquire a few weeks ago about a very low mileage 2020 registered Super Tenere with 375 miles on the clock. I was offered £4400 (about $6150) for my bike without the luggage. I didn't take him up on his offer!

24.JPG



Didn't have the heart to tell him I run 3 bikes!

Mike
 

s.ga.rider

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Joined
Dec 23, 2019
Messages
272
Location
South Georgia
I was offered $5000 for my 2014 with 19k miles by my local dealer. I was looking at a t7 but after the lowball figure, I said no. Book trade in is $6500....
 

Sierra1

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Nov 7, 2016
Messages
14,812
Location
Joshua TX
That's just typical dealership s**t. US, or UK. They consistently try and take advantage of people. That being said, my kid bought a Jeep the other day. He traded his car in, and made the purchase all on line. The truly amazing part was that the dealership price was average trade-in price, not retail. And, they gave him average trade-in on his. Kelley Blue Book confirmed the numbers. Generally, it's the trade-in that they try to screw you with.
 

yen_powell

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Joined
Jun 19, 2018
Messages
257
Location
UK
I needed a value for my 2015 Versys 1000 at insurance renewal time a few years ago, so I thought for a laugh I would try the 'we buy any bikes' site. I think at the time I had about 80,000 miles on the bike.

I filled out all the questions including mileage and hit the how much they would offer me button and got a message coming up saying that they would need to speak to me before committing to a value. I then got a phone call asking if I'd put an extra zero in by mistake. To be fair to them they asked for photographs and gave me a quote to buy the bike even after I told them I was only doing it to get a value for the insurance. I eventually sold the bike to a friend last September when it had 103,00 miles on the clock for the same price I'd been offered in part ex for my XT1200 (£1600 I think).

Before the Versys I had a 2005 Varadero 1000. In 2015 I took that and asked about part ex against the Versys. As the mileage was about 85,000 I was expecting a few hundred quid, they offered £1500 so I took it. I later saw the Varadero advertised on a bike shop website somewhere in the west country from a shop that sold high mileage bikes for reasonable prices, so there is a market for them it seems.

Before the Varadero I had an Africa Twin, 2000 model. I ran that till the generator went at 101,000 miles, then just put it to one side of the garage after buying the Varadero. I sold that as a rusty non runner (for over 10 years) this spring for £700.
 

Squibb

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Joined
Aug 10, 2014
Messages
1,064
Location
Bedford, UK
It's the way of the World. No point blaming dealers, it's market forces. Punters want new or low mileage used bikes in the UK, where a majority of bikes purchased are for discretionary leisure use. Something like 4000 pa or less is the sweet spot.

High service costs for say valve checks & suspension overhauls doesn't help, so it was good to see the new HD PanAm has hydraulic lifters.
 

Cycledude

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Joined
Jan 29, 2016
Messages
3,997
Location
Rib lake wi
It’s definitely true used motorcycles usually sell for less than they should but that’s the way it is.
As far as miles most new owners do not put on many miles.
My first Goldwing was a GL1500 and after buying a GL1800 I put the 1500 up for sale with 126,000 miles on it but it was in very good condition and looked like new, lots of folks stopped to look at it but were afraid to buy it with so many miles. I wound up putting it on consignment at a local dealer and it only took them about a week to sell it.
Around here Tenere’s are usually much harder to sell or trade than Goldwings .
 

fac191

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Joined
Jun 22, 2016
Messages
2,826
Location
London
Triumph dealers are not great px wise. I got £500 more from the dealer for my Tiger800 when i got my Super Tenere than the Triumph dealer i bought it from new offered me. And i got the S10 for a great price. Triumph prices are silly now they used to be value for money. The only new ADV bike thats actually worth the money to me now is the KTM SAS. Mind you thats probably because i consider the S10 such good VFM.
 

Longdog Cymru

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Joined
Jul 21, 2018
Messages
1,665
Location
Swansea, Wales, UK
The same thing happened to me when I was looking for an S10. I had a 5 year old Versys 1000 with 26,000 on it and one dealer told me that “it had almost twice the average mileage“. When I pointed it out that the Versys was a touring bike and I had actually used it for touring they looked at me as if I had 2 heads! According to this particular dealer, 3000 miles a year was “high mileage” according to his trade bible and he offered me £3000. Needless to say I walked away and took my custom elsewhere and I was offered £6300 at the dealership where I bought my S10.
 
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