I would also suggest that a UK Ducati dealership and The Bike Specialists target two very different markets. Ducati dealerships target and sell, in the main, to normal people who (to a greater or lesser degree) ride their bikes. The Bike Specialists seem to target collectors who will simply exhibit their bikes in the lounge of their homes.
That's pretty shit. To be honest I'd cancel the order, wait until they get on top of production output and reorder for a March 2019. Getting a bike in October (sometime) is a bit pointless, unless you're buying a knocked down priced winter sell off
TBF 4k doesn't sound like a huge mark-up for the bother of sourcing and selling a bike. I won't be selling mine on (scheduled 6-8wks), but if I were I'd be hoping for a bit more than that!
They can remove their status as Ducati dealers. Or they could choose to have details of the proposed new owner and if the owner does not buy the bike then maybe they have an option to take the bike back and give it to a dealer who has customers waiting. Hopefully Bike Specialist will be stuck with these bikes for months to come. I cannot see they will be worth the same once most buyers have received their bikes and also if the V4R is announced next autumn I suspect their maybe a number of used Speciales on the second hand market.
You could ask your dealer if he can defer the allocation of your SP until nearer the end of the production run so delivery would be in 2019. You don’t know if you don’t ask. Andy
My understanding is that all the V4 SPs allocated to the UK have owners so if you cancel, there won’t be another opportunity to have one from a UK dealer. Andy
I agree. I’ve asked for a better explanation and more definitive answer as it’s literally a waste of 35k it being tied up in an ornament for at least 6 months. That money could be put to much better use.
I mentioned my concerns about it’s usefullness in October this morning and I’m not sure it was given much credence. I’m guessing there is a long list of people behind me waiting to swoop, at which point the dealer keeps the sale and my deposit, so probably not many Shits are given to my concerns.
Very possibly, I'd still ask for it to be delayed at the very least, or ask for a warranty extension so that 24 months started from 1st March and that's when I'd register it. Regardless it's pretty poor as a buyer so if they didn't go with that I'd take my chances of unsold stock popping up from other European dealers, just as it always does with these things.
We had the same situation with the new CCM's scrambler do dah's recently. I believe they had to sign an agreement to basically not sell their allocated bike onwards but within days someone was on ebay, there is a thread somewhere
Fuck them then. Sorry but that'd be my stance. There will be more available stock, just like there always is. All this talk of limitations is just to get back orders lined up and they manage early production....or not as the case is in this point. I gaurantee you could buy one brand new next year, and if you're prepared to walk then they may do either the warranty extension or production delay. Failing that, walk.
I’m totally in agreement with you. I’m certain no fucks will be given if I walk, but as you say, it’s not like other bikes won’t crop up. Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise? This was meant to be something that would motivate my recovery, not something to make me broke but no less broken. Does anyone know the legal position of getting my deposit back?
Shouldn't be one at all especially as the time lines have moved. You committed on the basis of the initial information, now that's changed so has your position. They'd not want the hassle of trying to keep your money, unless they're a little bit silly
A year or so ago, I had exactly the same situation on a posh MV that was delayed, then delayed again, then delayed again. After 9 months of delays resulting in a bike that could not be used for the next 6 months I cancelled, reluctantly, as I liked the chap and I felt for how it was out of his hands. Turns out the feelings of mutual respect were not mutual or respected. To put it in your terms, the dealer was ‘a little bit silly’ about it and I lost a bundle, and he bad mouthed me to a bunch of people afterwards. I massively hope to not repeat this situation.
Surely he had no legal right to retain your deposit though? If you order something that you're given a delivery date on, and that keeps moving, then it effects the deal, it effects your buying position. I really can't see how any dealer could legally keep it unless they'd originally outlined that long delays were likely
I totally agree. At the time, I felt giving him a part of the Deposit was the right thing to do (I’d paid 3k up front) so, as an act of now-baffling-to-me kindness, and on the advice of a legal friend who said whilst I had the right to the money getting it was likely to take ages and ages (like everything else even slightly connected to MV), so I offered to give him £1500 as he was going to be stuck with paying for a 38k bike. I figured getting £1500 quid back straight away and putting the whole disappointing situation behind me was for the best. I shouldn’t have done it. I’ve never done anything like it before (I’m really not that well off) and I won’t be doing it now either, despite the deposit only being £500.
In December 2007 I ordered a 1098 and was told delivery would be March 2008. After several promises I still hadn’t seen it by July. I cancelled the order and got my deposit back the same day, which was a Saturday (morning). That afternoon I ordered and paid for a GSXR1000 from Taz in Peterborough. I also sorted out insurance. It was delivered on the Sunday to my house. And it was one of the best bikes I’ve ever had.