• There were many reasons for the change of the site software, the biggest was security. The age of the old software also meant no server updates for certain programs. There are many benefits to the new software, one of the biggest is the mobile functionality. Ill fix up some stuff in the coming days, we'll also try to get some of the old addons back or the data imported back into the site like the garage. To create a thread or to reply with a post is basically the same as it was in the prior software. The default style of the site is light colored, but i temporarily added a darker colored style, to change you can find a link at the bottom of the site.

I feel like being taken for a ride (not a good ride) trying to decipher true cost..

Knarfoh

Knarfoh

New member
What the heck is the COMMODITY SURCHARGE and what are typical TRANSPORTATION AND PREPARATION FEES? All are added on to the MSRP (plus other charges i.e. taxes, doc fees, etc.)

Let's say I want to buy the $23,899 Spyder shown here (grabbed from Can-Am;s website) how much (approximately) am I actually being charged when you add in COMMODITY SURCHARGE, TRANSPORTATION and PREPARATION FEES.

spydercommoditysurcharge.jpg
 
Like it or not, that's today's market! Trans & Prep fees always existed but could be negotiated down sometimes. The COMMODITY fee is new due to the COVID and supply chain SNAFU.
 
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Don't try to go buy a new car. Took me forever to get a new Miata at a deal I could live with, some of the addons almost make you want to go postal.
 
In these times where parts are in short supply, you might be better off finding something slightly used vs buying a brand new one. Trouble is, people think they are gold and want to charge new prices.
 
My dealer charged $400 (US $'s) commodity that they called prep and rigging, and $200 document and administration fees. That's it. Contract was executed last October. Spyder was delivered last Friday.
 
Unfortunately, you have picked the absolute worst time to buy a new vehicle. I have always been able to finagle a good deal. Now, it seems that the dealers have all got together (under the table) and decided NOT to deal. This is our price, take it or leave it. My last purchase was a 2020 F3L in Jan of 2021. That was my most difficult deal. Based on my age, and the newness of both my F3L's, (2019 & 2020), these are most likely my last Spyder purchases.

In the "let's make a deal" days, I NEVER paid freight, set up, admin. charges, and I always negotiated the title and filing fees down from the original asking quote. That is NOT happening today. I also got initial discounts on all accessories, free or discounted installation on same. I also negotiated a "fair" trade in and took advantage of end of the year rebates, usually $1K or higher. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...those were the days.

There are a lot of "newer--used ones" out there now. Some are quite mercenary in their asking prices. I would also let those pass by. There are a few good deals to be found, if you do some due dilligence on searching out values, etc.

With the economy, the inflation, the supply chain issues, etc., it is NOT a good time to buy big ticket items. I am going to see how the summer goes, and I might have a couple F3L's for sale in about September. If I do, they will be priced to sell quickly. :bbq:
 
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gkamer said:
That's the dealerships way of add a few extra grand to their profit line.
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Absolutely incorrect! The dealer sees none of the commodity surcharge. Every penny of that money goes back to BRP. It is to make up for the extra cost of producing and shipping everything that is manufactured. It is exactly the same in the shipping industry where they have fuel surcharges to make up for the high cost of fuel as the prices change. Please get your facts straight before being so negative gkamer.
 
gkamer said:
That's the dealerships way of add a few extra grand to their profit line.
Click to expand...

The commodity surcharge is listed on the Can Am website and has nothing to do with the dealer or his profit. I’m thinking it was added to recover additional costs in manufacturing or acquisition of materials above the manufacturers negotiated purchase prices in building the vehicles. All prices seem to be rising throughout the day for so many goods it’s hard to keep up and plan for tomorrow.
 
Honestly, I could care less about what they call it but if they need to raise the cost of said item just do it and stop with the "extra" charges.

Thinking something cost's x amount of dollars and then getting hit with the add on's really tick me off.

The dealer prep fees I feel should also be the same way. Just give me a OTD price and let me decided if I want to pay it.
 
When I shop around now, I just ask for the total out the door cost, but making sure the quote has all the features and accessories that I asked for.
 
K80Shooter said:
Honestly, I could care less about what they call it but if they need to raise the cost of said item just do it and stop with the "extra" charges.
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That would work if price changes weren't erratic. I'm sure the commodity surcharge gives BRP, and other manufacturers, much greater latitude in adjusting selling prices in a more timely fashion. And they can go up or down.

I think commodity surcharge concept comes from the commodities markets, like for oil, grain, cement, sand, etc., where a base price is established and then a surcharge is added to reflect the current actual market price or quality of the product compared to a baseline product. Kind of like the price for lobster in a restaurant. It can vary weekly, if not daily.
 
I am glad in a certain way that I bought my Spyder RT LTD in August of last year. Admittedly I paid 2021 MSRP but I got a good price on my trade (what I was asking for), no commodity surcharge, reasonable PDI/doc fees etc - and a fair price on the extended warranty too. They were selling out quickly so overall I thought the deal was largely fair. The dealer also picked up some extra business too, like 2 new Shoei helmets with intercom. I think the dealer made out OK and I felt I got a reasonable, if not blazing, deal. Everyone was happy. I even financed part of it as interest rates werre stupid low and I have better rate of return in investing the money elsewhere, so essentially I picked up some percentage points on the cost of the vehicle too.

What a difference 6 months or so, until this season makes. Scarcity of bikes, commodity surcharges, MSRP or greater, no movement of PDI/doc fees, much higher interest rates on financing. Oh, and gas prices being much increased.

At some stage with acquisition costs increasing and runnings costs rising, a cooling economy may reduce demand such that we may see either; BRP accept the product becoming more niche and therefor increasing the prices perhaps with more standard farkles and making more moeny from fewer sales, or dropping the price perhaps with more basic entry level models to drive demand. My guess at the moment it will be the former as this would minimize supply chain issues. It may therefore become a more expensive vehicle to own over coming years. So, if I didn't own one, and I wanted one, I would swallow my pride and buy one sooner rather than laters as I don't thin things are going to get much better for at least a few seasons, and we will look back from 2024 or 2025 and remark how much of a bargain these things were in 2022 especially if you choose to finance the thing.

Just my opinion.
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We shall see what 2023 season offers, but I rather suspect interest rates aren't going to get better for those planning on financing the thing. Normally a manufacturer would alleviate some of the availability issues just by increasing production, but I suspect the supply chain issues are going to be with us for a while yet and will prevent them producing more bikes even if they had the production line bandwidth.
 
My dealer said it was because the shipping (parts from overseas) has gone through the roof. He said it went from about 4k to over 30k per container. I don't know the truth of it, but BRP will obviously be passing that on to consumers. I ended up recently finding a 2020 RT Ltd with 3k. They wanted 28,500 for it, and talked em down to 26,500. I wanted 26k but sometimes ya have to dicker a bit.
 
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