Modern Vespa

Looking at buying a small ADV bike. There are features on the 2022 model that I prefer, which means I have been contacting dealers.

This particular bike is either in limited availability, very popular, or most likely both.

A few of the dealers I have contacted have informed me that the bike in inventory, 'just sold.' Another is always on order, with expected delivery within a month or two.

I've been given the option of either buying the bike in advance of delivery.. 'let's start the purchase process now.'

or

Putting down a deposit.

When I ask about the terms of the deposit, (amount required, refundable?) I am told that if I'm not committed to making the purchase, they prefer to not 'lock up the bike' preventing someone else from buying.

What is the difference between 'starting the buying process early' and 'placing a deposit' if the end result is the same? I am not trying to order a custom bike that the dealer is taking a risk on, it's on it's way regardless. I would like the opportunity to actually look at the bike and test ride, before I buy.

Is this just the how the buying process is? Has it always been this way? I did not think it was uncommon to put a deposit on a vehicle without 100% commitment. If the dealer wants to to be compensated for their trouble in the event the sale falls through, can't they just make it policy to not refund all or some of the deposit?

Or is this just a sales tacti to make an online sale?

I honestly think that it is not fair for them to charge you a deposit for a product that they don't have in stock. Deposits are for people who don't have the full amount of money to buy the bike. It sounds a little squirrely to me.

I was considering a Suzuki TW200 at one time. All the dealers said they are "rare" and "hard to get". My options, as I was told, was to put down a deposit to hold my place for the next one that comes in stock (without a solid time line) OR bid up the MSRP. I just said "Not for a plain jane motorcycle." and walked out. I then purchased a Suzuki Burgman 200 but that's another story. Impress me with your base model product before I buy something more premium.

Sorry, got off track there. I know when the Honda Monkey bike first came out people were paying $1000 and up over MSRP for a chance to own one, and thats NOT including the dealers hidden fees! Yeah..... whatever. And the Honda Trail 125. My local dealer has them in stock now and their selling for $4998 OTD. But for a short while they were getting offers over MSRP. I just don't want or need something that bad to pay more or play weird games. If it seems shady I just walk away.

Putting a deposit down on a bike because you don't have all the money is called Layaway.
Putting down a deposit on any very desirable product with limited availability is usually what it takes to get the product you want at the earliest opportunity.
Once the dealership has a deposit on a particular bike, all they have to do is take it out of the crate, prep it for sale, call the customer and say, "Bike's here." In the dealer's position, would you rather hold it for the person who wrote out a check to make sure they got it, or someone who wants to tie up more of your time once the bike gets here, put miles on it, and then go think about it?
Most people who run businesses will opt for the former. If it's a high demand model or color, the dealer will have no problem selling the bike. So why should they waste any more time than necessary to do just that? If the model you want is in such high demand that they aren't making it onto the sales floor, the Sales Manager would have to be nuts to let someone test ride one.
You might find someone has one on the floor just when you call. Or you might wait longer than you want, or settle for a color you don't want.

A good friend put a deposit on a bike that his girlfriend knew he was never going to buy. It was a fairly unpleasant process with the dealer stuck in the middle.

Usually if someone tries to unwind a deposit, and people have been leaving deposits or paying in advance for that model, the Dealer can call someone who is waiting for one on a future allocation and give the bike to that person. But, given how some people are about buying a brand new bike, miles on a bike from test rides can be an issue.
I remember once we sold a very high demand dirt bike, and had to do a dealer trade to get it. While the customer was in the booth waiting to do the paperwork, the technician who was prepping the bike rode past the showroom on the back wheel. It was pretty funny to everyone except the person who was buying the bike. He didn't want it any more.
I read somewhere that statistically, you are more likely to have an accident on a bike within the first six months of ownership, because it's not familiar to you. No matter what is said or signed, if someone crashes or drops a bike on a test ride, and they haven't signed all the paperwork making it theirs, the dealership takes the hit.

I'm not interested in layaway.

The one dealer mentioned deposit, and when I asked about how much was required for the deposit, and if it was refundable, I was told they wanted commitment only. I guess that only answered one of my questions.

If they do not want test rides for reasons stated, then they can just say that. If the bike is white hot with a line a buyers, they'll have no problem selling it after the fact, if I back out.

If the dealer has to do some paperwork for a deposit over the phone, and I buy it after seeing it, it's a pretty easy sale, right? Maybe not as easy as if I just call up and buy it, but maybe the next best thing. Way less work then me kicking tires and wasting someone's time for an hour and walking away empty handed.

I'm totally OK keeping tabs on inventory and trying to be first in the door. I guess I was just trying to figure out if deposits, as a means to ensure a prospective buyer has first crack was even a thing.

Winter, possible recession likely will have even some well heeled buyers holding off on major purchases. It is also possible some auto and motorcycle dealers not being honest with supply chain easing once it has/does? I'd wait patience may pay off.

I think the correct tern is a good faith deposit, but it should be good faith on both sides. Buyer AND dealer/seller. We have a high number of military is our area and a couple of shady dealers. These dealers are so shady they get added to the 'Do Not Buy From' list at the bases, but people still buy from them. So if a dealer says you can put down money to reserve a desired or rare item then they also need to explain what the money goes toward, in writing. Most deposits are over the amount of money that most people aren't willing to just walk away without becoming angry if the deal goes south. It's the same thing when you ask the OTD price and they suddenly change it when you come back to buy it. Most OTD prices are honored for up to 2 weeks, but I've seen them try to extort more money out of people with sudden "unexpected" up charges, and these OTD prices were in writing within the agreed timeline.

If the bike is in high demand and/or HTF then it will be your job to find one to take a "test sit" on. Do not expect them to offer test rides.
They do not need to do that in order to sell it.
This is where reading reviews of that model become so important to your buying decision.
I've had this experience with all 4 scooters I've purchased in the past 10 years.
No test rides permitted.
Deposits are nonrefundable.
The only time I was offered a test ride involved a BV350. They knew that I was also looking at a Forza at the HONDA dealership. Vespa dealer told me to take it home overnight...."ride it, you'll love it!"
Honda dealership did not permit test rides
I bought the Honda .....because of wider availability of dealership support in this part if the Midwest

Hondas are easy to sell around here.....Piaggios are not, hence the test rides.
O.S.

When I was initially in the market for a scooter, I spoke with the salesman at Vespa Dallas, and was told that I could test ride the bikes as long as I had my motorcycle endorsement. The first day they were open after I got the endorsement, I took three scooters out for rides, two Vespa GT250s, and a 2013 Piaggio BV350. The first test ride took much longer than the sales guy thought it would, and he was concerned when I returned, asking if something was wrong with it. I told him that there was nothing wrong with it, but that it was the first time I'd ever gone over 15 mph on a motorcycle.

I ended up with the BV350.

The next day when I arrived at work on it, the front tire washed out on loose gravel and I low-sided it. I'd owned it for 15 hours.

When I replaced it two years later with a 2019 BV350, I didn't bother test driving it, because the only difference was ABS and color.

Edit to add:

I worked right next door to Vespa Dallas at that time. I saw a few people come back from test rides and crash in their parking lot. Usually the crashes were low-speed drops, and the occasional rider not used to the throttle accelerating into a parked car. I never talked to the staff about how that was handled. I'd see it happen and think, "well that's gotta suck."

To put in an order here in Canada (Vespa Toronto West) they asked for $500.00 (refundable) deposit for a 2023 GTS.

I ordered the Supertech so it's not coming till late spring but I've seen tons of folks on here already get their 2023's from them.

Basically they said they know they will sell it so the comments from your dealership seem odd… but I'm not that experienced.

When it arrives then I'll either pay the rest up front at the time (because the way interest rates are going I'm a little freaked out what the rates are going to be by the time we get to April or May next year) or start the financing on it from that point.

Small ADV bike? How YOU doin'?

I've been looking into that market segment as well. They're REALLY getting popular lately as the trend is looking like it's swinging away from "bigger-better-faster-more" and back towards "tiny but fierce." Apparently, as my favorite dealership explained it to me, that bike bracket is getting a double-whammy from demand scarcity colliding with the still-ongoing distribution issues. I don't know if that's a direct factor in the deposit debacle, but I could see how it might come into play.

On a tangent... I'm curious which bike you're looking at to see what others are considering, but I can also think of a few reasons why someone might want to remain vague. Would you be willing to share the model? If not, no sweat.

Regarding deposits.

I didn't have to put one down on either BV350 that I bought.

When I bought my 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz, I "reserved" one through Hyundai USA with a $100 refundable deposit almost 4 full months prior to purchase. The "reservation" only guaranteed that "a" Santa Cruz would be available for purchase at my dealer of choice, not necessarily one that was spec'd the way I wanted it. And if I chose to not purchase, I could request a refund. If I chose to purchase, the $100 would be applied to the sale.

Immediately after reserving one, I contacted the dealership. The confirmed that a Santa Cruz with the specs and color I wanted was in process of being built, and had been allocated to them. Due to a Santa Cruz webforum, I knew more about "my" Santa Cruz than the dealership did. I knew the VIN before they did. I knew when it was on the truck before they did.

I asked them multiple times if they wanted a larger deposit on it than the $100 that Hyundai USA had, and they kept declining one.

When the time came to purchase, both the finance person and I forgot to apply the $100 to the sale. Instead they said we could apply it to the window tinting fee ($199).

When I got them tinted, they were unable to apply the fee, so the GM said he'd just discount the tinting by $100. I told him he didn't have to do that, because I could simply request a refund from Hyundai USA. He said that I just spent $40k with them, they could afford to discount the tinting $100.

A couple months later, I requested the refund and got it, so the tinting ended up being free.

If I had backed out of the sale, they could have sold the truck within a day. There were dealerships charging "market adjustments" of anywhere from $2500 to $30k on the trucks. I got mine at MSRP.

The only time I ever had an issue with a deposit on an auto purchase was back in the 90s when I put a deposit on a 95 Imprezza (non-WRX), and the dealership was jerking me around with pricing. I ended up having to go in and raise a stink to get my deposit back (it was completely refundable, they just didn't want to lose the sale).

No problem! The KTM 390 Adventure. Seems like the best overall bang for the buck. The 2022 has a few updates that are compelling over the 2020/2021.

Just ask one question is the deposit refundable if i change my mind. You may find it some where else while you are waiting.

Nice! I've been debating between that one and the BMW G310GS. I'm leaning toward BMW myself, but mostly because I'm long-legged and, of the two, the BMW has a more relaxed knee angle.