Yeah. I got nothing better to do. Just curious if anyone has dealt with more than one dealership. I'll start. Best: Miami dealership (RIP) Before I went to work there of course. GM got me the hero's discount and the trade incentive piggybacked on my deal. Gave me 2k extra with those perks. Too bad it's not there anymore Worst: Indian of Daytona. Hold your breath before walking into the showroom. They will charge you for the air your breath.
Best: Mason City Powersports, good people, mechanics are good, will work with you in pricing. Bad: McGrath Powersports. Bought my Indian there cause I didn’t know of any others close to us at the time. Will nickel and dime you to death. Had a chip in the paint on the right side plastic cover. Called them up and they said you’ll have to bring the bike in. Ok, it’ll be a few months due to winter in Iowa. Took pictures and sent it to them. Couple of months went by, was out fir a ride and took it to them. We’ll have to order it and there will be a charge. BS I say, I told you about this 2 months ago, even sent pictures. Heehawed around for over a hour , finally they told me that Indian would take care of it. Oh, we need the plastic cover. Are you going to mail to me? SURE! So had to ride the bike around for almost a month without a cover. Get a call month later, “your cover is in, just come up anytime during the week and pick it up”! How’s Saturday? The guy that takes care of that is not here on Saturdays. Mail it to me like you guys were supposed to!!!!!! I can go on and on about that dealership. I haven’t been back since 16
Best: Twigg Indian in Hagerstown, MD. Great experience all three times. They may have done me wrong, but if they did, I never saw evidence of it. Super friendly and a very biker brother like experience. Worst: Motorcycles of Dulles. They are an Indian dealership, but they also sell Triumphs. I bought my Bobber Black there. You know, the one that the dipshit lady who ran the stop sign and tried to kill me on it? Anyway, they are a very high pressure dealer, with the exact approach of a car dealership. The whole, “Let me go talk to my manager” thing. Even though I bought that Triumph from them, I never felt like I fully trusted them.
Music City Indian has the best service tech im the business, hands down. PCB is a distant 2nd place. Rocket City Indian is abysmal for anything but buying the cheapest bike in the area (Sloan's, BIG A1, Rocket City, and Music City). I've bought 2 there dealing with ONLY the GM. I try to avoid the place completely these days.
I know we are primarily talking about Indian Dealerships, but I've only been to one, so I'm going to compare to another dealership that I visited before buying my Indians. Best: Stu's Motorcycles - Ft. Myers Worst: Rockstar Harley - Ft. Myers Unbelievably bad service and dealing with the management of Rockstar. I wouldn't recommend them to my worst enemy. Almost bought a Harley from them before going to the Indian dealer the same day and buying my first Scout from them. Rockstar continues to try to get me to come back... not a chance. Love my Indian and love Stu's.
I’m glad you posted that about Rockstar. I actually contacted them once, when I was shopping for my Wide Glide. They had sold the bike I was looking for, which now makes me wonder if it was just a bait and switch.
You may be the ONLY one. But I'm glad you did. The last time I was in there, the showroom racks were empty, there was no dedicated salesperson (Amy was the last one I knew of), and there were 5 bikes and a Vanderhall, in the showroom. It was embarrassing. Oh and Service was booking no new appointments due to backlog. That was November 2020.
Worst was when I brought my first Harley they did not really want my big Yamaha venture. took all day but got there in the end. Best was when I traded another Harley he told me change over figure I said this is my change over figure and you have 10 mins to decide or I will drive 1 hour south and buy from another shop. he waited till I put helmet on started bike then stopped me all done in 30 mins.
Came very close to making a purchase there. Haggled for a couple of hours on a bike I liked. They finally came back and presented me with "their final offer". I thought about and said OK, I'll take it. The sales guy went back in to do the paperwork and came back out after another 20 minutes and said the Manager changed his mind and decided they wouldn't sell it to me for the price that they proposed to me! I couldn't believe it. I was accepting their offer, and they backed out. Obviously I left and headed to the Indian dealer. My heart was really in the Indian so it worked out as it should have. While I was there I had no less than 5 calls saying they changed their mind again and would honor the price they offered if I came back and bought it. I said.... FU. I just bought an Indian. I actually got a 6th call later that day from someone different wanting to know how my experience was while I was there. Clueless. Never went back and never will. They call all the time to invite me to events. I just laugh and say no I'm happy with my Indian. : )
*Best Price: Big St Charles Indian. They will sell at their cost all day long. *Worst Service Department: Big St Charles Indian. I wouldn't trust them to put air in my tires! Yes, they messed that up. They didn't know the Springfield correct air pressure. *Best Service Department: Metroeast Motorsports Sports. Veteran mechanic that was very familiar with the Victory lineup. Service writer's are great also.
Looks like I'm in the minority (About Rockit City Indian). Hope they survive. Since Indian of Memphis closed this is the closest dealer I have, they are 3 hours away.
Personally I hope they're replaced with a dealer that cares about the brand that's closer to you. I chatted with the Music City Indian guys about the Memphis store closing. They indicated that many of their new service customers came over from there. That's a haul.
Best: Wellington Motorcycles,.....dealt with them since 1995 when they were Harley dealers and dealt with them once they became Indian dealers. Sadly Steve and Gary decided to retire recently so that’s the end of a great shop Worst: Cyclespot, Auckland where I bought my first Scout. Took them two and a half days to do the 5,000 mile service ( which if you recall is just a check and adjust service ) and fit two new tyres. Then tried to steal my hardly worn out Kenda’s AND my stock mufflers as I ordered stage ones to be fitted at delivery. Took Six months of phone calls and finally threats to get my tyres and standard mufflers sent to me. Wellington Motorcycles then became Indian dealers just after that so it was party time for Alpal,....never went back to Cyclespot again,....... Alpal
Best : Fletcher's Harley Davidson going back to late 1960's with I first dealt with them although was aware of them being the best from others in the early 1960's .. Man-Wife Team Owners that worked well together although did see mechanics in the back as well usually 1-2 . There prices were fair and service was top notch as well as feeling like a part of family thing yourself .. Was slowly downhill once the owner died as the kids that took over become more interested in profit which in the late 1980's early 1990's was pretty easy as they were in high demand then .. Early 2000's they started sliding quickly and would have been gone if not for a couple of excellent wrenchers, and great service manager that kept it alive .. When 2008 Recession hit hard they went down the tube .. Worst: Anything owned by Ride Now which includes Indian of Daytona and Ocala.. Probably many more but those am certain of .. Even though bought my last Indian at Ocala, I knew what I was up against but at that time they had a Good Service Manager.. Fought for the price I finally got considered walking out and forgetting it when they finally came within $500 of what I was willing to pay ..