Low market share & terrible resale value for a great bik

[Crying cruiser]

Recently, while shopping for a deal on a new Futura, I spoke to a dealer in the D.C. area who I found out no longer carries Aprilia. He said that of Aprilia's 18,000 unit sales last year, more than 1/2 of them were scooters (which he could not sell in a performance bike store/market.) He mentioned that he had a terrible time trying to sell Mille's over Ducati's & Futuras over ST4's . He also said that Futura's sat longer than any other bike he ever had including anything from Triumph. Lastly, he mentioned that he had to sell his last few '01 Futura's below cost ($9,300) in order to get rid of them
My question is this, Why does such a great bike have such a hard time claiming such a small piece of the market share. Also, why the terrible resale value? You would think that an Italian bike with cutting edge styling, incredible @#%$-pit design with endless beautiful gauges and functions, great power and a decent warranty would be desirable? Instead, I am hearing of people who cannot sell their slightly used Futura unless they take a major loss.
I really like the Futura and want one badly, but, I am not one to keep things long unless I find it to be perfect for me. I am already selling my BWM that I bought a few months ago which is ok since I will easily get all of my money back. I am very affraid that I will pay $10,000 for a Futura that will only be worth $6,000 a few months later.
I would appreciate it if a few of you would post the year, color and purchase price of your Futura's so that I may get an idea of what I should be preparred to pay if I do decide to go ahead with it.
Thank you all for your help in advance.

[Gcookie]

I just pick up a used 2001 Futura for $8500. Moto TEK has a new 2002 model for $9999. I was concerned about resale, but figured it is such a good bike that I keep it awhile. I think 2001 models are all going for about $8500.. Hope this helps.

[futura15k]

Iam getting ready to trade my 02 ash black for a Honda and I'le be lucky to get 7500 for the trade value. Iam not sure why the resale values are low. I've had mine for almost a year and have had no major problems in 15k miles. But your right about most dealers having a hard time selling them. I work at an Aprilia dealership and spend alot of time telling any one that will listen how great they are, but still no one wants to buy. I think alot of it has to do with the fact that Aprilia has only been in the states for a couple of years, and most people have no idea who they are. Maybe several years down the road they will sell better just with name recognition alone. Let me know if your intersted in one, i'le be more that happy to get you a great price.

[Crying cruiser]

As well as another deal on a new one. Please email me @ bigdogs@myshorelink.com. Thank you.

[Gcookie]

Fact is until Aprillia starts wining some bigboy races you won't see much of a market share or resale value inprovement. Go Colin! You can do it! Blow smoke on our old Honda team..

[scootopia]

I don't know where the guy got his sales figures, but I was told at the dealer meeting that the number of Aprilia scooters sold last year was around 2000. Yamaha sold the most 7,200 Zumas. The problem is IMHO that dealers are so use to people lining up to buy the Hot new sportbike (i.e.GSXR1000, R1, R6 etc.) That they have forgotten how to SELL motorcycles, or they just don't care because they sell so many of the popular ones. It is true that Aprilias are a harder sell, but the dealers are going to have to put more effort into as well as Aprilia USA. I also think that an AMA team would do wonders for Aprilias.

[dirtdog72551]

This is my first post ever , please excuse any errows or typo's, etc.

Futura15K I am a little curious, you say you work at an Aprilia dealership and you are contemplating a trade in on a Honda. Why don't you sell the bike at your shop? Doesn't say much for your Aprilia sells team (not being able to sell your bike) at your shop that you have to go and take such a loss on a trade in on a Honda.

Good luck, wish you well.

[Speedy]

I've bought an '01 in march '02 for 10287 Euro ,with panniers .
When i sold it in order to buy a second hand Mille , i got 6820 Euro for my Futura ! ! !
A loss of 3467 Euro in 7 months time ! ! !
Ofcourse you lose the taxes you payed on a new one ( 1785 Euro) and the real loss of value would be then = 1682 Euro !

I can't understand either why it's got such a bad resale but things are just the way they are , aren't they ?

I loved the Futura and was very satisfied with it but it really wasn't my style yet .

Danny

[Dan]

Personally, I don't care about re-sale value. I just got rid of a bike with supposedly legendary resale value by trading it for a cage... after two years of trying to unload it.

I think low resale is great. I'm planning to wear this Futura out and then pick up another from some idiot who doesn't know a great bike from his ass.

If re-sale is an issue for you, then please don't buy. If you really believe that last year's greatest and latest Honda, Yamaha or Suzuki will trade up without a MAJOR loss, go ahead and try it... :rollin:

IMO, the dealer in DC is suffering from sour grapes syndrome. I've looked at the bikes he claimed were so much better in sales and wonder why anyone would choose them over a Futura, but who cares?

Bottom line: if you plan to trade, and don't like what you see, don't buy.... take yer cryin' elsewhere. The Futura clearly has the best combination of ergos, utility, style, performance, handling, maintenance requirements, and reliability of any bike out there. If you want one for the short-term, there are better choices. Make them.

My two cents.

[Ricky J]

Perhaps there's something about demogra-
phics- my primary dealer sells Aprilia &
Triumph, and the latter he's selling be-
low his cost. The Aprilias are selling,
about as well as any expensive motorbike
right now. He has a second store that is
mainly Ducati and their sales are really
down, according to the shop manager.

[rblue02]

Low Futura resale would actually be a good opportunity for someone wishing to buy a great bike at Jap bike prices.

Few motor vehicles are good investments, and buying used is a better choice if you are never satisfied without the latest toy.

A couple years back I was looking at a K1200RS.
One year old bikes were going for $5K less than new.
Expensive bikes just depreciate more.

If the inefficient use of a few bucks will kill you,
buy a Subaru.

[countyloc]

Low resale value is Great for buyers! Terrible for sellers....but who's selling...not me!:D best bike I've ever owned.

So Crying Cruiser, jump on a great deal before the moto community sees the light, and start smiling ;)

[mnrstrider]

What I'm thinking hurts the resale so badly is probably the sport touring class it's self, we'd have to admit at least here in the states that the VFR is the biggest competitor, and look at the price that goes for new out the door, UNDER 9K brand spanking new, I've seen one person pickup an FZ1 for under 9K. Our bike and yeah it comes with bag and is on par for comfort, handling acceleration and such, does it really offer enough to justify 3-4K more in price? Now don't get me wrong here, given the choice I'd still pay what I paid for my bike gladly again, but that was brand new, and I like new stuff. If I'd say if I was buying used, which a lot of people do to save money, if you got 2 pretty equal bikes, the prices would have to be pretty close to sell them, there is a lot of bikes out the for 10K would you take the new one or the used one? Not to mention the dealer locations are a little thin, has this cause any major problems for us, I'd say no more than any other manufacturer's dealer, but people still think about it. One more factor too, the Aprilia name is probably not prestigious enough to hold value on name alone like Ducati, You still get "April what???" questions don't ya? Someday I'm sure everyone will recognize the value in the name of Aprilia, and I'll bet when the company is more than it is today in market share you'll see the prices of our rides come down. BTW I could buy pretty much any ride I want to, (exceptions aside to the turbine powered bike:( ) I'd still buy this bike again. Long live Aprilia......

-Nick

[podpeeze]

Is this true? In the States you can get a VFR for under 9K??
This is the complete opposite to the UK in which the VFR is way more money than the Futura!! :rolleyes:
I was origionally looking at the vtec as a replacement for my VTR Firestorm (Firehawk) but changed my mind when I saw the spec on the RST and realised that I could save thousands and still have a bike that suited my needs. So the Futura was mine.
Good call eh? :D
Jon

[2up]

When I jumped in and bought a '01 resale was a great unknown. I have been very happy with the bike and have put on about 8k in just under under a year. I didn't buy with resale in mind I just sold a car today that I had for 17 years. The bike that I had before the Futura I owned for 10 years. I think that some of the low mile used bikes and the left overs represent a great deal if you are buying. If I wanted resale I would have bought a H-D but living 2 1/2 hours from Deals Gap who wants a Hog?

[Ricky J]

A San Francisco newspaper ran a story on
local rents yesterday- they are way down
now and back to '99 levels. High vacancy
rates mean a renter's market. That para-
llels the motorcycle industry right now:
new sales are down and incentives are on
every price tag. That reality puts down-
ward pressure on expensive high-end used
bikes. Selling a bike within a year or 2
of purchase has never been a good bet so
now, pitched against new bike bargains,
they look less appealing.

[nitrofly]

In the last year I have had my bike, I only saw like 3 other Futuras up til Nov last year. Since then I am seeing them all over the place so someone is selling them pretty good in the bay area at least.

I am using mine up as fast as I can so hopefully they will still be cheap when I need another...and another...and another.

[sfrobbins]

During this past summer, I purchased a new 2001 Silver Futura with hard bags for $10,300 + tax. They also put an '02 map on the ECM. The bike was purchased in north central Indiana, USA.

I also have a 2000 CBR F4 as my "1-up" play toy. ;)

[philasteen]

I bought my 01 with 600 miles on it in August for $8,900. When a great bike has crappy resale, just buy used.

I do fear Aprilia may disappear from the U.S. market and make our bike even more of an orphan than it already is.

[Dan]

Just to counter the self-fufilling fear mongering going on in this thread, I'll counter with this: if you buy a Futura and don't put some miles on it, you really are never going to have an idea what a great bike it is. Mine is rapidly approaching 20k now and it runs and rides better as the miles pile up. The Futura has been built for serious riders-- something that seems to be in short supply in the US market.

[Ricky J]

A top Aprilia dealer told me personally
that oftentimes the factory's delivering
bikes too late in the model year and the
tardy arrivals will need reduced sticker
prices to sell. Right there you've put a
hurt on folks who bought theirs earlier
in the model year, and if the latecomers
are still there in the new year then ev-
en more price cuts are needed. From his
perpective they can improve this situat-
ion. It sure made sense. The rest is all
a combination of factors like a smaller
dealer network and a new name to the US.
Let's hope they'll be successful racing
MotoGP in 2003, having Edwards and Haga
smile from the podium on Speed TV won't
hurt things at all! Look what Ducati has
accomplished market-wise by winning, you
cannot tell me they have better bikes in
the showroom than my RSV & RST yet John
Q. Public sees the Ducati ads on Monday.
I love Saab cars myself for their do-it- all utility but I always harp on my dea-
ler that some visible motorsport involv- ement would boost their name. Then again
maybe they should wait 'til after I grab
a 9-5 Aero!

[nitrofly]

Well looky what I found. Right now on ebay there is a Futura up for auction as well as a Falco. Conveniently for the purposes of our research they:

- are both 01 models
- have similar mileage
- are in very similar condition (i.e very good)

Futura: $5,100.00 - 8 bids - 8 days left
Falco: $4,250.00 - 9 bids - 2 days left

Now, I seem to recall that retail was identical on these bikes back in 01. I for one will be watching these auctions to see what happens. I think the secret about just how good these bikes are is beginning to get out there...and I'd predict a fairly healthy boost in resale value over the next year.

Here's the direct links to the auctions:

Futura
cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/w...24314&rd=1 (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=6719&item=2400024314&rd=1)

Falco
cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/w...75532&rd=1 (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=6719&item=1876675532&rd=1)

[Crying cruiser]

Considering the fact that the best deal I can find (by far) is on a blue futura, I am a little concerned about a previous post that I just read. #1, blue was the least popular color and #2, they will no longer make a blue bike because of chipping

[buck000]

According to Motorcycle Consumer News, December 2002, Aprilia is, er, selling a few bikes 8o :

<img src="http://home.austin.rr.com/rhome/images/mcn02.jpg" style="border:0;"/>

I think this supports the "April-who?" theory...:rollin:

As others have said, I'm not gonna worry about resale, I'm just gonna enjoy freaking mile/km on this thing...:p

Paul
'01 Flame Red