Okay I'm in Maine and the weather kind of sucks up here for motorcycling, slingshoting excetera. But I have two dealers of slingshots within 20 miles of me and it looks like one is going to give up selling slingshots and the second may be was uestionable. My dealer that I bought my 2015 through has 2 2018s on the floor and can't sell them even after reducing the price by $3,500. Not going to be fun going 3 hours away for any service if they decide not to do warranty work if they in fact stop sales. Anyone else experiencing this problem?
Dealers ditching slingshots
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EricRedSL
Changed the title of the thread from “Dealers closing” to “Dealers ditching slingshots”. -
Haven't seen any dealers in Florida backing away from the Slings. In Maine, it might have something to do with only having 2 weeks of summer.
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Haven't seen any dealers in Florida backing away from the Slings. In Maine, it might have something to do with only having 2 weeks of summer.
Not so sure, that means they'd also stop selling motorcycles
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I had two dealers within 30 miles. The one in San Jose got its "license" to sell Slings got pulled so now I'm forced to go to Livermore. If that one shuts down it'll be two hours north to Elk Grove. Bleah.
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I think it's many factors, not the least of which is weather, ride-ability, and dealer support. The local Georgetown dealer that I bought my 1st one from does absolutely no marketing of the SS and has a completely overpriced 2018 with $1000's of accessories and paint added still sitting there (although admittedly it's been a couple of months since I've been in), and doesn't have anything going on.
The dealer I bought my latest SS from has lots of SS's going through the door, does lots of accessories, and promotes rides all the time. Heck, the photo I submitted for "Favorite Photo" was from one of his rides - and there were well over 50 SS's there! -
I had two dealers within 30 miles. The one in San Jose got its "license" to sell Slings got pulled so now I'm forced to go to Livermore. If that one shuts down it'll be two hours north to Elk Grove.
I was forced to go to Elk Grove as well. (Bought in Auburn, but they haven't sold Slings in about 18 months. The Roseville dealer got away from the Slingshot line even sooner.) The only positive thing I can say- I think their service dept is good....... HOWEVER- even though all I have ever had is re-call or warranty work done- pidley stuff- I have had to have the Sling there early am, and the best they have ever done was ready by late afternoon. Maybe because I am only about an hour away- they don't seem to want to accommodate 'customer waiting'. I understand that, if it is long or complicated service, but the 30-45 minute stuff...............
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The massive inventory of "left over" 2019 models it the major reason you haven't seen the 2020 models released yet. Word on the street is they have talked about not releasing them until the summer of 2020. Not sure that's going to go over too well and will kill there 2020 model year sales. Unless they plan to just keep kicking the can down the street until sales pick up to make it a wise decision
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When I placed my deposit for my 2015 Slingshot in 2014, all of the local Houston dealers wanted relatively HIGH deposits (typically $2000) and one dealer even wanted a non-refundable deposit! I ended up going to the dealer in Lufkin, TX, over 100 miles away from me, but they stopped selling Slingshots over 1 year ago. I still haven't tried any of the Houston area dealers.
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I drive 120+ miles little over 2 hours to Nielsen's Ent, Lake Villa, IL. One of the top dealers in the USA. Super techs with super service to go along. Generally I can call set an 8:00am app and have the work done and turn around visit the sales staff and head home.
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The only SS Dealer that was close to me was 25 miles, Gave them up this summer..Now i have to travel 80 miles one way. His biggest complaint was the price increase and they take up too much space in the showroom and service area ......And as soon as the weather cools down they can't sell any......He also said that if they would only put a heater in them like some of Polaris's side by sides he might have kept the franchise ...?
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Friend and Friend in Orono, where I bought my SS, closed up in September. The franchise was reluctantly picked up by Bangor Motor Sports. I checked with my local mechanic at the time, and except for warranty repair and the swing arm. He can do any and all maintenance I might need. He already put tires and better brakes on it.
my nearest SS dealer is in New Brunswick Canada, but they aren't allowed to do US warranty work.
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"will kill their 2929 model year sales."
I won't be around for THAT product launch!
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most dealers were selling skidoo’s and quads long before the slingshot came along. Quads are a 4 season vehicle. Snowmobiles are a one season vehicle similar to the slingshot.
are the slingshots over priced? Maybe for a single season vehicle...
that’s the reason for the delay in getting parts because they don’t want to stock them... quad parts are taking dealer priority as well as the shop time.
slingshots are always going to be sucking hind tit to quads...and two wheel motorcycles...
slingshots are a niche vehicle....only crazy people buy them. And even crazier people keep the for years... -
slingshots are a niche vehicle....only crazy people buy them. And even crazier people keep the for years..
I'm insulted!
Quads are a 4 season vehicle. Snowmobiles are a one season vehicle similar to the slingshot.
slingshots are always going to be sucking hind tit to quads
Sounds like you did the math. Are you ready to accept it?
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truth hurts...
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You're going to be OK. You're strong.
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To tell the truth if Polaris 86 the SS it wouldn't bother me...I went though that with my Victory...
Life gos on...We will all survive and move on to other over priced un-necessary toys...
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why did polaris stop making the victory?
Why did they say the line would be converted over to making more slingshots?
Does polaris tell their dealers they must buy so many slingshots every year?
Did they require them to have a separate showroom area?
A local Chevy dealer here was told by GM they had to modernize their showroom to make it look more like all the other dealers....they told GM they didn’t sell as many vehicles as bigger dealers to justify the cost of the modernization....GM told them you’re not a Chevy dealer anymore.....now they sell used cars only....
Sounds like dealers have (forced) to make a decision about slingshots...you either sell slingshots or you don’t....not in it half way.
Did polaris over estimate the popularity of the slingshot?
Look at the big changes the GM, Ford and dodge are making in the type and size of the vehicles they make now....many dropped popular long running vehicles like hot potatoes....to make pickups and SUVs.... cars are falling out of favor...
are two wheel motorcycles falling out of favor?How popular are 3 wheel motorcycles?
How popular are 4 wheel motorcycles?
bottom line dealer profits will determine how popular any of these will be. If nobody sells them nobody can buy them. -
bottom line dealer profits will determine how popular any of these will be. If nobody sells them nobody can buy them.
I'm pretty sure it's the other way around. Popularity determines profit. Polaris has continually altered it's business model to create shareholder value. That is their motive. Not to entertain us. When a product or product line drops below their threshold for profitability they move on. And they already have something else to sell. I'd love to see their product development pipeline. We might all be surprised.
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why did polaris stop making the victory?
This one I know: They bought Indian Motorcycles and decided to go with that instead, killing the Victory line. (I loved my 2008 Victory Vegas, but it had it's limitations which led me to the SS.)
