We bought a pack Mule

[Alan_L_Texas]

Here's the Mule 550 my wife finally talked me into (well, I wanted it too). Pretty cool. Does a whopping 20 mph.

However, the buying experience sucked!!

After looking at the machine 2 weeks ago and doing some research I called from my office 60 miles away and offered $5200, which they accepted. Drove to the dealership, and while they assembled the machine from a crate, the salesman brought out a sheet showing the $5200 is big characters, and a place to sign the offer, which I did.

Finally made it to the business manager to close the deal, he showed me the invoice. It started with $5200, then added $369 for freight and $225 for assembly. So the price is not $5200, its about $5800! Their explanation is that these vehicles always have freight, and Kawasaki sets the setup fee at $225. I say fine, why didn't you tell me up front? I am still sour on the deal, but wanted to get it done, so went ahead and did the deal after they finally waived the $225 assembly fee.

I looked back at the sheet I signed, and sure enough it said $5200 + TTLFP. I had taken that to me sales taxes of which I am exempt and title. Turns out the F stands for freight and the P stands for prep I guess. The salesman NEVER mentioned either of these two.

Based on the prices I found on the internet, I suspect that this is standard for ATVs, but this should be brought to the buyers attention. What would you think if you checked out at Walmart and they wanted you pay a freight surcharge? Not gonna happen.

Oh, well, I really like the little vehicle. Drove it back across the creek into the back 12 acres in the trees in the dark and scared up some rabbits. Fun.

[Hank]

<font color="purple"> Drove it back across the creek into the back 12 acres in the trees in the dark and scared up some rabbits. Fun </font color>

They are most definitely *fun*. I love mine. Combo ATV and serious work vehicle.

[Hayseed]

Alan,

Congratulations on getting your new Mule. I am envious! Sorry to hear about the bad buying experience. At least you were able to get them to knock off the $225 assembly fee. That oughta make you feel a little better. If shopping for a Mule was anything like shopping for my fourwheeler, I doubt that anyone offered to give you much of a cut in price, so if you were able to save the $225 fee then maybe you did okay after all.

[TimSullivan]

Sad but true that we are all a little wiser after the purchase than before.

I have gotten into the habit of asking for the final price so I can make sure the check is right. Strange how things do come out of the wood work.

[Hank]

Something to consider is Carver Equipment...they will deliver anywhere, via 18-wheeler. You will need some way to offload the Mule, such as a local service station's roll-back tow truck (for a fee), but with Carver's deep discounts, and the savings on the state tax, you could come out ahead. I priced Carver before purchasing, and it turned out almost the same money vs. the local dealer (this was for a 2500 mile delivery). The local dealer was able to beat the total Carver deal by a couple of hundred bucks, but he definitely did not discount the Mule itself like Carver did.

[DUMBDOG]

Do not want to make you buying experience any more sour than it was but when i was a Kawasaki dealer things were a little different and maybe still are.

We had a contract for all of our vehicles that were hauled in, motorcycles and atv's were like $60 a crate, mules were probably twice that much.

If I remember correctly the mule is built in Nebraska.

Kawasaki does not set the set up fee, they may reinburse the dealer for setting it up, taking it off the invoice cost, 40 to 50 dollars at the most.

If my figures are correct you paid 5200 plus freight for a total of 5569. MSRP according to Kawasaki's web site is 5699.

Of course it has been about four years since I used to sell these machines, but things have not changed that much in that time frame.
So you did save some money, msrp does not include prep and freight.

I do feel that that the dealer did lie to you and was very unethical in his selling game.

[Alan_L_Texas]

Dumbdog (sorry to call you that), you're right about the MSRP of $5699. They showed me the kawasaki invoice that showed their cost of $4890. Had I not already wasted too much time making the deal I would have gone to another dealer, where I might not have been able to do even as good, so I went ahead and took the deal. [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img]

We've already put 6 hours on it. Today I took my chainsaw in the Mule and went down in next to the creek where even my tractor can't go and cut up some firewood and hauled it back in the little truck bed. Handy as all get out, because you can park it right where you're working. All of the rough terrain I was worried about, steep hills, creek bed, even logs across the trail - NO PROBLEM. [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]

Plus, the kids had a blast riding on all the paths I mowed with the brush hog today. I asked by 2.5 year old granddaughter where her daddy was, and she informed me that he was out driving the baby car [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[DUMBDOG]

The main thing to remember is why you bought the mule and enjoy it. It is a great toy, I mean tool.

[Hank]

So far I've been using mine to jerk out creosote bushes with a chain, and haul them off for disposal. Then, it's just fun to cruise around the property or neighborhood with.

[wingnut]

I'm envious, Alan ... I've hinted several times at trading the electric golf cart and Yammy ATV in on a Mule .... but the wife likes her quiet golf cart too much.

Based on my experience with buying the new 'Wing this year, it sounds like the "hidden costs" thing is pretty common. It's common enough that many dealers are now quoting "out-the-door" prices. When I was looking for the Wing, I found a place in Chicago that had darned great prices ... but I soon found out that the REAL cost would be over $1200 more than the "quoted" price. I now know to ask fo rthe "out-the-door" price whenever I call on any kind of toy!

The pone that frosts me the most (and they're trying to get it raised from $40 to $250 here in Michigan) is the "paperwork fee" and also the "advertising fee". I always thought that paperwork was part of the sellers overhead ... but they'll take EVERY opportunity to grab extra cash. The car dealers here are whining that $40 doesn't cover their costs ... heck, it annoys me that I have to allow them to do the paperwork. I can go over to the Secretary of State office and get my plate in 1/2 hour (including drive time) ... while it takes the dealer 2 weeks to get plates for me. The best experience I had with that was buying the 'Wing in Ill. and registering it here (other than the bite for sales tax) ... fastest plates I've ever gotten!

pete