[Ski]

Anyone know what the "dealer cost" on GAP Insurance would be on a new 2010 Goldwing?

 

[Two Wheel Wing]

I'm not sure I understand the question. Are you asking what you would have to pay in premiums to buy GAP insurance?

 

[Ski]

Yes, what is the cost to the dealer for a GAP policy? My dealer said his cost is 480 dollars and he would sell me a policy for 500 dollars. Just wondering if this is actually his cost or is he trying to make a lot more money off of me.

 

[Two Wheel Wing]

Here is what it says about GAP insurance:

If a loss occurs, GAP insurance will pay the difference between the actual cash value of the vehicle and the current outstanding balance on your loan or lease. Gap Insurance protects your vehicle lease or loan. Sometimes it will also pay your regular insurance deductible.

If your vehicle has been totaled by accident, theft, fire, flood, tornado, vandalism, or hurricanes your insurance company typically pays the actual cash value. That may be less than its actual retail value. It is often considerably less than the actual amount you still owe on your loan or the amount due for a lease payoff.

The amount between your insurance deductible and the loss from this financial shortfall is the “gap” you can be left owing.

Now, do you think it is worth another $500 per year? Doesn't sound like it to me but I did not finance the entire amount of my bike.

 

[joe in calif]

When you get your bike insurance ask them how the determine the value in case of a total loss. My son totaled his 03 road king, he had Geico insurance, they checked at dealers for the same bike and added tax to the dealer price of that bike and that is what they paid him.

 

[Ski]

I understand what GAP insurance is and how it works, what I want to know is how much does it cost the dealer? I don't mind the dealership making a profit off of the sale of the bike, but I don't think they should make a profit of of selling a GAP insurance policy. My dealer told me his cost is 480 dollars and I was curious if this was an accurate figure or not.

 

[budoka]

Without knowing who the under-writer is, I can only say that if he's selling that Gap policy for $500 and he pays $480 for it, you're getting a heckuva deal. Nobody's getting rich on a 4% margin, so it's more of a favour to you as his customer. Dealerships sell Gap, extra warranty and such to increase profitability, that's called good business practice. Bike sales used to return about 15% gross margins, now it's typically less than 10%, so it's far from lucrative. In comparison, your local Safeway averages about 18% and the Home Depot's of the world work on a tad over 20% gross on their total operations. That's not "net" by the way either. Most retail stores will run in the 2% net profit range, I know because I've been a retailer most all my life and ran my own supermarket for 27 years.
As for the Gap insurance, your taking a big risk if you don't purchase it and you finance your total purchase. It takes about 18 months for depreciation to exceed your net value of your bike if you finance the whole thing, so if you suffer a loss, you'll go negative $$ in a hurry.