[GuyC]

I'm just about to take the plunge into Spyder territory. I am pretty sure I want the RS SE5 model (could go SM also but...).

I have been reading the forums on reliability etc and having a hard time deciding on new or used and what year is the right choice if not new !.

The question I pose therefore is...

If you own a Can-Am RS and knowing what you know now (about the features and reliability of different models years 08,09,10 and 11), would you buy used or new.

I could hedge and wait for 12 assuming a true auto system but I wanted to keep this strictly to the current or past models and not sure I have the will power.

I believe there have been some pretty interesting feature advancements and understand the ride got a lot better in either the 11 or 10 (sharing features with the newer RT model) ?

Anyhow, I would really value your collective opinions on this, also I don't want to touch the $$ topic, just reliability and any major feature differences that would lead you to the model of choice with the experience you have had.

Much appreciated.

Guy

[IWN2RYD]

There are multiple answers to your questions, and frankly the answers will most likely be personal based vs fact... My $.02...

USED

For $8000-$11,000 I would get a 2008-2010. For $11,000-14,000 I would get a 2011 model. The 2011 model is the most finely tunes and has the RT anti-vibe arms and believe me, in the long run those can be helpful...

That said, BRP does not finance previously purchased vehicles. Only new. So you need cash or your own banking so that you can stay away from high % offerings at the dealer. Not sure of your financials (And not wanting to know) just tossing that out there.

I would get the VIN# from any used Spyder and ask your to-be dealer to run it in their system to see what Re-calls have or have not been completed.

Look for a Spyder that has the B.E.S.T. warranty. It adds three years to the two year Factory warranty. As the 2008's are mostly out of the Warranty by the Calendar, not all 2008's sold in 2008. Many sold in 2009 and even a few in 2010. This can be verified by a dealer as well. I would not trust a seller to tell me if I did not know them.

Be careful of scams. They are out there and get in the news off and on. If the price looks to good to be true, it is...

My link


NEW

Visit many dealers. The sales staff is in the business to sell. Find one that fits to your liking. More importantly, speak with the service department. Look on their wall. How many of their techs are certified by BRP?

Some dealers do have 2009's and 2010's new on the floor. Yes you have to look for them. But man you can get as good of a deal on them new as I see folks getting in used!

BRP Financing is available.. As low as 3.9% from time to time...

As far as price... Well that is up to you. How much you want it and so on. But in general most get theirs for less than MSRP.

Regardless of your choice. The most important decision you can make is what dealer will be servicing your Spyder when it needs it or is called for. The heck with sales... They only have one function. The service department has one function as well, but thousands of ways it can go wrong or right!

This post has been edited by IWN2RYD: 12 June 2011 - 11:52 AM

[GuyC]

Thank you for the response.. it seems I have to factor in two things...

1. How long is a long run ? - I planned on using it for occasional trips out at the weekend and perhaps a couple of days int eh week for a sunny commute (run ~30miles each way).. so is that a case for the 11 ?

2. Seems alot of threads are on a good dealer, what's odd is that I am not used to thinking in terms of spending quality time with the dealer.. The reason I have not already taken the plunge is my 'local' dealer is 60+ miles from the house and the next is over 100 miles.. The local one is Easy Bay Motors and the haul is up and down a pretty buisy freeway. So not sure the dealer is close enough if I have problems and not sure how much I want/should expect to be back and forth.

I have heard rumors that GP Sports in San Jose are about to be ordained as a dealer but no guarantee.

Thx again

Guy

IWN2RYD, on 12 June 2011 - 11:51 AM, said:

There are multiple answers to your questions, and frankly the answers will most likely be personal based vs fact... My $.02...

USED

For $8000-$11,000 I would get a 2008-2010. For $11,000-14,000 I would get a 2011 model. The 2011 model is the most finely tunes and has the RT anti-vibe arms and believe me, in the long run those can be helpful...

That said, BRP does not finance previously purchased vehicles. Only new. So you need cash or your own banking so that you can stay away from high % offerings at the dealer. Not sure of your financials (And not wanting to know) just tossing that out there.

I would get the VIN# from any used Spyder and ask your to-be dealer to run it in their system to see what Re-calls have or have not been completed.

Look for a Spyder that has the B.E.S.T. warranty. It adds three years to the two year Factory warranty. As the 2008's are mostly out of the Warranty by the Calendar, not all 2008's sold in 2008. Many sold in 2009 and even a few in 2010. This can be verified by a dealer as well. I would not trust a seller to tell me if I did not know them.

Be careful of scams. They are out there and get in the news off and on. If the price looks to good to be true, it is...

My link


NEW

Visit many dealers. The sales staff is in the business to sell. Find one that fits to your liking. More importantly, speak with the service department. Look on their wall. How many of their techs are certified by BRP?

Some dealers do have 2009's and 2010's new on the floor. Yes you have to look for them. But man you can get as good of a deal on them new as I see folks getting in used!

BRP Financing is available.. As low as 3.9% from time to time...

As far as price... Well that is up to you. How much you want it and so on. But in general most get theirs for less than MSRP.

Regardless of your choice. The most important decision you can make is what dealer will be servicing your Spyder when it needs it or is called for. The heck with sales... They only have one function. The service department has one function as well, but thousands of ways it can go wrong or right!

[IWN2RYD]

GuyC, on 13 June 2011 - 09:19 AM, said:

Thank you for the response.. it seems I have to factor in two things...

1. How long is a long run ? - I planned on using it for occasional trips out at the weekend and perhaps a couple of days int eh week for a sunny commute (run ~30miles each way).. so is that a case for the 11 ?

2. Seems alot of threads are on a good dealer, what's odd is that I am not used to thinking in terms of spending quality time with the dealer.. The reason I have not already taken the plunge is my 'local' dealer is 60+ miles from the house and the next is over 100 miles.. The local one is Easy Bay Motors and the haul is up and down a pretty buisy freeway. So not sure the dealer is close enough if I have problems and not sure how much I want/should expect to be back and forth.

I have heard rumors that GP Sports in San Jose are about to be ordained as a dealer but no guarantee.

Thx again

Guy

#1... We purchased an RS thinking it would be a bike for this and that... Maybe a few rydes here and there. Ended up ryding it far more than expected. What was intended to be a "Sunday morning paper" run turns into a tank full of fun... Having a few creature comforts on longer than 30 minute rydes pays off. A little here and a little there make for a longer trek. Again.. We never even thought we would ryde that much. "Maybe" 2000 miles a year. Well we did closer to 7500 in the last year. That said we love the ryde so much we traded in the RS for an RT and could not be happier. And each person rydes differently and has a different view on life. So what works for one may not for another...

#2... There are thousands of Spyders on the road that we never hear from. There are about 30,000 Spyders now on the road and only about 6000 -8000 members signed up for these types of forums. So the tip of finding a dealer you like is based off of personal experience and reading experiences of others. Think of it like this. Not very many of us want to "Have" to know an attorney. But knowing one just in case you need one one day is far better than starting fro scratch if you do... These Spyders are most definitely not VW bugs... Yet when they first came out most took them to the dealer for needs as they had been so foreign the knowledge base was limited. Now today most can take an engine out in 15 minutes and we know to always have an extra throttle cable (And a few other items) in the cardboard glove-box for when it breaks... So the advice is more about you having a good experience when your Spyder needs to go to the shop for the recommended Valve Adjustments and other items you may not feel comfortable doing on your own. Additionally, these are high tech machines and that is part of what makes these so much fun to ryde over most anything else. This computer system takes a special program called "BUDs" that at this time only the dealers have. So we have to take our Spyder to the dealer for warranty work and updates. It is better to work with a Spyder Dealer you want to work with, than "Have" to work with

Good luck and we look forward to ryding with you!



P.S. I deliberately use the "Y" instead of "I" in a few of my words consistently for the "Y" factor in the Spyder

[GuyC]

Excellent YnformatYon and very much appretYated

Guy

IWN2RYD, on 14 June 2011 - 09:36 AM, said:

#1... We purchased an RS thinking it would be a bike for this and that... Maybe a few rydes here and there. Ended up ryding it far more than expected. What was intended to be a "Sunday morning paper" run turns into a tank full of fun... Having a few creature comforts on longer than 30 minute rydes pays off. A little here and a little there make for a longer trek. Again.. We never even thought we would ryde that much. "Maybe" 2000 miles a year. Well we did closer to 7500 in the last year. That said we love the ryde so much we traded in the RS for an RT and could not be happier. And each person rydes differently and has a different view on life. So what works for one may not for another...

#2... There are thousands of Spyders on the road that we never hear from. There are about 30,000 Spyders now on the road and only about 6000 -8000 members signed up for these types of forums. So the tip of finding a dealer you like is based off of personal experience and reading experiences of others. Think of it like this. Not very many of us want to "Have" to know an attorney. But knowing one just in case you need one one day is far better than starting fro scratch if you do... These Spyders are most definitely not VW bugs... Yet when they first came out most took them to the dealer for needs as they had been so foreign the knowledge base was limited. Now today most can take an engine out in 15 minutes and we know to always have an extra throttle cable (And a few other items) in the cardboard glove-box for when it breaks... So the advice is more about you having a good experience when your Spyder needs to go to the shop for the recommended Valve Adjustments and other items you may not feel comfortable doing on your own. Additionally, these are high tech machines and that is part of what makes these so much fun to ryde over most anything else. This computer system takes a special program called "BUDs" that at this time only the dealers have. So we have to take our Spyder to the dealer for warranty work and updates. It is better to work with a Spyder Dealer you want to work with, than "Have" to work with

Good luck and we look forward to ryding with you!



P.S. I deliberately use the "Y" instead of "I" in a few of my words consistently for the "Y" factor in the Spyder

[Arthur---Mexico City]

I have to put my two cents worth in. Buy new and from a dealer. New means it can be 2008 or 9 or 10 or 11. But if it is a new older model be sure the deal includes a new battery and the two year guarantee. The 2 year guarantee is extrememy important. The rest depends on your bank account. Arthur---Mexico
City

[GuyC]

Thanks Arthur appretiate your comments

Arthur---Mexico City, on 14 June 2011 - 10:00 PM, said:

I have to put my two cents worth in. Buy new and from a dealer. New means it can be 2008 or 9 or 10 or 11. But if it is a new older model be sure the deal includes a new battery and the two year guarantee. The 2 year guarantee is extrememy important. The rest depends on your bank account. Arthur---Mexico
City