I've been shopping for a new crossfire 700 and talking with the dealers who have black standards that they'd like to sell. I can buy one from a few MN dealers for $5450....of course traveling to MN would have an expense involved but I find it comical that MI dealers hope to get 5900 in alot of cases.
If I had been sitting on inventory for two years and someone was offering cash I think I'd take it........ Babbits salesmen was the most comical.

Does anyone know what the build date was of the early builds on 06....compared to the late builds.... ECU shape, secondary and gearing would be dead giveaways but how does one know when they're sitting in the crate?

06 Early Builds probably in the crates since 05...
Too be honest I would rather have a late build than an early build because of the changes they have made..
If i was you dealer and you said I'll buy that Xfire with cash for 5500 I would say done deal....

Gotta remember there position they probably paid 7k for thoose sleds when they purchased them and are already taking a loss plus the interest they've paid. On the other hand if I know which MN dealers your talking about they got them from special services(ACs holdover and salvage yard for dealers) and they bought them for 5k and are making a profit. All I say is don't complain when your local dealers go under because everyone is buying somewere else its getting quite common with the smaller dealers. AC needs to step up to the plate and somehow level the playing field or there are going to be no smaller dealers left just a few bigs ones which will eventually hurt them as a company.

Catboy I am looking for a later build....not EB.

NDMtnsledder I hear you and don't really let dealers work on my sleds....if i did I would ante up for the service.
Notice I'm looking for a proven platform and not the 2007 which it seems most dealers left there sledders holding the bag wether it was AC or on there account. It's not just AC it seems all the mfg'ers are trying to work through issues on there customers riding time which is not the game I'm willing to play anymore....when it's time to ride I want to ride. I'd love to have reverse but not at the expense of buying a potential problem child.
Thanks for the response.

What happens when they keep them for another year because the wont deal. Hey next year they will be getting even lower and lose more of there asses.

Go to Haydays in a month usually alot of new non current stuff there. They were going for under 6300 for the std. last year if I remember right.

Wait tell they quite selling sleds and send them back to the factory with no money lost to them on the sleds. Thats what a few in this area have done. You might not get your service done at the dealer but you gotta get parts somewere. Just saying we wonder why the dealers are closing but will drive 2 states to save $500.

I travel for living so picking up the sled isn't that big of a deal to me.

ND what do you think is a fair price for a new 06 Xfire 700? I ask because resale prices on sleds are in the dumper if you haven't noticed and having to sell my 06 F7 cheap needs to offset by buying the Xfire cheap.
I'd also be curious what your take is on the bent tunnels that Cat is not standing behind and the 07 flamethrowers that people will be stuck with when resale for them is non-existant......not attcking you or anyone else here just summer conversation.

Maybe they should be competative. I live in Michigan and buy a majoraty of my sleds at Munising Pro Sports, 6 hours away. I dont depend on service anywhere. All the other dealers don't deal, and say that there is no way they are selling that sled for that. The only time I go is for warrenty, oitherwise I fix it. If your not mechanically inclined have a speed shop guy work on it.

I understand were your coming from I just do some part time work for my dealer keeping up his computers and doing some books and have seen a lot of whats been going on over the last few years, 2 local dealers have quit and more to come shortly I'd guess. I do all my own service but when I need a part for my trip in 2 days its my local dealer I've done business with for years that pulls parts off a showroom sled to get me going. I've known him to send parts overnight from Cat direct out west to a guy or send parts with another group going out to get someone up and going. He does the same for all his customers yeah I may pay a couple hundred more for my sled but I'd rather do that then miss a trip just what I'm trying to say. I'm not standing up for Cat just local dealers I'm happy that now he took on the Polaris line also so i have a choice in manufacture . On the other hand I'm the kind of person that buys vehicles from the small local dealership rather then going to a large one because when I need help or warranty they are a lot easier to deal with. On the other hand I couldn't find a decent bike dealer to work with anywhere close so I just went with the cheapest.

I know what your saying about poor values and companies not standing behind there product IMO only one company has delivered as promised the last few years Yamaha. Anyway i'd say in that 5500-6000 range from what I've seen. Were still trading in 1500mile 06M7s for 5000-5500 some will depend if its a snopro or not. The CF problem is entirely a shock valving problem. It doesn't show up on the Ms and the tunnels are the same its the shocks don't rebound quickly enough when submitted to many stutter bumps in a row every bump it rebounds a lil less tell its fully compressed then stuff starts to bend. Talked to an engineer at the show last spring and he sheepishly admitted thats the problem but cat won't admit openly. If you get one before I'd put a brace on I'd send the shocks off to be re valved. The ride will be better and you'll avoid the problem. As far as the flamethrower I don't have any experience just what i've read and sure hope cat gets its figured out for everyone. Problems for all the manufactures seem to be more common place then in years past and IMO all the more reason to have a good dealer that will go to bat for you.

check these guys out. They have Xfire's up the butt... They have them sitting outside in crates and in the showroom plus many other cats too choose from... They should give you a pretty good deal because they don't get too many people to go there.... Just check them out if you want...

http://www.westsidepowerllc.com/

I will be checking these guys out this fall...

Braces will be on before the sled ever sees the snow!