Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Just purchased a new Clavinova, need feedback

Hi, I'm not musically inclined, but my wife is the one who wanted a new digital piano. Space was a factor, so we wanted something small, yet sounds good since we have volume ceilings. My wife is a Grade 4 piano student, but hasn't played in over 4 years. She wanted to get back into playing before she loses her skills.

We went to the University of Miami School of Music Yamaha Piano sale (which I've heard is more of a sales gimmick to get people to buy used yr old pianos, but they also had new ones available). The Yamaha dealer had a whole range of Clavinova's, but the sale prices applied to the ones in stock, so color selection was limited. My wife and I were looking for a simple, yet functional digital piano with/without floppy for under $3,000. Our #1 choice was the CLP-170 in Black Ebony, but it was simply just too far out of our price range. After several hours, we finally settled on a brand new CLP-115 (with bench). It's not the base model, but one level up from the entry level 110.

When all was said and done, we left with a final price of $1,700(US) out the door (FL 7% Sales Tax and $50 Delivery included). Of course, once we got home, my wife and I couldn't help but feel like we just left a car dealership and got reemed on the price since the dealer automatically accepted our initial offer.

I'd like to get some feedback from others and perhaps see if we got a "OKAY" deal. I just want some peace of mind and to see if we should had spent a little bit more to get the CLP-120. My wife was looking for a basic piano, so this was as basic as you can think of. Any insight is greatly appreciated!

I believe you got a good price. I think that you probably would have gotten around the same deal at a local Yamaha dealer, but probably not have done any better.
The best reason to shop for a piano at a college sale is not necesarily to get a blow your socks off price, but to have a larger selection to play than you normanlly would.
You ended up with a good, solid digital piano at a nice price. Congrats.

The CLP 120 was quoted at $1,700 which included delivery but not taxes. I think that was for either maple or cherry. This is in the San Francisco, CA bay area.

The CLP120 is available only in rosewood.

actually, CLP170 is the latest and high end Clavinova model which is well worth $3000. if i were you, i would have waited till i have more money to buy a CLP170 rather than buying an entry level model like CLP115. i would at least get a CLP130 but not any model lower than that.

you might have a good deal moneywise, but it is such an entry level digital piano which may not worth much after a couple of years.

What it might be worth in a few years is all in how you measure it. If you are talking about trade in/resale then no, it won't hold it's value very well. But we are not talking about a Steinway B here. No digital piano performs well in resale because of how rapidly the technology changes.
If the value is having a piano that will perform exactly the same day after day for the next dozen or so years, never require any maintenence, etc. then even an "entry level" Clavinova is a great investment.
I love the CLP170, but for the money s4sammy got the best digital piano out there.

Spoken like a dealer...

...and of course we all know that being a dealer means I am evil. No chance I am just trying to reassure someone that they made a good purchase of a quality instrument.

Actually, that would be great. But that's not what you said.

Actually, that is exactly what I said. Sure, I threw my opinion in. Unfortunately because I am a piano salesman I can never offer opinions because some people are jaded into believing that we all just regurgitate the "company line" in order to make more $$$.
I obviously stood to make a lot of money in this situation, responding to someone 3000 miles away from me that has already bought a piano.

No it's not.

You're a Yamaha dealer. You made a rather one-sided (and highly suspect) claim:

Yes, you're a dealer. And with that comes responsibility. If you want to offer the kind of encouragement you said you were going for, then GREAT!!! But if you make extremely subjective statements about products you sell as if they were fact, you'll find your experience here less enjoyable.

i kind of agree with SteveY, and i don't think s4sammy got the best deal at all, considering what model he got.

SteveY,
I will admit that I could have clarified my statements as personal opinion. I have represented 6 differentlines of digital pianos in my career and at this point do hold strong opinions as to which one is best. And as a dealer, you are right, it does come with certain responsibility. I should contain my statements to factual information or clearly express that I am offering an editorial opinion.

Michael,
I went back and read a bunch of your previous posts. You seem genuine in your desire to help people. That's great -- We need good dealers on this board. And for the record, there's nothing wrong with a dealer having opinions (even strong ones). But as your above post indicates, you understand that your words can carry an extra bit of authority, even if you don't intend it that way.

I have to admit that my hair-trigger response to you had more to do with other dealers misusing the forum than you. I apologize for that. I hope you'll continue to offer your expertise here as it can be a VERY valuable part of this little community.
Steve

Well, I'm a Piano World rookie, and never expected my post to cause a bit of controversy. Hope that there's still a little between everyone!

Anyhow, thanks for everyone's thoughts. I appreciate the various viewpoints from both the dealer's and other Clav owner's perspectives. Well, my new CLP-115 just arrived and its a beauty! It's like a Corolla, your basic, no frills, roll down the windows digital piano. It does exactly what my wife wants (and that is to be used as a piano, so that she doesn't lose the skills she's learned as a child). To continue the analogy, the CLP 120-150's to us were feature loaded Corolla's and the CLP-170's were a like a Camry (more luxury features as well as more $$$$). Perhaps we can move up to something similar to the 170 in the future if it fits our budget. In the meantime, we're pleased with our purchase and enjoying our very first Clavinova piano.

Another item we considered in the purchase price of the piano was the fact that the local dealer offered us the opportunity to trade in the piano at the full purchase price. Of course that is sans tax and delivery charges and must be made within 5 years (as long as it's in new/mint condition). I'm not sure if this was a scam or if it's a promo done regionally/nationally, but it sure sweetened the deal. Of course I did have my skeptism in such a trade-in offer (salemans will be salesmens!), but it did leave my options open if we ever wanted to upgrade. I'm assuming that the trade-in must be made towards full retail priced pianos.

Has anyone ever gotten this "trade-in" offer or do you think this a sales gimmick just to close the deal?

The trade in policy is legitimate and is done by many dealers across the country. The way it generally works is you get full value on your trade if your next purchase is double the price or higher. It doesn't necesarily have to be off the retail price, but don't expect any negotiation room past any "advertised" sale prices.

And congrats once again on your purchase and I'm glad your wife is happy.