Thanks for the previous posts on Kawai GE-30. Today after having a friend testing various Kawai pianos and with our budget of $11K, we are seriously considering GE-30. We got a price of $14.6K from the dealer, but I knew there was room there. I found from some old posts in 2008 saying the price could go as low as ~$11K. Also learned that Yamaha GC-1 is comparable in quality and also in price. So I may try Yamaha GC-1 as well.
1) Anyone recently bought Kawai GE-30 or Yamaha GC-1? Could you please share the price (before tax)? I want to get a good price, but don't want to sound unreasonable. Not sure whether there was any price hike since 2008.
2) Any difference in these two models (to be used by my 9 and 13-year old kids)? Warrenty different?
3)How's piano market now compared to 2008-2009? I went to a few stores today (living in southern CA)(Saturday); only met 1 other customer. It does not seem to be a good market for dealer.
Mnany thanks!

1) I didn't buy but I do know that prices have gone up. Weaker dollar since 2008, etc. etc. For example, back then, an RX-2 might have been below $20k, now it's not uncommon to see it at or above $20k.
2) There are many differences but between these two you can decide on your tone and touch preference. The Kawai warranty is transferable whereas Yamaha I do not believe is.
3) Piano market seems to be doing ok. We have some chain expansions going on down here. Talked to one of the owners... he was selling more grands than uprights.

Yangx

There must be 10 Kawai dealers in So Calif - bad for them, good for you.

The best way to assure that you get a good price, it seems to me, is to have several of them compete for your business. You could guess at what a "fair" price might be all day long - why not get a price quotation from several dealers and see what happens?

As for the state of the piano industry right now, I wouldn't be too concerned. This is a slow time of year for piano sales.

Just wait until around the time school starts up again -- then you may see as many as 2 other customers on a Saturday!

Thanks all for great feedback.
1) I talked to Yamaha dealers. They told me that Kawai's material is of low grade and thus can not compare with Yamaha. Yet here I did see lots of positive comments about Kawai GE-30 and Kawai in general from the website. So I'm confused...I can test the piano sound but can not tell the durability of the material. Any comment?

2) Good suggestion from Furtwangler to get a price quotation from several dealers and see what happens. However, in practice, most dealers say they don't give price over the phone making it a big burden to drive to each dealer. Any advice?
Many thanks! Happy summer!

Yangx

Yes - more advice:

1. Drive to each dealer.

2. Stay away from salesmen who lie. If you can.


Happy Summer.

Almost bought a GE 30 just 2 weeks ago. If I hadn't chanced upon a beautiful rebuilt steinway would have gone w the Kawai. Great piano. 14.6 is pretty close to what I was offered. My price included delivery and taxes.

Just got a quote and am nowhere close to 14.6 with tax

Whoever said that......buy from someone else, and post their name here.

Yang.. Try Ahn's piano in koreatown. They quoted me something well below 14k.. Although this was months ago

Prices have gone up on Kawai (and Yamaha) since 2008. Remember, too, that 2008 was in the depths of the economic crash, and deals were being made out of desperation just to raise some cash. Any prices quoted that long ago are meaningless today. There is virtually no chance of getting a new GE-30 for $11K today - unless you find a dealer going out of business who is desperate to move out the last few pianos. The dealer would be losing money on the deal considering the cost of the piano and freight plus tuning, etc. At today's prices I think $14.6K is a pretty decent deal. There may be a little "room," but it won't be close to $3K.

By the way, as the owner of a GE-30 I can attest to the quality of its parts. Every time my tuner tunes my piano he says he wishes he could sit and play it all day because it is a delight to play. I wish he could, too. I love to listen to his playing. Any dealer who badmouths the competition instead of talking up his brand is probably being dishonest with you in many ways. Way back when I was looking the local Yamaha dealer told me he hated to take Kawais in trade when I mentioned I really liked them. He said he had a hard time selling a new Yamaha when it sat next to a used Kawai. This is a Yamaha dealer, and an honest man. Did he mean Kawai was better? No, but he honestly believed it to be on the same level with Yamaha and with a somewhat different tone.

I tried the Yamaha GC1 as well as the Kawai GE-30 last year when I started my piano search. I didn't care for the Yamaha at all. Very harsh sound and weak, I thought, but to be fair, this Yamaha dealer seems to just uncrate the pianos and put them on the floor. The Kawai GE-30 was a bit soft, not very powerful, but nice action and sweet sound compared to the Yamaha. I liked the Kawai RX-2 a lot more, but it was $20,000 in polished ebony. Worth the extra to me, but if you only have $11,000, I am not sure you can even get the GE-30. I think they wanted $14,500 although maybe they would bargain a bit. I ended up going in a very different direction but the Kawai pianos were nice.