Is this a decent price for a Yamaha C2?

[unknownlegend]

We've decided to purchase a Yamaha C2 for our daughter, and now need to decide on the selling price.  Our local dealer in upstate NY gave us a retail price for the Ebony finish C2 model at $28,000 roughly, and he said he could discount that by perhaps $10,000. 

The question is does a price of $18,000 for a new C2 sound reasonable?  I don't know where else to inquire about prices online, and we don't have many dealers where we live so we are restricted somewhat.  There are dealers that are about 2 hours by car in Syracuse but it would seem to me it might be better to buy from a local dealer even if the price is somewhat higher so that if there are issues with the piano down the road we would have help close by.

I would appreciate any opinions from the experts.  Thanks.

[jr11]

Sounds good, but be forewarned, there is no such thing as a fantastic deal. If a dealer is selling a piano at what seems an incredible discount, there is a reason.

Do you play? Dealers just love parents that don't play. If you don't, have someone that has played a lot of pianos give their opinion, like your daughter's teacher. Having a technician check it out (whether it's new or not) wouldn't hurt. Have a close look for ripples and flaws in the finish, like you would check out body work on a car.

If the dealer just kind of volunteered that discount without you negotiating much, it's definately cause for concern.

[Axtremus]

I disagree with JR11 -- $18,000 USD for a brand new C2 in New York is neither "too low" nor "too fantastic" to be of concern at all.

If anything, I'd commend that dealer for giving you his usual discounted price right away rather than play games with you and pretend to let you drag that discount out of him after haggling. There is nothing unusual about a $10,000 discount from a $28,000 "list" price for a new grand piano.

[unknownlegend]

I appreciate the two responses above; I do not play piano therefore I have no way to adequately evaluate the instrument.  My plan was to ask my daughters teacher to look at the piano before I purchase it.  The dealer had no C2's at their store but said by the end of this month it would be a good time to order exactly what we wanted.

The next question is: if I do order a piano from them after settling on a price, I'm assuming when it arrives I will be able to have someone evaluate the piano to make sure it is ok for purchase.....is that correct?

Should I insist on having someone evaluate the instrument before I purchase it?  (I'm assuming the answer has to be yes).