Hi everyone, I'm about to purchase a piano and my choices are between the Yamaha U3 and the Yamaha U1. I live in New York and the price I'm being quoted for a new U3 is about $9,300. Do you think this is a fair price or do you think I should ask for lower if I can?
The Yamaha U1 is about $3,000 less than the U3. Do you think the price difference makes it worthwhile buying the U1? I know the U3 is supposed to have better sound, but i'm concerned that I live in an apartment and that it may be too loud.
Thank you!

The U3's are considerably nicer than the U1. The pricing sounds good to me, but I will say that the extras on the U3 do not translate as well in resale for whatever reason. Buyers tend to lose a greater percentage than on the U1. But if it's a keeper, then definitely go for the U3.

The extra size doesn't translate directly into "louder." The fullness of larger pianos generally translates into better dynamics - high and low. You could get more carried away on the U3 .

For apartment life, you might want to look into the U1 Silent as an option as well. The factory silent system is very good, IMO.

$9,300 for U3 and $6,300 is definitely high. I just stopped by a Yamaha dealer in San Jose California yesterday. They are selling pianos for another yamaha dealer which was out of business a few months ago. For U3, they ask for $8,500 and salesperson said it can be $200 lower plus 2% check or cash discount. I believe the price can go down to $8,000+tax. For U1, the marked final sale price is about $5,400. They are all brand new pianos in box and made this or later last year. They also come with 10 year parts and labor warranty.

Keep bargaining with your dealer, you should be able to get better prices.

I have a U3 and it has great dynamics. A lovely full bass sound and of course there is always the middle mute pedal if you wish.

$5,300 can get a new U1?

CA prices have generally not been equivalent to other markets on Yamaha & Kawai in particular. There have been many, many reports about that here. You could ask, but the NY salesman may laugh you out of the building. More likely, he'll show you a T121 instead.

Not necessarily true. My local dealer offers U1 at a slightly higher price but U3 at a better one.

what will be average price for new U1 in most places?

Sam:

Great post! Agree 100%.
Once owned U1 myself and quickly upgraded it to U3...

Norbert

Please check out the Piano Buyer (ad on the left, free to read). It has a lot of pricing info.

The MSRP/MSP is about $10k, and the Piano Buyer suggests a 10%~30% discount.

But none of that really really matters. Shop around locally and you'll get your local average price.

why CA prices should be lower than many other places? If you mean "grey market" pianos, that's not we are talking about. I don't think the certified Yamaha dealer sells grey market pianos.

I'm not talking about greys. Anecdotal evidence suggests this to be true. YCA's headquarters is in CA, so maybe dealers save on shipping or taxes. Maybe the proximity of dealers is so high that they've eliminated prep an sell them like toaster ovens. Maybe they save on container shipping prices that don't have to be trucked across country. Maybe their volume accounts for it. Maybe 19 other maybes. I was only commenting about what I've seen while lurking then participating on this forum for the last 4 years.

Sam, you are 100% correct. Yamaha and Kawai California selling prices are substantially lower than in the rest of the country, especially with the buying groups that seem to be prevalent. One local dealer just delivered 20 U1's at $5,300 each - and IN THE BOX directly to the customers. Personally, I don't see how a dealer can stay in business at those margins, but surely they don't do any prep work or pre-delivery inspection of the pianos, and I find it discomforting that a manufacturer would condone that method of selling their product.

Perhaps because Yamaha locally is in most of the Costco stores, the prices have to be very low. When comparing current wholesale prices on "gray market" pianos, it almost seems like the used pianos are MORE expensive than new ones

Fun post to read. I think the 'maybe' that there are many competing dealers freeway-close is more than a maybe. On the box vs. prepped, you could say that forgoing prep may be a race to the bottom, but as most people in the trade will attest, it's not major surgery to prep a Yamaha. Buying at the bottom price and paying for prep independently may be a perfectly reasonable option.

Maybe if someone were shopping price for a U-1 or U-3 outside California, maybe they might seek out a dealership of a chain operation representing Steinway where Yamaha has taken refuge presumably for price protection, only to discover that the level of generosity shown by those dealers on Yamaha product prices is may not quite what had been expected.

Then the cheap piano dealer will start getting secondhand Yamaha and Kawai, and saying they are more expensive then new because they had access to better materials, and therefore the pianos are built better and even though they are used, they are better then new. They will have also settled in a bit, and because of their older (aged) soundboards they will sound better also.

If dealers start saying this, then really, , we're really screwed. Time for distress!

But teh above example is fictional, but is really a culmination of what different dealers have said to me over a period of around a year. But imagine if it really happened!

I own a U3 and take lessons on a U1. The U3 is much more resonant with a deeper fuller bass. The U3 is a great piano.

Forget money. Buy the one that sounds the best. Market prices rule, so the prices you encounter will be reasonable.

No kidding. You can't swing a dead cat around here without hitting a Kawai dealer.

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