Why is it so hard to find a reasonable deal on a used tractor? I have been watching the papers, etc trying to find a used tractor for soem time now and everyone I find is way overpriced. I don't know if people are paying these prices or what but it blows my mind when you see 5 year old tractors with no warranty, no 0% financing, 500 hrs, and they are asking within $1000 of what a brand new one can be bought for.
Used tractors are gold
- Thread starter bdog
- Start date
bp fick
Super Member
Asking price and selling price are two different things.
1. You don't know if they sold at all. Pretty likely they have not.
2. If they did sell, what was the final agreed upon price? Don't know.
3. The price at the dealership, while "only" a $1000 more, will include paperwork fees, delivery, and wait for it....sales tax. That's another $1000 that won't be involved, in most states, when it is a private party sale.
4. The advertised price might reflect the fact the zero down, zero interest was used to buy the tractor in the first place and the payoff is still pretty high.
Thus, the difference might be as much as $3000 very quickly in real dollar terms. Let's say that is on a $15,000 tractor. My math shows that as a 20% savings. Not everything is whacky as it first appears.
1. You don't know if they sold at all. Pretty likely they have not.
2. If they did sell, what was the final agreed upon price? Don't know.
3. The price at the dealership, while "only" a $1000 more, will include paperwork fees, delivery, and wait for it....sales tax. That's another $1000 that won't be involved, in most states, when it is a private party sale.
4. The advertised price might reflect the fact the zero down, zero interest was used to buy the tractor in the first place and the payoff is still pretty high.
Thus, the difference might be as much as $3000 very quickly in real dollar terms. Let's say that is on a $15,000 tractor. My math shows that as a 20% savings. Not everything is whacky as it first appears.
Egon
Epic Contributor
Tractors depreciate at a different rate than do cars. A 500 hour tractor could be considered new in terms of total hours expected.
SpringHollow
Elite Member
What do you mean, no good deals - $5700 like brand new 4WD John Deere (4000 series), loader, backhoe, forks, etc etc - free delivery no matter where you are - yep, Craig's list scam. Besides the too good to be true, free delivery without knowing where you are and pictures from Early summer when we have a foot of snow are dead give aways.
Ken
Ken
RoyJackson
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I did a quick study of John Deere CUTs several years ago. I focused on the 755, 855, 955, 670 and 770.
I may still have the spreadsheet somewhere, but what it boiled down to was about a 20% depreciation over the first 5 years. After that, the asking prices remained pretty consistent and the rate of depreciation dramatically slowed (almost stopped, in fact).
Now, this study wasn't scientific and the sample size wasn't too big. I focused on Deeres and their resale value is probably higher then many other brands. Also, CUTs were not as popular in the late 80's to mid 90's (the build years of the used tractors I studied), so there was less availability.
This is a subjective view, but I think CUT owners held on to their machines longer in the 80's, 90's and early 2000's, so less used machines on the market.
I may still have the spreadsheet somewhere, but what it boiled down to was about a 20% depreciation over the first 5 years. After that, the asking prices remained pretty consistent and the rate of depreciation dramatically slowed (almost stopped, in fact).
Now, this study wasn't scientific and the sample size wasn't too big. I focused on Deeres and their resale value is probably higher then many other brands. Also, CUTs were not as popular in the late 80's to mid 90's (the build years of the used tractors I studied), so there was less availability.
This is a subjective view, but I think CUT owners held on to their machines longer in the 80's, 90's and early 2000's, so less used machines on the market.
Not sure how you can say "overpriced". Economics 101 says that anything is only worth what someone is willing to pay and supply and demand enter into it. People ask what they do for a tractor because they can and do get it. Most do build some "wiggle room" into their asking prices, the trick is to find out how much they will wiggle!
two_bit_score
Super Star Member
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They may still owe as much as they are asking because they haven't paid off the 0% financing yet.
buck12
Veteran Member
I looked for a year and bought about a year ago. I didn't find what I thought was a good deal on a tractor. However I found a package deal, tractor, trailer, and implements, for what I thought was a good deal and bought. I can feel the pain of anyone looking for a used tractor. Good deals are few.
buck12
Veteran Member
Our county tax assessor told me good luck with that and that my property was worth what he said it was worth.
dcyrilc
Super Member
I looked for about a year also. I settled for a 30 year old 4WD gear tractor with FEL (JD2240) for $7500. It included 8ft RB, 105 disk plow, and a 7ft landscape rake. It also came with duels, an extra mounted front tire, and an extra front and rear tire unmounted. It needs some work, but is still functional without it. All-in-all, I think I got a good deal.