Just a word on the extended warranty, I know the company and we sell that warranty, not only on our Chinese tractors but it is the same company that backs KIOTI's extended warranty program.
I cannot imagine that there is not a qualified repair shop willing to take Fail-Safe's money. Of course the warranty only covers things that come up after the manufacturers warranty has expired, it is after all only an extended warranty.
These problems seem to be day one issues as documented by Patrick himself so coverage by Fail safe is probably out anyway.
The typical Chinese tractors are sold with parts only warranties by the manufacturer or distributor. The dealer is responsible for any labor warranty extened to the customer. Fail Safe will not cover labor for at least 6 months. Naturally they do not want to insure infant mortatlity issues, and in general if there are going to be problems they show up quickly when the tractor is put to use. Once any initial issues are resolved, and they are becoming less frequent on properly prepared units, people do get good service out of many different brands of Chinese tractors, including Lenar.
My contract with Lenar required us to provide labor on all units we sold. (We are no longer affiliated with Lenar, but continue to honor our warranty commitments)
Since Patrick's dealer is gone he is in a very unfortunate situation. People react differently in this situation and like Durbob says "until you or I have been there" its hard to know how we would react. Would we seek help solving the problem or vengance? I'm not here to judge.
It would have been good if Patrick had found these various boards before he purchased his tractor. I am sure he would have found advice from satisfied users of Chinese tractors who often report that they are ideal for someone who wants to save money but who in turn is willing to do some work on them from time to time.
I agree with JohnS, the dealer was (I presume) inexperienced, and should probably never have delivered a third tractor. (engine knock on first tractor may have been a rod or perhaps an injector problem, but if another unit is on hand, I can see doing the swap) As I understand the second one was replaced for "hydraulic hose failure". That seems to me that it could be repaired in the field, no point in second guessing now though.
The third tractor was broken due to improper loader mounting bracket design, having nothing to do with Lenar, (and no, it is not the customers fault either!) but the dealer made good on that one, although a more thorough pre-delivery of the 4th one may have prevented or at least mitigated the current situation.
Lenar has big plans, regional distributors, National brand status, "move over Kubota" type attitude, at least on the marketing side. I'm sure they could do something for Patrick. If not Mazama (the national importer), than the Regional distributor(s) (not necessarly Michigan as this has become a national issue) might want to make some effort to at least get this guy's tractor fixed.
But at this point, with all this public bashing, I wonder just how excited anyone is going to be to go beyond their minimal legal requriement to help ?
I am no sage, but I have learned that resolution to issues always results in both parties moving toward each other in compromise, so far no one seems to be moving on this, at least in the public eye.
Now just to clear up a remark I made earlier, not all Chinese tractors have the same warranty structure as I stated in this post, Farm Pro, and I am sure others, cover their labor to the selling dealer for the warranty term.
One of many morals to be learned by all from this saga, as it has been posted on TBN many times before: Selecting a dealer is often as important as choosing the tractor itself. And I'll add that often bigger is not necessarily better.
Sorry this got so long, I'll shut up now.
