JD always more expensive than an equal Kubota?

[Ted Summey]

Only you can decide what is most important and what you can live with dealer-wise and tractor-wise. My experience with the closest dealer pushed me to a different brand and dealer. The NH/mahindra sales guy talked so much about Kubota that it it made me look at the Kubota dealer. The JD salesman didn't take me seriously when I told him I was looking for a tractor to replace a MF 135. He made some wise crack and pointed me toward the 50 hp tractors. Didn't realize I was a buyer and not a tire kicker at all.

The tractors vary some band to brand, you really need to drive them to see what fits you. In my case the Kubota was the best fit all around - including dealer service. BTW my Kubota dealer/owner remembers my name. That is a plus.

 

[case245]

that happen to me i called the jd dealer for a price then a week later i stop in no sooner i walked in i talked to you last week i think you cant affored a jd you need to look at a kubota new holland etc the words out of the salesman mouth so i walked out

 

[BlackRaptor]

I had something like that happen too with Deere. I think the problem least in southern MN where BIG AG is king the Deere dealers seem more interested in the 200K + sales and when your looking at a tractor thats even close to 40K which to most of us in a HUGE amount of money is hardly anything to them.
As you can see from my sig i did end up with a Deere i found a great dealer with an amazing salesman who cared just as much about small lawn and Garden sales as he did about a 450K Combine with a 16 row corn head.
So i guess its true the dealer/sales person makes or breaks the sale. Around here Orange and Green came in close but JD has a much nicer cab.
But if my only option was that crap dealer i first delt with i would have been driving orange right now.

 

[CurlyDave]

When I bought, the JD dealer was accommodating, easy to work with and higher priced. But he also had product in inventory and could let me drive it.

The Kubota dealer had a young kid for a salesman who was willing to take an order from me but had no clue what I really needed, had no product in inventory and wanted me to buy from looking at pictures.

I went with the Deere and have felt that was the right decision for many years.

 

[fieldman12]

I had something like that happen too with Deere. I think the problem least in southern MN where BIG AG is king the Deere dealers seem more interested in the 200K + sales and when your looking at a tractor thats even close to 40K which to most of us in a HUGE amount of money is hardly anything to them.
As you can see from my sig i did end up with a Deere i found a great dealer with an amazing salesman who cared just as much about small lawn and Garden sales as he did about a 450K Combine with a 16 row corn head.
So i guess its true the dealer/sales person makes or breaks the sale. Around here Orange and Green came in close but JD has a much nicer cab.
But if my only option was that crap dealer i first delt with i would have been driving orange right now.

Deere is normally very busy when I go in but has always been helpful at least here. It is true they do like to sell the big iron such as an S690 combine you mentioned vs a $40,000.00 tractor if they had there choice but they know in volume the little machines make allot of sales and lead to other sales such as mowers and attachments. This would make Deere a little harder to talk to cause of the extra sales of the bigger iron that a person does not have to compete with that the smaller lines of tractor manufactures dont make or sell big iron. Still at least for me service is important and some say no need for dealer to be close. I say if you use your machines allot you will need service eventually no matter what the brand. Allot of times when Im busy I don't have time to run all over the country. I like Massey Utility tractors but getting parts when needed is not handy anymore and often it takes days to get parts. Even Deere now takes a little longer to get parts then they use too. I use to be able to get a part the next morning and now it takes a couple days. Part of that I am sure is because they closed there parts Warehouse in Ohio. The Massey I have had to wait a week or so for parts. Thats not efficient when you got jobs on your farm to do.

 

[DFB]

I chose Deere and my experience has been the local Ag dealers have been the better places for me. When I bought they had the model I wanted on the lot but it had a few hours on it already (they said the owner took it home and dug fence holes with it) and considered used so I said I wanted a new one and they were right there getting one delivered. Even with Deere the urban based compact/lawn/garden type dealers were much more expensive and charging up to $3 more a quart for the same oil too. Went to 2 different Kubota dealers, one out in farm country by the JD dealer only wanted to sell what he had on the lot and wasnt interested much in ordering one. The other orange dealer was firm in price and just as expensive as anything else. I looked most closely at the big 3 nearest to me Deere, New Holland, Kubota. TC Boomers at the time. The two NH dealers are both gone now.

 

[Zebrafive]

I had the same experience. This coming June will be two years when I bought my tractor. I went with my neighbor to the largest JD dealer in my area because he had purchased his tractor there. Rest assured that it is not my intentions to compare one brand with another, but the salesman at the JD dealer wouldn't even lower his price $50.00. He even commented to me that if I wasn't willing to pay his price, someone else would. I eventually bought a Kubota L4400 because of the price and the excellent service and repore shown by this dealership. In concluding, I would state that the service provided by the Dealer is at the top of my buying list. BTW, best wishes.

There used to be four different John Deere dealers with in an 10 -40 miles from me. One MEGA DEALER bought them all. It used to be they would deal since there was competion. Now they all know the price will be the same no matter what store you go to and the profit will all go the mother store. And it seems they are afraid of being called on the carpet to explain why they gave a price break.

I thought used implements might be different. I asked if they would discount if I bought two implements in one sale. Their response "the price is the price"

Before they became a Mega Store, I always bought parts from them to support the local dealer. Now I buy online.

 

[BlackRaptor]

Yup the mega store have wreck something that i always loved about my JD dealers. local small shop and really cared.
I still have one small JD shop and that's where mine came from hopefully they stay like that.

 

[fieldman12]

Yup the mega store have wreck something that i always loved about my JD dealers. local small shop and really cared.
I still have one small JD shop and that's where mine came from hopefully they stay like that.

Three of the five John Deere dealers around here is part of a big outfit. There has been talks in the past at least around here Deere having one big dealer in one area instead of several stores like now. In my opinion that would be a big step backwards for most farmers. I dont like the big outfits either because that forces you to pay there price, switch equipment brands or drive farther to another Deere dealer. What got Deere where there at is not just a good product, but quick support after the sale and good resale value. I saw a report years ago about Deere on a stock channel and they claimed it was one of the most trusted companies in the USA even before McDonalds that every kid knows. I think overall Deere still does a good job but yes they are more focused at most dealerships for big business. That is where if they are not careful the small line manufactures of tractors will steal the market from them. It really is not that hard to make smaller machines especially these days. Most people dont do heavy tillage with them like they use to years ago but I know places like Kentucy they still do a good bit of plowing with them. I had a guy a while back that has sold used tractors for 30 plus years tell me the machines from KY get used versus tractors from Indiana, Ohio, Iowa and allot of other states. Every state has different needs and some areas have one brand of machinery that sells better that others. In the end the dealer has a big part to do with it. In my opinion when I was a kid back in the eighties it was hard to beat any smaller Ford tractor. I wish the old Ford line was still around.

 

[buickanddeere]

There is fundamental point that makes your question impossible to answer. There is no Kubota equal to a Deere.

I was going to use those emotion thingmajigs but can't find a link or icon to them.
The remark was too tempting of a zinger not to post