Buying Advice 2008 John Deere 5203

[TractorPhil]

After Basically Giving Up On My 2006 FarmPro...That Has 159 Hours On It, But Has Been "Junk" From The Start, I'm Now Seriously Considering Purchasing A 2008 JD 5203!
I Called Up A Friend Of Mine And Asked Him If He Wanted To Go Tractor Shopping With Me.
I Went Over The JD Deal..0% Interest For 72 Months. I Went Over The New Holland Deal..0% Interest For 60 Months. I Went Over The Kubota Deal..Etc, Etc. He Heard Me Out And Then Said,"I Know Where You Can Get A Real Strong, Like New Deere For A Real Good Price, My Brother Is Selling His JD 5203, You Should Ride Over And Take A Look!" I Said Ok And Was On My Way. As I Pulled Up, They Were Pulling It Out If The Garage(yes garage kept) And The Shine Almost Blinded Me! I Was Just Hoping THE PRICE Didn't BLIND ME! And Man It Sounded Sweet! Actually Sounded More Like A HARLEY Than A TRACTOR! So He Tells Me He Bought It Brand New For Just Over $15,000 3 Years Ago, But He Only Has About 3 Acres That Are Open Field And Wanted Something More Compact, Around 25-30 HP. He Had A 6 Foot Rotor Tiller Behind It And Told Me To Take It Home And See Just What I Thought. So I Did...And It ONLY HAD 209 HOURS On It! I Asked Him About So Few Hours, And He Replied.."It Probably Only Has About 150 Hours. A Friend Of Mine Borrowed It And When He Returned It, He Left The Key Switched On, And I Didn't Notice Until The Battery Was Dead 3 Days Later!" I Tried It Out For About An Hour And Was Really Impressed With The Power, The Sound, Cool Running Temperature(It's Already Hot In SC) The Low Hours, The Steering, The Ease Of Handling, And Most Of All The Comfort Of The Ride!! This Tractor Drove Like A Cadillac!
I Headed Back His Way, And Figured He'd Say...$13,000 Or So Because Of It's Great Care, Condition, And SUPER LOW HOURS! He Asked What I Thought And I Told Him I Loved It And Asked What He'd Take For It....And He Said, I'd Like To Get $10,000, But For You I'll Take $9,000! I Think I'm Heading To The Bank Tomorrow At A High Rate Of Speed!!!

Again,
2008....JD 5203....209 HOURS...$9,000!

He Added A Nice Brush Guard, Tool Box, And Canopy Top Aswell.

It Is 2WD, But Didn't Have A Problem Anywhere On My 15 Acres!


Thoughts Please, TractorPhil

 

[vtsnowedin]

The banks are funny these days. You might have more trouble getting them to lend you $9000 then the dealers will give you on 50K. Sounds like a great find that will soon pass so good luck with it.

 

[KB9UDE]

I had a 5203. They are great tractors. Sounds like a deal to me. Go for it!

 

[charleyfarmall]

It's not already in your garage??:thumbsup:

 

[TractorPhil]

VTS...Sorry I Wasn't Clear...Not Going To The Bank To Borrow Money For It, But To Simply Make A Cash Withdrawal From My Account!
Interest Rate On Farm Equipment At My Bank Is 12% If 10 Years Old Or Newer & 17% If Older Than 10 Years!

 

[vtsnowedin]

VTS...Sorry I Wasn't Clear...Not Going To The Bank To Borrow Money For It, But To Simply Make A Cash Withdrawal From My Account!
Interest Rate On Farm Equipment At My Bank Is 12% If 10 Years Old Or Newer & 17% If Older Than 10 Years!

It's nice that you have the scratch to make the deal.
Clearly the banks really don't want to loan money on used farm equipment. That should be depressing prices on used stuff as the market is limited to those with ready cash in hand. Policies like these deliver the customer to the dealer on a silver platter. I see a conspiracy here.

 

[Bullseye]

Home Equity Line of credit, use it on what you want, interest is reasonable.

 

[JD3520Cab]

Where are you guys at? We are doing 3.75 fixed for 5 years here in the midwest.

 

[Zebrafive]

Nice find! and you say a Kubota dealer turned you on to it! and his brother bought a Deere and not a Kubota?

 

[vtsnowedin]

Home Equity Line of credit, use it on what you want, interest is reasonable.

Been there , done that , years ago. Finally got it paid off.
Today they will only lend you a percentage of the positive equity you have and many people are underwater on there homes with current prices meaning they can borrow nothing against the house and the negative equity counts against any amount you might want to borrow on any used equipment. If you have positive equity on your home and a good credit rating your in the top 25% of people right now and may be well ahead of people making twice as much as you are but have over bought on credit.
Dairy farmers have been losing money on every hundredweight of milk produced and that has eaten away at the equity they have in there land and equipment. I expect another wave of close out sales of working farms this year.