How do you tell the Year - the true year?

[ITHINKICAN]

If you go to a Dealer or if a friend has Kubota - How do you tell if it is a 2007, 2008, 2009 or 2010?

I am being told some places sell a 2008 or 2009 as a new model 2010 - which is perfectly fine... zero hours is zero hours. But doesn't anyone wonder the actual year it was produced?

Is there a badge on the machine that shows the year it was produced? Is there a number in the serial number that says it?

IMO there is a difference between a 2008 that has sat indoors (or under a cover) for 2 yrs vs a 2010 that just arrived and was put up for sale...

I am hearing different things. Can someone please clarify. :confused3:

Thank you!

 

[DiezNutz]

The serial number is how you would determine the date of manufacture, since they run consecutive from one year to the next. No date is on the tractor itself.

TractorData.com has serial number lists for older models. Not sure where to find a list of serial numbers for current models though, you might have to have a dealer look it up for you.

 

[TripleR]

I have a really good dealer whom I trust. He has a lot of turnover and prices a tractor based on when he got it and what he paid.

Since I also buy used, when a tractor was made is of less importance than condition. I pay what a tractor is worth to me.

 

[Transit]

Buy a 2007 tractor that has been sitting for three years unused. Battery? Engine? Rust? Seals?

 

[DiezNutz]

Buy a 2007 tractor that has been sitting for three years unused. Battery? Engine? Rust? Seals?

Water/microbes in the Fuel system?
UV exposure?

I'd rather buy a 3-year old used tractor than a 3-year old NOS lot queen.

I think that's pretty unlikely though... sorta like RRR said, a good dealer is going to have more turnover than that, or would have traded it to another dealer that needed it, before now.

 

[TripleR]

Almost too many variables to have a hard and fast rule on which is "better".

One, two or three years unprepped sitting in a warehouse vs six to twelve months on an open lot being run for short durations every once in a while by a curious customer; I'll take the one in the warehouse. That is why I stress condition over age.

A good dealer is really your best protection, next would be someone with the knowledge of what to look for. If you have concerns and a dealer wouldn't provide paperwork on the history, I'd probably go elsewhere.

 

[DiezNutz]

That's why mine came fresh off the truck/out of the crate. Mine was the first & only "civilian" butt to sit on it.
Yeah I had to wait a little while to get it, but long story short it was to my advantage at the time to do so (moving).

 

[beppington]

If you go to a Dealer or if a friend has Kubota - How do you tell if it is a 2007, 2008, 2009 or 2010?

My dealer told me Kubota's Grand L series 2010 models have chrome added to the stripe that runs along the sides of the hood, between the orange & the dark gray.

 

[ITHINKICAN]

This dealer has an excellent reputation and a very high turnover volume. I'd guess one of the highest if not the actual highest...

I'm not sure if it is how I was raised as a kid or something I developed - but for some reason I am cautious - and I like to evidence variables whenever possible. I love to see ***2010*** all over something or even ***2011*** - it just makes it more appealling to me...

For some reason - it makes me feel :cool2:

 

[rbargeron]

.....I'm not sure if it is how I was raised as a kid or something I developed - but for some reason I am cautious - and I like to evidence variables whenever possible. I love to see ***2010*** all over something or even ***2011*** - it just makes it more appealling to me...

I think consumers got calibrated to the "model year" back in the '50s when Detroit was changing their sheet metal on cars every year. The culture adopted "year" as a measure of freshness. In Europe, model development had a longer cycle (3-5 years) - they only grudgingly adopted "year" as more US states passed title laws. You may want to see the year posted somewhere, but the ag machinery world kinda thinks it's irrelevant. The serial number may be tied to an approximate build date - but there are times when manufacturers stockpile new product in warehouses for months, even years. Actual hours in service is what counts. Hence Kubota considers a machine's beginning date to be when it is first sold to a retail customer.