bandit67
Veteran Member
- Joined
- May 27, 2004
- Messages
- 1,588
- Location
- Lake Hartwell, SC
- Tractor
- 2012 B3000 HSDCC 2020 Z251 Zero Turn
I thought I'd convey my experience purchasing my machine through Barlow's. For those that may not know, Barlow's is in Kentucky. I am in Colorado. I recently purchased my 2nd machine from Barlow's since 2008. I've been dealing with Brady, since he handles all the internet sales, though I have spoken with his dad, Steve once or twice over the years.
My first purchase was my B3030 in early 2008. The price was the best I could find, and pretty much blew away the local dealers. I am a strong believer in supporting local businesses, and do so whenever possible, except when it feels like they really couldn't care less if they earned my business or not, quote full msrp, and have a poor reputation regarding sales and after-the-sale service, which unfortunately seems to be the norm with some of the local tractor dealers. One of them has since gone out of business. Both had a less than stellar service dept reputation, so in cases like that, I will show no loyalty whatsoever.
Being that I had been on TBN since I purchased an SCUT in 2004, I had heard of Barlow's and decided I should get a price from them when I was ready to purchase a Kubota. I was shocked at how much less expensive they were than any of the local dealers.
So, in 2008, I took a chance and bought my B3030 from Barlow's. The entire transaction went very smoothly. The machine was as promised, and over the years, I logged 370 trouble free hours. I did have a backhoe swing lock pin break at the weld early on, and Brady immediately sent a new one out under warranty. Don't think I ever used that pin again. I also had Barlow's parts dept ship various parts out to me over the years, and again, every transaction was easy, and anyone I ever spoke with at Barlow's was always helpful.
I've had the cab bug for a couple years now, after the beating I've taken over the years during our winter storms on my open-station machines. I've mulled over simply purchasing an aftermarket cab for my B3030, or possibly custom building one. Recently, I stumbled upon a dealer on TractorHouse that had a VERY good price on a new B3000. That got me REALLY thinking, and I began looking into finding someone to ship the tractor out to me. On a whim, I decided to call Brady to get a price, figuring he wouldn't be able to beat the price I got. I was wrong.
So, I thought that I'd try to get my B3030 sold, and if it sold, I'd buy the new machine, and if it didn't sell, then it wasn't meant to be. I started getting calls, but no one was ready to pull the trigger. I began thinking this whole thing wasn't going to happen. During one of my email exchanges with Brady, I told him it wasn't looking like I was going to get mine sold anytime soon. He said he wanted a day or 2 to think about a trade-in value. I figured no matter what he came back with, there was no way he would end up being anywhere near what I had decided I needed out of mine to make the deal happen. To my surprise, he came back with a trade offer WAY higher than I was expecting, and so close to my asking price on an outright sale, that I just had to make the deal.
As was the case in 2008, this deal also went quickly, smoothly, and with absolutely no brain damage. Once we agreed on the deal, Brady went to work on getting the machine all set up and scheduling a delivery. He sent the tractor out when he said he would, on a Barlow's trailer driven by Marvin, who is a Barlow employee. Marvin got the tractor to me 3 hours before he originally thought he would, and was very professional with the delivery and loading up of my B3030 trade-in.
I highly recommend Barlow's to anyone considering purchasing a Kubota if you aren't all that thrilled with your local dealer. I'm not concerned with the local dealer not wanting to handle warranty service. They make money on that, and the service dept is separate enough from the sales dept that they want all the service work they can get. The more they get, the more money they make. They actually go after service work on machines that were purchased at other local dealers. Fortunately, I never needed to bring my B3030 in for any warranty work, and hope my new B3000 will be the same.
Thanks to Barlow's for 2 very pleasant purchasing experiences.
My first purchase was my B3030 in early 2008. The price was the best I could find, and pretty much blew away the local dealers. I am a strong believer in supporting local businesses, and do so whenever possible, except when it feels like they really couldn't care less if they earned my business or not, quote full msrp, and have a poor reputation regarding sales and after-the-sale service, which unfortunately seems to be the norm with some of the local tractor dealers. One of them has since gone out of business. Both had a less than stellar service dept reputation, so in cases like that, I will show no loyalty whatsoever.
Being that I had been on TBN since I purchased an SCUT in 2004, I had heard of Barlow's and decided I should get a price from them when I was ready to purchase a Kubota. I was shocked at how much less expensive they were than any of the local dealers.
So, in 2008, I took a chance and bought my B3030 from Barlow's. The entire transaction went very smoothly. The machine was as promised, and over the years, I logged 370 trouble free hours. I did have a backhoe swing lock pin break at the weld early on, and Brady immediately sent a new one out under warranty. Don't think I ever used that pin again. I also had Barlow's parts dept ship various parts out to me over the years, and again, every transaction was easy, and anyone I ever spoke with at Barlow's was always helpful.
I've had the cab bug for a couple years now, after the beating I've taken over the years during our winter storms on my open-station machines. I've mulled over simply purchasing an aftermarket cab for my B3030, or possibly custom building one. Recently, I stumbled upon a dealer on TractorHouse that had a VERY good price on a new B3000. That got me REALLY thinking, and I began looking into finding someone to ship the tractor out to me. On a whim, I decided to call Brady to get a price, figuring he wouldn't be able to beat the price I got. I was wrong.
So, I thought that I'd try to get my B3030 sold, and if it sold, I'd buy the new machine, and if it didn't sell, then it wasn't meant to be. I started getting calls, but no one was ready to pull the trigger. I began thinking this whole thing wasn't going to happen. During one of my email exchanges with Brady, I told him it wasn't looking like I was going to get mine sold anytime soon. He said he wanted a day or 2 to think about a trade-in value. I figured no matter what he came back with, there was no way he would end up being anywhere near what I had decided I needed out of mine to make the deal happen. To my surprise, he came back with a trade offer WAY higher than I was expecting, and so close to my asking price on an outright sale, that I just had to make the deal.
As was the case in 2008, this deal also went quickly, smoothly, and with absolutely no brain damage. Once we agreed on the deal, Brady went to work on getting the machine all set up and scheduling a delivery. He sent the tractor out when he said he would, on a Barlow's trailer driven by Marvin, who is a Barlow employee. Marvin got the tractor to me 3 hours before he originally thought he would, and was very professional with the delivery and loading up of my B3030 trade-in.
I highly recommend Barlow's to anyone considering purchasing a Kubota if you aren't all that thrilled with your local dealer. I'm not concerned with the local dealer not wanting to handle warranty service. They make money on that, and the service dept is separate enough from the sales dept that they want all the service work they can get. The more they get, the more money they make. They actually go after service work on machines that were purchased at other local dealers. Fortunately, I never needed to bring my B3030 in for any warranty work, and hope my new B3000 will be the same.
Thanks to Barlow's for 2 very pleasant purchasing experiences.