Should this be covered under warranty?

[Anonymous Poster]

Noticed a few days ago that the front universal joint was missing on my BX22. I've since looked at the parts sheet and find it's normally held on by a spring pin which apparently broke or fell out. Consequently, the universal joint fell off somewhere. Anyway, my dealer says it's not covered under warranty because it didn't break...just missing. The darn thing is over $50. What do you guys think.....should this be covered?

 

[ddl]

it is called tractor maintenance

 

[Bird]

I think I'd have to agree with the dealer; sounds like brush or something similar got hung and pulled the pin.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

No brush...just alot of dirt!! Besides, it doesn't look like the kind of pin that can get 'hung up'. So if the pin 'broke' it would be covered, but it 'fell out' it wouldn't? Difficult to determine which without seeing the missing parts. I've looked all over, even used a metal detector...it must be buried somewhere. Oh well. Just thought Kubota should share some of the responsibilty...it shouldn't break/fall out that easily.

 

[JohnMiller3]

<font color=blue>… it's normally held on by a spring pin…</font color=blue>

I think you’re in a “grey area”… and this may boil down to a good dealer-customer relationship…

I find it hard to imagine a spring pin loosening on its own without any “persuasion” of some sort… on the other hand, I feel the dealer has the “power” to get it covered under warranty… if not for anything but PR… /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Bird]

<font color=blue>So if the pin 'broke' it would be covered, but it 'fell out' it wouldn't?</font color=blue>

Yep, that would be the difference, if it were mine, and if you don't know which it was, then I agree with John; kind of a grey area.

 

[MikePA]

I agree with Bird and the dealer. Since it wasn't a defect, it's not covered under warranty.

A personal experience..

Within a few hours of taking delivery of my TC25D with a 60 inch mmm, I broke the front right caster wheel off the deck. As I was approaching our sidewalk, the front right of the deck dropped slightly (into some mulch in the flower bed which adjoins the sidewalk), the caster wheel swung from being parallel to the direction of travel to perpendicular causing the caster wheel to catch on the sidewalk instead of riding up and over it. As I drove forward (noticing none of this) the shaft the caster wheel was attached to broke. I only discovered this as I made my second pass over the sidewalk and noticed something laying in the flower bed. "What the heck is...oh crap!". The caster wheel and part of the shaft was laying there, the rest of the shaft was still in the deck.

The next day I called the dealer to see if they had the shaft in stock. They did, cost about $25 (I think). I asked them to reserve one for me and I'd be over to pick it up. I drove to the dealer, showed the guy behind the parts counter the two pieces to make sure the part they reserved was the right one. As he compared the new shaft with the two pieces I brought in, I told him what happened. He looked at the two pieces of the broken shaft and said, "This shouldn't have happened." He then took everything back to the shop where they installed the new shaft, greased it and gave it back to me at no charge. I fully considered this my fault and no way a defect with the shaft but I wasn't going to argue with him. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Perhaps this is an example of the difference between a good dealer and a great one?

BTW, the dealer is <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.messicks.com>Messicks</A> in Elizabethtown, PA

 

[Rick Jay]

I guess without knowing what happened to the pin, it probably is a gray area.

It might be that due to the reduced ground clearance of the BX, perhaps this u-joint pin got stressed when the front wheels went into a hole and the ground or a rock put pressure on the drive shaft.

If the dealer won't do the repairs as a warranty issue, perhaps you could offer a few options:

1.) If you don't wish to tackle the fix yourself, maybe he could pay for the labor if you pay for the part...or vice versa.

2.) If you're planning on doing the repair yourself, maybe you could ask him to sell you the part at his cost.

There may be other options, but those are the first few that come to mind. It doesn't hurt to ask. Try to be polite as possible. Sometimes I enter situations like this assuming I'm going to have to foot the whole bill anyway, and then am pleasantly surprised when some middle ground is reached. (Someone on this board has a signature that states: "Expect the worst, you'll never be disappointed." Sounds pessimistic, but it's true.)

Good Luck,

Rick

 

[r0GuE]

Pay the $50 and remember that when you buy your next tractor. There is no loyalty, it's all about the $$$$.

 

[TresCrows]

Do you mean the drive shaft that drives the front wheels? As far as that is concerned I feel that is part of the drive train and should be covered as it is not normally something you would remove and misplace and I did not see anything in the manual to make me think any service was required on that part. J