Purchasing Mahindra.... Over year owner.... Advice

[TheDingy]

Hi All,

We currently own a 6025 Mahindra tractor and were going to look at purchasing another but that isn't going to happen! Actually getting rid of the 6025 is highly likely.

The reason isn't because of the the tractor is one of the best tractors that we have had. It is strong, it is fairly reliable and is priced lower than some of the competition.

The problem is the dealer network. We complained about this in the first two weeks of ownership of the tractor to Mahindra but nothing has been done about it. Our tractors are required for operation of our barn and it hurts bad enough when they don't work that we have to rent another tractor. This is where the trouble begins. We purchased the tractor and the first time we put a box blade on it the 3 point went up after dragging 1/2 of a load and wouldn't come down. It took almost three weeks for the dealer to fix it. We had to get a rental tractor from someone else to make the barn work during this time. Then we were made to feel "special" because it was paid for under warranty and should have been paid for us because "this part doesn't break unless it is customer abuse and we have never seen it break with under an hour on the tractor". We did pay for the two weeks of rental on a tractor during this period. The tractor has been reliable other than the fact that the PTO stopped working when the tractor was less than a year old along with the dashboard, and the starter got where it would take a jump start 50% of the time to start it unless you left it on a battery charger all the time. Every time we called the dealer it was 2-6 weeks to get the mechanic to just look at it. Three weeks ago the starter wouldn't start it other than just to pull start the thing. So it HAD to be fixed. I called and found a dealer that could be working on it "early this week" and they said bring it down, well after driving 2.5 hours i got the tractor to them that day, because the other two dealers were from two weeks to a month to look at it. It was early the next week before it was looked at for the starting problem. Then another 1.5 weeks wait on the mechanic to look at the PTO problem(Sheared pin because of clutch sticking). Then another week for that to be fixed. We asked about warranty and were told "Mahindra won't cover it because it is listed in the paperwork that it isn't covered after a year." i asked them to ask Mahindrah because we had asked for it to be fixed long before we brought it in and they said too bad you didn't bring it in then. This was $1,100.00 and change for the fix and $2,200.00 and change for one week of tractor rental again when we had to have the tractor. No matter what the cost.

After these two incidents we could have purchased either a John Deere or a New Holland for much less than what we have paid for the tractor and fixes and rental fees.

The dealer here in Houston told us we would have the same service from them as we had with the local New Holland dealer. With New Holland we always had our tractor fixed and returned within a week and when they came out to pick it up from our barn they brought a complementary loaner tractor while ours was in the shop. This was even included at no cost when we burned up a clutch and had a 10 year old tractor. The third day of ownership of our Mahindra we were told we don't have loaner tractors and you have to tow your tractor in or pay us to do it. I was told by the owner of the Mahindra dealership "we didn't realize New Holland had that kind of service, I am sorry I can't do that" so they didn't live up to the hype or what they said they could do.

So in closing know that when you buy and price that Mahindra you have not much of a warranty, and you should have a mechanic lined up to work on it when it breaks. They have no onsite repair type of help unless you pay a premium and it isn't covered under warranty. Also no loaners are included. We are sorry that we purchased the Mahindra only due to the dealer network that backs it. We love the tractor and like it better than the 5303, but with the 5303 costing 2k more but having a 2 year warranty with a larger dealer network we would go that way even though the Mahindra tractor is better in our opinion.

Cheers,

TD

[RollingsFarms]

I wasn't going to comment until you mentioned you had a 5303 also. can i ask what you don't like about it compared to the Mahindra? is it the newer 03 model with the upgraded features(mfwd, rear scv, syncshuttle, etc) or is it the 2004- early 2007 model? i have an '08 5203 mfwd and am loving it after owning it for a year. i have a few complaints, but nothing major really, just petty stuff. i'll tell ya though, those 03 series may not be as fancy or as pretty as alot of other tractors but you sure don't hear of many spending alot of time in the shop. i asked my dealers mechanic about that and he informed me that the 03 series has the least ammount of warranty claims of ANY john deere product. that's saying something seeing is what all deere builds.

[EFC]

The New Holland dealer really went out of his way to earn your business. Yet still didnt earn it.....

If this is a integral part of your farm or business you might want to stop looking at each brands budget models. Sounds like you could justify looking at the higher end models.

Your Mahindra dealers might not have onsite repair but that that is not true of all Mahindra dealers.

Buck

[MDM]

Some lessons are more expensive than others, and be prepared to lose even more money when you try to sell it. I know Mahindra ag tractors are heavy, less expensive, and lift alot, but after what you have been through, I'd look at another dealer and possibly another brand. Good luck in resolving the matter.

[SPYDERLK]

TheDingy, I have an '06 7520 and I can understand your pain even tho I have been lucky. The 2 times my tractor was down - a loader curl cyl broke, and the cam gear broke - I got fairly prompt attention [both cyls replaced, and an upgraded cam gear assembly installed] at no expense other than loss of use. Still, some other problems were much slower to resolve. The problem was getting Mahindras full attention. My dealer was good for the 2 big things but nowhere for the smaller stuff. I had to do it myself thru many correspondences with tech reps. Im hoping that all the problematic points have been cared for. Your experience of many problems worries me tho. My experience is that tractors are tough and can be used firmly for a long time without failure - at least my other tractors. At 470 hrs the long term reliability of the MH is unproven. I just know that internal parts should not be breaking. You should get good explanations for yours that did. If you wish I will PM you with contact info on a very knowledgable tech rep in your area.
larry

[MtnViewRanch]

All brands and makes of tractors break. All of them have similar stories as yours. If you go and search, you will have these stories with each brand, big three or not, there are people on here that are very unhappy with the tractor that they bought, or the dealer or something. Tractors are machines and are built by man. Men make mistakes, sometimes it is a design flaw, sometimes it is just poor assembly on a particular machine.

It sounds to me that the most important thing for you is the dealer, you should find a dealer that will provide all the things that you want and then buy whatever brand it is that he sells.

Just my opinion, good luck.

[wallace]

Originally Posted by MtnViewRanch

All brands and makes of tractors break. All of them have similar stories as yours. If you go and search, you will have these stories with each brand, big three or not, there are people on here that are very unhappy with the tractor that they bought, or the dealer or something. Tractors are machines and are built by man. Men make mistakes, sometimes it is a design flaw, sometimes it is just poor assembly on a particular machine.

It sounds to me that the most important thing for you is the dealer, you should find a dealer that will provide all the things that you want and then buy whatever brand it is that he sells.

Just my opinion, good luck.

And to add one last statement to MtnViewRanch
Make sure you are up front to your dealer and ask about all of his/her services they provide, if just you assume, then the dealer may just assume you knew he/she was going to charge for it.

[greenmule]

I was in the market for a new tractor about 6 months ago and to be honest mahindra did not even come into contention.

Reason,they just came on to fast for me,went from never hearing of them to seeing them on tv,and seeing [on here I think],of them being some kind of award winners in japan.

Since, I have heard a good bit of negative things said about them.

Glad I bought what I did,a kioti.

[AchingBack]

Originally Posted by greenmule

I was in the market for a new tractor about 6 months ago and to be honest mahindra did not even come into contention.

Reason,they just came on to fast for me,went from never hearing of them to seeing them on tv,and seeing [on here I think],of them being some kind of award winners in japan.

Since, I have heard a good bit of negative things said about them.

Glad I bought what I did,a kioti.

You must have talked to 2 out of 100 owners.
Mahindra has made a mark for itself in the US tractor market, and according to a recent customer survey, 98 percent of Mahindra tractor owners were either 'satisfied' or 'extremely satisfied,' and said they would definitely recommend a Mahindra tractor to others.

[greenmule]

Well,they all break,thats for sure. Just[to me anyways] they really pushed them for a time there,advertising everywhere. Nothing wrong with that,though, deere advertises more than anybody and they have been in bussiness forever,[didn't buy a deere either].

Maybe its just me,but I heard of kioti 11-12 years ago [I think] in a quite kinda way,don't think I heard of mahindra till maybe 2-3 years ago,course like I said,maybe it was just the big advertising push that brought them to my attention,they could have been over here for past 20 years for all I know.

I guess a lot of advertising affects different people in different ways.