Well, I stand corrected and properly admonished, Brandi. I don't post to very many places on the web and I forgot that each phrase and word should be carefully crafted to keep from offending someone, somewhere, especially where brand names are concerned.
What I meant but guess I didn't say very well about the dealership network was that I can drive into almost any medium sized town west of the Mississippi, walk into a JD dealership and (usually) get what I need, or get it ordered right then and there and have it in a few days. It is a fact that this is not (yet) true with many offshore brands, especially some who have just recently hit the market to get in on the current USA compact tractor craze (like LS and some others). This in spite of the fact that many of them have been selling reliable tractors worldwide for many years with great success. Of course some of JD's stuff is imported, as is almost every brand. I don't care, as long as JD dealers support it with good parts availability and knowledgeable mechanics. Sorry to hear of your JD parts hassle, but a few years ago I rebuilt a JD Model B and it's #7 sickle bar mower, and was able to get all the parts I needed from the JD dealer in Powell, WY. Of course JD equipment is not perfect or always the best dollar vs specification value. But I'm neither an experienced tractor/hydraulics person nor am I wealthy (being an old retired guy), so my #1 concern for a new compact tractor purchase was having strong parts and dealership support. "Value" means different things to different people, and in my case I value parts and dealer support over price and even sometimes over specifications.
Nowhere did I say disparaging things about import brand tractors themselves--to the contrary, I said good things about both Mahindra, which I really liked, and LS, which I also liked but had never even heard of, which is why I didn't even consider buying one. Had it not been for the dealership thing I would probably have bought the Mahindra, which I think is probably a better value than JD, dollar for dollar. But they have moving parts and hydraulic fluid and they break like any other piece of machinery, and I was not comfortable with the current size of Mahindra's USA parts/repair network, and in particular in this case didn't care for the overall looks of the only close-by dealership in my area. If I posted photos of it, which I won't do, you'd understand why.
My wife drives a Volvo that needs lots of expensive TLC, and there are only two dealers in the entire state. I drive a 2001 2500HD Duramax and there are a dozen dealers within 20 miles of me. The Volvo is constantly needing something, and it's $400-$500 minimum to drive into the service lane for just about anything you need done. If you need a $1500 part they don't have in stock (and trust me, I've bought a few) it's 4-6 weeks from Sweden. OTOH, the truck has never needed anything--but if it does I have a wide choice of places to take it to get it fixed quickly, if not cheaply.
The original post was just intended to be a maybe-helpful FYI thing for those who might be (like I was at the time) doing a lot of small tractor shopping. This was the only detailed list of MSRP pricing vs asking prices I ran into anywhere. It's getting to be almost like car shopping--try to get a list like that from your local car or truck dealer--no way. In fact, this was the only tractor dealer I ran into who was willing to put a piece of paper like that out for public consumption. I didn't feel it was fair to give me heat because his asking prices were apparently higher than some others. Had I pulled out my checkbook I suspect those asking prices would have dropped significantly right there on the spot.
Anyway, I'm sure sorry if I offended any members, especially Mahindra owners, and I'll try to watch my wording more carefully in the future. The last thing I want to do is cause TBN members heartburn.
Sorry this got so long, but I felt a need to both apologize and explain myself here.
Jerry
P.S. I've had this 3032E for almost a week now and nothing has broken or fallen off of it yet, not even the plastic fenders.
