New member and soon to be new Mahindra owner

[DmansPadge]

Ooops... almost forgot! Welcome to TBN Dave! This site is a wealth of info. Post often... and when you get that new tractor... post pictures!!

Also... you might want to fill out your profile. It gives everyone a little better idea of who they are talking to!

[Nightrain1]

I bet the overpriced dealers will have an overpriced maintenence program also. Go with the best deal, it would be nice to have a trailor, if ya don't have one anyway. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[Maine_Polack]

Dave, I ran into the exact same situation when shopping for a new tractor last year. Ended up going 700+- miles to purchase. I had it delivered, and even with that and a set of forks with grapple, ended up $1500 lower than my best local quote, for tractor and loader.

One local dealer got quite irritated when I showed him some quotes I had received already. Not a way to do business.

I would have rather purchased locally, but had to be practical also.

As far as warranty work is concerned: "Youse pays yo money, and takes youse chances".

The dealer I purchased from has taken care of a couple of minor warranty issues. If I have to take it to the shop, I will cross that bridge when I get there.

[wallace]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I'm not buying the loader with the tractor. I'm going to wait a couple of months, and I plan to order it from my local . )</font>

(if you are financing) I would rather finance it as a pakage raher than have to take the money out of my pocket.
JMO
If you are not financing than I can understand.

[coffeeman]

I think I'd take the Grand savings. One thing I don't see mentioned, the dealer makes $$ when he does warranty work. So save the $$ out of town and get warranty work local. What's the dealer going to say, "I don't want to make money on service." A $1000 in the pocket is worth good service in the bush.

Cheers.....Coffeeman

[wallace]

I agree 100% shop work is shop work.
Ya sometimes it takes us longer to get paid for warranty but at least we are working.

[HRS]

djw, here is my opinion and advice. Hope it helps. Have fun with the rest of your shopping. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

The debate whether to buy long distance or local is one that comes up from time-to-time. At first, $1000 looks like a lot of savings, but then you have to consider gas (my truck gets 10 mpg under load. This means I'd end up using a tank and a piece, so I'd spend between $100 and $150 depending on how much the gas company wants at that moment. Then you need to consider food. This adventure would take all day. Who would go with you, and where would you stop to eat. Sure, through in another $50 for that. Even if you make a couple small stops, you'll spend it. So lets be conservative and say that we are now actually down to a savings of $800.

Are you fearful of a long distance relationship? I'd guess that if you ever do any type of hauling, you probably are not. If you don't, you will be very doubtful as to whether you could pull it off. Personally, I haul a 5000 lb camper with gear up to 130 miles one way for weekend getaways often. With this form of recreation, I've spent many weeks researching proper trailer hitches, which start at $400 by the way, and I've logged a good bit of tow time on the roads. A deal 150 miles away for me would be acceptable. I wouldn't hesitate to take a Saturday morning trip in order to get paid $800. Nor would I worry about service. If I needed to take the tractor back to the place I bought it from for a major repair, which I would do by the way, I wouldn't hesitate. However, my boldness in accepting such a challenge comes from experience gained pulling around campers.

The first time I pulled a heavy load on the open road scared the *** out of me. The big trucks blew me everywhere. Foolishly, I had not completed my homework, and I hadn't invested in the hitch needed to make the trip as safe as possible. I learned my lesson. Did the research, and went out and spent the money. Still, I was very nervous on the few trips to come after that. Not to say that I am totally relaxed now when I head out, only a idiot would be so complacent.

If you are going to pick up this tractor yourself, the bigger question is&amp;#8230; Do you want the hassle? Do you have a setup to make this a safe transaction? And most importantly, are you likely to ever trailer this tractor again. If the answer is no, then I'd buy locally in a heartbeat. However, if you are "BOLD ON THE ROAD WITH A LOAD" then go for it. But make it safe. You have not only your family, but that of the guy in the car next to you to think about. There is more than just a little money involved here.

If I were you and really wanted to buy locally, I'd drop the price of your local dealer by $400 and go make an offer. I wouldn't ask what he wanted again. You have already done this homework. Tell him you are going to buy today, so don't do this until you are ready to buy. If he says no, give him your cell number, and inform him that you will return to complete the deal if he calls before you make it to the next dealer. He may still scratch his head and say he can't. Smile, shake his hand, tell him that you are serious, and that you look forward to his call. IF HE LETS YOU WALK AWAY AT THIS POINT, HE WILL VERY LIKELY CALL YOU SOON AFTER YOU LEAVE. I've had very few turn me down when they know that I actually buying that day and am making a fair offer. If he lets you walk, buy from the other guy. If you can't do that either, Through the tractor purchasing idea back on the drawing board and look at your other local brands. Just be polite at all times. They will work with you if they sense that you are fair and willing to buy at that moment.

[djw250]

Thanks everybody for all the advice and opinions. We talked it over, and decided to go with the long distance dealer that had the better price. I kept track of my expenses and savings, and after renting a trailer, gas, and eats (my wife and I are both cheap, so we ate at Wendy's), we ended up saving about $890 when we figured in the 0.5% less sales tax we paid up there. All in all it was worth the trip. It gave me and my wife a rare few hours to ourselves, and we felt like we got the best deal.

I can see where hauling can have its pitfalls though. We had 2 flats on the trailer on the way up to the dealer, and picked up another nail on the way home. Thankfully that one didn't leak down and we made it on in. My F150 Supercrew handled the estimated 7000 lb. loaded trailer fine, and we went slow so I didn't use hardly any more gas than I did unloaded.

The tractor and loader are great. We ended up getting the 3510 w/FEL. My wife actually talked me into it as I was all set to get the 3225 without the loader. I'm glad we did now.

[coffeeman]

Looks like it's a done deal.

I'm sure it will be fine........Coffeeman

[HRS]

djw, Congrats on your purchase. Glad to hear that everything went well. Now that you saved all that money, you need to take the wife out somewhere special. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] There is nothing like having a supportive wife. The 3510 is a fine machine. I've looked at both you have mentioned and like the cut better also.