Why Buy Parts from Local Dealer? (Long)

[npaden]

I just don't understand my local dealership. Over the weekend I finally got fed up with my leaking steering cylinder and pulled the sucker out. The rod has a blemish and needs replaced. I pulled up the parts manual on my computer that was provided to me free of charge by TractorSmart.com and found the part numbers that I needed and looked them up online and checked the prices. The assembly isn't cheap at $396.

I had ordered from tractorsmart before when I wasn't in a hurry for the parts and it took a little over a week by the time they got the parts from the kubota warehouse and got them shipped to me here in Texas so I figured it would be nice to get my tractor back up and running a little quicker than that so I would call my local dealer and see how much they would charge for the part and how quickly they could get it. They quoted me $480 and 2 to 3 days for delivery because they would have to get it from Dallas. I mentioned that I had looked the part up online and had been quoted $396 for the part and asked if they did any kind of discounts or anything and they said no. They were polite, but they were obviously not going to budge on the price of the part.

I checked online and Messicks.com had the part for the same price $396 and I called and checked to see if they could get it to me by the end of the week and it looked like it would be close but they couldn't guarantee it. I had emailed Tractorsmart and while waiting for their email reply did some more searching and found ColemanEquip.com out of Kansas that sold Kubota parts online. I talked with a very helpful person on the phone and after a few minutes I had placed an order for the part at $396 + a $5 surcharge to drop ship the part out of Kubota's Dallas warehouse. I should have the part Wednesday delivered to my doorstep vs. having to drive to the local dealer to pick it up and total cost including shipping should be about $70 less. The person I talked with on the phone was knowledgeable and helpful and looked at the parts diagram to make sure I was ordering the correct part. They even asked if I wanted it shipped UPS or FedEx ground in case one provided better service in my area.

Tracorsmart ended up emailing me back after I had already placed the order and said that they could get the part to me by Friday, so I emailed them back and thanked them for the help but let them know that I had already placed the order.

For some reason I feel like I should feel guilty for not buying the part locally but they sure didn't give me any reason to want to buy it from them. If they had offered to sell me the part at a more reasonable price of $425 or so I would have probably just ordered it with them right when I called instead of messing around trying to find someone online that could get it to me quickly. Now that I have the place in Kansas bookmarked I doubt I will ever bother calling the local dealer for anything again.

Maybe I'm missing something here. Does anyone else feel like their wallet isn't safe when they go to their local dealer? What benefit do they get by not budging from the list price on parts? Surely all these other dealerships (who also have overhead, brick and mortar stores, etc.) are able to make some profit selling these parts at a slightly discounted price.

Thanks for listening to my rant.

Nathan

 

[RobJ]

Your wallet is NEVER safe when going to a dealer. It's just so. Many of us have been buying from Tractorsmart and/or Messicks for a long time. If I order on sunday or Monday, I usually have it Thursday or Friday for my weekend trip.

FYI TS or Messicks drop ships most of my parts from Kubota. The $5 drop ship charge was added a year ago or so. Kubota use to dropship ALL parts for FREE!! Great deal fir us but those days are gone. Still $5 is usually cheaper than the Stealer!!

I don't mind anyone trying to make a buck, but I also don't mind anyone trying to a 2 bucks.

 

[Kendall69]

Along with what you have expressed, I have learned a long time to not even begin to search or converse locally.

What I have found over the years, is less than helpful people who know less than nothing. On the net I can dip into a site, and with a few clicks have the order completed and on it's way, a whole lot sooner often times than my local people will even answer the phone.

Heck I purchased mt Kubota from a company In South Carolina, that was 8K cheaper than my local guy. I brought it to his attention and he could care less. What he doesn't realize is all the residual business he has lost in implements, tires, oil, filters, and more tractors. In my case alone that come up to nearly 100k - do you think he cares, I think not.

What will it take for these local guys to GET IT!

Obviously the "NET" people are making a profit on what they are selling me, they aren't selling me the items at cost, they're still making a profit.

Oh, and all this "local support" they try and brain wash us with, for me it was never needed in the almost 10 years I have owned my tractor.

Granted the Net guys are set up to do volumes of product for minimal profit, but when I was taught math as a 5 year old, some profit is always better than no profit.

No way will you convince me of the stale argument from retailers " I can't afford to sell it at that price". So let me get this straight, you take my money, you place the order, you call me to pick up my order...HUH!!!
What costs - you still have to pay the rent, electricity, labor etc. just the same if you do or if you do not make my sale - making my sale at least helps pay the electric bill that month, and a lot of sales just like mine will pay the entire electric bill, and even more sales just like mine will pay the rent etc. etc.

I run my business today on that model, and I've kept the competition away from my area for 25 years, and have watched a dozen companies come in to compete and all have gone bust.

If I can make a buck I'll do it PERIOD, I'll match prices all day long, I may not gain a lot of money on these orders, what I gain is loyal customers, and I ALWAYS make it back in the long run, and I do mean ALWAYS!

 

[MFRED]

Sorry to hear your troubles. It's crazy how some dealers can get away with this list + 10-20% stuff. It is nice to know-every dealer is someone's local dealer.

 

[npaden]

I don't think they are adding to the list price, I think the online volume places are just giving a small discount off of the list price vs. many local dealers quote 100% of list price.

This same dealer was around $2k higher than another dealer 120 miles away when quoting me a new tractor last year. They have a firm price list for all of their tractors and if you don't like it you can go somewhere else. I guess a lot of folks go somewhere else.

 

[cityfarma]

It's good to see consistency around the world When I was about to buy my toy, I contacted a dealer in Perth (where I live) and one in a major town near my property. The city dealer gave me a good price straight away. The country dealer gave a ridiculous price so I went no further with him. The city dealer also delivered the tractor 200kms twice. The first delivery was a loan tractor as mine had not made the delivery to them. This is good service.

I also try to support the businesses in my local (country) town. For the tractor, this is a necessity as I am only a weekend farmer I do however keep a check on prices for oyher bits in Perth for a comparison.

Cityfarma

 

[MikePA]

Your wallet is NEVER safe when going to a dealer. Many of us have been buying from Tractorsmart and/or Messicks for a long time.

Huh? Messicks IS a dealer.

 

[canoetrpr]

Same experience here when I tried to buy a workshop manual for my L3400. First I was quoted hundreds of dollars by one local dealer... I'm not kidding - hundreds!

For under a $100 CDN I bought the workshop and parts manual from Messicks and that included the shipping and UPS broker fee to get it across the border.

The local dealer then called and offerred me just the workshop manual for $100 CDN.

I'm starting to agree with Kendall. If in a few years time the exchange rate stays the way it is and I get the upgrade bug to get some of the bells and whistles in the new GL line once they have been around for a few model years, I think I'll be looking at picking one up across the border and making my own warranty for thousands less than I can purchase for locally.

 

[charlz]

I guess I just have a good local dealer.. their prices are pretty much inline with tractorsmart etc. and even with paying sales tax it is cheaper than the parts + shipping of getting them online. They also have good selection of parts on hand... if it does need to be ordered it usually comes in a few days at no extra cost.

Only thing I might feel guilty about is my neighbor is the service manager there but I do all my own work

 

[MessickFarmEqu]

I don't think they are adding to the list price

Yes, they are. You'd be shocked to know how common this is. Its called an esclator and almost every dealer uses one.