Buying Advice Buying from one dealer / Using another for repair

[easyinny]

Hi to all. This is my experience with dealers. Last year I bought a GR 2110 from the closets dealer to me. Had problems with vent leaking on the mower deck. Called the dealer that I bought it from 3 times. Always was told it was being checked in to. Finally after 3 weeks I called a dealer that's 40 miles away. Told them my problem and within an hour had a return call with the fix to my problem. Was so impressed with their service and how I was treated that when I was ready to buy a BX I bought it there. Any things I need for service I go thru them. Really like the way they treat me and get right back to me. SERVICE IS EVERYTHING!!!

 

[ejkessler]

Hi to all. This is my experience with dealers. Last year I bought a GR 2110 from the closets dealer to me. Had problems with vent leaking on the mower deck. Called the dealer that I bought it from 3 times. Always was told it was being checked in to. Finally after 3 weeks I called a dealer that's 40 miles away. Told them my problem and within an hour had a return call with the fix to my problem. Was so impressed with their service and how I was treated that when I was ready to buy a BX I bought it there. Any things I need for service I go thru them. Really like the way they treat me and get right back to me. SERVICE IS EVERYTHING!!!

Service counts for some but to me when it costs thousands difference in price it does not. I am on my fourth Kubota and other than a blown tire within the first 5 hours of owning a BX22 and being hassled by the dealer I bought it from and a recently delivered GL3940 HSTC-3 with a pinched washer line that is being fixed by the out of state dealer via a service truck, no charge, I have not had any other warranty issues. As someone else stated previously most of the stuff is worth handling yourself to not have to hassle with transportation of the tractor. You can buy parts from anyone and having a dealer that actually has truck(s) that are used for service calls makes more sense than bringing the tractor anyway. Paying for a service call fee when it's not covered is better than bringing the tractor in unless of course the job to be done is to big. I figure if that is the case then the thousands (over 10K by now) I saved for each tractor purchase and trade ins will easily pay for the hassle if I really need it to be worked on. Each tractor I sold and traded were past the factory warranties so that wasn't an issue anyway.

 

[moored4]

I have 2 dealers, 1 in town and another 30 miles away. The one it town treats me like a number or like a ghost when I walk in. Too busy to see if I need something.
The other one that is 30 miles away, they call me by my first name, and that was from the second time I walked in, had not really bought anything significant from them at the time.

SO Guess where {not who} I bought my new tractor from.
Now here is the rest of the story? Their both owned by the same man!:laughing: Night and day diffrence in the two.

David

 

[radioman]

I have 2 dealers, 1 in town and another 30 miles away. The one it town treats me like a number or like a ghost when I walk in. Too busy to see if I need something.
The other one that is 30 miles away, they call me by my first name, and that was from the second time I walked in, had not really bought anything significant from them at the time.

SO Guess where {not who} I bought my new tractor from.
Now here is the rest of the story? Their both owned by the same man!:laughing: Night and day diffrence in the two.

David

My goodness!! I feel the same way !! There is a JD dealer 5 mins from me and the way they treat me when I was there turned me off. I went to a dealer 30 mins from me and I am treated like a person .....

TO the OP- is there a reason why you don't want to go to your local dealer? or is it just a price difference issue?

to arsenix2001- its not a local legal issue- its a contract bound with kubota issue. If they sell kubotas, they gotta service ALL kubotas. Same goes with many other brands.

 

[Big Wave D]

I have 2 dealers, 1 in town and another 30 miles away. The one it town treats me like a number or like a ghost when I walk in. Too busy to see if I need something.
The other one that is 30 miles away, they call me by my first name, and that was from the second time I walked in, had not really bought anything significant from them at the time.

SO Guess where {not who} I bought my new tractor from.
Now here is the rest of the story? Their both owned by the same man!:laughing: Night and day diffrence in the two.

David

Which one does the Owner work at?

 

[arsenix2001]

My goodness!! I feel the same way !! There is a JD dealer 5 mins from me and the way they treat me when I was there turned me off. I went to a dealer 30 mins from me and I am treated like a person .....

TO the OP- is there a reason why you don't want to go to your local dealer? or is it just a price difference issue?

to arsenix2001- its not a local legal issue- its a contract bound with kubota issue. If they sell kubotas, they gotta service ALL kubotas. Same goes with many other brands.

Never mentioned local, and what you just said is kind of what I was implying...

OT - not tractor related, but I quickly found out that the dealer I bought my bass boat at, had more or less a trained monkey back in the shop... So I took it to a competing dealer nearby, explained my situation, tried to be a nice guy and they have been amazing ever since. Even stuck me in on a saturday morn and warrantied something just to help me out. I made it a point to give the high survey remarks. I think your attidude can have alot to do with the type of service you get at another dealer.

 

[TractorTidy]

As a former dealer of JD, this was always a hot button for me. Most of the time a person buying from another dealer miles away was for price. But then they thought they could have us do the warr. work. I am a big advocate of doing business locally. If it was a price issue as mostly it was, I told the customer to be prepared to take the machine back to where he bought it for warr. work. Why? #1, we take care of those who patronize us. #2, warranty almost always underpays. Contrary to popular opinion, warranty very seldom pays what we have in it. Companies only pay flat rate which is usually less time than the actual job, plus only a fraction of the regular labor rate plus only a medium mark-up on parts. So warranty definitely is not a money maker. That is why you need to go back where you bought it. It's not fair to your local dealer and like slapping them in the face. In essence, you're not good enough to buy from but you're ok enough to do my warranty work. The other dealer rmade the profit and part of that profit is for warranty absoption down the road.

Now if you want to pay them for service, that's a different story.

Yes, a dealer is obligated to do warr. work by the manufacturer but nothing says when they have to do it. Those jobs always go to the back. The paying customers come first. They pay the bills. So give the local guy your business. You want their convenience so give them your business. That's how they will be there for you.

 

[moored4]

"I have 2 dealers, 1 in town and another 30 miles away. The one it town treats me like a number or like a ghost when I walk in. Too busy to see if I need something.
The other one that is 30 miles away, they call me by my first name, and that was from the second time I walked in, had not really bought anything significant from them at the time. "



the owner has a desk at the store in town but nobody see him much!

 

[Big Wave D]

the owner has a desk at the store in town but nobody see him much!

Hmm, not exactly what I figured the answer would be. My guess was that the owner was 'stationed' at the one that you've received superior service from.

I guess Vegas is safe.

 

[bigbull338]

As a former dealer of JD, this was always a hot button for me. Most of the time a person buying from another dealer miles away was for price. But then they thought they could have us do the warr. work. I am a big advocate of doing business locally. If it was a price issue as mostly it was, I told the customer to be prepared to take the machine back to where he bought it for warr. work. Why? #1, we take care of those who patronize us. #2, warranty almost always underpays. Contrary to popular opinion, warranty very seldom pays what we have in it. Companies only pay flat rate which is usually less time than the actual job, plus only a fraction of the regular labor rate plus only a medium mark-up on parts. So warranty definitely is not a money maker. That is why you need to go back where you bought it. It's not fair to your local dealer and like slapping them in the face. In essence, you're not good enough to buy from but you're ok enough to do my warranty work. The other dealer rmade the profit and part of that profit is for warranty absoption down the road.

Now if you want to pay them for service, that's a different story.

Yes, a dealer is obligated to do warr. work by the manufacturer but nothing says when they have to do it. Those jobs always go to the back. The paying customers come first. They pay the bills. So give the local guy your business. You want their convenience so give them your business. That's how they will be there for you.

you bring up 2 good points.ive run into dealers that like you said if you dont buy it from me i sure wont do the warrenty work.an i did buy from a dealer that told me that,but only because i liked him.but when they say that i usually walk out an buy else where.3 i do have a local kub dealer but i wont do business with them because i dont trust them.an heres why,had a friend that had his 140hp TMR mixer tractor to blow up.so he took it to them to fix.an he told them he needed a loner because he had to feed his cows,they said sure.well it took them a month to put a motor in his tractor.an they charged him $8000 for the motor wich he was fine with.but then they hitt him with a $3000 rental fee on his loner tractor.an that dont fly with me 1 bit.