buying out of state

[Dingo Man]

Hey everyone, does anyone have any experience buying from a dealer out of town or out of state and use a different dealer for service. Does this make any warranty issue that may arise difficult?

 

[Johnp33]

You have to look at the warranty, but unless it is a special policy for used or a service contract, the warranty is with the company nothing to do with the dealer. They may babble about you not buying it from them, but if you call the regional representative to get satisfaction, very few will refuse warranty work, they get paid from the company. If you feel you are ever treated badly from a dealer send a copy of the bill to the regional warranty representative, and ask for clarification of the charges.

 

[DavesTractor]

Hey everyone, does anyone have any experience buying from a dealer out of town or out of state and use a different dealer for service. Does this make any warranty issue that may arise difficult?

There are quite a few threads where this has been beat to death. Essentially, a good dealer will honor warranty no matter where the tractor was bought. But a non-selling dealer won't rush you to the front of the line if he is swamped. He won't give you a discount on a service call or hauling. He won't burn up any "good will" if you broke something and you hope it is covered but it really isn't. So you should get everything covered, but not the extra stuff that dealers do for which the manufacturer does not pay them back.

I'd say you also need to make a distinction between if perhaps you lived in Michigan, bought a tractor there and then moved to Maine. That dealer should be all over trying to make you his customer.

But let's say you have a local dealer where you live and you shopped him hard but bought out of state to evade sales tax, or to save a very minor amount after spending lots of time with that dealer. That dealer will look at that scenario differently. A "price only" customer that is demanding to boot isn't a prize to go after as a customer.

I will also say that your local dealer can't expect to earn your business just because he is local. He also needs to provide good service and have a fair price.

Autos and tractors are different. Warranty reimbursement is really tight. At best it is a breakeven deal. It's not a profit center.

Lastly, support your local dealer if you can. He probably supports the local 4H and FFA, helps with preparing the Little League field, mows the field out back of the church, and contributes a significant amount to the local tax base.

Just my thoughts, but as a dealer, I may be a little biased.

 

[TractorTidy]

I agree w/ Dave and yes this subject has been beat to death. Support your local dealer, he needs you and you will need him. Buying something out-of-state and then going to him (local dealer) for warranty service is like slapping him in the face. If you buy out of state, then be prepared to go back out-of-state to get your warranty. Don't saddle the local guy who wasn't good enough to buy from.
I too am a dealer and don't like having it done to me. I will tell them to go back to where they bought it.

 

[kootch88]

Absolutely Dave! I could have bought in N.H. and avoided the 800 bucks in sales tax, but felt if I wanted a fair shake from my dealer when I needed service. How could I, in good conscience, cut him out of making money because he sells in Maine? This price-only mentality is a significant reason why businesses like Walmart prosper at the expense of the guy who cares about his customer. Then we have the gall to complain about jobs going to China when we are in part responsible. Please support your local guy if he warrants your business, you will be happier in the end.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Dave, here is the problem, dealers such as yourself are few and faaaaaaaaar between. You have ALWAYS and I do mean ALWAYS treated me more than fair. You are 651 miles away from me driveway to driveway and I consider you to be my dealer. What use to be my local Mahindra dealer(22 miles away) is (no longer a Mahindra or any tractor dealer for that matter) charges double the list price for filters, what does that say about the dealer. When you ask about getting all the different filters and they give you a list of them and the list is incomplete and they insist that it is complete, what is a guy suppose to do? Me, I payed the ridiculous prices which was a mistake. On that day, you became my dealer and I called you for another complete set plus the one that I was shorted. After that fiasco I would not have let those guys check the air in the tires.

So after all that, and from what I have read here on TBN, I believe that many dealers are that way. And of course then there are the guys that are so arrogant that they actually believe that the machines that they sell are so superior to everyone else's that they almost laugh when another brand is even mentioned or start in bad mouthing the competition. I believe that there are many many dealers such as this. Now harder times have changed this some what, locally anyway. My John Deere dealer is now even pleasant to walk into, in fact has actually gone out of their way to help me out. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Anyway, after all that, there are times when a guy just has to go none local.

 

[Oldtractorfixer]

If the big difference it the tax you are probably legally liable to your local state for it anyway. You are probably suposed to report out or state major purchases. So, if you forget the tax difference I can't believe you are going to save much by the time you add in phone calls, trips to go see and transportation costs.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

If the big difference it the tax you are probably legally liable to your local state for it anyway. You are probably suposed to report out or state major purchases. So, if you forget the tax difference I can't believe you are going to save much by the time you add in phone calls, trips to go see and transportation costs.

I have seen $8000 differences even after transportation costs on a $41k purchase. That is a hard cost difference to swallow. Many people just cannot absorb that big of a difference and along with BAD local dealers are forced to go non local.

 

[Martian]

Around me there's two dealerships. One is a mom and pop shop, another has 9 stores all owned by the same franchise and are all over the place near me. At all chance I buy from the local place. I recently bought a used tractor out of state from Montana to Michigan and though there was no sales tax, I sure would have like to have got it from my local dealer. Truth be told, he was unable to get a 110 like I wanted and he was ok with the fact that I'd gotten it. If you do buy somewhere besides the local place, talk to them before hand and tell them what's happening. At least you know what to expect. For what it's worth, I'll never consider a dealership that says I won't do work on your tractor because it wasn't bought here. My next how many tractors will gladly be bought somewhere else. Some people don't realize that just because you aren't buying today, doesn't mean you aren't buying tomorrow. Those dealers will be closed up shortly and we won't have to worry about them, though.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

When this stuff comes up, I always wonder what do these dealers tell people that move from someplace else? What, do you have to sell your tractor and buy one from the local dealer to get any type of service?