eBay/Craigslist ebay item

[loaderbob]

Buck,
Thanks for your input. You are obvisously ahead of me with 2 trips to Vietnam already. Go ahead and shoot me the photos. My e-mail is bob@sctractor.com. Thanks again for you input and advice. I have been to Japan but it was a while ago on Navy business. I have never been to the tractor yards. I have only heard that you have to know who you are dealing with or you will get burned. I heard that there are some unreputable agents, not unlike anywhere else. If I get go next year you can bet I will snoop around.

Thanks again,
Bob

 

[elarson]

Wow, leave it to vietnam recons to light up this discussion board. I am a newbie to the grey market tractors, and I don't know that I would have even looked had it not been for the insane demand and resulting prices for compact diesels around here. Each time I found a classified ad, the machine was either sold, worked to death, or priced not too far off from new to make it worthwhile. I have so far had a good experience, knock on wood, and if there is one thing for certain it is that I owe lot of gratitude for the contributors here. Could it be that about half of the problem with the recons is the perspective the customer has, and the other half might be the unscrupulous dealer (and I believe them to be the minority) who drops junk on anyone who will take the bait?
When I went looking for a grey, even though the sales pitch was "reconditioned", my perspective was that it was USED. I went on that basis, and the new paint job and other supposed work was just nice extras. Had I purchased a tractor from a private party in a classified ad, there would be no recourse, no warranty, just "Hey, it's yours now, good luck". One dealer I visited had units which looked like they had a wad of bondo stuck in the dents and painted over it. The fasteners looked like they had come from a dozen different places. Dribbles of rubbery stuff squeezed from between machined surfaces, and the hour meters were zeroed. (For some reason I found the zeroed meter to be especially offensive)
Another dealer, from which I purchased my tractor (which I'm sure is a Vietnamese recon), had units which were clean, and I could not find any evidence that the cases or engine had been opened up. Rubber parts were indeed new, not just painted. I thought that I would just listen to the compression a moment, and the thing lit on the first compression squeeze! A bit of black from the stack for a second or two, and then a pretty exhaust. The dealer offered a 30 day warranty on the engine and drivetrain. I've tried to wring it out in that 30 day period, and so far, not a single glitch. No leaks, no broken parts, just a fender bolt that needed tightening.

I think the biggest question is how does a prospective buyer reliably tell the difference between a solid tractor and a hack job ? I believe that the buyer should be free from misrepresented machinery, but maybe we also expect too much based on the new paint job.

 

[LMTC]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I think the biggest question is how does a prospective buyer reliably tell the difference between a solid tractor and a hack job ? )</font>
Two basic defenses--1. the buyer is a mechanic with some familiarity with what these units SHOULD sound/run like, and 2. buy from a reputable dealer who will provide references. There is no certainty of not having a problem even with the best of dealers....what a buyer should look for, IMO, is a dealer with a solid history of few problems and a history of fair resolution of those few problems. We have built our business trying to always be this option.

 

[cfoxmd]

Like anything you buy--buy from a business that has been around awhile. A business operating under the same name for at least 10 years has a history. Check with the better business bureau for complaints. If there are other dealers around ask them what they think of the dealer in question--you may get no information from this question, slanted information, or good information, but it is still worthwhile to ask. Ask for references. Ask if they have ever taken a tractor back (yes is probably a good answer).

Look in the back of the shop. Do they do repairs or do they change fluids, and get the tractor ready for sale? Do they take in tractors for repair of just repair the needy ones prior to sale?

Buying off of ebay is risky for a large used mechanical item. I buy electronics all the time off ebay--they either work or don't work.

I am not against cheap labor. Lots of stuff is made in China these days. Once again, not the high quality manufactured goods. It will take 20 years for the Chinese to develop a reputation for high quality goods. Think about Japan 40 years ago--"Japanese" meant junk. Now made in Japan is a symbol of quality. Will vietnam become the next japan?--who knows. Can you make a quality tractor out of used parts? Maybe--with a good machine shop, attention to detail, and some new parts.