Help, John Deere 4400 ! ! !

[Mrwurm]

I have a used JD4400 on hold at my local Massey dealer. He picked it up from a
JD dealer. He said the unit is two years old and it just came off lease. The tractor
did not have a loader and was used for mowing with a 3pt mower. The Massey
dealer added a brand new 430 loader to it and is offering it to me for $13,900.
The tractor has Hydro, mid pto, turf tires, brand spanking new 430 loader, 500
hours on clock. Machine looks almost new.

Here's the problem, after reading many posts about problems with this machine
on another board I am worried about whether I should buy this machine at all.
The dealer says it's two years old which makes it a 1999 or 2000 model. It has the
parking brake next to the seat and I don't know which MFWD front axle it has. My
intended uses are landscaping, snow removal, and mowing at my 3 acre home
site.

Armed with the serial number, could a JD dealer tell me if this machine has had
any major repairs or recurring problems.

The machine is on hold, but I have a good relationship with this dealer and I can
walk away if I need to.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Jerry,

If you provide the John Deere dealer with the serial #, you can get a computer printout of all warranty service and parts performed on that unit...

Tell your local MF dealer, you will pay his asking price if he will warranty the entire drive train for 100 hours {about 1 consumer year}(put it in writing...)

 

[Mrwurm]

John, thanks for your input. I did just as you said. Got a local JD dealer to run the numbers for me. Turns out the machine is not two years old, it was sold in Dec 1998. The dash panel shows 540 hrs but JD records indicate that it had 680 hrs at last service. Also, this tractor was previously owned first by a landscaper and then by a Farm service. Not the gentle service that was described to me by the dealer. lastly, found out the machine has had 7 major repairs.

Told the dealer thank you. It's back to searching the lots and the newspaper for me.

 

[hayden]

Score!! It pays to investigate.

 

[PitbullMidwest]

Doesn't speak too highly of the Massey dealer. If he didn't know he should have and if he did know he should have told you the truth.

 

[MarkV]

Ain't this forum great!/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Mrwurm]

Yeah, I feel like I dodged a bullet. It's too bad though. I thought I had really found a great deal on a fairly new machine. I'm glad that I am not stuck with it, but disappointed all the same. In my area (Almont,Mich) compact tractors last about one day. It does'nt matter if their on a dealer lot or in the paper. I've been searching for a suitable machine to replace my JD650 4X4 for about three years now. I'm always a few hours or a day late when something good comes on the used market.

 

[MarkV]

Mrwurm,
I feel your pain. Went through the same thing looking for a B21. Compact 4x4's are so problem free people don't get rid of them. When they do there value holds so well it is tough when you are on a budget.

MarkV