A dealer makes a ton of difference. I shopped JD and Kubota last year for a CUT. Compared everything and test drove. I favored the JD because of ergonomics, but was open to both. But, when I compared financing and incentives, the JD was significantly cheaper - and the JD dealer has a better service department. Easy choice. Note in the postings here the number people upset with a tractor who attribute the problem to the dealer.
Pick a good dealer and you'll always be happier.
I was trading in a JD 595 diesel garden tractor I believe, toward a upgraded diesel JD X740. Supposedly the same tractor, sort of. I went to my local JD dealer and he wanted $6000 to boot. I then went to the JD dealer my neighbor bragged about and he wanted $6000 to boot. I went to another JD dealer and guess what; $6000 to boot. It must be rigged.
On the way home from a town 30 miles away I stopped at yet another JD dealer and he wanted $2800 to boot. I picked it up the next day. The moral of the story is, all JD dealers aren't the same and their circumstance at any particular time aren't either. They may have a glut of your trade it and don't need anymore of them, so they will hold the line.
A couple months later I shopped for a CUT and looked at a few dealers and ended up getting one out of state to save a thousand or so. The local dealer never made an issue in any repair work with me either, and I figure I can use the thousand more than they can.
But I was pricing Kubota and I was on the lot and in the show room and all he could say is, I don't have that size in, or we should be getting some in sometime. We have this little bitty BX something and the bigger ones are sort of the same. Do you want to buy one? They must think their orange tractors sell themselves. The Kubota dealers I went to didn't show me much. Maybe because I had a John Deere hat or coat on??
If I am interested in a John Deere tractor, I never had to wait for a salesman longer than what I want to. Sometimes I go out and look at all the different sizes, and they usually have a good selection to choose from, and when I want more information, I go in and get a salesman. I don't need them hounding me and most of the time at half a dozen dealers I go to, they always seem pretty good to deal with.
Although a fairly local JD dealer handles Kubota and John Deere, when I was there I remember he was pushing Kubota. I know they are good, but I like John Deere's better.
