Barlow's pricing seems very competitive.

[devildog1]

I have been buying Kubotas for 7 years now and live in North Central CT. I am on my fourth Kubota and each time I go to purchase and trade I go 3 dealers in CT, 3 dealers in Ma and White's Tractor Supply in New york. The last time and this most recent time 3 weeks ago I once again went with White's because the CLOSEST any of the dealers this time and last were to their quotes was 5,000.00 more and as much as 10,000.00. And that still took into consideration the 600.00 added for delivery. I am not an idiot but most of the people around here must be if that is how much they are willing to take it in the shorts. Trades are tricky but on a straight purchase 6000.00 dollars is a LOT but no surprise to me. The actual costs on these tractors are kept tight to the vest but it is easy to extrapolate there is more mark up than many may think. It's called whatever the market will bear. I will keep business local for a few hundred but not for a few thousand. I work to hard for my money to be giving it away. The threat of well if you need warranty work done or repairs the dealer will treat you like carp. I would not know because I really haven't had any need yet except this most recent purchase of my GL3940 requires a windshield wiper line to be repaired and White's will be sending out a repair truck to care of it. Most of the dealers around here both orange and green have real attitudes. Maybe they don't need the business and can get by with gouging and treating people like carp but that does not fly with me. Go with the dealer from out of state, Barlow's obviously has been treating a lot of people well considering the feedback from this site alone. He obviously truly wants your business. Don't let the local guys hold you hostage, life is too short for those kind of games.

:thumbsup: Amen could not have said it better myself.
Devildog

 

[DAY]

My local Deere dealer has been in business for decades, and sells farm equipment to farmers. Last time i stopped there were a couple of shiny CUTS flanking the doors, but everything else is big or bigger, or old and older! The used equip is mostly balers and discs instead of box blades and snowblowers.

The Kubota dealer has a showroom you could clean out the Orange, put in Porsches, and you couldn't tell the difference. A few pieces of junk they took in trade, but otherwise they are selling "Yuppie Toys" (See another looong thread on this!) at zero interest.

Are both overpriced? Probably, but what's a guy with tractor fever to do? (Calling Mr. Barlow. . .)

 

[TripleR]

My local Deere dealer has been in business for decades, and sells farm equipment to farmers. Last time i stopped there were a couple of shiny CUTS flanking the doors, but everything else is big or bigger, or old and older! The used equip is mostly balers and discs instead of box blades and snowblowers.

The Kubota dealer has a showroom you could clean out the Orange, put in Porsches, and you couldn't tell the difference. A few pieces of junk they took in trade, but otherwise they are selling "Yuppie Toys" (See another looong thread on this!) at zero interest.

Are both overpriced? Probably, but what's a guy with tractor fever to do? (Calling Mr. Barlow. . .)

Our local Deere dealer has a pretty good mix of Ag tractors as well as "Yuppie Toys", many farmers around here have both. Kubota can't compete with Deere in the Ag market.

 

[crazyal]

Many folks get a quote from Barlows and then use that to re-negotiate with their local dealer(s). Since all dealers have differing overhead costs, there will be some differences, but in the end, one has to make a decision just how much difference one can afford.

I don't do this. I ask for the best price they can give me and if someone else beats it then I decided the pros and cons of things like do I like the dealer enough to pay the difference, do I trust the dealer enough who gave me the lower price, etc. Barlows is now my first choice.

For $6000 I wouldn't even trying to get your local dealer to lower his price. If he's that high either he can't go that low or he felt that the first time you walked through the door he could get $6000 in profit on a (I'm guessing) $25k~$30k tractor out of your pocket. That's one **** of a markup. Unless money is tight I would use the saved money and buy an attachment or two.

 

[bp fick]

I don't do this. I ask for the best price they can give me and if someone else beats it then I decided the pros and cons of things like do I like the dealer enough to pay the difference, do I trust the dealer enough who gave me the lower price, etc. Barlows is now my first choice.

For $6000 I wouldn't even trying to get your local dealer to lower his price. If he's that high either he can't go that low or he felt that the first time you walked through the door he could get $6000 in profit on a (I'm guessing) $25k~$30k tractor out of your pocket. That's one **** of a markup. Unless money is tight I would use the saved money and buy an attachment or two.

Understand. I too would be very hesitant to bother even going back to a dealer where the price gap is as large as was quoted by the OP. It would be interesting to see if any other Kubota dealers gave the OP a quote and how they differed. A $6000 discrepancy is too large to be believable. Something doesn't seem kosher here. My question to the original poster is this:

Have you gotten quotes from other local dealers?

 

[fredhargis]

Understand. I too would be very hesitant to bother even going back to a dealer where the price gap is as large as was quoted by the OP. It would be interesting to see if any other Kubota dealers gave the OP a quote and how they differed. A $6000 discrepancy is too large to be believable. Something doesn't seem kosher here. My question to the original poster is this:

Have you gotten quotes from other local dealers?

While I agree that is a large price difference, it somewhat mirrors what happened to me last year. I made a list of what I wanted with my B2920 (attachments) and got quotes from 3 dealers. 2 were very close to me, the third in a nearby city about 60 miles away. My 2 quotes from nearby dealers were within $700 of each other, but the city dealer wanted about $4500 more than my lowest quote (!). Oddly enough, his website is called "kubotadeals" or something like that. Maybe he's in an area where folks don't mind and can afford his prices...but I found the difference very surprising. I still wish I had also called Barlows to give me one more data point.

 

[ejkessler]

All the above stated reasons is why I call and get quotes from at least 5 different dealers at times more. I even call half way across the country at times to get a feel for regional differences. I tell them I am getting ready to move to the area and to price out the tractor I am considering at the time. I have found most bigger city dealers are considerably higher priced in general. Most of the time but not all going to a dealer in a so called farm belt yields the best results for me. They are looking to make a living and not a killing is my take on it. Like I have posted several times just recently the quote differences I get are HUGE at times. I can't be bothered with someone who initially gives me a gouging quote. I would not trust them as far as I could throw my tractor.

 

[sixdogs]

I have been buying Kubotas for 7 years now and live in North Central CT. I am on my fourth Kubota and each time I go to purchase and trade I go 3 dealers in CT, 3 dealers in Ma and White's Tractor Supply in New york. The last time and this most recent time 3 weeks ago I once again went with White's because the CLOSEST any of the dealers this time and last were to their quotes was 5,000.00 more and as much as 10,000.00. And that still took into consideration the 600.00 added for delivery. I am not an idiot but most of the people around here must be if that is how much they are willing to take it in the shorts. Trades are tricky but on a straight purchase 6000.00 dollars is a LOT but no surprise to me. The actual costs on these tractors are kept tight to the vest but it is easy to extrapolate there is more mark up than many may think. It's called whatever the market will bear. I will keep business local for a few hundred but not for a few thousand. I work to hard for my money to be giving it away. The threat of well if you need warranty work done or repairs the dealer will treat you like carp. I would not know because I really haven't had any need yet except this most recent purchase of my GL3940 requires a windshield wiper line to be repaired and White's will be sending out a repair truck to care of it. Most of the dealers around here both orange and green have real attitudes. Maybe they don't need the business and can get by with gouging and treating people like carp but that does not fly with me. Go with the dealer from out of state, Barlow's obviously has been treating a lot of people well considering the feedback from this site alone. He obviously truly wants your business. Don't let the local guys hold you hostage, life is too short for those kind of games.

Stated perfectly.

When I lived in Maine the quotes were silly and reflected the lack of competition. Retail plus freight and other things.
I was a little scared to buy out of state but it was so easy I did it again.
Had a 6 1/2 x 16 trailer with elec brakes built and it was a piece of cake. The road trip was a lot of fun. I saw things that were fun, had lunch in great places, etc.
Might have been a factor in my leaving the northeast.
Now that I live in the land of greater competition, deals are all around me and I actually spent $500 MORE to buy from a local guy that I could do other business with.
$500 is fine but for $5,000 I'll hit the road.

 

[crazyal]

Understand. I too would be very hesitant to bother even going back to a dealer where the price gap is as large as was quoted by the OP. It would be interesting to see if any other Kubota dealers gave the OP a quote and how they differed. A $6000 discrepancy is too large to be believable. Something doesn't seem kosher here. My question to the original poster is this:

Have you gotten quotes from other local dealers?

When I was looking one of the dealers still had some signs on their tractors from a local fair. It had the fair special pricing, well it had all the equipment included, monthly payment, a down payment, and 0% interest for 54 months so it wasn't hard to do the math. They said that if I bought that week they would give me the fair special.

With Kubota's tractor builder I easily figured out how much of a discount they were giving, a little less than 5%. I was told if you haggled with them you could get 6% ot maybe even 7% off but you really had to work on them. A second dealer didn't call me back and the third just gave me list price because they didn't have the tractor in stock.

So it's possible if you said "I got a quote of this, give me your best price" they may have figured they better come close or loose a sale but none of them would do it over the phone and I really didn't want to spend the day driving from dealer to dealer hoping one would come close. But I also didn't waste their time kicking tires and asking lots of questions. After all time is money for a dealer.

 

[sixdogs]

If I wanted the best price I waited until I was 100% ready to buy and then showed up at the local dealer.
Said i was ready to buy in 15 minutes so tell me some prices and i meant it..
If price was too high, I said so, and if I knew the price i could buy from an out of state or more hungery dealer, that was my negotiating point.
No dealer wants to lose a sale and all will deal if you are sincere if you are ready to buy at that moment. No "thinking about it".
If no deal we shook hands and he knew my phone number and also my intent to buy ASAP.

I can't recall exactly but my Ford 2110 of 25 years ago was maybe 15% off list. Big John Deere 5520 ten years ago 12-15% off. Two Kubotas over 10 years at least 10% off, maybe more.
I waited until fall to buy however and made the deal within 15 minutes of starting things. Spring is harder to deal because of the obvious.
Let me add you cannot beat somone to too low of a price. How would you like it? Good dealers are important to have and good people have a right to dignity, just as either of us deserves.
My dealer of 25 years ago now lives in Florida and we have sort-of stayed in touch. If I went to Florida he would probably insist I stay a few days with him. He gat a hassle free sale, i got an honest price and that's the way it works.

Seems the best deal today would be to buy used. There are lots of low hour things around and some are pretty hungry to get out from under.
Just my two cents.