Dealer Pricing Question

[fried1765]

Tractors, implements, and commercial grade outdoor equipment are a different challenge than high volume cutthroat auto sales or residential grade equipment. When I bought my BX I had only one dealer closer than 40 miles. They are a high volume K dealer with prices no one else match as a matter of principle. I did not know that at the time. First warranty problem, a blown hydraulic cylinder, totally turned me off to their shop. Told them they lost my parts and service business. Went the 40 miles and now am totally satisfied. The new dealer has a large well kept and machined and 6 mechanics. Their core business is the AG industry but they still take care of the little guys the same way. Major sales they negotiate to a point. The give me 10% off on all sales and service as appreciation for my business. I have since heard this is pretty much the deal with premier Kubota dealers. Everybody greets me by my first name when I walk in even though it may be once a year. Since going there I have given them $15K in non-major business and service. I see no reason to spend a lot of time shopping around for the last nickle.

As an aside; on buying automobiles/trucks, I do my research, walk into a dealer, find something I like if they have one. I ask the sales person what their lowest price is for the item in question, it is always way to high. I go get a cup of coffee and get my thoughts together. Go back and state "I will give you $X for the unit and my trade, out the door including all misc and license; leaving some wiggle room for me to raise my price a little. The response is let me talk to the manager. Always back with a new too high price. I say, sorry see you later and head for the door. Hardly ever make it to the door without a call back to negotiate some more. I state firmly, I told you my price, now lets get real, say yes or no and not waste our time. I then say, I will sweeten it with $500 and I do not want to talk to anyone but you so go get the yes or no. I either get it or go out the door. It is amazing but I have made out most of the time. Then they want to screw around with the closer and finance and so forth. Give them by credit info, if financing, then tell them, I am busy have to leave, show them the check or maybe folding green and say call me when the papers are ready to sign and have the car/truck ready to go. Couple days later they call and we complete the deal. I have walked out on quite a few dealers, and have them back out as at this point there is no contract. End of the month and end of the year seem to be the best time to get my kind of deal. Been operating this way for over 50 years.

Ron

Ron

Brings to mind a story from a friend....with plenty of money!

He never had a Mercedes, but could well afford a high end one.
Had always had Lincolns.
He thought he had an agreement for an out the door Mercedes price, until the salesman added a nearly $2000 "dealer prep" charge.
He complained.
Salesman stated: "every buyer pays a dealer prep charge".
My friend walked out, and went to the Lincoln dealer a few blocks away.
Wrote the check for a high end Lincoln model, on the spot.


Mercedes dealer manager called that evening, and suggested that they could waive the nearly $2000 dealer prep charge.
My friend said: Sorry......I bought a new Lincoln from the dealer just down the street.

Playing games with a savvy customer can cost a sale.

 

[arlen4720]

I do not believe that..... "good service cost more than poor service".

You may be willing to PAY more for "good service", but there is no logical reason to assume that that the actual cost is greater, to provide good service.

I am grouping a few things into service such as having a good parts inventory, having well trained mechanics, having well equipped service trucks with mechanics on call 7 days a week. Those things translate into a higher shop rate.
Also a willingness to come pickup equipment or make house calls on warrantee work vs bringing equipment to the dealer. John Deere does not reimburse the dealer for that, so obviously that type of service gets factored into the overall pricing of the dealer.

 

[ruffdog]

The dealers around here that I felt did not have good core values and I (and others) avoided are no longer in business.

 

[Buggs67]

When I was buying I checked with the dealer closer to me. He was nice, showed me the machine (but tried to push a lower machine) and had a good business with a good reputation. A dealer 45 minutes away bested his price. and so I went there. They seemed like a small but serious business (father and son). Well, they totally screwed up the assembly and preparation of the TLB. Stripped bolts, missing nuts, parts on backwards. The lines for the BH were incorrectly run. When I found the problems I had a **** of a time getting Kioti to get it fixed. I was without my machine for almost a month.

The whole story is on a thread here.

Point being; the dealer matters.

 

[Buggs67]

When I was buying I checked with the dealer closer to me. He was nice, showed me the machine (but tried to push a lower machine) and had a good business with a good reputation. A dealer 45 minutes away bested his price. and so I went there. They seemed like a small but serious business (father and son). Well, they totally screwed up the assembly and preparation of the TLB. Stripped bolts, missing nuts, parts on backwards. The lines for the BH were incorrectly run. When I found the problems I had a **** of a time getting Kioti to get it fixed. I was without my machine for almost a month.

The whole story is on a thread here. https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums.../311520-ck2510-poor-preperation-dealer-5.html

Point being; the dealer matters.

 

[Jchonline]

I don稚 ask dealers to do that. I think it痴 unfair and unethical. I view a quote given by a dealer as a confidential document. I tell them up front that I知 getting quotes on identical equipment, and they have one chance on their price. The low bidder of identical brands isn稚 always the best value in my opinion. My local JD dealer is who I absolutely prefer to do business with, and I would still go his way if he was say 5 or 6 hundred bucks higher on say a 20K piece of equipment. I look at the total package...service, parts, expirience of the mechanics and parts guys etc.
My most important rule is: I only do business with people I like...no exceptions. Sometimes that means I pay more.
It may take a couple transactions with a dealer to learn how each other prefers to do business.

This is a free market economy. Don’t think for a minute that a dealer you like isnt it to get as much profit as they can from you. They can be super nice, helpful, dependable, and expensive. They can also be all of these things and reasonably competitive.

I agree low bidder isn稚 always the best. Remember we are spending OUR money. Dealers need to earn our business. This not only includes service and dependability but also price competition.

We also dont have to tell said dealer who we have another quote from, just that it is from a local competitor.

 

[arlen4720]

This is a free market economy. Don’t think for a minute that a dealer you like isnt it to get as much profit as they can from you. They can be super nice, helpful, dependable, and expensive. They can also be all of these things and reasonably competitive.

I agree low bidder isn稚 always the best. Remember we are spending OUR money. Dealers need to earn our business. This not only includes service and dependability but also price competition.

We also dont have to tell said dealer who we have another quote from, just that it is from a local competitor.

I think you mostly agree with what I posted, and I agree with you that dealers have to earn your business.
I always get competitive bids. The main difference of opinion I think boils down to this...
I don’t ask dealers to price match as I think that is a waste of everyone’s time, and is unfair to the dealer that spent the time and effort to give you the lowest price the first time. I am very up front with them about my way of thinking. Getting into a game of price matching lets one of the dealers off too easy.
In the end, you have to decide which dealer deserves your business, and in my case, that isn’t always the lowest bidder. I believe in forging long term relationships, and that’s hard to do without some level of trust. And they can trust that I won’t share their pricing.

 

[Atchuuu]

I think you mostly agree with what I posted, and I agree with you that dealers have to earn your business.
I always get competitive bids. The main difference of opinion I think boils down to this...
I don’t ask dealers to price match as I think that is a waste of everyone’s time, and is unfair to the dealer that spent the time and effort to give you the lowest price the first time. I am very up front with them about my way of thinking. Getting into a game of price matching lets one of the dealers off too easy.
In the end, you have to decide which dealer deserves your business, and in my case, that isn’t always the lowest bidder. I believe in forging long term relationships, and that’s hard to do without some level of trust. And they can trust that I won’t share their pricing.

To each their own. No right way or wrong way to do it as long as the one spending the money is comfortable.

I can only say that in many businesses saying "give me your best price" doesn't mean their best price. You are not the only one who asks this. Everybody does. So if a dealer is negotiating against themselves and just cutting out profit every time someone asks that question then they go out of business.

Also, if a dealer is higher the may want to know about it. Gives them a chance to adjust their price, if possible, or to tell you why they are worth X more.

You get what you negotiate..... or don't.

 

[kenmac]

I got what I thought was a good price when I bought my ZD1021. I called a dealer a good way away from me and got a price. I then Called a dealer closer and asked him his lowest price. He started talking about this and that. I stopped him and said lets get to the point, I can get a new ZD1021 out the door from another dealer for xxx. If you will sell the same mower to me for the same money, I'll buy it from you. Just tell me if you can't and I won't waste any more of your time. He said, come get the mower for the same price

 

[CampyVA]

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for all the advice. I think I probably will ask dealer B to match, but I'm not going to be a jerk about it. If he can't or won't, that's fine. Dealer A is still a perfectly fine dealership, so If I end up with them, it'll be alright.