John Deere's poor dealership decision making IMO.

[ovrszd]

Yes but that should be covered, at least as a business target, by the hideous high shop labor rate that is about 3 times what the mechanic is paid.

How much does it cost to build a shop? How much does it cost to equip it? How much does it cost to keep the lights, heat and air on? How much does it cost to produce a bill and then wait on the money? How much does a "non payer" cost?

 

[Industrial Toys]

That may in fact just be chicken sheit. Maybe they had to come up with many millions to buy up those dealerships and that debt has to be paid off before the lights get turned on in the morning. It's kind of like farm land being bought around here by investors and you can't make enough money farming it to pay even the interest on the land.


I have heard a lot of good things about CAT dealers and their customer service.

 

[RickB]

So is a mechanic that can only bill 8hrs a day.

I have never worked in a shop that billed on a flat rate basis. Unheard of in my part of the world. Automotive, yes, tractors and equipment, no.

 

[RickB]

Yes but that should be covered, at least as a business target, by the hideous high shop labor rate that is about 3 times what the mechanic is paid.

What the tech gets paid and what it costs to have him employed are two different numbers.
The payments made by a dealer to a major manufacturer simply to have access to software, technical info and special tools would shock you. These costs are NOT linear based on volume, but are more easily spread by larger dealerships and especially multi store dealers.
I have spent 100% of the last 25 years employed at small, single store dealerships with <20 employees. That is not a particularly attractive business model.

 

[orezok]

So is a mechanic that can only bill 8hrs a day.

Better than the legal world. I have a friend who works for a major law firm and she told me that she was expected to bill 80 hrs per week at $350 per hr.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

My local Deere dealer wouldn稚 look up to even speak to me when I visited there 20 yrs ago. So I never went back. Have bought 4 kubota痴 since. I don稚 see why Deere has the following they do.

Around here it's parts, you have 4 different JD dealers around here within a 1 hour drive, there is a better than average chance that one of them has the part that you need , when you are down in the field that can be the difference, I'm pretty confident that Red, Blue or Orange put out a great line of tractors but they don't have near as many dealers, so therefore not a huge supply of parts to be had today unless you are really lucky, also depends on the dealer, I tried to get a price on a Kubota years ago at the one local dealer and he didn't have time for me then not so much as a return phone call with a price quote, so I have never darkened his door since, kind of like you and the JD dealer.

 

[JWR]

How much does it cost to build a shop? How much does it cost to equip it? How much does it cost to keep the lights, heat and air on? How much does it cost to produce a bill and then wait on the money? How much does a "non payer" cost?

I don't know, or need to know, what his costs of doing business are. It is a reasonable assumption on my part/our part that whatever his costs of doing business he covers them in 3 primary ways: 1) income on sales and 2) Income in the shop on service and 3) Income on parts. I have to figure that as a business man he sets his pricing in all 3 areas to cover his costs and some profit. He owns the business, he sets the prices, I complain whenever it seems high to me. But that's a side issue which I probably erred in mentioning.

THE main point of this entire discussion is that JD shoving small individual dealers out of their dealership, as they obviously are and have been for years, is harmful to the customers, harmful to the remote rural areas and nasty for those hard working dealers. My point. That's where I came in at post #64.

 

[BoylermanCT]

Better than the legal world. I have a friend who works for a major law firm and she told me that she was expected to bill 80 hrs per week at $350 per hr.

And lawyers still make their daily tee time. They have learned those are billable hours too!

 

[Diggin It]

Around here it's parts, you have 4 different JD dealers around here within a 1 hour drive, there is a better than average chance that one of them has the part that you need , ....

I have two chrome and glass Green stores in that distance, but they're both the same company. They also have about 10 other locations If they don't have a part locally, they can get one from another store, but it won't be today and maybe not tomorrow.

And no, my Blue store an hour and a half away my not have major parts on hand, but they can be shipped to me.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

I have two chrome and glass Green stores in that distance, but they're both the same company. They also have about 10 other locations If they don't have a part locally, they can get one from another store, but it won't be today and maybe not tomorrow.

And no, my Blue store an hour and a half away my not have major parts on hand, but they can be shipped to me.

If you will notice in my first sentence I said "Around here" I was strictly speaking of my area, not anyone else's area, especially the Lower Uncton , wherever that might be.