Importance of dealer proximity

[fried1765]

Several in the immediate area. How important? Not, unless I am in the buying mood which currently I'm not. The internet and UPS solved the needing a dealer nearby problem for me. You pull up the dealer's www, order your parts, they have them drop shipped to you and that's that. With the www sites, like this one, answering just about any question you could ask no need to physically pay a dealer a visit.

Yup !!

 

[rademamj1]

One comment with having a really distant dealer is for those who do not own or cannot borrow a transport trailer required to haul their tractor to the dealer. Pickup and delivery charges could exceed $350. I have heard $425 transport charge from one unhappy tractor owner. However, if you own a very reliable tractor brand, and do much of your own maintenance, then this becomes not an issue.

 

[fried1765]

One comment with having a really distant dealer is for those who do not own or cannot borrow a transport trailer required to haul their tractor to the dealer. Pickup and delivery charges could exceed $350. I have heard $425 transport charge from one unhappy tractor owner. However, if you own a very reliable tractor brand, and do much of your own maintenance, then this becomes not an issue.

Two (and possibly only one) of those $425 charges over 10 years would likely add up to actual trailer depreciation over those years.
Having a trailer always at your disposal for 10 years is a very nice thing.

 

[Buggs67]

I have a 25hp tractor , Kioti CK2510H and I love it. At the time I bought it the nearest dealer was 14 miles away but I got a better deal from a dealer in NYS. That was a mistake.

I have since moved and am lucky that there is a Kioti dealer 15 miles/20 min away. He ignores the fact that I didn't buy from him since I moved it there but dealers prefer to service what they sell. I've had it there once for some repairs and diagnosis on hydraulic issues with the FEL and BH. Since I am close they charge $125 to pickup/deliver, but I borrowed a friend's trailer. The Kioti was more tractor for the money than Kubota which was my only local alternative.

My BIL just bought the LS MT225H with back hoe. It's a nice tractor and has many features my 6 yr old does not have. He's loving it. I don't know how much he spent. He also considered the Kioti. He has many dealers near him.

I do my own maintenance/service. My Kioti dealer does not mark up the filters or fluids like many do and since it's family owned they will be there for a long time. And when I wanted a ZTM they were good to deal with as we have a relationship.

 

[shooterdon]

LS tractor. Been to the dealer twice. 50 hr service and an oil leak.

Dealer had been to my place twice. Once for a regen issue and once to replace a cab door. Dealer is about an hour away. He does not charge to pick up or return tractor and uses an older retired gentleman to provide the service. I am fortunate my dealer is a family run business that cares and does a great job.

I am 70 and not interested in wrenching on a tractor so dealer support matters to me. The only "critical" work I need done is snow removal but I have a guy who will plow me out if the tractor pukes. I put on about 100 hours a year.

 

[hube2]

1) how close - 15 minutes
2) how often - rarely, but then the tractor is only a few months old and has only about 25 hours on it.
3) Massey Ferguson GC

My dealer is only 15 minutes away and the reason I bought the tractor I have is because of the dealer, not because of proximity but because of experience with them and experience of people I know with them. The important part for me is that they will come and get it or send someone to look at it if I have a problem that I cannot deal with myself.

Regular maintenance I plan on doing myself. I will also likely buy all of the things I need for it online, more than likely if I go down there I'll end up needing to order anything I need and waiting for it and then go back to pick it up so may as well have it shipped right to the house if I can get free shipping, usually can if you buy enough and I don't mind having the extra supplies on hand. They don't seem to keep a lot of MF parts and supplies in stock.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I normally don't have any issues finding JD and Kobota Dealers in my travels. Coming home yesterday from the BIG City and needed some JD Synthetic Oil. One town used to have a JD dealer but no more and found myself in a pretty large area devoid of any JD dealers. Funny how you can take things like that for granted.

And although I prefer to deal with certain dealers to show activity if I need their help, and I don't like the accross the board pricing, if I do go to another dealer, I know it won't cost me anymore.

 

[pmhowe]

It happened! And I promised you an update. I wasn't able to look at the Massey Ferguson 1526, as the dealer didn't have one in stock. I wasn't able to look at the BobCat CT2025, either. No local BobCat dealers had any BobCat Tractors in their inventory. Nonetheless, BobCat has been doing a lot of advertising, so I filled out their forms, requesting that a dealer get in touch. Never happened. Did it a second time. Same result. I decided that, while BobCat (Corporate) might be eager to sell me a tractor, BobCat (Local Dealers) weren't.

I found a local dealer (30 miles away, 45 minute drive) for Kioti and LS. I ended up looking at a Kioti CK2610H and an LS MT225EH. I have read that some people found that the HST tractors had a high pitched squeal from the hydraulics when in operation. My old (2012) Kubota L4240HST did have an obnoxious squeal. Neither of these small tractors did, nor does the tractor I ended up buying. Both had smooth bucket behaviors. Both had slightly jerky three point hitches. I didn't operate the hitches with implements attached, but decided not to worry about it. Certainly they were less jerky than the Kubota Standard L-series tractors I operated in 2012 to 2015, with or without implements. I liked both the LS MT225EH and the Kioti CK2610. I think either would work well for my current needs. However, I found the Kioti a little bit more comfortable for me. I also liked the dealership very much. It is a small, family owned business, very accommodating, very helpful, with a couple of old-school mechanics.

My Kioti was delivered today. I spent only about 3/4 of an hour seat time on it, but I am looking forward to putting it to use. I have attached a picture of it being delivered and a picture of it in my driveway, ready to get to work.

Phil

 

[K5lwq]

Very nice tractor! Congratulations and I hope you get many trouble free years service!

 

[MossRoad]

:thumbsup: