“Buy the dealer, not the machine” is outdated

[Wagtail]

<sigh> I've posted this a few times over the years that I've been on TBN... which also happens to be as long as I've owned a tractor. I bought my tractor before the benefit of TBN advice.

I bought the Dealer. I talked with local farmers and tractor owners as to who they'd recommend = who had the best reputation for supporting their product. The one, amongst all the other colours, that kept coming up, even among other colour tractor owners, was the local JD dealership.

Now, I live on an Island. Yes, it's a State but still an Island. I don't have the luxury of 'going to another area or State' to kick tyres or play one dealership off on the other. Here, reputation is KING and memories are generational long. Businesses and dealerships live & die by their treatment, and support, of their customers.

My JD Dealership's salesman (a farmer himself) sold me the tractor I needed, not what 'was on the lot' or was more/less than what I required. He asked direct questions about what I needed. The dealership is about 2 hours away (to be fair, ALL colour dealerships are about the same distance away from me ) and I visit infrequently, yet I can walk in and be called by name.

My JD Dealership has opened up early in order to sell me a needed part so that I could get back to a haying job.

"Buy the dealer" is definitely not outdated where I live. If it is for where you live then you have my sympathy... or I live in some sort of historic anachronism.

 

[Hay Dude]

JD at least in this area and many other areas from what I understand are just like car dealerships in that they are all owned by one company. They are not small mom and pop independent dealership.

Yes. There are regional dealerships in many areas now. I don’t like it either. I see JD and some other brands (AGCO, CNH) are going the same way. Some dealers that are doing this are still maintaining a small mom/pop dealer vibe. Some have gone “corporate“.

 

[crazyal]

People retire or find new jobs. Owners sell. There's not a lot of dealers that you can count on being the same 20 years from now as they are now. Buy what you like and just accept that your dealer could change.

 

[stuckmotor]

I was at the parts counter of a small equipment dealer. The countermam, who was talking to a customer turned to the owner and seemed to relay the question of whether the dealership would do warranty work on a piece of machinery the customer had found at a much better price in the next county. The answer was "EXPLETIVE NO".

Deciding whether it's more cost affective to spend a few thousand more with a fantastic local dealer and risk him selling out to a jerk tomorrow, or to take the great deal one or two hundred miles away is difficult.

 

[ruffdog]

Who are you buying the tractor for, you or the dealer? You don't want to buy something you despise every time you use it.

 

[hube2]

Luckily my dealer has been a family owned business for 3 generations and it does not look like they are going anywhere anytime soon. I could be wrong and they could decide to sell out any time and then I'd probably be screwed. I could have paid a bit more, I don't think so, but honestly I don't know. I figured that they'd all be within the same ballpark. I got the tractor I wanted from the dealer I wanted to do business with and they are only a 10 minute drive away. The only real complaint I have is they they don't stock much in the way of maintenance parts for my tractor. Every time I call them to see if they have a filter in stock they tell me they have some order and it will be a few days or they tell me they need to order it. Not a problem since I can order what I need online and probably get it faster, so it's their loss.

 

[bunchgrass]

Komrade bunchgrass,
I live in the eastern part of the Republik, where 350 acres of farm land is considered medium sized. Apparently, I spend and make enough with them to have their ear.
I must be in the bourgeoisie, not the proletariat?

I have been in your area. Dealers are spaced very far apart. You get what you get. Tough luck.
Where I am, I can chose from 5 different NH dealers, 5 different Deere dealers, 5 different AGCO dealers.

Oh, and BTW, I own more than on the list. Theres no more space left to list more....

350 ac is medium sized and able to provide a living without an off farm job, more power to you. Sounds like a big fish in a small pond. Our pond is much bigger and small fish get eaten. Small fish need to have outside sources of income to even stay in the pond at all.

 

[MoKelly]

I was at the parts counter of a dealer of a small equipment dealer. The countermam, who was talking to a customer turned to the owner and seemed to relay the question of whether the dealership would do warranty work on a piece of machinery the customer had found at a much better price in the next county. The answer was "EXPLETIVE NO

I don’t understand that reaction. Why? The person doing warranty work still gets paid and makes a profit. Why turn down the work?

Car dealers don’t work that way.

Maybe it was posturing. Doesn’t the manufacturer require ALL dealers to do warranty work on their machines to be a dealer?

I assume it was the same brand.

MoKelly

 

[bunchgrass]

<sigh> I've posted this a few times over the years that I've been on TBN... which also happens to be as long as I've owned a tractor. I bought my tractor before the benefit of TBN advice.

I bought the Dealer. I talked with local farmers and tractor owners as to who they'd recommend = who had the best reputation for supporting their product. The one, amongst all the other colours, that kept coming up, even among other colour tractor owners, was the local JD dealership.

Now, I live on an Island. Yes, it's a State but still an Island. I don't have the luxury of 'going to another area or State' to kick tyres or play one dealership off on the other. Here, reputation is KING and memories are generational long. Businesses and dealerships live & die by their treatment, and support, of their customers.

My JD Dealership's salesman (a farmer himself) sold me the tractor I needed, not what 'was on the lot' or was more/less than what I required. He asked direct questions about what I needed. The dealership is about 2 hours away (to be fair, ALL colour dealerships are about the same distance away from me ) and I visit infrequently, yet I can walk in and be called by name.

My JD Dealership has opened up early in order to sell me a needed part so that I could get back to a haying job.

"Buy the dealer" is definitely not outdated where I live. If it is for where you live then you have my sympathy... or I live in some sort of historic anachronism.

Our JD dealer will set parts outside for me to pickup after hours. As I said earlier, all the JD dealerships within 300 mile radius or more are owned by one company ...... JD wants that way.

 

[bunchgrass]

People retire or find new jobs. Owners sell. There's not a lot of dealers that you can count on being the same 20 years from now as they are now. Buy what you like and just accept that your dealer could change.

Yep. My localish Kubota dealer has changed hands twice and location once since I bought my tractor from them in 2012.