Having a good dealer

[swreeder]

Just wanted to share this as I think the importance of a good dealer cannot be understated. I took delivery of a LS MT352HC back in February of this year. In general it has been a really good machine and a vast improvement from my old tractor.

Around the 20 hour mark, I started to have some issues where the throttle would rev up/down and then a F31 S29 error would be tossed out and the tractor would go into limp mode. After a few calls with the dealer, the suspected culprit to replace was the throttle assembly. Dealer sent a tech to my house, swapped the throttle. Issue seem to be resolved, but eventually came back on an intermittent bases. Shutting down and restarting would remove the problem and I could go anywhere from minutes to many hours before it would toss the code again.

So eventually I had the dealer come and pick it up. As suspected they could not reproduce the problem...until they were loading it on the trailer to come back to me, it failed. They replaced the throttle assembly again, cleaned and reseated all the plugs as well as verifying good ground connections.

Tractor came home, worked for a period of time and started again with intermittent F31 S29 errors. I had been in contact with the dealer, but due to work, travel and some vacation time I could not get it in for service and I had been working around the problem. Eventually it started to toss an F02 S636 error and I could not get past it. Tractor would run fine for 5 minutes then fail, and no way around other than to let sit for an hour to cool down. Upon a restart I would get the same results and error after 5 minutes.

That F02 S636 error indicated crank sensor error. So a new sensor was ordered. Took some time to get the part, but when it came in, dealer sent a tech to my house to fix. Low and behold, the fuel line was routed wrong and had put pressure on the back side of the sensor. After removing, you could clearly see it was cracked where the wires entered it. 10 minute job for the sensor to be replaced, and tractor was back in action. I put over 10 hours on it and its running like a champ.

A couple of morals to the story here. 1. Have a good dealer that cares about customers and fixing problems. 2. Have some patience as a customer, these systems are so complex these days, tracking down intermittent errors can be difficult. 3. Have faith in the product...all products can and will have issues...doesn't mean its a bad company or product...

 

[Rebeldad1]

Brim Tractor around here is great. New Holland tractors and Mini-X's
They cover Washington and Oregon. Also now selling American made side by sides

 

[Roadworthy]

Congratulations on finding a good dealer and solving your problem. I bought my last tractor from what is currently an LS dealership. I like the dealer so well I paid more (with the wife's blessing) to buy a Kubota this time. I've nothing against LS, it's strictly the dealer.

 

[Avenger]

Every once in a while, a lemon will roll off the assembly line. Small issues turn into big issues, and easy fixes turn into nightmares. Having support is extremely helpful, if not mandatory. However, just as important is the customer.

Not everyone is a level 3 senior diesel technician with a masters degree in tractor technology. It's just as important for the customer to remain calm and help by relaying critical information to the dealer, who is trying to understand the issue to better serve the customer. Simply saying an error code and "its broken" doesn't help anyone. Remembering that your problem(s) are one of many for that technician/dealership. Many customers who purchase a tractor and experience frustrating issues, such as yours, get impatient and demanding. Then declare the entire line of product as being just like theirs, a POS, while the dealership does have your best interest in mind (most of the time) and is doing everything they can, while still maintaining a good relationship with corporate.

I hate getting the run around as much as the next guy. And I have experienced some issues with my LS dealer. But being a good customer, a patient, understanding, and helpful customer made their job easier, which makes my repairs go smoother. My dealer does not let out a heavy sigh whenever they realize its my voice on the other end of the phone call. They are actually happy to speak to me. I bet your dealer is happy to hear from you too!

Its always nice to hear a positive experience about these tractors and their dealerships. The negatives always gets the attention, and the positive is always overlooked. One of my most successful videos on YT is the one I made about breaking down. Everyone wants to see the blood and the bad. I also have a video (several in fact) highlighting the positives, which has a fraction of the views as that one negative. So thank you @swreeder for posting a positive experience!

 

[shooterdon]

My LS dealer....Sumerix...is also outstanding.

 

[tomplum]

I tend to see blue and red dealers around the area that many fit into the category of , I can't believe this is a tractor dealer. The dealer I bought from at least had a service center, albeit small. Others you look at don't have the experience nor investment to believe that they will be there in 5 years. In fact, my dealer is red now. We have long established green and orange dealers. I'm glad to see Brim recommended and happy that the OP has someone that looks out for him.

 

[swreeder]

I tend to see blue and red dealers around the area that many fit into the category of , I can't believe this is a tractor dealer. The dealer I bought from at least had a service center, albeit small. Others you look at don't have the experience nor investment to believe that they will be there in 5 years. In fact, my dealer is red now. We have long established green and orange dealers. I'm glad to see Brim recommended and happy that the OP has someone that looks out for him.

Its crazy some of the places selling tractors these days. You would think manufacturers would hold dealerships to a certain level and accountable. The dealer network can do more damage to a brand than many think. Bottom line, do your research and make sure that wherever you buy they can service the machine and have qualified people to do so.

 

[Cycledude]

I happen to have an excellent dealer and we get along very well. I was in there the other day and they were working on a tractor brought in by a owner that lives over 100 miles away, major driveline issues that will probably cost a fortune to fix and it’s not under warranty anymore, apparently he doesn’t like the dealer where he bought it new. I plan on stopping in there again sometime this week to see what kind of progress they made .

 

[sodamo]

Glad to read the OP had a great experience.
I had good experience with my dealer. Unfortunately, he is no longer my dealer as LS pulled the dealership and now it’s someone else. Fingers crossed, but after trying to buy a MT125 I have serious doubts how service is going to play out. Hoping I only need dealer for basics. Whereas, previously I dealt directly with the owner, now the service center is some satellite location to an off island entity.

 

[mslisaj]

I've never had a local LS dealer and the one that I used to use was 200 miles away. But we have a really great NewHolland dealer here in town and Workmaster 25S is built by LS and is a MT-125. They have been very helpful with parts and talking me through minor issues. I would have no warranty from them but at least they could fix my machine if there was a major issue. I'm content having this dealer within 2 miles of me and it's a huge dealer that sells other brands of machines so they have a real shop. I don't know why the local LS dealers have gone out of business but like everything with this pandemic nonsense they didn't survive it.