DAP
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2001
- Messages
- 1,180
- Tractor
- JD LX288 and a B7800
Another series of posts in another thread has born this thread from me.
I get the impression, perhaps in error, that some tractor enthusiasts living outside the area that I live in (Southern Tier of NY and/or NE) have very different experiences in the retail world of tractors and/or machinery.
Let me share with you (once again and for the sake of the newer peeps) what my perceptions of the realities are in this area.
I have found that in order for me to get a price on a machine that competes with other areas, I would have to travel at a minimum of 3 hours from my property. 3 hours puts me into any one of 4 different states.
I have a 2 Kubota, 1 New Holland, 1 John Deere and 1 Agco dealer all within 20 minutes of my house. NOT ONE of them will sell me a tractor (cash or otherwise) FOR ANYTHING BUT LIST PRICE. (1 of the dealers moved 3% off of list).
Now here is what I believe is the reason.
First. The area where I live has become so sprawled, and lost so much ag properties and has become so highly taxed that A: many dealers cease to exist, B: the ones that do have lost their ag based clientel C: 99% of that latter clientel has been replaced by almost entirely 'contractor' clients who pass any cost they can on to the consumer naturally.
These dealers HAVE CLEARLY made the choice to exclude the rather small handful of small/parttime/hobbyist/enthusiast farm/residence etc. from their business model.
In most cases these businesses will openly admit to this model and suggest I buy outta state - ("don't expect much help from us for warranty work - we're a busy shop here').
DON"T TURN THIS INTO A WARRANTY WORK THREAD PLEASE. We just had one of those.
Now .. Bob Skurka and I were trading some posts back in another thread.
MANY people purport that the relationship you "BUY" from your dealer is as or more important than the machine. This certainly is a sensible notion.
Bob quite sensibly worked his local fellows over and got himself a deal he was satisified with.
I finally asked him if he would be willing to pay NEAR or AT LIST PRICE for a big 3 machine versus saving a coupla of thousdand buying a 2nd Tier machine (i.e. Kioti, Mahindra, etc.) or a big 3 machine SHIPPED from another region (aka far away - creating the interesting local warranty work issue on a unit not sold locally). I was trying to present him with this situation. Bob ... I don't think your wiffle bat would fair so well here. If I'm wrong, then I've got a thing or 2 to learn about wiffle bats that I thought I already knew.
Finally I believe his answer was (and Bob correct me if I'm wrong) that he would in fact move to Tier 2 but NOT out of state. This also makes the assumption that a local Tier 2 dealer is present.
In my case, they're not.
Now I'm not picking on Bob. He also had the notion that he could interject a Tier 2 line into this regional business model and make it work. I often thought about this too. I just can't find a good answer for 'who would be my target market though'. Certainly, I'm not a marketing specialist either however.
Bottom line -- the playing field is not necessarily equal in the retail world for tractors. This has been stated several times. But for some of us, THERE IS NO LOCAL SOLUTION. Forgive my RANT, but it is a bad tasting fruit, especially when I hear over and over and over about your dealer realtionship being ....
At THE VERY VERY BEST ... I will be looking at a minimum 3 hour drive to purchase a unit in my home state or one of the neighboring states. To get the MOST competitive price, I will have to go internet (prolly NC or some other 800 USD ship from state) OR have cowboydoc et. al laughing at what a sucker I am. G-d forbid.
That's what its like in large parts of this region, based on my experience. Others may differ. I've seen many who will agree.
I get the impression, perhaps in error, that some tractor enthusiasts living outside the area that I live in (Southern Tier of NY and/or NE) have very different experiences in the retail world of tractors and/or machinery.
Let me share with you (once again and for the sake of the newer peeps) what my perceptions of the realities are in this area.
I have found that in order for me to get a price on a machine that competes with other areas, I would have to travel at a minimum of 3 hours from my property. 3 hours puts me into any one of 4 different states.
I have a 2 Kubota, 1 New Holland, 1 John Deere and 1 Agco dealer all within 20 minutes of my house. NOT ONE of them will sell me a tractor (cash or otherwise) FOR ANYTHING BUT LIST PRICE. (1 of the dealers moved 3% off of list).
Now here is what I believe is the reason.
First. The area where I live has become so sprawled, and lost so much ag properties and has become so highly taxed that A: many dealers cease to exist, B: the ones that do have lost their ag based clientel C: 99% of that latter clientel has been replaced by almost entirely 'contractor' clients who pass any cost they can on to the consumer naturally.
These dealers HAVE CLEARLY made the choice to exclude the rather small handful of small/parttime/hobbyist/enthusiast farm/residence etc. from their business model.
In most cases these businesses will openly admit to this model and suggest I buy outta state - ("don't expect much help from us for warranty work - we're a busy shop here').
DON"T TURN THIS INTO A WARRANTY WORK THREAD PLEASE. We just had one of those.
Now .. Bob Skurka and I were trading some posts back in another thread.
MANY people purport that the relationship you "BUY" from your dealer is as or more important than the machine. This certainly is a sensible notion.
Bob quite sensibly worked his local fellows over and got himself a deal he was satisified with.
I finally asked him if he would be willing to pay NEAR or AT LIST PRICE for a big 3 machine versus saving a coupla of thousdand buying a 2nd Tier machine (i.e. Kioti, Mahindra, etc.) or a big 3 machine SHIPPED from another region (aka far away - creating the interesting local warranty work issue on a unit not sold locally). I was trying to present him with this situation. Bob ... I don't think your wiffle bat would fair so well here. If I'm wrong, then I've got a thing or 2 to learn about wiffle bats that I thought I already knew.
Finally I believe his answer was (and Bob correct me if I'm wrong) that he would in fact move to Tier 2 but NOT out of state. This also makes the assumption that a local Tier 2 dealer is present.
In my case, they're not.
Now I'm not picking on Bob. He also had the notion that he could interject a Tier 2 line into this regional business model and make it work. I often thought about this too. I just can't find a good answer for 'who would be my target market though'. Certainly, I'm not a marketing specialist either however.
Bottom line -- the playing field is not necessarily equal in the retail world for tractors. This has been stated several times. But for some of us, THERE IS NO LOCAL SOLUTION. Forgive my RANT, but it is a bad tasting fruit, especially when I hear over and over and over about your dealer realtionship being ....
At THE VERY VERY BEST ... I will be looking at a minimum 3 hour drive to purchase a unit in my home state or one of the neighboring states. To get the MOST competitive price, I will have to go internet (prolly NC or some other 800 USD ship from state) OR have cowboydoc et. al laughing at what a sucker I am. G-d forbid.
That's what its like in large parts of this region, based on my experience. Others may differ. I've seen many who will agree.
