Best John Deere Dealer: Do They Exist ?

[Gator6x4]

I have both green and orange. Dealers are in business to make money. All dealers and sales personnel I have dealt with have always been friendly, open and try to be helpful. I don't buy into the theory that because a dealer sell ag equipment he is not that home owner friendly and devotes his primary focus towards the agriculture user.

To tell the truth I have been in dealership before and overheard conversations between lawn mower owners and service. It was abusive. The owner of a lawn mower needs the mower to mow his grass. He cannot understand why his mower cannot be moved to the front of the service line. I work on a lot of my equipment. Let me tell you there is a mile of difference in splitting a Ford Red Belly to replace a clutch and replacing a clutch in one of the new Fords, or New Hollands. Even the riding lawn mowers aren't simple anymore to repair.

Dealers have to balance employee costs, overhead, and other expenses to be able to compete in today's sales market where everyone is looking for the cheapest price. They cannot hire and pay extra personnel to just stand around until the need arises.

 

[jc21]

I was curious if, in your opinion, there are any JD Dealers who, in your experience that fit the profile of Barlows ?

Few if any imho- Mutton seems to come closest (I've had no dealings with them). In my neck of the woods (western Wisconsin/ Twin Cities) JD dealers seem to have their territory pretty well staked out and that was the case where I lived previously (Maine). When we bought our X320 in 2007 I checked with a number of different dealers between here and the Twin Cities- there was less than $100 difference between the lowest and highest price. In the end we went with the local dealer that originally recommended the X320 over the L series and with 2 1/2 acres w/ some hills I'm glad they did. They delivered at n/c, perfectly set up with a full tank of gas. They came out that fall, delivered the snowblower (purchased the same time as the tractor), pulled the mower deck and hooked up the snowblower, installed the chains, weights, and anti icing cover at n/c ... that's what I call service. Seven years and almost 760 hours later I'm still pleased. They know me when I come in for parts and or advice (I do most of the maintenance) and when a couple of unplanned hospital visits left me confined to the recliner, they came out on short notice and installed the snowblower for DW at a very reasonable price.

Even though my dealer sells lots of big ag and construction equipment, they treat the guy (me) with a lawn tractor just as well. For me a good dealer counts for a lot and (hopefully) next year when I'm in the market for a sub compact/compact tractor, my local John Deere dealer will be at the top of the list.

 

[Bigfoot62]

Since you're in PA, it probably won't do you any good, but I live between two great John Deere dealerships.

My local dealer is E. S. Voelker in Alexandria, LA. Second generation, family owned JD dealer. Been in the same location for several decades. (since 1936) You can walk in there, grab a cup of coffee and pull up a chair. If you need to, (or just want to) you can talk to the owner, Peter Voelker. His office is in the showroom.

On the Texas side, there is Jasper County Tractor in Jasper, TX. James Dean, and son Kevin own and operate it. They've been there for 30 years. Good folks. Easy to talk to.

Just so we don't leave them out, there is a New Holland/Kubota dealership in Many, LA that's just as good. Patrick-Miller Tractor is a locally owned dealership that has been around for decades as well. Stop in and visit with the owner, Doug Patrick. (or Larry in parts, or Jerry in service) Again, good people.

So, yes, they do exist. Maybe not everywhere. Certainly not a majority of dealerships. But they do exist.

 

[MessickFarmEqu]

IH,
Thanks for the post...what is a volume 4 Dealer ? What does it mean ?
Thanks,
John

yea know.. do you do have some really great Kubota dealers in your neck of the woods! Just saying

 

[bigcut]

yea know.. do you do have some really great Kubota dealers in your neck of the woods! Just saying

I don't know about the reputation of your specific dealership in Lancaster. I got the impression from the postings on here that Messicks has a respectable rep as a company.
John

 

[DeereMann]

Seems like we're saying a number of us find the opposite to be true in the Deere Dealer network - the local, family-owned guy seems best to deal with, not the mega-giant with 9000 series combines.

This is certainly true in my situation in the Twin Cities area.

 

[bigcut]

Seems like we're saying a number of us find the opposite to be true in the Deere Dealer network - the local, family-owned guy seems best to deal with, not the mega-giant with 9000 series combines.

This is certainly true in my situation in the Twin Cities area.

Deeremann,
I would agree with your statement. Seems the consensus is people would rather buy/deal with the smaller more personalized dealership, as oppossed to the larger (chain) type dealers.
John

 

[murphy1244]

Deeremann,
I would agree with your statement. Seems the consensus is people would rather buy/deal with the smaller more personalized dealership, as oppossed to the larger (chain) type dealers.
John

The problem is that Deere is chasing the small guy out for megadealers.

 

[ultrarunner]

I like the idea of the local business with roots that go deep in the community.

It says something when the company, owner and staff stick around vs constant turnover.

I grew up around the car business and it has been in the same location since 1942 and the type of business where business cards still have home phone numbers on them... imagine that.

Kind of reminds me of Dave's tractor... very service oriented and involved in the local community...

I've bought repair parts from Neil at Messicks simply because he takes the time to contribute here on TBN...

I work in the medical profession and it seems the sales person on a 100k order most likely will be gone the next day... not always true... but true enough.

It's hard to build a good business relationship when the players keep changing...

 

[brown40]

John Deere strongarmed changes through their whole dealer network some years ago, and they culled/shut down small dealers or forced assimilation with larger ones. I'm sure they thought hard before doing it, but it makes a statement about the esteem small business/low volume holds with their company at a corporate level.

Made me sick to hear of longstanding small family businesses getting kicked to the curb because their location couldn't support targets established in a boardroom states away.

When the locations owner is in the shop, knows the line, sells the product, there simply is more confidence from the consumer and crew, and they demonstrate personal pride in the integrity of the product and business success... they make great products, and have huge brand recognition, but when the owner is a nameless, faceless conglomerate or an individual with multiple locations, doing "whats right" may not be in alignment with whats right.

Loyalty requires wanting to gain, satisfy and retain every customer looking for your products, from the one spending millions a year on new equipment to they guy looking for a seal from a line discontinued in the 1950's , and the message conveyed with ushering out the small dealers was: "we don't waste time with small business".

I think there are great dealers out there, who still have a mentality of serving every customer, but clearly it is not a corporate tenet, so shop around, and ask where the owner is!