Dealer Bizzare JD Dealership Exp.

[CinderSchnauzer]

I was all set to purchase a JD Lawn Tractor this spring. Went to 3 local JD dealers and looked at 155C (48" Deck) / 195C (54" Deck). Got exactly the same story all three places. "Why would I ever buy a LT with a Briggs engine. They won't last. Noisy etc etc. The Kawasaki is so much better yada yada." Perhaps the Kawa is so much better but also pretty much twice as expensive. Looked at the Sears (Husquavarna) 25 HP 54" Deck - less money than the 48 JD. I figure at 50 hours per year I'll be pushing up daisys before the Briggs quits or in the alternate I can buy two Briggs for the price of one "decent" JD.

Probably would have bought the JD "piece of crap" if the 3 dealers had been just a little positive about it and not shot themselves in the foot. Figured if buying a piece of crap might as well buy the cheapest one - Sears. So far after only one season, I'm happy and still have an extra $3,000 + taxes in my pocket. After all, I'm only cutting grass / weeds - not doing brain surgery.

 

[dgl24087]

I was all set to purchase a JD Lawn Tractor this spring. Went to 3 local JD dealers and looked at 155C (48" Deck) / 195C (54" Deck). Got exactly the same story all three places. "Why would I ever buy a LT with a Briggs engine. They won't last. Noisy etc etc. The Kawasaki is so much better yada yada." Perhaps the Kawa is so much better but also pretty much twice as expensive. Looked at the Sears (Husquavarna) 25 HP 54" Deck - less money than the 48 JD. I figure at 50 hours per year I'll be pushing up daisys before the Briggs quits or in the alternate I can buy two Briggs for the price of one "decent" JD.

Probably would have bought the JD "piece of crap" if the 3 dealers had been just a little positive about it and not shot themselves in the foot. Figured if buying a piece of crap might as well buy the cheapest one - Sears. So far after only one season, I'm happy and still have an extra $3,000 + taxes in my pocket. After all, I'm only cutting grass / weeds - not doing brain surgery.

My Dad bought a Murray 10HP 42" cutting deck rider in 1977 or 78, can't remember exactly. It cut an acre of grass every 4-5 days until about 2 years or so ago, we gave it away and bought a new rider. The old Murray is still mowing to this day, 28 years old and only cost $799 new. It doesn't always work out this way, but it just shows you don't always have to buy these high dollar machines.

 

[WALT]

Your post caught my eye, as I have had the same experience.

I live in and grew up in Northern CT. When I bought my first tractor in 2000, the local JD compact dealers acted as if I was more a bother than a potential customer. They talked more trash about the competition, that selling the positives about the JD line. I got better answers about the JD compacts from the local Agriculture JD dealer, but he did not sell the compact line.

One JD dealer also sold Cub Cadet tractors. I bought a "new" mower belt from him, for my dad's Cub Cadet 125, that turned out to be used. When I noticed the obvious wear upon closer inspection, I returned it to the dealer, which created quite the scene in the showroom, as the parts guy who sold it to me, accused me of using it and returning it. I finally got the manager out of his office to hear my side of the story, explaining that my character & credibility was worth more than cheating him out of a $25.00 belt. I appeared to have caught him & his parts guy red handed in an ongoing scam of reselling used parts as new. He would not return my money. I ended up pursuing this to the Dept. of Consumer Protection & the Attorney General. Due to the amount of money & time involved, they did not pursue it further. As I had charged it on MasterCard, I was able to get the charge credited, after filing the required paperwork. As I related my experience to many others, I certainly cost him numerous future tractor sales, besides my own. Word of Mouth cuts both ways.

I have since spent $60,000.00+ on tractors and implements, but those JD dealers did not make the sale. I know that a dealer has to be profitable to stay in business. I have no trouble patronizing a dealer of any brand who delivers a quality product at a price fair to me as the customer. Knocking your competition, depending on brand loyalty only, and being $1000's more expensive caused me to consider other brands. Any & all brand lines will have bad sales staff. It is unfortunate, as they are the face of the company & dealership they represent. My worst experiences have been the local JD staff.

This is not much different than the Ford, Chevy, Dodge, Toyota, etc. truck debates. We, as the customer, would benefit greatly if all the salespeople would do some work to learn their product lines, and be interested in sharing that knowledge with their potential customers. Ultimately, the buyer must do the needed research to feel comfortable with the sales price and future service of the tractor they buy.

WALT

 

[keeney]

RE: JD Retaining its value...

I was at a JD dealer looking at possibly buying a 3rd party backhoe for my tractor. Of course, he wanted to move me up to the JD backhoe for my tractor, but it was $1000's more expensive. He gave me the line about JD retaining their value better.

About 10 minutes later in the conversation, I asked him if he was interested in taking my barely-used JD snowblower in partial trade for the backhoe. He said, well there isn't much market for used JD snowblower attachments. He could maybe give me $250 for it (The JD front-mount blower cost close to $2000 new).

I swear, he was perfectly serious. It was even snowing outside at the time.

- Rick

 

[gamble77]

Rick, not to down play your situation but there is also a difference between JD equipment holding its value and a dealer not needing whatever it is you are trying to unload. If he didn't need any more snow blowers then he didn't need them, each dealer knows his needs. I don't think one person on this board would argue that the top two brands for resale are JD and Kubota in the CUT market...so yes JD will hold its value as good if not better than any other brand on the market.

 

[shaley]

What dealer was that. Can you PM me the name. I'm starting to look for a new unit. I really think I'm just looking at the orange stuff for now but I like to use JD as a base for comparison.

 

[HillbillyFarmer]

What dealer was that. Can you PM me the name. I'm starting to look for a new unit. I really think I'm just looking at the orange stuff for now but I like to use JD as a base for comparison.

If you're "just looking at the orange stuff for now," why don't you use it for your "base for comparison?"
Let me answer that for you: Because you know that JD is the superior product.

 

[ridgerunnerinwv]

Probably would have bought the JD "piece of crap"

I have a JD riding mower and it is far from a piece of crap,I had a Craftsman which was an ok mower,but I like the JD mower a lot better.

 

[swines]

Swines,

Let me know if the Dealer was wrong about this but he said JD had a much better value retention than most other brands (that makes sense considering the market share they hold). If that's true then THAT to me is huge because the property I'm buying it for is commercial. At some point I will utilize the rest of that property and may not need the tractor to groom and maintain.

Just curious.

I can't really comment on that. My JD dealer was really straight forward about my Ford 1720. He said, "That's a great tractor." "You should be able to sell that with no problems." "There aren't a lot of those around, and that's a very desirable tractor."

He helped me look up the retail value on it. Then said, "If you can't sell it, bring it to me, I'll put it on my lot and sell it for you."

When comparing manufacturers, he was very knowledgeble about the Kubota, and NH products - and local dealers. He didn't take shots at any of the other products or dealers, he only said, "If you look at XX manufacturer's product compare this feature against their feature," etc.

My feeling is that if you buy a quality piece of equipment it will retain it's value no matter who makes it. I had the 1720 for 14 years and sold it for $2500 less than I paid for it.

It was certainly worth the $2500 when compared to the amount of work I did with it.

I think there are certain "classic models" no matter who the manufacturer, and they're desirable no matter what the age (Ford 8N for example).

My evaluation is that the JD 3x20 series is one of the classic tractor series that will retain its value over time - just like the Ford 17xx, 19xx, and 21xx series.

I have no reference for Kioti, Mahindra, Montana, etc. My purchasing of the JD was partially based on past experience with my dealer and JD; and not having problems getting parts for other JD equipment - and I wanted to own another green tractor.

 

[TomKioti]

Ultimately, the buyer must do the needed research to feel comfortable with the sales price and future service of the tractor they buy.
WALT

Amen to that!

 

[TomKioti]

What dealer was that. Can you PM me the name. I'm starting to look for a new unit. I really think I'm just looking at the orange stuff for now but I like to use JD as a base for comparison.

Shaley,

As much as I'd like to I'd rather not. I hope you understand. Use the process of elimination and that will basically get you there
as you are in my same area. This is refering to my original post on this thread, if not then disregard this post.

 

[CinderSchnauzer]

ridgerunner inwv:

It was the JD dealers that were telling me the JD 155c and 195c were not good machines - not the competition - that was my whole point. The JD guys insisted to get a good quality JD mower - do not consider the 155 / 195 go at least to the X300 series and even consider X500 series. I'd have to look up the exact pricing but the X3XX with a 54" deck was approx. 67% higher than price of the Craftsman and the X5XX even more.

My preference was for 54" deck and as previously stated probably would have paid the $1,000 extra (compared to Crafstman) to get a JD 195c if the dealers had been even a bit positive about the series.

 

[ducati996]

ridgerunner inwv:

It was the JD dealers that were telling me the JD 155c and 195c were not good machines - not the competition - that was my whole point. The JD guys insisted to get a good quality JD mower - do not consider the 155 / 195 go at least to the X300 series and even consider X500 series. I'd have to look up the exact pricing but the X3XX with a 54" deck was approx. 67% higher than price of the Craftsman and the X5XX even more.

My preference was for 54" deck and as previously stated probably would have paid the $1,000 extra (compared to Crafstman) to get a JD 195c if the dealers had been even a bit positive about the series.

There is a difference between models, machines and competitors products.
For every success story of generic brands that last 10-15 years or more, there are thousands that dont. Same hold true with Craftsman, some last a long time, others dont. What you should do is know as much as you can about the differences of what you shop for - that is your responsibility and yours alone, and it will come in handy on days like those.
I do find that the lower end lawn mowers tend to take away from the brand image of Deere and others (a big thanks to Box stores). The sales people arent shy of that either, and I dont blame them (very little margin, maximum headaches). However you get what you paid for which holds true more often than not. Yes we all would like Lexus quality at Yugo prices but that dosent happen to often, if at all...so what did you go with ? a craftsman?

 

[gemini5362]

My other problem with a lot of salespeople is the attitude you get depends on how you look and what you are driving when you come to look at their product. I have a 1998 chevrolet tractor with 168,000 miles that is a bit beat up but I love to drive it and it gets great gas mileage. If I drive that onto the lot I dont get the best cooperation in the world sometimes. If I get really treated badly I will leave and then when I get some free time I will show up in m 2005 porsche. It is amazing the difference in the way you get treated when you show up in the Porsche. I make it a policy that the only time I buy anything is when I get treated well if I drove up in the tracker first. My theory that the people that treat you decent no matter what you are driving is the ones that will treat you decent when you need servicing of your vehicle. The other kind seems to only treat you well until they have your money.

 

[CinderSchnauzer]

ducatti996:

Yes I bought the Craftsman. Aside for the black paint it looked identical and had same specs as the orange Husquavarna. Takes two hours to mow the grass, maybe 25 times a season = 50 hours.

I have no illusion the Craftsman is a good as the X3XX series or the X5XX series and I assume it's a toss-up between it and the L195c I was comparing it with. All I'm saying is the JD dealers probably could have very easily sold me the 195c, even at a highr price if they had not been so negative and run it down themselves, telling me how the Briggs engine will never last and the Kawasaki is so much better and quieter. Listening to both with the deck running, I couldn't tell much difference, Plus I wear earplugs when mowing anyway.

I'm not trying to run down the JD product, just saying the experience I got from more than one dealer, led me to purchase elsewhere - when I had originally gone in prepared to buy green.

 

[Agro-oti]

My other problem with a lot of salespeople is the attitude you get depends on how you look and what you are driving when you come to look at their product. I have a 1998 chevrolet tractor with 168,000 miles that is a bit beat up but I love to drive it and it gets great gas mileage. If I drive that onto the lot I dont get the best cooperation in the world sometimes. If I get really treated badly I will leave and then when I get some free time I will show up in m 2005 porsche. It is amazing the difference in the way you get treated when you show up in the Porsche. I make it a policy that the only time I buy anything is when I get treated well if I drove up in the tracker first. My theory that the people that treat you decent no matter what you are driving is the ones that will treat you decent when you need servicing of your vehicle. The other kind seems to only treat you well until they have your money.

I know exactly what you are talking about. When I was 18 I went looking for a new truck,had the Cash to buy it. Most dealers would not even talk to me when I went in,no matter how long I was wandering around the place sitting in everything I could. The few that would talk to me,most told me to bring my Dad next time I came in. The one that treated me like a customer,got my $$$. I learned from my own experiences to treat every potential customer the same..............don't try and figure out if he can or can't afford it till the deal is sealed Is my motto.......Once there you can see if he can or can't foot the bill. Might waste some time in the long run,but might miss some sales if you don't.