Well, this should be the last post from me in this thread (unless I post actual photos of the machine when I have it.) The last three days have been fascinating, and a wild ride.
I received a call on Tuesday from the dealer in Frederick MD, who had promised to call me only if he had a machine in hand to sell me. It was rolling off the truck when he called. Could have knocked me over with a feather. Trying to buy locally, I called the dealer in Purcellville (3 miles from me) and told him my preference was still to buy from him, but I now had a bird in the hand that I had to seriously consider since availability was so uncertain.
Needless to say, the Purcellville dealer was hugely frustrated that another dealer was receiving a machine for dealer inventory when he had retail orders he couldn't fill. He called Kubota, only to learn that Rick McPeak (Regional Sales Manager) is out / unavailable this week. Maddening.
The owner of the dealer in Purcellville then got on the phone with two other dealers trying to work out a swap: other inventory for a BX for me. By close of business he was close, but no guarantee, and I gave the folk in Frederick my commitment.
Wednesday morning, the Purcellville dealer called and was very confident that he could made the swap work. Having to make a decision, I had decided to go for the sure thing rather than gamble again. He called later in the day to let me know that he had worked out a trade, made it happen, driven down personally to get the machine, and had the tractor in hand, on his lot. Amazing. I went from no BX available anywhere to two of them from which to choose. I told him I had made the commitment to the other dealer already, and wanted to honor it.
The owner of the dealership in Purcellville told me to call if anything went wrong with the transaction. I had a concern (from confusion) yesterday about the pricing for the whole machine (
BX22 TLB, 60" MMM, Bar Tires, 4-position valve, hydraulic front blade, cover, chain hooks on the buckets, 2 lights on the ROPS, factory manual & illustrated parts list, filters and fluids for the 50 hour service.) Got final comparison numbers (apples to apples) from both to put my concern / confusion to bed. Dealer in Frederick was $700.00 lower. So the order stayed with him.
Moving the Kubota financing from the Virginia dealer nearest me to the one 30 miles away was a snap. The dealer in Frederick has already swapped the turfs for bar/ag tires, the 3-position valve for the 4-position I need, and are installing the lights and chain hooks today. Tractor will be delivered in Saturday morning. No need to drive up there, the paperwork will be completed when the delivery is made. All in all, should be painless.
In the end, both the dealer in Frederick and the one in Purcellville communicated the same frustration with Kubota about availability and communication. Neither could get good information, despite all of Kubota's claims to the contrary. In no case was anyone at Kubota able to be definite about shipping and delivery dates. My machine was a complete surprise to the Frederick dealer when it arrived. While I was frustrated with the inability to get a clear answer from the dealer in Purcellville early on, it turns out that only a small part of the bad communication was their responsibility. Most of it belongs clearly to Kubota. From my direct, first-hand contact with Kubota, their confusion / miscommunication became completely clear. No one I spoke with knew what would happen when, what machines were being manufactured when. And no one had the authority to make anything different happen.
I suspect that what will play out is the pipeline staying dry throughout this growing season. With dealers getting half the
BX22 machines they order, I expect that they will order twice what they really need. Kubota will catch up over the winter, the backorders will get filled, and there will be a glut in the pipeline. And next Spring the
BX22 won't be rare. Instead, there will be factory discounts on them. Distribution channel management 101.
Thanks to everyone who offered advice in this thread. For me, it was hugely valuable and encouraging. Look for pictures when I can post them. And I'll look forward to joining the "Kubota Owning / Operating" threads once I have enough hours in the seat to post something worth reading.
--- Wayne
