Dealer no longer

[Boss 302]

Well, I happened to be browsing my dealer website and see they have switched from Kioti to Branson but I see they are still selling Scag and Woods implements. It used to be called Tractor Hill in Mineral Va. now it's called Lake Anna Tractor and Hardware. I guess my closest dealer will now be Mcmicheal's in New Baltimore, he was a Kubota dealer but switched to Kioti.

 

[iptman]

Which dealer? Where?

 

[Boss 302]

Mineral Va. is where my Kioti dealer use to be, they changed to Branson tractors. My closest dealer now is in Fauquier county only about 30 miles away.

 

[iptman]

That's a bummer. Those guys actually sold me the right filters for my first fluid change. The dealer I bought my tractor from I swear gave me 4 random oil filters he had on the shelf. He did get the fuel filter right though.

When I bought those filters back in May they said they couldn't get any Kiotis in stock. I guess that situation never got any better.

 

[Boss 302]

Maybe that's what happened, I see you're in Northern Va. so that puts you pretty close to Mcmicheals on route 29 a few miles south of Gainesville.

 

[JasperFrank]

This is one reason I think brand purchasing decisions shouldn't be heavily weighed by availability of a local dealer. In my area, the dealerships come and go, and bounce around to different locations.

 

[Boss 302]

I agree Jasper, it looks more and more common practice nowadays.

 

[iptman]

I plan to buy my parts and filters from @MichiganIron from now on. They're a supporter of this site and have reasonable prices and shipping. When I ordered a replacement bucket level rod (don't ask) I called up and the guy I spoke to knew exactly what I was talking about, found the part number and had it ordered within a few minutes. The part wasn't on hand so it had to be ordered from the Kioti parts depot and it still only took a couple of weeks to get to me.

 

[iptman]

Maybe that's what happened, I see you're in Northern Va. so that puts you pretty close to Mcmicheals on route 29 a few miles south of Gainesville.

Yup, that's them.

 

[Cycledude]

Are you sure they don’t still carry Kioti parts ?

 

[Boss 302]

Well, that's a good question guess I need to call and find out.

 

[RickB]

Are you sure they don’t still carry Kioti parts ?

Parts and service only dealers are a dying group.
Manufacturers exist to sell wholegoods. If something in the dealer-manufacturer relationship went far enough south for one of them to terminate, chances of keeping part of the deal going are remote. If it's a valuable territory the mfg will want a full service dealer in place. If it's not a valuable territory the manufacturer won't want the expense of supporting a partial effort.

 

[Boss 302]

Yup, I don't expect it is especially due to the fact that you can get anything online faster than most places can do the paperwork. Michigan Iron is a great resource

 

[Alien]

Our local dealer has stopped selling Kioti and has gone to MF. I am annoyed.

 

[bdhsfz6]

A friend I worked with bought a Kioti from a local dealer a few years ago. Just a month after the sale, the dealer switched to Mahindra. He had to drive almost 50 miles to the nearest Kioti dealer for parts and warranty work. He got a form of revenge though when the original dealer went out of business late last year.

I'm fortunate to live just 4 miles from a Kubota "mega" dealer. When shopping for a tractor back in 1979, I got the best price from a small dealer in a neighboring state. I had heard stories about small dealers switching brands so I paid more and bought local. Sure enough, the smaller dealer went out of business the following year.

Yes, I know I could have bought out of state and had service done locally but I wanted to establish a relationship with the local dealer.

Over the next 40 years, I bought 6 more Kubota tractors and many implements from them. I'm a loyal customer and they treat me as such.

Unfortunately, not everyone is as fortunate as I. Even so, it can sometimes be beneficial to buy from a larger, more "brand loyal" dealer than a smaller one close by.

 

[Jchonline]

That's a bummer. Those guys actually sold me the right filters for my first fluid change. The dealer I bought my tractor from I swear gave me 4 random oil filters he had on the shelf. He did get the fuel filter right though.

When I bought those filters back in May they said they couldn't get any Kiotis in stock. I guess that situation never got any better.

Yes kind of hard to stay in business with nothing to sell. Unfortunately for competition’s sake the larger brands have been able to weather this crazy time a bit better.

 

[Boss 302]

Times are different now and just maybe this is the new normal for a while guess we just have to be patient

 

[Tinstafl]

I had my tractor serviced there this summer. They still have kioti on the sign but they have no tractors out front. I bought mine there too but the new owner is looking at servicing the lake house people

 

[RickB]

I had my tractor serviced there this summer. They still have kioti on the sign but they have no tractors out front. I bought mine there too but the new owner is looking at servicing the lake house people

My ex-employer dropped Mahindra but it was over a year before we cut the sign off the side of the building.

 

[MESSMAKER]

I can't imagine a dealer going from Kioti to Mahindra.