Dealer Dealer or Factory blemishes on new unit

[72chevy4x4]

I recently bought a new unit and there are lots (and lots) of chips on the loader and even where they drove the loader bolts/nuts onto the frame of the tractor, there's lots of paint missing (like the bolts were bottomed out w/ a ratchet). I bought a QA front for the loader and it was scraped to heck. Just got it back after dropping it off to get another implement mounted-got a can of spray paint but that's it. I got a good price for it, but I'm still not pleased. Has anyone complain to corporate about this before? If so, was anything done?

 

[MrJimi]

I would think your selling dealer would be happy to take care of that for you.
They hate it when you go over their heads for something that can be handled in shop
Jim

 

[The Baron]

I know what you are talking about. We just bought a NH TC40DA and we had issues with the rims being rusty but they also had the scratches from being put on. The loader and bucket along with our brush guard had deep scratches in them also. Mentioned it to the salesman but nothing was accomplished, a few weeks later I called and spoke to the service dept who it turns out is in charge of warranty work. Sent a few email pictures and he says they will take care of it. Seemed to get much more satisfaction talking to the service dept. Hope this helps.

 

[art]

While machines are unloaded from trucks while disassembled with fork lifts or simulair tools they do get some scratches and nicks but it is the Dealers reponsibility to touch it up.

 

[66gladiator]

From a dealer perspective:
They come from Japan in crates, they must be assembled, and they are heavy. They will get scratched and banged up during shipment, storage, assembley, and even during delivery to the customer.
They are designed to live life outdoors if need be.
They are not automobiles.

Now (getting down from my soapbox), from a customer perspective, if I am shelling out $15,000+, I would expect it to be reasonably clean, and at least have the paint touched-up.

We prep ours for delivery, and touching-up the paint is a big part of this. Big areas get sprayed and small chips get the hand applied touch-up. (there is a small bottle of touch-up paint available p/n 70000-73768)

 

[Scrounger]

You didn't say what you bought but I would think that the smaller tractors are shipped more protected than the larger units. The BX I thought was built in the USA and not Japan. The larger units are individually chained but the smaller tractors are generally not.

I was surprised with the shape my tractor was delivered from Messicks. Not a single mark on it. Some dings showed up after each service trip however, but more appeared from use than anything the dealer could do.

I dont think its much to ask for the dealer to cough up some paint for you, or to offer to detail it up a bit for you.

 

[mike69440]

From the perspective that I had touched up my L-39 to look next to perfect when new and the way I keep it today (rough and ready look), the dealer scratches not on the tactor itself can be spray bombed to look good as it comes off the truck. That's all I would expect.

 

[Bird]

I know it's common for them to get nicked, scratched, etc. in shipment and when putting attachments on, but I don't know how much is normal. When I bought my 1999 B2710, I saw the tractor a the dealer and looked it over briefly, and didn't notice any blemishes, but it did not have a front end loader. I called the dealer on the phone later and made a deal to buy it on 7/19/99. The salesman thought he could get a front end loader in a week or so. It took a little longer. He called me on 8/11/99 to say the loader arrived the day before, was being installed today, and will be delivered tomorrow. At the time, my brother was a Matco Tool distributor and the Kubota dealer was one of his customers. So my brother called me about 10 a.m. on 8/12/99 and told me he was at the dealer's shop and the mechanic was doing a little paint touch-up on the front end loader before loading loading the tractor for the salesman to deliver it. I lived 50 miles from the dealer, and the salesman arrived at 2:30 p.m. with the tractor. Maybe I didn't inspect it closely enough, but I didn't see any blemishes, and if my brother hadn't told me about the paint touch-up, I'd have never known it had been touched up. And of course, I didn't care.

 

[john_bud]

When I was tractor shopping, I saw NO scratches, nicks, dings or blems on the Kubota's. At that time, the dealers were assembling them from the crates. I saw them in the crates, and you would have to poke them with an iron rod to be able to get a scratch on them. Very well packaged.

It sounds like the dealer's assembly person (or the assembly plant) did a poor job of assembly. Complain. Do give the dealer a chance to fix it. But don't be shy in going over their head.


I don't think that there is any excuse to bang things up putting them together. Being designed for outside use is a poor excuse for sloppy craftsmanship. (although, exchanging the "p" for a "t" is more appropriate these days). Chipped paint and bare metal rust. My tractor cost as much as my wife's car. I don't want the paint on the car chipped off down to bare metal by the dealer or factory, and it was designed to be used and stored outside too.

jb

 

[N80]

From a dealer perspective:
They come from Japan in crates, they must be assembled, and they are heavy. They will get scratched and banged up during shipment, storage, assembley, and even during delivery to the customer.
They are designed to live life outdoors if need be.
They are not automobiles.

Todd I bought my L4400 from you guys and it was fine and I was happy with the condition in which it was delivered. As a new buyer I noticed a little ding here and a little paint nick there before I even bought it. Very trivial. It is easy for a new buyer shelling out a bunch of money to start getting fussy about such things. But, as you say, its a tractor. And probably only a new and fussy buyer would even notice the things I saw and I doubt that I could even find them now. Plus, this type of thing probably has no impact on resale value the way they would on a car.

I think a lot of it would have to do with where the blemishes are. I would be more concerned about scratches or dents on the hood and fenders (we all want our machine to be pretty right?). And in that regard mine was, and still is, nearly perfect. Stuff on the ROPS, the rear end, a scuff or two on the wheels, bucket, floor decking etc would not bother me at all. After a year and a half, the bucket has very little paint on the front half of it and the deck is scuffed all to heck. The loader arms are scratched up a good bit too. So I would not fuss over those areas too much, they're not intended to look new for very long anyway.

If mine was really banged up in regard to the paint, I'd talk to the dealer first. If its bad, he'll probably repaint some of the areas for you. If it isn't all that bad, see if he'll give you a couple of cans of Kubota Orange and Kubota Gray paint....they're worth a fortune!