Dealer Dealer Quality

   / Dealer Quality #1  

Anonymous Poster

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I recently (July) took delivery of a 4010. During the "shopping" phase, I called and visited 3 JD dealers. Ultimately I purchased from the dealer that was closest to me for convenience purposes. Here's my observation. The dealers were happy to give me price quotes, but I feel like I was treated like I was buying a $9.95 garden hose, not a $15,000 plus (with attachments) tractor. Once I ordered the tractor there were several other issues (delivery date, not ordering the right brackets for set-up, not delivering all the attachments) that added to my general dissatisfaction. Is this the norm out there or was this an exception to the rule.

By the way--the tractor is another story--nothing but good things to say.
 
   / Dealer Quality #2  
Bob,

Sorry to hear about your experience. If it makes you feel any better, my local JD dealer was a jerk. Main reason I bought a New Holland was the dealer.

You guys out in farm country must have it even tougher, who wants to sell a 15K compact tractor when there are $100K ag tractors to be sold?

Have you spoken to the manager of the dealership? Sometimes a well writen letter can do wonders. Especially if they want to sell you more implements...... Who knows, you might get a free baseball cap as a token of their appreciation.
 
   / Dealer Quality
  • Thread Starter
#3  
I've been shopping for a sub-compact for the past 6 or 8 weeks. Spent a fair amount of time at the local JD dealer. I received courteous treatment but I did not get the feeling that they cared whether I bought a tractor from them or not. I was looking at the new 2210. Nice tractor but they don’t seem to price it competitively. I ended up buying a Kubota BX2200.

John
 
   / Dealer Quality #4  
I guess my JD dealer isn't the norm. I have nothing but good to say about him. I had a problem with my 4610. The dealer picked it up, brought me a loaner and delivered my tractor back promptly. If I have a question or concern, I can call him and he will find out. I was visiting him the other day and he gave me a cap (camo too). A few days ago I called him to inquire about an extended warranty and if they were available on the 4610. He said yes but you would be wasting your money buying one. He told me if anything happened to the tractor that they would take care of it (other than normal wear and tear). I was thinking about buying a box scraper he has there but not sure it's what I want. He told me to come get it and try it out a few days.

Billy

PS
He also gave me free oil, oil filter and 2 caps when I came in soon after the sale.
 
   / Dealer Quality
  • Thread Starter
#5  
Hazmat,

You have a good point about the $100K ag tractors--this dealer is not huge, but is big enough to deal with the types of tractors you mentioned. I thought I read one of your earlier notes about JD shopping, but thought I was mistaken when I saw you listed NH as your tractor--it now makes sense.

I recently spoke to a service manager, but I made that call after I became frustrated with the length of time a simple 50 hour service visit took. I was told on a Friday that it would be done the next day or the following Monday. On Wednesday morning it still wasn't done. I have to say that the service manager took charge and had the tractor done and delivered the next day. I think the rest of the dealership could learn a lot from the service manager. I'll give him a call with my other concerns--he's not the person dealing with the sales end, but probably would want to know so he can talk to the owner.

Lots of great info on this site. Glad I stumbled across it.
 
   / Dealer Quality #6  
Bob_In_MN,

I'm sorry to hear about your less than happy dealer experience. Some dealers make life the proverbial bowl of cherries and the others give the whole brand a bad rap. Sounds like you ran into a bushel of bad apples (alright - no more rotten fruit analogies). /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

I started talking to the dealer I eventually bought from 2 years prior to buying. I did consider and talk to other dealers, but the quality of things like the quotes they sent me were an early indication of the service to come down the road.

I went where I was consistently treated well. I let the dealer know that I wasn't planning to buy for at least 2 years and still they were helpful, spending hours with me making sure I was going to end up with what I needed. Throughout and after the sale they came through on promises. They spent 5 hours in the bitter cold with me and my wife and my parents so that we were all comfortable taking the implements on and off and using the tractor.

I trace all this back to a willingness on the dealer's part to help with the seemingly most trivial requests from the very beginnnig - way before they could be assured of a sale. The must have spent 10 hours with me and written up 5 individual quotes before I even came close to buying. In fact I bought more than a year after this. They were patient and so was I.

In the end it was all about people. I got what I consider to be an excellent deal on my equipment, but I knew that would follow given that I was dealing with people who had already demonstrated that they were fair and reasonable.

It a shame there aren't more dealers out there like mine, but I hope that no one is turned off from the brand because of some bad dealers. I haven't known enough tractor folk in my area to make an educated assesment as to the frequency of the bad dealer experience, but I would hope it would be the exception and not the norm.

In your case the initial purchase is done with, but I'm sure you will be needing services and other implements down the road. If your dealer wants your continued business, he will accomodate your needs. If he does not then try to find a dealer who will go out of their way to help even if they don't see $$$ signs right away. I have found that makes all the difference. Best of luck!
Sleepyhollow
 
   / Dealer Quality
  • Thread Starter
#7  
sleepyhollow,

Thanks for the note. At first I was going to talk to the service manager (he had straightened out a service issue for me), but have since decided to talk to the owner. I'm in sales, but unfortunately for me I'm not in the same position as a dealer where there are a limited number of people selling the product and location does make a difference. As a result, I think I have a good sense of what customer service is before and after the sale. We'll see how the conversation goes.

Even though the 4010 only has 40 hours on it and I'm sure it will last a long time (I have a 30 year old 112 riding mower that still cuts lawn and blows snow well), I don't think this will be my last tractor and so I need to make a decsion as to where I'll get this one serviced and where I'll buy the next one.

Glad to hear you had a good experience. I am very happy with my tractor and the price I paid for it, but I wish I would have found this sight before making my purchase. I doubt I would have changed brands, but I may have purchased it from another dealer.

Bob_In_MN
 
   / Dealer Quality #8  
I have always liked New Holland/Ford & John Deere tractors. I would have bought a Boomer just as quick as I bought my JD 4110. BUT...the JD dealer was closer and they have always treated me great with my lawn mower and assorted other tools I had bought off them over the years. It seems since dealers are limited (at least where I live) some seem to feel they don't need to care about the customer.
 
   / Dealer Quality #9  
I bought a JD 4300 and attachments after shopping all the dealers in my extended area. The dealer I bought the tractor from was good the first day I was in the dealership and has just gotten better.

They are always there to answer my questions and don't make me feel stupid. An example was when I asked about the tractor cutting out going up a steep slope. The service manager asked me if I was sitting on the front of the seat or leaning forward. I was doing both and without my weight in the seat the cut off switch tripped. I felt dumb but learned to keep my caboose in the seat.

The third day I had the tractor I was cutting some berry bushes to clear the new house site. The forward peddle for HST just dropped to the deck. I had lost the pin in the linkage. I called and they did not have one in stock but would take care of it. Twenty minutes later one of their service trucks pulled in our drive and did a temporary fix. Three days later they were back with the right pin and an extra one for me to have just in case. They are a large agricultural dealer and I was afraid that my little tractor deal would not be important to them. That is not the case at all.
 
   / Dealer Quality #10  
Bob,

I am sorry that you had a bad experience with these dealers. I have had quite the opposite (lucky me I guess) impression of the JD dealers around here. The dealer from whom I bought my tractor as well as where I now nave it serviced (I moved) have both really been outstanding to work with. I talked with the NH dealer, and left after about 10 minutes however. He sounded like he would really do me a favor by selling me a NH for over $2000 more than I got my JD for. I guess my point is that I do not think that JD necessarily has a corner on the lousy dealership market, and it is certainly your prerogative to find a good dealership. Some of our members have even ordered tractors from some of the Internet suppliers (Carvers, MidLawns, etc.), and taken their business far from home to deal with better people. My best advice would be to keep shopping, not necessarily for a different tractor, but for a better dealership to stand behind it.
 

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