Sorry to say that tractors are not the only big ticket item being sold as the year they are sold, instead of the year they are manufactured. Boats suffer the same smoke and mirror situation with both the boat
and the motor, if an outboard rig.
Supposedly they do this because one might buy a leftover " '09" in year 2010, and couple it with a motor mfg. in 2008, 2009 or some other mis-matched year. According to the boat industry it theoretically protects the consumer, (yeah, right
). Ultimately the dealer and manufacturer are protected before the consumer- no surprise there
. The buyer needs unfortunately to be aware of what they are buying by being their own advocate, as you have done by walking away from the deal. Good decision!
The dealer could be refusing to show serial number and year because they might be playing games with their floor plan, bank or manufacturer's vendor.
A car place in VT was closed down because they were moving cars from one lot to another of theirs in different parts of the state and keeping $ they were supposed to be paying Mercedes and other finance outfits. The county sheriff came and took ALL vehicles off the lot and impounded them at the fairgrounds behind locked gates. It was quite the scandal. The dealer closed its doors amid a lot of controversy and scandal.
The end result is maybe I got a leftover '08 tractor myself, but the manufacturer will start the warranty the day I bought it based on their coding of serial number. It is of NO advantage to me to buy a leftover 08' in '09 that has been sitting on the lot through all kinds of weather and sun damage. The buying dealer on trade in can then play the - 'well you bought an '08 model and it has xyz hours on it game'. Plus their tractor 'blue book' can depreciate that year down as if I owned the tractor for all the time it sat on the lot.
If things were the way we as consumers would like, the year of manufacture and year sold would be clearly stated and we would be told what the depreciated value is upfront and would benefit from
the choice to buy leftover stock versus right off the factory floor stock with all its improvements, etc. (I know Dave in Maine would like that outcome
)
If I were you I'd contact the bank who arranged financing for you and see what the manager has to say- even thought you already moved on you might be able to save someone less savvy than you a lot of grief. And if the bank is nonchalant about it all then they are probably already aware of what is going on and don't care or are willing to look the other way for the referrals from the selling dealer. Additionally, you can call your state's banking and insurance regulators and ask them/ tell them what happened and see what they say is supposed to be disclosed on a finance contract in your state. What state is it you were looking at the tractor?
Good luck, and I hope you get the tractor you want at the right price and year !