Do you know why people work on their own tractors?

[milkman]

Do you know why people work on their own tractors?

Brother goes into McD's and orders a cheeseburger, response was "want cheese on that", I was looking at tractor umbrellas at TSC, no dimensions on carton, helpful clerk comes by, I ask, what size is this, helpful clerk says "it fits any size, it's universal", went to Lowes to get 10' garage door seal, knowlegable clerk gets me a entrance door threshold. That's pretty much our workforce today, when something breaks on my tractor, after I finally get helpful knowlegable counterman to get me the right part, I put it together myself and I know it's done the way I want it done.

 

[patrick_g]

Maybe they'll start hiring college grads

They do hire college grads. The most important phrase in a new art history graduates (or similar) vocabulary is, "do you want fries with that?"

Pat

 

[Kendall69]

..Any work i've had done by dealerships recently has been very dissapointing

Agree

Vehicle one went to dealer for oil lube, they put in two more quarts than needed, never checked other fluids, or lubed ( you can tell because the dust was never disturbed, and other fluids were low.

Next vehicle went in for leaking tire, they found no problem, next day leaking tire, took it to tire dealer, they pulled out a 3" nail - after the wife drove home on the freeway from the selling dealer, with the nail still in it.

Next vehicle ( large commercial truck) they put in i gallon more oil than capacity called for.

Next vehicle, commercial truck told to check mushy brakes, came back all good - next day employee plows into a car, you guessed it mushy brakes.

Remember these are DEALERS, I'm going to not some corner shop.

And I could go on and on.

 

[Bedlam]

One thing that needs to be said for car dealers, is the fact that the techs, are not always experienced. Some are working at the Chevy dealers, and going to school also.
I am sure most are good and try and hope that there are other techs there with more hands on experience.
However, its a bit unreal, that I purchase a brand new car, with 5 miles on it, and they have to remove the wheels for inspection. I assume it was for experience. but then I drive it and hear a clinking in the hub cap, I figure it s a stone, but remove the cap and find the dust cover in the cap. Glad that I don't loose the cap, But then notice that the 'acorn' nut wasn't locked or even more than figure tight.
Divers side. meaning if it had a tendency to turn it would loosen. I tightened the nut and peaned the nut over as it should have been, and replaced the cap.
I can only assume that this is why they don't offer the free first inspection sticker.
Al

 

[shane]

Agree

Remember these are DEALERS, I'm going to not some corner shop.

And I could go on and on.

Why in the world do you keep going to them??? You were pretty hard on ole Lone about choosing who he does business with. Sounds like you should pick and choose who you do business with a little more often.

 

[workinallthetime]

im going to fill you guys in on something you probably have not thought about.
Wallmart drove the price of a oil change down to a point where you get just that a LOF Lube Oil Filter. when i started in the business i got .6 to change oil on a car, thats 36 minutes i got paid to do an LOF now they get paid 24 minutes to do the job. Guess where the time was cut from? vehicle inspections, the public demanded cheeper and faster LOF's well they got em. My advise to you is talk to the guy changing your oil and flip him a 10 spot and have him check it out for you, its cheep insurence. Ohh and their oil that they say is reconded my gm, ford, dodge ect... is really the cheepest oil they could get their hands on.

 

[Ford850]

I haven't had to use my tractor dealer for service, but my auto dealer shines. Earlier this year I was on my way home to pack the truck for a trip when I heard a screeching sound from a front wheel. Worsened to a point that I didn't think I could drive much further, then suddenly stopped. It didn't sound like a stone in the brakes but could have been. I was close to my Ford dealer so I pulled in even though it was 15 minutes past closing time for the shop. The manager asked the last mechanic (as he walked to his car to leave) if he had time to stay to check my truck. They pulled all 4 wheels, inspected the brakes, and even lubed it while they had it on the rack. I was there for about 30 - 45 minutes after hours. $20. I felt better knowing I was good to go on my trip, especially since I didn't have time to inspect things myself. It's service like that that keeps me buying from them.

 

[patrick_g]

It is good to be very wary of a squeal or screech that "fixes" itself. I had one in a pickup down in Baja California Mexico. I was close to a fair sized town (Ensenada) so I was going to have it checked out BUT it quit before I got there so I didn't (big goof.) Later that day we started back toward the US border and elected to take the "scenic route" inland through some mountains instead of the toll road along the beach that we went down on.

Total brake failure on a steep winding narrow mountain road with shear stone wall on one side and a few hundred feet drop on the other and NO GUARD RAILS. It was very nearly a disaster. The right rear wheel bearing tried to seize up and got so hot it melted the rubber things out of the wheel cylinder and ignited the brake fluid. Quite spectacular at night to be out of control down this road with HUGE flames shooting out of your wheel well.

Maybe some time there will be a "can you top THIS, thread" and I will relate the whole story.

Pat

 

[Iplayfarmer]

I add my support to the general dissatisfaction with service, performance, and competence with dealers in general. I haven't had much better luck with other shops either.

The worst part of it all is the profound sense of desperation I feel when I get into a problem that I don't have the time, expertise, or tools to resolve. I really do try to do a lot of my own work, but when anything gets beyond what I can do for myself it seems there's nowhere I can turn.

1) In my neck of the woods I feel that I'm treated as a second class citizen at tractor dealers because I'm just a hobbyist. I don't have a full fleet of tractors/implements and I don't spend millions of dollars on equipment, service, and maintenance.

2) I've had a really hard time getting good service and support for my car and truck too.

3) The one thing I paid someone else to do during the full rebuild of my Heritage Special motorcycle was a rebuild on the carburetor. I spent two years on and off chasing problems on that bike because I had assumed that since I had a "Professional" rebuild the carb, it was done right. (He had it for 5 weeks.) I finally bought another carb and learned how to re-build it myself. The bike runs now.

I think I finally found a good mechanic for my car. The problem is he's pretty busy and I have to wait to get in.

 

[MikePA]

Guess where the time was cut from? vehicle inspections,

No offense, but then they were not just doing a LOF, they were doing a LOF plus a vehicle inspection and hopefully they were advertising it as such.