Curious if you just took the first price quote they gave you, and if it was for tractor only, or during that two months did you do some negotiating on the tractor and, or additional options and equipment.
I’ve always been a face to face type feller and would not feel like I had as good a chance to make a deal I was comfortable with via email negotiations.
Kubota, LS, Mahindra, were non negotiable on their prices - they said this is our price we dont negotiate - all 3 of them were MSRP outside of a rebate that was visible online/dealer special - Kubota was by far the highest with the biggest chip on their shoulder and I was surprised that Mahindra/LS ( same dealer ) were so staunch on their prices and higher than deere. New Holland was MSRP, I didnt negotiate with them after that because they didnt have exactly what i was looking for. The Case/IH was pretty much the same experience - about 5 to 7 K higher but in fairness the LS/NH/CIH were all a step up in tractor size compared to the 2038R, they were more of a 3 series deere in size/weight. I am Sooooo glad i did not do that because of the weight and impact i would have made on my yard especially in the wet year we have had.
So.........specifically what i was looking for was highest HP i could get in a MMM that protruded outside of the footprint of the tire width for easier mowing around things and to mow quicker as well as a loader for mostly landscaping because my skidsteer is HEAVY and tears up my yard so much or leave ruts when i want to do some work.
Most only offered a 25hp smaller SCUT in a 60" deck and I already had a 62" on my 2210 deere that i wanted to get rid of.
Deere is the ONLY brand that has a 72" MMM - CIH has a 66" but its on their BIGGER tractor chassis.
I priced out a MMM, Tractor, Loader with R4 tires. No other add ons.
Deere came with a price which was lower than MSRP and then once I found out no one else had what i wanted I called another dealer, it was then i found out Deere gives their dealers another incentive/reduction in price if their buyer is in their same county/dealer coverage area. The second dealer i contact said i would love to sell you a tractor but I know they can do better on their price because of incentives for you in their county, he said work on them a little harder. I appreciated him telling me that and the fact that deere trys to support local purchases in that manner to give their dealers more opportunity.
I sent two more emails after I went and looked/sat on the tractor. They did not have the 72" Quick Connect deck that i wanted but found one they could get within a week if needed from another dealer. The 2038s were a little hard to get at the time so he told me I might have to wait a bit for delivery. Once we agreed on the price he went to work to locate and have a unit ordered/transported and configured.
My tractor came preassembled from one dealer with the loader and another dealer is where the deck came from. My dealer did final deck install and delivery.
I only had to wait about 2 wks for transport to dealer/setup/delivery once i wrote the check.
Here is another thing my dealer did. We had negotiated a trade price on my 2210 and a guy had seen my 2210 tractor on Craigslist. I had removed the ad but he had written my info down because he was out of town. He contacted me and wanted to look at it. I contacted my salesman and he said well if you can get more than we offered go ahead because we will have to prep yours for sale and not make all that much on it so go for it.
The guy ended up buying it and my dealer allowed me to sell it on my own. I sold it for 1500 more than the dealer offered me on trade SO it was a WIN!!!!
I have had a couple issues with my 2038R but they have been taken care of w/o any issues or questions from my dealer.