Jim, I hope to be able to stop carrying around a video camera when on the tractor. What a pain!
Without it, I would never have been able to convince anyone of a problem, and they'd continue to think I was one of the stupid ones that come in and causes so much trouble...But you know, after what I've been through, I'm somewhat sympathetic to those people, more so now than I was before. I know how it feels to have a someone you just handed a ton of money to, look at you like they don't believe you, and therefore it's not important to them, and they're not willing to make the extra effort to help you figure it out. That is a sad state of affairs in my book, and it doesn't bode well if that attitude is pervasive, and from my view point, it is. If you take care of the customer, you may lose some money on occasion, but the positive results from increased business due to word-of-mouth advertising, related to excellent customer treatment, would make up for minor losses.
As for the warranty issue, I'm still going to ask for an extension, at least for the time they had it in their shop, which is about 1.5 months of the time since I got it mid last year. Beyond that, I really believe I should have some sort of protection against hydraulic system failure that may have been caused by this cavitation or whatever it was. No one knows the damage it may have caused. It appears to me that I should be able to make the case that a failure in the future might be related. I hope that does not happen, but it very well could be legitimately related, if there is a failure. If nothing can be done to extend the warranty, I'd probably be smart to be looking at a different brand. But, that's not what I want to do.
ACS...As for the dealer making me happy, there are two things I'd like to have at a minimum: the warranty issues handled, somewhat as stated above, and to have the owner of the dealership say he's sorry for the problems I've had. But since he's never thanked me for buying it, I don't expect to hear anything from him. I only want what I'm paying for, and it sure as heck isn't a tractor that makes embarrassing noises like mine did. I felt like a fool when people heard it and said, "what the **** was that? and what are you doing about it?" If anyone knows someone that would accept it, tell them to make me an offer, I'd be happy to let them take it off my hands. They could deal with the future uncertainties of very expensive repairs. The tractor is brand new in my book, less than 50 hours, FEL, and brush bar. It can be had.
Am I bitter? Yes, to some extent, but more tired than bitter. To have to chase this thing down like I have, without proactive actions from the reps I've dealt with, is beyond frustrating. A simple change in attitude would have helped tremendously. From being told to "call me and ask if it makes noises tomorrow" instead of the dealer rep making the effort to call me to let me know it wasn't making noises, is a prime example of how I was treated. This is poor customer service, in my opinion. I know they're not too busy to have someone in the office call me. I've spent quite a bit of time over there, more than I care to. They sure as heck didn't have any problem making time to cash my checks!
Thanks to all that have posted helpful info. I wanted a NH, I got a NH, and I hope to keep it under my shelter beyond my days. But I won't drink the blue koolaid. I will support American companies as long as they're still around.
Sorry this thread has drug on so long. I sincerely hope it all comes out to some semblance of fairness and the tractor operates and makes all the expected noises, and none of the unexpected ones. Some may say I 'm unreasonable. Some may say I'm too patient. It falls somewhere between. Heck, I didn't complain about my turn signal going berserk when it got wet, until I saw the other thread. I just try to not get it wet anymore. I'm not that hard to please.
Does anyone know the proper type of glue to place on the foam noise / dust dam that is supposed to stick to the underside of the hood? Mine is falling down. See, there is a lot more I could B&M about, but I generally grin and bear the little stuff. When the big stuff becomes unbearable, that is when the nitpicking begins. That is the nature of the warranty beast. People don't return purchases for warranty issues and have only one thing repaired. One thing-gone-wrong (TGW) spawns many TsGW. That's why perfection has to be the goal.
I also would like to know the type of rear facing work light most people recommend, but can ask that on another thread if that's the protocol.
