Heard interesting (negative) Kioti issue from dealer who dropped them.

[SHORT KID]

Gittyup, I bought my Mahindra from Wallace also and when I went up this spring for filters, he had closed up. There was an auction notice on the door. They always had a good supply of parts.

 

[DieselBound]

The national manufacturer's rating survey (can't recall the exact name) was one reason why I took a gamble on Kioti. Kioti was ranked toward the top of the list: Kubota, of course, was at the top (and that was for a LOT of manufacturers). It's a survey to dealers. But, every relationship is different, and sometimes things just go sideways: never good that it has to get to that point, but it happens.

 

[Msamt]

I bought my DK back in 2013 from a small shop which closed about 3 months after I bought it. Turns out there was funky stuff going on and the actual owner wasn't aware of it. Fast forward a few months and they were back in biz under new management, but Same owner. Last I talked to Dave, they had doubled their business in one year. He's got a ton of inventory and more coming every month.
Being an independent dealer is not easy, I have a lot of experience with power and cooling equipment and the reps have to follow the rules pretty tight - today's business world is much different than the old days when you ordered out of a paper catalog, and could straighten out mistakes over the phone. My guess is it is the change in business practices to ensure supply chain and sales forecast are aligned more than anything else, this is a floor plan inventory model for Kioti (and JD) so you have to move the minimum to get the inventory you want.
MT

 

[WV birdman]

google brunos powersports reviews and that will tell you all you need to know about brunos

I was about to type that very thing.

 

[fried1765]

I was about to type that very thing.

Seems like too many poor reviews for me!

 

[VictorW]

Gittyup, I bought my Mahindra from Wallace also and when I went up this spring for filters, he had closed up. There was an auction notice on the door. They always had a good supply of parts.

As Gittyup mentioned, Wallace did have some sort of falling out with Kioti and continued his business with Mahindra and smaller power equipment. Unfortunately, he and his wife had a parting of the ways and that's why the business closed. Wallace was a great dealer and maybe he'll start up again somewhere once he gets his feet back on the ground.

 

[Barrettseq]

They are not allowed to advertise or sell nationally. Now you can sneak a few here and there but that can't be your main business because it hurts the dealer network and that is why they shut him down. They would sell cheap, charge for delivery in the price and never have to touch the tractor again. When I do a warranty I don't get paid 100% of my time so I have to add a bit on the sale. This way it makes it easier to give a filter kit, free repair or free pick up for better customer service. If he sells in my area I have to charge the customer for everything warranty does not cover and then no one is happy.

Kioti has been fantastic to us for 18 years with simple rules. Rule #1 sell tractors, #2 pay for tractors that are sold, #3 repair tractors that you sold. It's that easy. We try to complicate it but if you do each of those in that order Kioti is behind you 100%.

 

[Rock Crawler]

They are not allowed to advertise or sell nationally. Now you can sneak a few here and there but that can't be your main business because it hurts the dealer network and that is why they shut him down. They would sell cheap, charge for delivery in the price and never have to touch the tractor again. When I do a warranty I don't get paid 100% of my time so I have to add a bit on the sale. This way it makes it easier to give a filter kit, free repair or free pick up for better customer service. If he sells in my area I have to charge the customer for everything warranty does not cover and then no one is happy.

Kioti has been fantastic to us for 18 years with simple rules. Rule #1 sell tractors, #2 pay for tractors that are sold, #3 repair tractors that you sold. It's that easy. We try to complicate it but if you do each of those in that order Kioti is behind you 100%.

Best response so far.

That makes sense and explains what they did not.

 

[BTI]

They are not allowed to advertise or sell nationally. Now you can sneak a few here and there but that can't be your main business because it hurts the dealer network and that is why they shut him down. They would sell cheap, charge for delivery in the price and never have to touch the tractor again. When I do a warranty I don't get paid 100% of my time so I have to add a bit on the sale. This way it makes it easier to give a filter kit, free repair or free pick up for better customer service. If he sells in my area I have to charge the customer for everything warranty does not cover and then no one is happy.

Kioti has been fantastic to us for 18 years with simple rules. Rule #1 sell tractors, #2 pay for tractors that are sold, #3 repair tractors that you sold. It's that easy. We try to complicate it but if you do each of those in that order Kioti is behind you 100%.

Very good answer Barrett
They are typically very reasonable.
There are exceptions to every rule.
Small dealers don't usually get the attention from the manufacturer they should.
This has not been the case with Kioti. No complaints here.

 

[kantuckid]

Thread took a turn toward common sense, thanks.
FWIW, I talked to a former Mahindra dealer, now Kioti who had turned sour on Mahindra based on certain experiences with models from certain countries. interestingly, his honest, IMO, comments were the opposite of another Mahindra dealer I talked to about tractors. Both are long term mahindra dealers, one is only Kioti now.