Dealer How do dealers set prices set on Kubota Tractors

[btolle]

According to the Kubota Dealer Locator :

These are the three closest Kubota dealers within a radius of 300 miles from KENAI , AK.

United Rentals, Inc.
Approximate distance from your zip code: 10 miles
524 Kalifonsky Beach Rd.
Soldotna, AK 99669
Phone: (907) 262-8700
Fax: (907) 262-7060
Email: jepperhi@ur.com

United Rentals
Approximate distance from your zip code: 58 miles
9760 Old Seward Hwy
Anchorage, AK 99515
Phone: (907) 349-6999

Yukon Equipment
Approximate distance from your zip code: 63 miles
2020 E. Third Ave.
Anchorage, AK 99501
Phone: (907) 277-1541
Fax: (907) 276-6795
Email: parts@yukonequipment.com

Hope one of them will treat you better.

Bill Tolle

 

[gregp]

I have no idea where the milage figures came from. They are not even straight line air miles. The kenai dealer is about 5 miles away but the other dealers are way off. It is 175 miles to Anchorage and another 50 +- to Palmer . I have lived here for 30 years and have not ever heard of a 58 mile route.. I am a pilot and it is 82 air miles to Anchorage. We have (ONE) 1 road to Anchorage and Palmer. I gave the Palmer dealer a call today. Hartley motors. The person i spoke with was not sure of the price but was pretty sure it was about $17,500.00 for the tractor with a loader and a box rake. He did say that kubota charges them .50 cents per pound for freight. He said that the price was list and that cash will talk but he wont have one in stock for a couple of months.
I am waiting for the salesman to get in and see how close we can come to a price.

 

[btolle]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I have no idea where the milage figures came from. )</font>

One possibility is they are figuring the distance from the edge of one zip code area to the edge of another zip code area. In Alaska I would imagine a zip code area could be thousands of square miles.
Zip Code Distance Calculator shows it to be 62.02 miles from Kenai to Anchorage but Microsoft Streets and Trips shows the distance from Kenai to Anchorage as 156.2 miles.

That's the "law of unintended consequences" at work. I'm sure zip code location seemed like a good idea to whoever set the website up but didn't take into account states like Alaska.

Bill Tolle
http://www.A-Buyers-Realty.com

 

[gregp]

Microsoft Streets and Trips shows the distance from Kenai to Anchorage as 156.2 miles.

This would be the point just prior to potter marsh. To get anywhere in Anchorage you have to drive another 15 miles or so. Another guess from who knows where.
All of this is a long drive. In summer we have 3 out of 5 vehicles being tourist motor homes ( a slow crowd on the road). And in the winter we have snow and ice like what my wife is dealing with today. Also very slow and long. I still would not want to live anywhere else. Except for a 3 month vacation in the winter /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif.

 

[MadReferee]

The ZipCode Calculator uses the latitude and longitude of the physical Post Office building serving the zip code. You can buy that info directly from several software brokers who are licensed from the Post Office. I have written several programs for clients that make use of that info to calculate distances for mailing and other purposes.

 

[gregp]

Sounds like a neat program, to bad it doesnt work. The distances we are talking about are no where near correct. It is 175+ road mile to Anchorage and another 50+- to Palmer.
To get to the post office you have to use a road.
We have one road to Anchorage and one road out of Anchorage, not rocket science. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[MadReferee]

The data on latitudes and longitudes for Post Office buildings is supplied by the Post Office themselves to the licensed brokers. The Post Office uses this same data to calculate parcel post rates to/from various post offices. Only the Post Office can vouch for its accuracy, but everyone assumes it is correct. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

One thing I would like to point out is that any distance calculated using latitude/longitude is an "as the crow flies" straight line distance.

Now if you want driving distance you have to go to one of the available programs like Microsoft MapPoint or DeLorme's Street Atlas to get actual driving distances between two points.

One more thing, according to the Post Office database I have (it's about 3 years old), Anchorage has 26 different zip codes associated with it. However, the lat/long's associated with the actual zip codes are different due to the location of the post office building. It is interesting that depending on the zip code, the distance from Anchorage to Palmer can be anywhere from 1600+ miles to 41 miles.

 

[jhbusa]

Gregp,

I took our family on a trip for a week to Alaska. Steward, Anchorage, Denali to Fairbanks. You live in heaven. If you could just find me about 120 acres in Denali national park where I could use my tractor, I'd move from the lower states to AK in a heartbeat.

What a beautiful place albeit a tad pricey.

I'll be back and plan on spending much more time in your area ... Kenai.

 

[gregp]

I have lived in Alaska most of my life and in the summers before i was old enough to remember. My aunt and uncle homesteaded in the 50s. I moved to Portland OR. about 7 years ago. I only lasted 10 months before i came back home. I call it my prison term because it was ****. A huge culture shock for this small town guy.
I tell my wife if i where to lose my job i will work swing shift at 7-11 before i ever leave home again. Its a great piece of mind to know where you want to be and are there. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gifLook me up if you ever hit town. Greg p