I might need to sell my 7710-II

[SESS]

Unfortunately things like this happen to many of us. In many cases it's not the dealer's fault (except they probably shouldn't even give us quotes off the hip). On my 2120 we lost the PTO and assumed it was the internal overriding clutch. The dealer service manager who I've been doin gbusiness for 40 years told me that the last one he repaired was about $700 and he expected mine to come in about the same. It actually came in at $2300 and that was legit based on hours and parts required. To come in at $2300 he had to not charge me for some hours. I was not happy but in many cases you can't give a firm estimate until you tear it apart and know what you need to replace.

Andy

Andy- What we do at our shop is not given written estimates. It makes some people upset but we go the step further to tell them our hourly rate, it will take XXX to get the piece apart and then I will call you with an estimate with the understanding that this is still only an estimate. I may end up calling the customer 20 times on a particular job for them, BUT at least there is no surprises. I keep the customer completely in the loop of the progress of their tractor and the costs and let them say to buy the new parts or not use them. At the end of the job 90% will say thanks for all the calls and keeping me informed. In the end, I get them back as a repeat customer and also get their friends and family members as customers! There is always going to be a bad seed to try and ruin it for the good seeds, but honesty and courtesy will always prevail! I feel for this fellow with the broke tractor and the huge bill! If he was closer to me, I would gladly work with him!

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Robert, There are laws involved in repair estimates and repair costs. Talk to a lawyer. This sounds outside what we would call acceptable.
Oral agreements are legal agreements in the repair world, if they did not follow proper procedures, you have a case.

I am waiting on my tax return right now and when I have enough cash to make a reasonable offer I will try. If the dealer refuses to negotiate though I will proceed with other avenues as I have a few options if being diplomatic doesn't work.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Andy- What we do at our shop is not given written estimates. It makes some people upset but we go the step further to tell them our hourly rate, it will take XXX to get the piece apart and then I will call you with an estimate with the understanding that this is still only an estimate. I may end up calling the customer 20 times on a particular job for them, BUT at least there is no surprises. I keep the customer completely in the loop of the progress of their tractor and the costs and let them say to buy the new parts or not use them. At the end of the job 90% will say thanks for all the calls and keeping me informed. In the end, I get them back as a repeat customer and also get their friends and family members as customers! There is always going to be a bad seed to try and ruin it for the good seeds, but honesty and courtesy will always prevail! I feel for this fellow with the broke tractor and the huge bill! If he was closer to me, I would gladly work with him!

Thanks SESS, I try to support my local dealers and up till this point I have had a good relationship with this dealer. I have a smaller dealer 20 miles away that is an Agco dealer now but they repair all brands. From now on if I can not do the work myself then that dealer is going to get my business. They have always treated me great and when I have had breakdowns over that way they have patched me up and sent me on my way with hardly a hit to my pocketbook. I just don't like having to haul equipment 20 miles now instead of 2 but I will. Hopefully I will get my shop set up soon so I can do more of this work myself.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

I went to see my dealer Monday to try and negotiate my tractor bill down some more. They were willing to drop the interest and take 10% off the parts used but nothing more. So the final price was going to be $11,700 and they were willing to accept payments.

But $11,700 is more then I can afford right now and I can not commit to it until I know I am back to work for good and I have no idea when I am going to be able to go back to work yet. I am hoping in a few weeks but I don't know how well my body will hold up once I do. So I told them to keep trying to sell the tractor. If we could have come to terms on a price I would have dropped $4k on it right then but right now I just hope they find a buyer and I will start from scratch.

Things will work out one way or the other. If it sells I will buy a new one eventually with FWA, if I buy it back I will have my tractor back and I like my 7710-II.

 

[pengs68]

Sorry to hear that. How will not having the 7710 affect your hay making this summer?

 

[Robert_in_NY]

It will hinder things a little but the TN will take up the load till I buy another tractor. I was just talking to my Case-IH dealer today about a JX1095N which is 0% for 60 months which while narrow would run my discbine and baler till I can buy a JX95 (which I also discussed with him). I also talked to the Kubota dealer about the M8540 Narrow cab and the M8540 Power Krawler Narrow Cab tractors. The Power Krawler would be great for my vineyard but the 13.2mph max speed is discouraging. The Kubota's won't be out anytime soon though so I fear they will be out of the running. And the Deere dealer seemed interested in my business also so I will have options.

So right now when I clear my accounts (hopefully in a month or so) I will add a cab vineyard tractor to help out in the vineyard and orchard as well as haying till I replace the 7710 when the funds will allow. So I will be fine and if the TN goes down I have friends who will lend me a tractor till I get it fixed.

 

[vettemanwight]

Robert What will they give you at L and W for your 7710 ???? Could that be another option ? V

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Robert What will they give you at L and W for your 7710 ???? Could that be another option ? V

I can ask them tomorrow but I doubt they will give me enough trade in on it to pay off my bill and my loan. My only real option to clear all accounts is to just leave it there and let them sell it. I am already looking at options for a possible replacement and the JX95 would be a good replacement as long as it can tug my 4-16 plow around which with FWA I don't think it will have any trouble. So when I get all my bills cleared and I go back to work I will start talking more about its replacement. I might wait till next year though as I need a vineyard tractor first.

 

[Renze]

Robert, do you still own that 7710-II which is taken hostage by the dealer ?

I work at a trailer builder doing the engineering and component purchase. But because i'm the only one in the company who speaks enough German and English, i also do the foreign trade.

Right now we're having issues with a German customer: they are known to be problematic when it comes to paying. Normally, nothing moves off the premises untill it is payd. However this trailer should be exhibited at a show, so there was no time for normal procedures and it was driven to germany on an early saturday morning to make it in time for the exhibition, without waiting for the payment.

Mean time, they have damaged OUR trailer, and say its our fault. (they didnt check if the wires and air hoses were lined properly when re-attaching the semi to the tractor.) They failed to show pictures to proof that the damage was caused by OUR fault. Because of a small mistake, our guys have widened the cut-out in the wheel wells with an angle grinder to make more room for the wheels, as tandem axles allways lean out during sharp cornering. The grinding was fully treated with zinc compound, but the customer says that it isnt a fully galvanised trailer anymore, and says that we have 2 options: build a new trailer (!?) or give him 2000 euro (10% ) discount, and still fix HIS problems for free...
The trailer is coming back next week for repair. When its back in our hands, we'll tell them to pay (they have signed to pay for it before delivery) before they come pick it up again, and we'll tell them what the modifications will cost, before its carried out... Right now they have our trailer, and are in a position to postpone or hold back parts of the payment to whatever they like...
If they fail to bring in the trailer for checkup and modifications according to their warranty claim, there is a legal ground to sue them and demand our trailer back.

My boss went bankrupt last spring. The new owner of the company is very strict when it comes to issues alike the above mentioned, because its very clear why my old boss went bankrupt: he was too good for his customers. he'd rather gave huge discounts to solve a problem with a difficult non-paying customer, than to loose one by forcing them to pay by means of a law court. There were some customers who knew that, and took advantage of that.

Maybe your dealer knows that you're a great guy that tries hard to stay in peace with everyone... and take advantage of that.... ...i'm just warning...been there, seen that.

 

[Mac624]

Maybe Your boss wented bankrupt, because he hired the wrong employees??
))