Indiana dealers??
- Thread starter edgarrian
- Start date
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mossdown
Bronze Member
You keep saying you reached out to dealers< You cannot conduct business over the phone if you are really wanting to talk models and price. Get in your vehicle and go to the dealers. Spend some time checking their inventory to see what is really out there. Good luck.
I work out of state and im only home for a week at a time and were building a house so my time when im home is taken. When i get a little closer as to when i plan on purchasing then yea ill get in my car and conduct business. My time is worth more than traveling all around took look everyones tractor when i certainly already know what im looking for. Its easier to get a initial price from dealers and then go from there. I dont need to go just to see what they are asking when they can certainly shoot me an email. I take that info and compare and start negotiating from there. Its served me well when buying vehicles so i see no reason to stop doing it that way. Ive been looking for about 6 months now comparing and asking questions. Ill be purchasing in about 2 to 3 months. Ive gotten my interests narrowed down to who im talking to and what dealers i like so far.
I guess i look at it as if i send an email and the response is very slow then im turned off by that dealer. I mean its an email that takes 5 minutes to respond. I know barlows is a busy dealership and they were very quick to get back to me. I wouldnt be afraid to purchase from them if kubota was on my radar but i have since changed my mind.
Owning a business in the oil and gas industry is a time consuming job and sometimes people just dont have the time to drive around looking and talking face to face all the time.
AxleHub
Elite Member
Greetings edgarian,
I hope you might reconsider your recent statement. You're currently building a house and you work out of town for long stretches in oil and gas. So you're busy.
But your statement above doesn't seem to recognize you aren't the only busy person. You expect dealers should respond back to your email quickly because "it only takes 5 minutes".
Personally because you don't know why they don't get back to you quickly . . you assume an answer why they didn't.
Its your choice . . but you could be excluding some of the best choices because customers are flocking to their door.
You used Barlows as an example . . I agree they are great and have a person who works just at responding. But even Barlows with all their efforts currently are not taking out of state activity and are very slow in responses BECAUSE THEY ARE TOO GOOD and have too many clients and prospects right now.
Its your choice how you conduct business . . I just think good business creates demand and demand creates busy periods . . and good business people know when to not take on more than they can handle.
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I can agree with what you said. To be honest there hasnt been any dealers thats takin a extreme amount of time to get back with me. Its very reasonable that they are just as busy and that would be a farely good review of a dealership that is busy. I think when im ready to buy it will be during the time when they might not be so busy. Im sure they have lots of trade ins and what not during the spring and beginning of the summer. It seems as if not many people buy from McAllisters as far as subcompact tractors. I know there main business comes from heavy machinery. I was hoping someone would be able to comment about dealing through that company. Its not a big deal since there others to work with.
Part of the reason to ask is i dont want to go to a dealership and just be totally disregarded which happens. There again it could be b/c they are busy but its not a great feeling when your ready to buy. I have experienced that and for me it was a wasted trip. If I get a decent price just by email then I know that guy is willing to work a deal. Some start off at MSRP and thats fine they may or maynot be willing to deal. I guess thats the fun once you get your dealers narrowed down.
Anyway thanks for pointing that out. I try not to be closed minded but it does happen
AxleHub
Elite Member
I think you had an excellent response. I ended up contacting 17 kubota/massey dealers. Some were fast but expensive . .some I waited for because I knew they were busy.
My greatest disappointment was I tried very hard to purchase from a group of 4 local dealers and I wasn't able to. But the good story was how farther out dealers were very receptive and helpful. Ended up with a really great dealer operation . . Just a further distance.
Price is always important . . but sensing the family run style with great support and decent price was the combo.
Out of the whole experience . . I ended up with 5 dealers/brands I'd consider referring.
My greatest disappointment was I tried very hard to purchase from a group of 4 local dealers and I wasn't able to. But the good story was how farther out dealers were very receptive and helpful. Ended up with a really great dealer operation . . Just a further distance.
Price is always important . . but sensing the family run style with great support and decent price was the combo.
Out of the whole experience . . I ended up with 5 dealers/brands I'd consider referring.
Thanks
Barlows is the furthest i have contacted but im not interested in a kubota anymore unless a good used one came up then sure. Ill be test driving just to see how they drive next week.
My target date to purchase has been moved back since the rain just wont stop here in indiana. Its cool to go through the process of building a house but when mother nature doesnt let up it gets frustrating. I guess it wouldnt be as frustrating if i didnt have plans of purchasing a tractor. I cant wait to tinker around the house and property
AxleHub
Elite Member
Have you whittled down the selection group yet? I spent a bunch of time reading reviews on a couple of big sites. What was really nice about the one site is their reviews were "nested" . . meaning a review would have a link in it for a totally different brand or product in the same size. That way you read onevreview and can shift to read a different review on a competing product. It allowed me to "walk around" from name brand to name brand in the same sizing . . Very convenient.
fish938
New member
When I gave you some names of quality dealers, I didn't include the dealer I have dealt with most because I was afraid he would be too far away. I didn't realize you were looking as far south as Kentucky. A dealer I can recommend personally is Larry Chinn of Chinn Equipment in Ramsey,Indiana. I have had repair work done there and my dad has purchased dozens of items from him over the last 30 years. I think he told me last time I was there he has been in business since 1964. He is the owner and salesman, selling mostly smaller (under 100 hp) and haying equipment. Others I'm familiar with are Laker Equipment and Fraley Truck and Equipment, both in Rushville,Indiana. Fraley has a second store in Versailles, In. These are in addition to the other Massey dealers I previously mentioned and would not dissuade one from doing business with any of these. I only included Massey because you posted in a Massey forum so I assumed you were only asking for info about them.
In regard to dealers not replying fast enough or at all, few dealers have an "Internet Sales Department". Only a slightly higher number do much emailing. Dealers can be broken down into two types. Large dealers that mostly deal in large equipment and large volume (and large $), or small dealers that handle mostly small sized machines. Neither of these types of dealers spend much time behind a desk, and in the case of Larry Chinn, I don't remember even seeing a computer on his desk. He only just recently got a website, but is mostly an info page and not much else. I understand the desire to put out feelers when you are in the "thinking out loud" stage as I refer to it. It usually takes me a very long time to get comfortable with if I want to buy something, not to mention once I've decided on spending the money, what it is I am going to buy. So, I understand wanting to email a dealer just to get enough information to digest but alas, equipment dealers just aren't often wired that way. Having the internet and MFgs websites have substituted for emailing dealers and asking for preliminary information for me. Once I decide I'm ready, a phone call to a few dealers seems to be the best way to go about getting more information. I can get a pretty good idea of how a place operates and how I would be treated by taking to someone on the phone and I think it is likewise true for the dealer. He can tell someone is sincere by talking to someone, as opposed to receiving an email sent out to 20 dealers asking for a "best price". Not saying it's the best way for dealers to operate, just saying I can understand and that has been my experience.
In regard to dealers not replying fast enough or at all, few dealers have an "Internet Sales Department". Only a slightly higher number do much emailing. Dealers can be broken down into two types. Large dealers that mostly deal in large equipment and large volume (and large $), or small dealers that handle mostly small sized machines. Neither of these types of dealers spend much time behind a desk, and in the case of Larry Chinn, I don't remember even seeing a computer on his desk. He only just recently got a website, but is mostly an info page and not much else. I understand the desire to put out feelers when you are in the "thinking out loud" stage as I refer to it. It usually takes me a very long time to get comfortable with if I want to buy something, not to mention once I've decided on spending the money, what it is I am going to buy. So, I understand wanting to email a dealer just to get enough information to digest but alas, equipment dealers just aren't often wired that way. Having the internet and MFgs websites have substituted for emailing dealers and asking for preliminary information for me. Once I decide I'm ready, a phone call to a few dealers seems to be the best way to go about getting more information. I can get a pretty good idea of how a place operates and how I would be treated by taking to someone on the phone and I think it is likewise true for the dealer. He can tell someone is sincere by talking to someone, as opposed to receiving an email sent out to 20 dealers asking for a "best price". Not saying it's the best way for dealers to operate, just saying I can understand and that has been my experience.
