Glenn, you hit the nail right on the head with the discussion regarding the dealer sales and service agreement. In the auto business, it's becoming more common to review dealer agreements (the legal department, that is) and enhance or change them, with many now being 3/5/10 year agreements. Every dealer I've talked to about this viewed it as pure manufacturer arrogance and the manufacturer trying to dictate to the retailer how to run his business.
Now, to tractor dealers. One auto dealer I know also owns a NH and Kubota dealership. While the sales and service agreements are different for the manufacturers, both bind him to provide warranty service for the respective manufacturer's products, regardless of whether he sold them or not. Neither agreement is time bound, although both NH and Kubota can add ammendments to the agreements that require facility appearance, customer service levels, and market share be at or above some type of target level.
True, he may choose to perform warranty and customer pay service on his customer's tractors first, but as he said, "I didn't get to own all this being that stupid. It's all about customer service today. Send me every unhappy New Holland and Kubota tractor owner you know and I'll handle their service and make them MY customer."
So, the sharp guys don't want to miss the sale, but they don't want to miss the service after the sale, either. Find one of those guys.
Bob Pence