Internet Tractor Purchase

WillingtonPizza · Oct 24, 2000

People often say that it is important to have a good relationship with a tractor dealer and that is why you should buy local. I pick a Kubota because it has an excellent repair record. When I do service on any vehicle I try to do it myself. I do not know why people think it is so important. (other than having to immediatly trade in for a bigger model wich I intend to buy the largest B series I can afford) I personaly do not have time to drive 30 minutes to the nearest dealer and talk about wich mower I need. That is why I like tractorbynet so much. If I am missing something here please tell me.

WillingtonPizza · Oct 25, 2000

I went to Kahn Tractor today to get a price on a 2410. What a shocker. There price was the exact same as Carter with shipping. Only problem is Carter also included Toothbar, 60" scraper blade, 52" Box, Ballast, Canopy, HD alternator, 4 Lights. When they gave me the price I asked if there was any room for negotiation and they said if I had a quote from someone else that was a few hundred less they could match it, I said what about a few thousand, they said they would not go there. I would never go back with a lower price, I do not think it is fair to guy who is giving me the best deal right off the bat. They left such a bad taste in my mouth I do not think I will ever go back. They did not treat me very well and I was prepared to write a check on the spot for a good deal. They do a very big buisness, but htey have no competition. It's to bad, I would have rather of bought local.

Bird · Oct 25, 2000

Sounds like you have an attitude a bit like mine. I never tell one dealer what another dealer has priced something for. I may tell one that someone else has offered me a better deal, but usually not even that. When I bought my tractor in 1995, I had visited 4 dealers looking at options without worrying too much about exact prices. Then when I was ready to buy, I just called each one on the phone, told him exactly what I wanted and asked what was the best price he could give me on it delivered to my home. I didn't even tell them I was getting prices from other dealers; they just got one shot and the best one sold me a tractor. And when I was ready to trade up in 1999, I just went back to the same dealer, thought the deal he offered was more than fair, and took it.

Bird

Anonymous Poster · Oct 25, 2000

I also went to Kahn tractor today! They gave me the same attitude when I was trying to get a better price basically they said "we don't do that" when I asked if they would match or even come close to other prices I found. They say B2710 w Loader $17,190 + tax - B2410 w loader 15,890. + tax - New Holland TC21D w loader $15,495. + tax ouch! They wont see business from me anytime soon!

msocko3 · Oct 26, 2000

With an attitude like that I'm shocked that they sell much of anything. They must get the rich one stop shopper so that they can stay in buisness.

DaleW · Oct 26, 2000

WillingtonPizza,
After many days, weeks, months of research I decided what a FAIR price was for the 2710 that I bought. I compared my local dealers (What a joke), Carvers, Modern Tractor and many others and came up with what I was willing to pay for a tractor.
Steve Bowman at Modern Tractor was more that accommodating and was willing to sell me the machine for the price "I" stated.
Just for comparison I went back to Carvers (who by the way are great guys) with the proice from Modern Tractor and Steve essentially told me he couldn't compete with Modern's price and that I should buy from them.
As for shipping costs I remember it being a little over $500 to the lower Hudson Valley in NY.
The tractor was delivered when Steve said it would with all the right equipment and manuals. The trucker called me at every stop that he made that day to inform me of his progress and ETA at my place. Recieved a call over the weekend from Steve making sure that everything was ok with the tractor and to answer any questions that I may have had.
In all shopping and buying a tractor over the net was painless, pleasant and I saved a few thousand dollars in the process.
Give Steve a call 800-540-1704 and I'm sure that he will treat you right. Tell him I told you to call
Good luck with the purchase
Dale W

glennmac · Oct 27, 2000

Von, I think you have been pricing 2910's for a while. With that much a price disparity between your local dealer and the cyberseller, it would be a nobrainer for me. My feelings of local dealer loyalty would peter out at the $500 difference point.

WillingtonPizza, you seem to have done your homework and understand your options. My advice to give weight to the local dealer relationship assumes there is a good local dealer with whom to have the relationship. If there isn't, then you might as well shop from far away and get the best price you can. I don't recall anyone who actually bought from Carver or Modern, for example, saying anything bad about the experience.

One final point, a Kubota dealer is certainly authorized to perform Kubota warranty service, but I doubt that he is required to do so. I'll ask my dealer and report back. Certainly, as a business matter, a dealer ought to be motivated to service a tractor bought elsewhere as long as he makes money doing so.

Glenn

hayden · Oct 28, 2000

I think you will find that the dealers are not only authorized, but required to service the warranty. Dealers are the manufacturer's agents for fulfillment of the manufacturers obilgations. Probably their biggest obligation is the honor the warranty

ejb · Oct 28, 2000

Yes, if they agree to do the work, they are required to honor the warranty, I think the point was that they are not *required* to work on your tractor if they want to. I doubt many dealers would refuse to work on a tractor, just because you didn't buy it from them...at a minimum, if you didn't by the machine from a dealer, I would imagine that when you need to have some work done, you would be farther down the priority list than someone else that needs the exact same thing done, but gave bought their tractor from that dealer.

That said, I wouldn't overpay for a tractor in order to be father up the line for priority service, but its only human nature (and good business) to take care those customers that provide the most revenue (or potential revenue) to the dealer.

Harv · Oct 28, 2000

You guys have really got me to thinking (there you go again /w3tcompact/icons/mad.gif).

Although working through a broker, I effectively wound up buying my 'Bota from a dealer that's about 2 hours away, when in fact there is another reputable dealer less than an hour away. Protocol probably dictates that I should go to the dealer I bought from for repair/warranty work, but that seems silly when the other one is so much closer.

I guess it's all about relationships 'cuz my broker has suggested that if I need any work done to call him and let him use his relationships, which are quite good with both dealers.

Hopefully, I will never have cause to test this out. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

hayden · Oct 28, 2000

I disagree in the case of warranty work. Kubota MUST perform warranty work. Their warranty says any authorized dealer. Not the one you bought from, not one that wants to do the work, buy ANY dealer.

Same is true for cars. Consider this example. You buy a tractor at a local dealer. Next month you move across the contry. Your tractor breaks. Kubota has to fix it, but how? Send you to the new local dealer.

scruffy · Oct 28, 2000

Hayden, I agree that the dealers must honor warrenty work. I have never (accept once or twice) taken an auto/pickup to the dealership where I bought it. Mainly due to the scenario that you mentioned, I had moved out of the area where it was unfeasable to go back to the dealer where purchased. I bought my pickup in Oklahoma, and its been serviced in Kansas, Georgia, Florida, and Louisana, as well as a dealer 200 miles away from where I bought it in OK. Same with a 71 Ford Ranchero that I bought new years ago. It was serviced everywhere but, and was the biggest piece of JUNK ever built!! Couple others that had similar experiences but not to the extreme that the ford was. That thing had me on a first name basis with 3 or 4 different dealerships!

glennmac · Oct 28, 2000

Well, we are all just speculating as to whether a dealer must perform warranty work, but none of us really knows. The answer will be in the dealer agreement, which could be different for different manufacturers and could even change over time with the same manufacturer, as any contract can.

This is a question that comes up often and is important to tractor purchasing. I will try to find out the exact legal answer for Kubota when I get back to the office next week.

Glenn

Bird · Oct 28, 2000

Re: 71 Ford Ranchero was the biggest piece of JUNK ever built!!

Scruffy, it had to have been next to the biggest because my brand new 1966 Ford Fairlane 500 sedan had to have been first (the only lemon I ever got). It would have made a Yugo seem like a luxury car. And I didn't buy another Ford product for 25 years./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif And now both our car and pickup are Fords./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Bird

scruffy · Oct 28, 2000

Bird, that 71 WAS the biggest JUNK ever built new! I kept it until the day the warrenty ran out and sold it (12 months). At that time, it had been in for 73 warrenty repairs to include all drive train replacements, and most other mechanical items. In the following 6 months, 3 more people bought it, and got rid of it...last time I saw it was sitting alongside the highway between Auston and San Antonio broke down again. Never saw it after that. I STILL haven't bought another ford product.

P.S. - I bought a new 72 Chevy 1/2 ton to replace the ford, drove it 23 years, and sold it for $300 more than I paid for it new! Hard to outdo that one. This Dodge has been good, but I'm afraid the oil problem has shortened its life span.

Edited by scruffy on 10/28/00 09:44 PM.

Bird · Oct 28, 2000

Well, scruffy, I'll concede that it may have been a tie./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif The owner of Miracle Ford in Dallas used to loan me his personal car while mine was in the shop. I kept my Ford two years and 24000 miles, the dash board came loose, it had a valve job, transmission overhaul, carb. overhaul and replacement, electrical wiring all replaced, water pump disintegrated, heater and air-conditioning replaced, and many, many more things, and the worst part was that they never got it to running right. But I got that V-8 running on 6 cylinders one day and traded it for a new Plymouth Roadrunner. A week later I saw that Ford sitting on the City Hall parking lot, the attendant told me a lady in the City Attorney's Office had just bought it, so I went by and gave her another set of keys I had. She asked whether I'd had any trouble with the transmission, I told her it had been overhauled, and she said her husband was a mechanic and thought he could fix it. I thought he'd better be but didn't say it./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

Bird

scruffy · Oct 28, 2000

Bird, that 71 was in the shop for repairs with 12 miles on it, drove from dealer to DMV, and a door handle fell off one door, and exterior chrome strip on the other. Next day I left for Colorado, bottom resevoir blew off the radiator in eastern Oregon, engine blew a rod in Buffalo Wyoming, carb had to be replaced in Denver (it was found to be a REBUILT carb that was on it), altenator in Colo. Springs, pwr steering pump also, which was a REBUILT GM pwr steering pump. Axle froze up in rear housing, had to be machined out. All brake drums got out of round at the same time, padded dash fell off, window fell down in door, all instruments in dash quit working, master cylinder went out when stopping for a red light, (pinto in front didn't fair to well), trans went out - replaced...I can't remember all the rest, but it was a bunch!!!

Bird · Oct 28, 2000

OK, scruffy, you win!/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif They must have both gone down the same assembly line at 60 mph on a Friday afternoon./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Bird

scruffy · Oct 28, 2000

Bird, FORD's official excuse was the car was one of the first off the assembly line on the first monday after a union strike. I guess that explained the beer can and chrome strip that rattled inside the inspection well in the bed. Believe me, I was so irritated that I have NEVER bought anything that said Ford on it again.

hayden · Oct 30, 2000

Glenn,

You're certainly right that the answer is in the dealership agreement, and what without seeing that we don't REALLY know.

However, put yourself in Kubota's shoes, or any other manufacturer who sells through dealers in a similar manner. Would you ever have a delership agreement that doesn't require the dealer to deliver on your obligations to your customers? After all, that's a big piece of what the dealer is there for (aside from selling for you). It just wouldn't make any business sense. This is why I'd be willing the bet a nickle (or maybe a coffee cup) that servicing any warranty claims is manditory for all dealers.

Anyway, I'd love to hear what you find from Kubota, if they even tell you. I did look at my warranty and it says problems will be resolved by me taking the tractor to any authorized Kubota Dealer. Is doesn't specifically say that they must then fix the problem.