I have a Kioti CK20HST with about 225 hours in 16 months. I pretty much love (or loved) the tractor. I also have a John Deere 4400 with about 800 hours on it. Great tractor as well. Not a tractor to tractor comparison, but a brand to brand. This is the focus of my story.
The problem with me started on the Saturday before Memorial Day. I was prepping a lawn for seeding by pulling a TR3 rake with my CK20HST. I stopped to talk to my partner and when I pushed the treadle peddle, I heard a grinding noise and the tractor would not move. After I checked all the levers, I determined that I had a serious problem. Using the FEL I got it loaded on our trailer. I have a dealer about a mile from my house. I did not buy the tractor from him because he was about 2K higher than the dealer that I bought my tractor from, who is about 400 miles from my house (we ended up buying 4 CK20's and a CK30). We also gave the local dealer 2 chances at this sale. One to give us a price and one to match our price. He would not do it. I called the dealer from whom I bought the tractor. There was no answer at the shop but I got the answering machine. Believe it or not, they gave their mobile number on the answering machine. I called the mobile number and got no answer but left a message. Shortly thereafter, my dealer called back and it was after 5 on the Saturday before Mem. Day! He was genuinely concerned about the problem. We determined that it was a pretty serious problem and we would have to wait until Tuesday. The tractor was still in warranty.
Tuesday arrives, I call the local dealer. Number one, I do not think that they have sold a Kioti out of this location, much less worked on one. They have multiple locations in our state. I will not name the dealer here, but use any zip code in the Kioti dealer locator starting with a 5 and you will be able to figure it out. The guy on the phone says that their shop will be busy that week and the first time they could get it in would be the next week. I was a little disappointed but I called my dealer back. I want everyone to know that my dealer is James Little at Little Tractor in Metropolis IL. James and I talked and he said that was pretty much standard for the course, and I would have to deal with it.
The local dealer then calls back and says that they will not warranty a tractor that they did not sell. This is where the problem starts. I do not care where you buy a John Deere tractor, in my experience, you call the local dealer and they will do the warranty work. Same is true for GMC, Ford, etc. I thought I read on TBN that this problem was handled. I called James. James says that he has had some trouble with this dealership and that he would work on it. I get off of the phone and I call Kioti. I get a very nice woman on the phone. We talk and she says she will work on it. We are now pushing mid-morning, my tractor is sitting and I have no answers. Instead of making me money, it is costing me. Once again, from local experience with John Deere, one call and all is handled. James calls back. The local dealer will work on the tractor, but will charge me for any work out of warranty. At this point I decide that I do not want them to work on the tractor. I envision loose bolts, filings in tranny, etc, from being forced to work on my tractor. May not have happened, but what would you think in a situation when you were forcing someone to work on your equipment? Since they were planning on sending me a bill for something anyway, I asked if I could have the John Deere dealer work on it and just send the bill to James. The answer of course was no, because they were not a Kioti dealership. My question was "if a dealer that is supposed to be a Kioti dealership will not work on Kioti warranty, are they a Kioti dealership?". I somehow got back with Kioti corporate, I cannot remember if they called me or I called them. The nice lady on the phone now was saying she thought that James should pick up the tractor and haul it to another dealership. What name is on the tractor, Kioti or James Little tractor? That tractor should be backed up by Kioti, not trying to push the problem on James. I was also asked from Kioti corporate if my tractor was a "internet purchase". Does that make a difference on warranty? I lost it. I was furious at this point. I had gotten the run around from everyone at Kioti but James, the tractor was still sitting and I had no answers.
The situation was pretty grave at this point. All members of my family that owned a Kioti were ready to roll out of Kioti and into another brand - I think you can probably guess which one.
One man stepped up to the plate-James Little. I am not going to go into detail at this point, because what was done was so above and beyond the norm that I do not want everyone on TBN thinking they will get that level of service. I will just say this, James took control of the situation every step of the way. One heck of a dealer, but if I were moving as much inventory as he is and not getting the backing, I would have a serious talk with Kioti.
Here are the points I want to convey. I hope that Kioti is reading this. If you check my previous posts you will see that I was a Kioti supporter. I am worried about a tractor that blows a tranny after only 200 hours. I baby my tractor more than I abuse it. I also know that sometimes stuff breaks. It is what happens afterwards that makes the difference. I know that Kioti has made statements about warranty, but it evidently is not hitting the country.
Poor dealers will hurt the company. If it were up to the local dealer, there would be no Kioti tractors in our area. There are at least 5 in our area now, because of James. If it were left up to the local dealer those 5 would be on competetive lots right now. Once again, they are not on competitive lots because of James Little.
Kioti CK20 or John Deere 4100?
I would suggest a couple or things. Call James Little or a dealer of quality such as James - there have been numerous ones mentioned on this site. James moves inventory, I know that it is tough for others to compete with his price. In this case, he has backed that price up with service. In the case of my local dealer, they back the service up with price, as it would have cost me 2K to get warranty work.
Next call Kioti and find out if they truly have a warranty nationwide or only with certain dealers.
