Kioti Isn't Worth the Risk

[viking65]

Re: Kioti Isn\'t Worth the Risk

C'mon Bob, don't you know by now you can't say a word about Kioti unless you are a raving, Kioti fanatic and own a fleet of them.

I still think buying a Kioti is a significant risk, especially in my area. Kioti is not growing at least as far as the number of dealers that handle the brand is concerned. Kioti is shrinking in the number of dealers that handle them. The only Kioti I have ever seen, not at the only dealer in the area that handles them, is a 1914 that was traded for a new MF. That was months ago and there it still sits at the MF dealer with grass growing quite tall all around it. I wonder if it will even start /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Why buy the Kioti when they are costing close to, and in some cases more than a big three brand tractor. Kioti builds a great product but dealer representation in my area is poor. Who knows how long he will keep the Kioti brand. The two other Kioti dealers in the area have dropped the brand. And these are established dealers that dropped Kioti, not dealers that operated out of a pole barn in the back yard.

 

[AutoUnionTypeC]

Re: Kioti Isn\'t Worth the Risk

You're killing me Viking.

I have to give you credit though. You are correct.........the only hope an opinion of yours has to gain any traction in this section of the forum, is to attach it to Surka’s coattail. The fact of the matter is there is a big difference between the way Bob conducts himself and the way you have.
J

 

[Donnyj]

Re: Kioti Isn\'t Worth the Risk

For a tractor company that is not worth the risk years ago and dealers are dropping the brand, it sure seems like Kioti is always under the microscope here. None of the other minor tractor companies take so much heat. Thats good. Big 3 keep looking over your shoulder, there is another orange tractor coming to be a player. Seems each and evey year it becomes less and less of a risk to buy a Kioti. I wonder if that is how Kubota started...........hmm. Of course Kubota had no competition back then. Just orange and great quality. Similiar to Kioti now.

 

[To20Chris]

Re: Kioti Isn\'t Worth the Risk

This old thread makes me laugh! There are people on this board from many walks of life, from long time farmers who may have brand preferences from way back, to first time buyers who've only heard a few brand names. IMHO, it is the latter group who have driven the CUT boom in the last few years. Some are buying much bigger and more expensive machines than they really need to mow their lawns, and aren't really all that comfortable with it. These purchases are mostly about image, so buying an off-brand would be pointless anyway.

When you make a big, unnecessary purchase that you're not really comfortable with, and by pulling equity out of your home to do it, you get very concerned with things like resale.

This will end soon, just like the sales of oversized and overpriced SUVs, as interest rates rise and the over-inflated property values drop. There will likely soon be lots of used Kubotas out there, as well as some real good deals on Yukons and Expeditions.

 

[DrewL]

Re: Kioti Isn\'t Worth the Risk

yup, three years old.............my bad and more to the point. using the logic of recommending a tractor one day and not the other because of a dealer can be said about any brand. I sidestepped 4 Kioti dealers FAR closer to me because of attitude and price (mostly attitude). If a dealer can not support a buyer regardless of manufacturer I'd say that makes it an "off brand"

 

[Dargo]

Re: Kioti Isn\'t Worth the Risk

I think you make plenty of sense on this dead thread. Really, what's the point? Last year when I was looking to buy a tractor, I had to look up my "local" dealer on Kioti's website because the only ones I knew of went out of business. The only reason I even looked up Kioti and considered them was because a few guys on here seemed pretty intelligent and they owned them and were happy with them.

I went to the only "local" (well over an hour away) Kioti dealer. They didn't care to talk to me, quoted me full list plus, and all their new tractors were dirty and old looking. I honestly wasn't impressed. I was quoted a similar price for a JD, and a lower price for Kubota. Gees, don't tell, but I acted like most anyone else; I bought on dealer reputation, location, brand recognition (for re-sale, since I trade fairly often), and price.

At no point in that equation did I say that Kioti's were junk. However, since then a certain few Kioti owners have really turned me off about owning a Kioti. They don't seem satisfied enough with their own purchase to simply tout that their tractor has served them well and was a great buy. They insist on stating that their tractor is far superior to anything else on 4 wheels and insist on running down the big three tractors.

Well, I have news for them, if what they said was true, nobody would buy from a large dealer with a large inventory, a large service department, and a tractor that has great national name recognition. And that sounds like the ravings of someone who is hiding something, or doesn't know what they are talking about.

It's true that I've never (even once) seen a Kioti anywhere around here other than a few in that dealer's lot. What does that mean? I dunno, but I figure that since the dealer around here is trying to get full list, has dirty tractors, and not a very good reputation, those facts have to have something to do with it. As I said in another post, since that is my local atmosphere, I'll just wait. With my current conditions, I think it would be foolish not to.

I agree that Kioti needs to expand their dealer base as well as cull some bad apples from their crowd. Sorry, but I think the same can be said for some of the wild statements made from a select few Kioti backers here. For someone to state that Kubota lacks name recognition makes me think that they have a screw loose or a burr stuck in a certain area that needs to be removed. Anyone who has looked at a CUT or SCUT quickly realizes that Kubota (for good or bad) is probably the largest player in that field. To imply that Kioti is just as widely recognized...? Well, that just doesn't sound like it's coming from someone from which I'd want to take any advice.

I see no point in this dead thread being brought back up. I think that if you have a Kioti dealer you can count on, Kioti is just as much worth the "risk", as it was a year ago, or will be 10 years from now. There is no doubt in my mind that some of the minor brands will go away in the next 10 years, but I seriously doubt that Kioti will be one of them. How many "smaller" companies actually build their own engines, make their own tractors etc.? I believe Kioti is safe, but some of the wild accusations from a few of the Kioti people on here sure will make new readers wonder about them in the long run.

 

[jpr62902]

Re: Kioti Isn\'t Worth the Risk

This is my reply to this thread in general. I didn't see anything wrong with Bob's comments. In fact, they're exactly the reason I didn't buy Kioti -- the dealer network wasn't that good in my area (SW Ohio) and they weren't competitively priced with Kubota and JD, which dominate the market here.

Does that mean I think Kioti is a bad brand? Of course not. It just means it wasn't the best brand FOR ME. Clearly, Kioti makes a good machine -- their owners on TBN are obviously infinitely pleased with their Kiotis. Mr. Skurka said nothing that would imply anything otherwise. Lighten up. Every brand has strengths and weaknesses, and remember, Bob did recommend Kioti to one TBN'er since he had a good dealer network in the area. Just because someone recommends a brand different than yours doesn't mean you should be insulted by it.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Re: Kioti Isn\'t Worth the Risk

<font color="red"> using the logic of recommending a tractor one day and not the other because of a dealer can be said about any brand. </font>


DrewL: ABSOLUTELY! I love the John Deere tractors. In fact the JD dealership is closest to my house. I have a JD lawnmower and a JD weedwacker. But I won't even take them to this particular dealership for repair work. They, at least in my opinion, need to go to a course on how to gracefully deal with customers. In my area, I would never recommend anyone to buy a JD from that dealership, yet they have some of the most well thought out and ergonomically designed control layouts of any machine I have ever seen!

I most of the people who responded to my post responding to your post understood that I was not knocking the brand. I believe Kioti is on the right track. In many areas it is a top tier machine in terms of name recognition. In some areas it is not. And the one thing I have consistently stated about the brand is that they have some issues with their dealers. And they do have some great dealers . . . Jon DePratt is an excellent example of one of those.


To20Chris: I think you are pretty close to accurate too. But your timing may be off a bit? There are a lot more baby boomers who are entering their "status" tractor buying years so we probably will have a few more years to wait before they start selling. But when they do, I think the entire tractor market is in for some turmoil. Right now there is a lot more growth AROUND the cities, and many cities are shrinking in population, while this continues, I think all the brands will be in pretty good shape and it will be important to build strong dealers & customer bases during this period. All that said, I think gas prices will continue to hurt the sales of Expeditions & Hummer H1 Alpha and see those being sold off long before the CUT market slows down.


Dargo: So much of what you said is so accurate that it really should be considered obvious, but for some reason, it is considered an insult.

 

[DrewL]

Re: Kioti Isn\'t Worth the Risk

need to go to a course on how to gracefully deal with customers.

It was funny at the time but not so funny now but the JD consumer products dealer I worked for years ago fit this example to a T. The owner would yell, swear and scream at anyone who entered the building including unsuspecting equipment delivery drivers. It got to the point that it was a game to see how bad he could insult the customer. Why did people continue to support his business? Because he had a crackerjack service department a great product line with competative pricing. His customer base became familiar with his rants so his behaivor was taken with a grain of salt. He chased plenty of customers away but he figured he didn't want them as customers if they didn't want him. Did that make the JD line an "off brand" ? To some it sure did. The customers who wouldn't put up with the owner bought any other brand.

dead thread? maybe................but it is sure getting plenty of responses /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[To20Chris]

Re: Kioti Isn\'t Worth the Risk

Bob - well, the timing is really the big question! I was not so much speaking about the baby boomers selling off, but the fella who wakes up one day to find his house is worth less than he owes, his job is shaky, and it costs $100 to fill his SUV - it won't take long to decide that the CUT needs to be converted back to cash. Of course at that point it will be competing with all the other units, including those the landscapers need to unload (when the folks who decided to pay for landscaping rather than buy a CUT stop writing checks). This will likely drive down the resale value of all brands. I suspect it will be soon, but predicting such things is always risky.

My basic premise is that a CUT is a great tool for many things, but it's a lousey investment tool. The cost justifications need to be based on what it can do, or simply because you want and can afford one.

Interestingly, my Korean tractor cost almost twice what my Korean car did. The car, at 5yrs, is worth nothing financially, but it continues to perform flawlessly, is paid off, and the drivetrain will be under warrenty for another 5yrs. If I tried to trade it in I'd loose my a$$, but I can reasonably expect to drive it for another 5yrs for only the cost of fuel and normal service items (which I will). So it is still valuable to ME, for the purpose I bought it for originally. The tactor will probably be better, in that the capabilites of a tractor will last far longer than that of a car. At the time there was a smaller, less capable tractor that I was looking at for the same price, but from a mfr that had a great resale reputation. If I had bought it, then in the long term I would have simply gotten less for for my money.