Kubota L3430 GST Hydraulics

[bbwithdrawls]

Ok folks , I have attached the service bulletin here that apples here , I was able to call another dealer and he was nice enough to look it up and fax it to me , I took their name off because I didn't want one dealer calling another

I asked why I was never notified as I have 3 large kubota purchases and he stated that ONLY when you take your tractor in to be serviced do they look these up , you don't get notified by mail on any of it , well looks like someone missed it because my tractor has been in 3 times to the dealer since I bought it and once to purchase and install the backhoe

We'll see what happens , stay tuned

 

[moship]

Bbwithdrawls,

Thanks for posting the instructions.

I can understand Kubota's stance of not offering this fix unless failure occurs, if and only if they are going to fix at no cost to the owner regardless of the tractor age. They are weighing the cost of a few failures versus the cost of a total recall. The fact that you have to do all this research makes me a little suspicious.

On the other hand if Kubota is going to hide behind the warranty period and expect the customer to cover all costs afterwards for a known design defect it seems like a consumer advocacy group needs to be consulted.

I hope this works out for you and thanks for keeping everyone informed of the progress. I'm thinking there are other owners like myself that are a bit nervous over this.

Regards.

 

[bbwithdrawls]

I think your right it boils down to money , offer help only if and when a customer brings it up,it just make me wonder how many did this and paid for it and no one knew or mentioned it was a problem ??if it wasn't for this forum I wouldn't have found it , someone else experienced this and I believe wound up paying 1500.00 for the repair I spoke to another dealer yesterday about why I never got notified about it and he said they don't do that , whats supposed to happen is when you bring your tractor in to be serviced they look up all bulletins on it , I have issues with that also as mine has been in no less than 3 times since I owned once to mount the backhoe and subframe ,

I have purchased 3 large items from kubota , a tractor , a ZD323 and a backhoe , not to mention several attachments ,after this is resolved I think I will show up at the dealer armed with me serial #'s and have them print out all bulletins pertaining to this , makes me wonder what else is out there

 

[bbwithdrawls]

****update *****

spoke to the service manager yesterday regarding this whole situation , first my PTO pump itself is OK , its the bearings and shaft to the pump that failed, guess I got lucky there ,exactly as the service bulletin said it would

Service manager stated that the service rep had been by and stated that Kubota would buy the parts and I had to pay for the labor , when I asked how much they told me 350.00 dollars , while I do appreciate the gesture I told him I was not satisfied and I wanted to speak to the rep , he couldn't or wouldn't give out name or number , I instructed to have the Rep call me , its not the money at all but the PRINCIPLE at this point , they chose not to notify owners it was a problem and gamble that it wouldn't happen , I feel like they need to take care of this , I don't care how many ways you explain it or if my tractor is 7 years old with 320 hours on it there is no way they can justify that it is a normal occurrence , they know /knew it was and issue now they need to take care of it , I go back to what i said earlier , if you cant use the backhoe and tractor on a slight hill without burning up the bearings they should paint it bright pink and sell it right next to the bright green one

I hadn't heard from the rep yet but if thats the stance they are taking i wont be satisfied

 

[David_Kb7uns]

This is why you have to say KUBOTA JAPANESE ENGINEERING AND SUPPORT SUCKS.

Why are they so affraid to admit their faults? If you have a different opinion and think differently then you need to explain why they bury this issue and do not tell people about it.

Holder kit is in at dealer now and will be less then $250 and the instructions are saying 2 hours time for install and will be installing during the 400 hour service. It is cheaper to buy kit but it will cost Kubota dearly in the public relations realm around here.

For me it will be cheaper to buy kit for $250 and do work then to pay to have a immovable tractor taken 45 miles to shop and pay at shop rates for the pickup and time for repair and return. Usually the hydraulic pump drive shaft shears off when this happens(no hydraulics,GST or steering) and I do not think you can get just the shaft as it is part of the pump assembly and that is almost $850.

David Kb7uns

 

[MHarryE]

Nobody is perfect - every company will build things that have problems. The companies that survive are the ones that take care of their customers. The customer shouldn't feel the pain when the manufacturer screws up. I still have a copy of the CEO of Deere talking to employees about the cost of poor quality i.e. cost to keep customers who might look elsewhere after bad product experience. It's hard to understand a fix after failure service letter when the machine is working within what one would consider normal operating conditions. They describe in the bulletin a normal operating condition that can result in the failure. The only justification I can see for them not covering you 100% is the age of your tractor. Still they should have some kind of budget for customer good will, and you sure fit in this category. Talking about your problem here and telling all of us how you are being treated has cost them a lot more than if they would have taken care of the problem promptly and properly.

 

[bbwithdrawls]

This is why you have to say KUBOTA JAPANESE ENGINEERING AND SUPPORT SUCKS.

For me it will be cheaper to buy kit for $250 and do work then to pay to have a immovable tractor taken 45 miles to shop and pay at shop rates for the pickup and time for repair and return.

David Kb7uns

I guess the point here is I would have loved to have that choice , yes i had to have them come get it , they tell me my pump wasn't damaged but I'm already wondering how long its going to last after this

 

[bbwithdrawls]

Talking about your problem here and telling all of us how you are being treated has cost them a lot more than if they would have taken care of the problem promptly and properly.

well I did it for several reasons , mainly to let others know and not find out like I did or the other guy that pasted originally, I think it said it cost him 1500 bucks,

I'm hoping the rep will call tomorrow so we can have a intelligent conversation about it, I 'm also hoping they read these forums , I know several dealers do,

 

[bbwithdrawls]

*******Update for All **********

called the dealer again and asked for the reps phone # , couldn't give it to me but he promised to call and have him call me , 10 minutes later phone rang ( caller id was anonymous) he identified himself as the kubota rep for my area Terry Allen , he listened and said he understood my position and my concerns but all he was allowed to do was what kubota had outlined ( kubota pay for parts and customer pay for labor ) I told him I disagreed and wanted to talk to someone above him , he gave me his Boss's name Mr Richard Brown 770 995 8855 ext 2900 , Ive left him 2 messages with no responses, so now I'm calling main office and starting from the top and trying to get a response

so far I have been polite , calm and understanding , its been almost 2 weeks now and I have a ditch uncovered in my front and side yard and tractor still in the shop , I'm about ready to sic the wife on them and she's spitting fire anyway over the yard , hopefully one of you are a dealer or maybe even a rep , someone needs to call me and listen , its this little thing called customer service ,it comes with practice and training , I have purchased 40,000 dollars of kubota equipment , if they want to continue this business relationship they should try a little customer service , if not the customer can and will go elsewhere ,but not before I exercise my first amendment right and plaster it all over these forums , hopefully most of you are kubota customers and are forewarned about this particular issue

 

[Texas Fella]

Just some thoughts from the mess I call a mind:

1. Some one asked the question simular to "why does Kubota not let people know about this, my dealer did not even know?" All the dealers knew about this issue. Dealers are e-mailed about every bulletin that comes out. If they do not know, it is because they are either new (hired on at the dealership after the bulletin release) and have not run into this, forgot about it, or do not read their bulletins.

2. Kubota should pay the whole bill or else:
This may be true, however, before you go GREEN (or any other color), let me tell you this. I have worked with both Deere and Kubota. In reality, Deere does not care. My Kubota rep had helped me out more (on average, both in # of customer and $s) in a givein 6 month time frame than the JD rep did in 2 years. And the JD people sell larger equipment that cost alot more than Kubotas (read this as higher repair bills)! My JD rep would have laughed at me and told me to tell the customer to call the 800 # if I had asked for any help on a 7 year old tractor, even with a known issue. Any manufacturer that offers to assit on a 7 year old unit is trying to do right by the customer. I understand you do not feel that it is enough, and I am not even saying that it is, I am just saying they are trying. I appreciate the fact that you are being calm and respectful, and (as a person who deals with angree customers) I think you for that on behalf of all service people. But please keep in mind that the rep has a job to do, and we are talking about a 7 year old tractor.

3. Left 2 messages and have not heard back:
Trust me, you call into talk to the SRs boss, it takes a while to hear back from them, they are not ignoring you. Even as a dealer, it takes a long time to hear back from the regional offices. The people in there only handle the "hard" problems (the easy stuff is handled by the SR), and I am sure they have plenty of them. Please give them time, besides, corp office is only gonna take your info and send it right back to the regional office to be handled. Never know one of the Kubota staff to ignore a customer.