Rustyiron
Super Member
I imagine your tractor is as big a "pita" to your dealer as it is to you. Hopefully your getting closer to talking with a Mahindra rep.. They need to do there part in your & the dealers nightmare.
Backhoe Mahindra owners. Little help here please.
- Thread starter Gasifier
- Start date
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Teachu2
Platinum Member
I went shopping for my first new tractor a couple of years ago. Looked at Mahindra, Case, Kubota, John Deere, and Kioti.
The Mahindra dealer had the best bang for the buck, but no parts or service at the "dealership". He was really a finance company that sold trailers, and had added Mahindra tractors to expand his financing opportunities. He used a mobile mechanic for service.
The Case dealer was a Ag dealer, with one small tractor that met my needs. Nice, two-year-old machine with 86 hours of "demo" time, still priced at new price. He recommended the Kioti brand and the local dealer highly.
The LS dealer was a lot with a banner on the fence and a few tractors. Looked like they were waiting for the trucks to come repo their inventory. No parts or service.
The Kubota dealer was OK, just didn't have what I wanted and was lots higher priced. Their "affordable" tractors were lightweight.
The Deere dealer here is the largest dealer in the area, and is geared to big ag sales. They had plenty of small tractors, but their CUT salesman didn't know the product, the competitor's product, or the pricing on the tractor he was trying to sell me. He took my name and number, but didn't call me. Prices on new were comparable to Kubota.
The Kioti dealer is a well established local family-owned business with nearly a century of history. The grandson of the founder was my salesman. He helped me narrow it down to two models, then offered to bring them both to my property and let me demo them for the weekend - no strings attached. Full service and parts departments, factory-trained mechanics, great reputation, and about 30% less money for a tractor of comparable power and considerably more weight. They did a dealer trade to get me a brand new unit in the model I wanted, and the salesman personally delivered it to my property. The dealer they got it from had missed a couple little things on their initial assembly (like the nut that retains the steering wheel on the column) and I called the salesman on Sunday evening. They had a service tech at my place Monday morning, and he did a complete redo of the setup to make sure they didn't miss anything. After my 50-hour service, I had a very minor hydraulic leak. One morning, it had become much worse, so I loaded it up and hauled it to the dealer. The service manager came out and looked at it, ran back in the shop for some brake cleaner and a wrench, and had me fixed up in less than five minutes. Apologized for the trouble, and sent me on my way.
The Mahindra dealer had the best bang for the buck, but no parts or service at the "dealership". He was really a finance company that sold trailers, and had added Mahindra tractors to expand his financing opportunities. He used a mobile mechanic for service.
The Case dealer was a Ag dealer, with one small tractor that met my needs. Nice, two-year-old machine with 86 hours of "demo" time, still priced at new price. He recommended the Kioti brand and the local dealer highly.
The LS dealer was a lot with a banner on the fence and a few tractors. Looked like they were waiting for the trucks to come repo their inventory. No parts or service.
The Kubota dealer was OK, just didn't have what I wanted and was lots higher priced. Their "affordable" tractors were lightweight.
The Deere dealer here is the largest dealer in the area, and is geared to big ag sales. They had plenty of small tractors, but their CUT salesman didn't know the product, the competitor's product, or the pricing on the tractor he was trying to sell me. He took my name and number, but didn't call me. Prices on new were comparable to Kubota.
The Kioti dealer is a well established local family-owned business with nearly a century of history. The grandson of the founder was my salesman. He helped me narrow it down to two models, then offered to bring them both to my property and let me demo them for the weekend - no strings attached. Full service and parts departments, factory-trained mechanics, great reputation, and about 30% less money for a tractor of comparable power and considerably more weight. They did a dealer trade to get me a brand new unit in the model I wanted, and the salesman personally delivered it to my property. The dealer they got it from had missed a couple little things on their initial assembly (like the nut that retains the steering wheel on the column) and I called the salesman on Sunday evening. They had a service tech at my place Monday morning, and he did a complete redo of the setup to make sure they didn't miss anything. After my 50-hour service, I had a very minor hydraulic leak. One morning, it had become much worse, so I loaded it up and hauled it to the dealer. The service manager came out and looked at it, ran back in the shop for some brake cleaner and a wrench, and had me fixed up in less than five minutes. Apologized for the trouble, and sent me on my way.
OP
Gasifier
Gold Member
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2012
- Messages
- 484
- Location
- St. Lawrence River Valley, N.Y.
- Tractor
- 2014 KUBOTA L45 T.L.B. SERIES W/3-PT
I received a further update from Mahindra person in Texas. After another complaint I sent to them.
Here is what they said:
The area service manager will be at the dealer on Wednesday 11/22/2017 to inspect your tractor. He is currently attending school in Houston this week and will not return to his area until Monday.
Thanks for your understanding.
Here is what they said:
The area service manager will be at the dealer on Wednesday 11/22/2017 to inspect your tractor. He is currently attending school in Houston this week and will not return to his area until Monday.
Thanks for your understanding.
Did google search for Yanmar Reger problems. Other manufacturers come up not Yanmar. But like I said. Mahindra has a lot of issues the most of the others have a few issues. Deere and Kubota sell a lot more than Mahindra and have way less problems.
jb1390
Gold Member
Maybe. Most of us here don't have access to actual data to see what sort of problems Mahindra or other brands have or don't have on a regular basis. It's all anecdotal. I know I've read "lemon" threads of every color. Though I will say that the customer support from Mahindra should be way better during these issues - and I think if it were, you wouldn't see as many examples of this type of thread.
jb1390
Gold Member
Before the rep arrives, I would do a few things. First, obtain a copy of all the service records the dealership has on your machine. Ensure that those records accurately capture the issues that have arisen. Pay special attention to the issues that they have attempted to fix with no solution.
Mahindra is not required to cover downtime, a loaner tractor, transport, or frustration expenses. However, they are required to fix issues (within a reasonable timeframe) that arise due to manufacturer defect during the warranty period. The magnuson-moss warranty act doesn't contain any explicit number of repair attempts before a refund, but from what I know a court will tend to follow automobile standards - which require a full refund after 3 repair attempts for the same issue. Unrelated problems do not count. You can have multiple unrelated issues with no requirement for a buyback.
Second I would clarify what exactly you would like from Mahindra. Do you want a buyback? Do you want a new Mahindra machine, either same or different model? Do you want a rebate on additional equipment? Do you want a loaner to be provided during repair periods? When I went through the process I realized that the machine was what I wanted and I probably wouldn't be happier in another color even if it was more reliable - due to the weight and physical size of the 3550. That may not be true for you. Also, my issues were early in the design cycle, and the rep and I agreed that even a brand new machine would have the same problems. Again, that may not be true for you. A buyback will probably be tough to negotiate. From what I have read of your situation/requirements, I would consider asking for them to provide an equal or larger machine in the event warranty work is required, and maybe a discount on an implement if you would be happy with that solution.
Once I met with the rep things improved in my situation. I ended up prototyping the restrictor design and provided Mahindra a write-up on how it worked. That's something I wasn't willing to do until the rep became involved since I did not want them to void warranty. The other major issue I was facing was limp mode - between the dealer and mahindra they sent someone out to reset that PRV count until they were able to reflash the firmware. For me, that solved the down time/transport time and the solutions caused my tractor to function properly for the last couple years.
I would still choose a 3550 if I had to do it again, but I don't think it's the perfect machine/brand for everyone.
Rustyiron
Super Member
That's a very thoughtful post:thumbsup:
It seem's to be a trend in everything these day's. Design, build, sell, then let the consumer do their testing.
It seem's to be a trend in everything these day's. Design, build, sell, then let the consumer do their testing.
OP
Gasifier
Gold Member
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2012
- Messages
- 484
- Location
- St. Lawrence River Valley, N.Y.
- Tractor
- 2014 KUBOTA L45 T.L.B. SERIES W/3-PT
First. Thank you for your ideas. I appreciate it.
Second. How do I obtain a copy of all the service records when they apparently don’t have them? I told the mechanic when he returned my tractor after fixing the transmission that I wanted a copy of everything that has been worked on. He said no problem I can pull that out of the Mahindra warranty data base, and mail them to you. I never got them.
Then, when talking with Mahindra corporate in Texas on the phone the lady told me that all they could see were two things that have been worked on. I said, “What? They have worked on my tractor at least six times. When her boss called and spoke to the dealer about all my problems the dealer apparently told him that his warranty person did not have them all in yet.
tkevan
Gold Member
Yanmar issues may be hidden as Deere issues for many as the small Deere classes use Yanmar engines.
BTW. Kubota had enough issues originally to do a recall on the units with the Reformer regeneration system.
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Maybe I’m not search correctly but I can’t find any for John Deere either. Yes I know Kubota had a few issues at first, but they have appeared to have fixed it. I am not saying that any specific manufacturer has never had an issue either. The Tier IV systems are complex. Even the simple design that Mahindra uses is complex compared to a tier II engine. At some point all makes will have issues DPF’s will be full and need to be cleaned or replaced and DOC’s will fail too, just like catalytic converters fail on gas engines. Like I have said before only TIME will tell which system is better. But by then we will probably all have electric tractors