I look forward to seeing if they get a dealer down in this part of the country because if they do as you say, they will get some business from some of these large farmers and possibly some from us small ones.
I'm very interested in a Fendt 200 Vario, despite the closest dealer being about 5-6 hrs away. For the right machine, and with the right dealer and company behind it, I would take the risk.
But so far my experience hasn't been very good. I haven't given up, but the hurdles are getting higher, not lower.
Re the whole "we will bring you a loaner tractor", I frankly don't believe. I have seen this sort of thing promised by other vendors, and they can never fulfill the promise, and there is no recourse of they don't. There are only 2 new Fendt Vario 200s for sale in the country today, with the closest in MO. That's not going to be on site in the promised time. I doubt the dealer could even get on site in 48 hrs. Most seem to be available within a week or two. So I place pretty much zero value on that promise.
I'm early in my evaluation of the 200 Vario, and I want an operators manual so I can read up on how the thing actually works and what it can actually do. I don't want a brochure with pictures of happy, attractive people. I want to know what each and every button, knob, and lever does, what every option is, every screen and menu, etc. I want to know what I'm getting for $200k list price. Yes, thats what the list price is. In europe they appear to be more like $125k which would be in line with a fully optioned Deere 5 series.
Anyway, back to the manual. It's not listed on the Agco technical literature web site, and even if it were, I'd have to buy it. I have asked both Fendt and the closest dealer, and they can't get one either. It's been two weeks and nobody can put their hands on an operator manual, let alone get one to me. I'd even be open to paying for it, but frankly Fendt should provide it as a cost of sales on a $200k machine. They were able to convert what appears to be an dealer online maintenance manual into a PDF and sent that to me. It covers basic maintenance which is part of what I am looking for. But there is no table of contents with links or page numbers, no index, just a stream of conscieness document that you would have to search for anything and everything. I'm sure (hopeful) that the real manual is better.
I contrast this with Deere, who from what I have seen is the Gold Standard for this. There are probably between 100 and 200 installation or operation manuals available online for download for the Deere 5M series. They start with the tractors which is a 1,000 page manual. I can also get the info on every option, kit, etc. Then there are the service manuals which are also available online, though you need to pay for them. But I found the 6M service manuals as a package in PDF for about $80. It's 10,000 freakin pages. When people say you can't get repair info from Deere, I honestly don't understand what they are talking about. I can even get a subscription for Service Advisor, though it's pretty pricey. And most calibrations and diagnostics can be done through the tractor console anyway.
So back to Fendt, I actually think the way they are approaching the US market is good. Pick an area, be really good there, build a reputation, then repeat in another area. Based on HayGuy's feedback, they are doing this in his area, and it's working because now I want to know more coming from a different area. But so far I'm just not getting any of what I'm looking for. I'll go fly half way across the country to test drive one. I've done that several times looking at Deere tractors. But only after I have read through the manual and feel like I know what the tractor can do, and that it will fit my needs.
