Newbie with dealer value questions

[Chipperman]

MIKED
In regard to dealers providing service for warranty and out of warranty work. First things first. Unlike the auto industry. It is not uncommon for dealers to loose money or just break even on warranty work. Their fore given the choice I do not believe you will see dealers stumbling over each other to take your warranty work. Customers who bought there equipment (tractor and attachments) their will undoubtedly get the best service and most attention. If they take your work (on a tractor bought elsewhere) during the busy season do not expect to get it back soon. Many times they will give their "own" customers priority. In addition if there is a grey area in regard to your warranty, if you are one of the "non regular" customers you can bet the dealer will rule in his direction. (Wouldn’t you). Pick up and delivery. With some dealers if you bought it from them you may get them to pick it up for warranty service at a reduced or no charge. I "non regular" customer will most likely pay top dollar. These are just a few of the things that should be considered. All in all it comes down to how much is "good honest service" worth to you. Unfortunately many people find out it was worth way more than they ever thought possible but it is now too late. Remember the old saying "you get what you pay for". You decide, maybe the savings is worth it to you and maybe it is not.
Good luck
Chipperman

 

[dancce]

Chipperman pointed out some excellent facts,that all should consider when purchasing.
As to Buster57's comment about buying the attachments elsewhere---this would only make sense if you don't feel you will need service support for them after the purchase.
Speaking as a former custom operator --not as a dealer--I relied heavily on local dealer support, especially for the attachments. The tractors were usually the least concern.
The first thing to break, fail, or accidentally get damaged is the attachment that is actually in contact with the job being done,and if you are relying on the equipment to make you money or to just save time, reliable local service and parts availability is worth a lot.
There is nothing more frustrating (and costly) than having thousands of dollars tied up in equipment just sitting idle when a job needs to be done and the only thing holding you up is a $20 part or even a several hundred dollar service call.

dancce

 

[Buster57]

Although I admit to being mechanically challenged, working on rotary mowers and rototillers are not exactly electrodynamic in terms of difficulty. If you are near machine shops or better yet have several farm supply businesses in your area then performing maintence and repairs on attachments is really not that big a deal.

If you are a professional farmer then you probably know how to perform a lot of the work yourself. Some of my neighbors have full time mechanics working for them.

I, for one, still can not justify the difference of $1190 delivered price for a First Choice RT10-66 versus $2000 and up for a Land Pride 2555 rototiller. I own the Land Pride rotary mower and the 66" rototiller. Getting to throughly know and understand your equipment, and being able to repair most of breakage I believe to be part of the game.