Oil Filter Confusion!

JonSpinosa · Oct 27, 2001

I went to my local Kubota dealer today to purchase some oil filters and decided to confront him on this issue of all the confusing and multiple Kubota oil filter part numbers.

This guy has worked as a Kubota parts man for many years, therefore I think his comment has some credibility. He told me that Kubota continually changes their part numbers to keep the 3rd party suppliers such as Wix, Baldwin, etc off guard so they are continaully playing catch-up, therefore allowing Kubota to keep their filter business. How do you guys like that!!!! I think this makes the most sense of all the opinions I have heard about this issue. It makes perfect sense that Kubota needs to secure their filter business, as I am sure it is very profitable for their company. This I think explains everything!!

ronjhall · Oct 27, 2001

Jon
The part numbers do change. That's one of the best reasons to buy your filters on the Internet. I found the prices at Tractorsmart are as cheap as going to NAPA and buying a non<font color=orange>Kubota</font color=orange> filter. Carver also has good prices. On current model tractors prices are much lower than they used to be.

DarinRay · Oct 27, 2001

Can't wait to hear everyone's opinions on this.. If it is true then my feelings are I will stop buying their filters and start buying wix or equivelant if it's just for that reason of keeping that part of their business secure because they rob you on parts anyway. Now if they are constantly improving the filters then thats a different story and will stand by them.

Darin

JATO_RaT · Oct 27, 2001

I have found the Kubota oil filters for a L4850 not only comparable in price to NAPA or WIX, less then Baldwin, but still the same part number since 1992. Rat...

msocko3 · Oct 28, 2001

Without a doubt the sale of parts and consumables to the fine folks that buy their equipment is where Kubota and most other equipment manufacturer make a profit. After all when you buy a tractor you spend the money once for the purchace, but you have to maintain it so it is like the gift that keeps on giving throughout the life of the product.

JJT · Oct 28, 2001

I just did the 200 hour maintance on my L3710 and checked the tractorsmart link below vs my dealer - my dealer was cheaper. My dealer always has them in stock and I get a chance to check out all the new toys when I go in. I have $20K+ invested in this tractor, I'm not going to grumble about $100/yr in filters. Call me a sucker, I still use Kubota's Super UDT also.

Wheeldog · Oct 28, 2001

When I bought the filters for my 50-hour service I found the prices at my dealer to be slightly higher than what I found on-line. Considering the shipping it was a wash, and I prefer to buy locally if the prices are even close, so I bought the parts at my dealer. I don't begrudge Kubota for making a profit on parts - it is probably the same story with the rest of the tractor manufacturers, car manufacturers, etc.

Rob

MikePA · Oct 28, 2001

Same as Gillette - almost give the razor away and make money on the blades.

I run into this all the time at work, people look just at the purchase price for the hardware or software and forget the 15% - 20% annual maintenance charge that is usually tied to the current purchase price. Our Contracts people make maintenance charges a big part of negotiations. We also look at the cost of ownership over a 5 year period when doing comarisons between vendors which prevents someone from lowballing the purchase price and making up the difference on the maintenance.

theboman · Oct 28, 2001

On automobiles but not sure on tractors, but Kentucky there is this law that says if the manufacturer says you can only use their oil filters they must give them to you. You can find it posted in many of the fast lube places.

Bluegrass, Pick It Up!