Please help - owners of TC 35, 40 and 45 Boomers

Pacesetter300 · Feb 15, 2003

Hi guys, Getting very close to final decision time. ONE of my options is a TC40. The current financing is very good and I love the ergonomics. I have not been able to get a very good deal locally, but have found a great deal some distance away. In reading the posts on the class III Boomers, I seem to see a lot of problems. None of them enough of a concern to me not to buy the tractor. My question is, am I putting myself out on a limb (more than usual) by not buying locally? If with your experience with the tractor, do you see dealer support as a necessity. If it is, I will just scratch one off my list as I refuse to pay a local dealer over $2000 more for the same unit. . Thanks in advance for the help on this one. Trying to narrow the list to one page! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Pacesetter

JDGREEN4ME · Feb 15, 2003

$2000 is a pretty good chunk of change. I would have to think about that one too... /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

DK35vince · Feb 15, 2003

How far away is the other dealer ?
I bought my tractor about 1 1/2 hour away because I couldn't get a decent price locally.
It is a little less conveniant,but the savings was well worth it for me.
$2000 savings would pay for your own trailer to take the tractor to the dealer if nessasary,and still have the trailer for personal use.

thcri · Feb 15, 2003

Pacesetter,

I really don't think the Boomer's have any more problems than the other manufactures. I think John Deere probably sells more than all of the other manufactures with New Holland coming in around second. At least that is what I see in our area. But if you look at the posts here on tractorbynet you will notice that each John Deere and New Holland have about the same amount of posts both owning and operating. While may be different, I think all of them have their own problems.

Two Grand is a lot of money. If the dealer that is less isn't more than two hours away and you feel confident in him that is what I would go for. My tractor is a TC29D and the problems I have had with it are more nuisance items. In other words the tractor still ran but maybe needed some adjustment that I waited for until it needed maintenance.

An earlier thread said, hey buy a trailer for the two grand an haul it yourself. That is an excellent idea or you could even get another attachment. You could also check with the dealer that is less and get him to give you a pickup and drop off fee for the first two years. I could have bought from a dealer in my own back yard, he was like you, two grand higher. I ended up buying about 30 miles away and the dealer only charges me $50.00 drop off and pick up. That is cheaper than for me to make two trips. One to drop off and one to pick up.

Once the tractor is out of warranty you may find that you want to do most of your maintenance and fix the smaller things yourself. Also if it is major, and under warranty, I believe you can take it to the local place and New Holland will warranty it??? Most manufactures are that way.

Also if you like a dealer that is close and you feel comfortable with him, go back to him and tell him he is out of the ball park. He might drop his price to where you would buy from him. The dealer does mean a lot.

Double check on different dealers if they will transfer warranties as I not sure about that.

Murph

spencer200 · Feb 15, 2003

which dealer in maine is giving you such a great price they are usually within a few hundred dollars of each other up there from quotes i have seen.

Pacesetter300 · Feb 15, 2003

Spencer, NONE That's why I'm looking out of New England.

As for the problems, maybe it's just my preception. Issues like the engine cooling - not warming up, fan hitting the shroud, no joy joystick, HST pedal problems and some other minor ones brought up the question. Thanks for everyones input so far!
Pacesetter

tc35dforme · Feb 16, 2003

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I have not been able to get a very good deal locally, but have found a great deal some distance away. )</font>

I guess the question is how far away is "some distance". If you consider mid Maine somewhere around Augusta, your're pretty close to good highways and "civilization" ( sorry ), and travel isn't that difficult. If you're in the real mid Maine, well above Bangor...as Burt and I said...'you can't get theya from here !!!'

If your not a commercial user, you can generally plan your warranty and service trips to meet your schedule.

Have you talked to the guys in Milford New Hampshire. They are top notch and will work with you all the way.

jinman · Feb 16, 2003

Pacesetter, for my two-cents worth, I'd say don't do it. If you are going to spend the amount of money a TC40 costs, you are going to want a good dealer as close as you can have him. You'll need service, accessories, repair parts, and maybe even warranty repairs. Your local New Holland dealer will probably like you about as much as if you showed up with a John Deere or Kubota and asked him for service.

As far as problems go, I think the TC40 has far less of the little irritating problems you see discussed here with the "D" model HST tractors. I'd be more worried that there was a dealer somewhere trying to "unload" a problem tractor or one that has been sitting on his lot for a long time. What if he is going out of business and unloading inventory? Without knowing all the details of the dealer and tractor, we can't really give you good advice because it's just a "what-if?" situation. We don't even know if you have seen the tractor and driven it. I personally would NEVER plunk down that kind of money for a tractor I'd never seen. Are you going to pay shipping costs to your location? Wow! There are hundreds of questions and it seems you are really going out on a limb to buy this tractor.

Certainly, you might get lucky and have a good tractor, but I think I'd find another deal to make. You've got a lot of knowledge available here on TBN, but none of it replaces a great local dealer. Why would that other dealer not be able to sell that TC40 to someone in his local area if it is such a good deal? I put the quality of my local dealer as #1 on my list of requirements. My tractor is out of warranty, but if my dealer was to close, I'd still be in a "panic."

bobnewjersey · Feb 16, 2003

Russ.....I wouldn't buy one too far away. (more than 2 or 3 hours drive) A good dealer is irreplacable. In your shoes I'd probably price out Kobota and Deere. Then make a final decisison based on that. I have the TC40D and love it. My dealer is about 1.5 hours away. When the tractor has had to go back, under warrenty, he has come out to pick it up, no charge. You may want to ask for the 50 hour service to be thrown in the quoted price or maybe a remote. If you are planning to by any implements, price them out now as a package. That's what I did. Good luck!

JATO_RaT · Feb 16, 2003

"I wouldn't buy one too far away. (more than 2 or 3 hours drive) A good dealer is irreplacable."

Problem could also be though that the local dealer not only is pricey, he could be lousy. Buying further away, getting a good deal and having a good dealer may all be one in the same. I bought my tractor about 3000 miles away. Not necessarily advocating it in your case, but my trust in the dealer and the manufactuer were deciding factors. When I bought the tractor, I bought knowing and hoping to a smaller degree that it would not have to see a dealer again. Should the unfortunate event happen that was beyond my desire to deal with, they do come with warranties. Mine still has a year left on the drive train. Good Luck whatever your decision. Rat...