So why do you buy Kubota? Even though Roy says JD's best? :)

[hawkeye08]

I see the 0% financing mentioned a few times through this thread. I'm reasonably sure that it is not 'free', but it is convenient and allows some folks to get into a tractor that otherwise couldn't (if they were going to finance anyway).

We save and pay cash, we're not much for payments. One of the things that caused us to purchase now (recently) was that our savings was not growing as fast as the prices of tractors was going up.

My dream tractor (for my current needs) would be the same size frame as we have, more HP (to run AC) and a cab. I have allergies and asthma and have to be careful to avoid a trip to the ER. The Gravely tractors we have took too long to keep all the areas mowed.

Another thing that always hangs in my mind, most of the rental yards have Kubotas around here. Rentals get beat up pretty good, so they need to be reasonably easy and inexpensive to maintain or the rental yards would not keep them. I also thought about ease of use, if the rental yards use Kubotas, then they must be easy enough for renters to use (or folks would not rent).

I'm sure each brand has their problems, I think the most important thing is to get the one that you are comfortable with. Some folks over analyze and expect that the tractor they buy will be the same as their analysis. Some tractors never have any problems, some have many problems.

Get one you like, keep the maintenance up, enjoy it. :thumbsup:

 

[rjkobbeman]

We save and pay cash, we're not much for payments.

The problem with that is you are losing money.

My experience with Kubota is they will not give you a "better deal" if you pay cash. Whether or not the 0% is factored in to the price can be debated until the cows come home, but if the "cash" guy and the "0%" guy pay the same price for the tracto (which they do), the "cash" guy is losing money. Why? Because if the "cash" guy left his money in the bank or invested it, he would be making money on his savings.

I totally understand NOT wanting to finance if it costs you money. But if you have the cash to cover the loan, why not take the free financing and make extra money with your savings?

For those manufacturers that give you a better deal if you pay cash, well that is different. My dealer didn't care if I paid cash or financed the whole purchase with no money down. Same price.

 

[montelatici]

I see the 0% financing mentioned a few times through this thread. I'm reasonably sure that it is not 'free', :thumbsup:

If I were to have paid cash, I would have taken it out of my non-retirement trading account. As you can see it has made about $25K on roughly 165K that was there at the beginning of the year (about 15% over 7 months). Realistically I expect to get about 20% return per year on these investments.

I was told they would give me a discount of $1,000 if I paid cash. If I had taken 20K out of this account to pay for the tractor. I would have lost out on returns of $4,000 per year over 5 years or $20,000. Ok, I am a pretty good investor, I have gold, silver and currency stocks, Norwegian oil, and Chinese mobile networks. An eclectic mix that gets me relatively high returns, but even if you consider only 10% return, you would lose $2,000 a year for 5 years. $1,000 discount is just not sufficient even if you have the money to buy the tractor. So to me the zero 60 month financing is not only free, but allows me to make $20,000 over the five years, about the cost of the tractor.

Hope this helps.

SymbolSorted in ascending order. Click to reverse. Description Quantity Most
Recent
Price Most
Recent
Value Change
Since
Purchase $ Change
Since 1/1/2010
Purchase %
FDRXX * FIDELITY CASH RESERVES 8,681.160 $1.00 $8,681.16 Not Applicable
ANCJQ ANC RENT CORP NO STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY 04/16/04 37.000 n/a n/a $263.80 n/a n/a
CHL CHINA MOBILE LTD SPON ADR REP 5 ORD HKD0.10 400.000 $52.74 $21,096.00 $19,209.35 +$1,886.65 +9.82%
GLD SPDR GOLD TR GOLD SHS 250.000 $121.23 $30,307.50 $22,460.40 +$7,847.10 +34.94%
GOLD RANDGOLD RESOURCES ADS EACH REPR 1 ORD USD0.05 600.000 $91.75 $55,050.00 $49,050.09 +$5,999.91 +12.23%
MCD MCDONALDS CORP 300.000 $73.74 $22,122.00 $20,173.56 +$1,948.44 +9.66%
MERKX MERK HARD CURRENCY FUND INVESTOR CL 977.125 $11.37 $11,109.91 $10,000.00 +$1,109.91 +11.10%
SLV ISHARES SILVER TR ISHARES 2,500.000 $18.81 $47,025.00 $40,306.20 +$6,718.80 +16.67%
Total: $195,391.57 +$25,510.81

 

[LostInTheWoods]

Hmm. With my dealer, we never even talked about how I was going to pay for it until after we had batted around the price. Maybe he just assumed I'd be doing the 0-down/0% finance?

 

[TripleR]

Hmm. With my dealer, we never even talked about how I was going to pay for it until after we had batted around the price. Maybe he just assumed I'd be doing the 0-down/0% finance?

We established the price then threw in the question of cash v financing and we saved by paying cash. We will be writing it off as it was a business/farm expense.

 

[hawkeye08]

rjkobbeman & montelatici; take a deep breath and ease up...:laughing:

I shared what worked for me. I don't buy on payments. We don't have any loan payments and we like it that way.

Whatever floats your boat...:thumbsup:

 

[montelatici]

rjkobbeman & montelatici; take a deep breath and ease up...:laughing:

I shared what worked for me. I don't buy on payments. We don't have any loan payments and we like it that way.

Whatever floats your boat...:thumbsup:

Sorry we presented financial reality :laughing:

I shared what worked for me. We don't like throwing money away, so we analyze a financial transaction and take a decision based on the merits.

Sorry if this approach upsets you. :confused2:

 

[rjkobbeman]

rjkobbeman & montelatici; take a deep breath and ease up...:laughing:

I shared what worked for me. I don't buy on payments. We don't have any loan payments and we like it that way.

Whatever floats your boat...:thumbsup:

I could care less what you do with your money... no need to take a deep breath. I was just saying you are losing money by paying cash and not financing. If you like losing money, all the power to ya! :thumbsup:

Unable to finance? Different story.
Get a big discount on tractor by paying cash? Possibly a different story.
Able to finance AND pay the same price for tractor whether you finance or pay cash? You spend MORE paying with cash.

 

[LostInTheWoods]

We established the price then threw in the question of cash v financing and we saved by paying cash. We will be writing it off as it was a business/farm expense.

Ah. Sometimes I think about trying to raise some animals or garden crops for "business" reasons. But unlike you and many other people here, I don't actually know enough about it. I also wouldn't have the time to dedicate to the task, and I couldn't honestly say I had any real profit motives. Business deductions for my tractor expenses would be nice though...

 

[hawkeye08]

Sorry we presented financial reality :laughing:

I shared what worked for me. We don't like throwing money away, so we analyze a financial transaction and take a decision based on the merits.

Sorry if this approach upsets you. :confused2:

I could care less what you do with your money... no need to take a deep breath. I was just saying you are losing money by paying cash and not financing. If you like losing money, all the power to ya! :thumbsup:

Unable to finance? Different story.
Get a big discount on tractor by paying cash? Possibly a different story.
Able to finance AND pay the same price for tractor whether you finance or pay cash? You spend MORE paying with cash.

You did not upset me, but it appears that I upset you, sorry.