Trade in value

[safe2assume]

I've been using TBN since I got my tractor in 2000. I never wanted to post anything before so I didnt sign up, but I now have some info that may be useful for anyone wondering how much their old tractor is worth. I recently went to my Kubota dealer for filters and fluids for the 400 hr maint. and ended up looking at new tractors. I out grew mine shortly after I bought it, but I get by. Without even looking at my L2500DT (13 yrs old, 372 hrs, tires have dry rot, paint is faded, original battery!) they offered me $5000 towards a new one! If the dealer was willing to give me that much, I wonder how much it's worth in a private sale? It was very difficult to walk to the parts counter after looking at the new ones, but I cant justify spending $20K for what really just boils down to having a little more horsepower. Thank you all for the helpful info you provide, I refer to this sight often!

I could use some advise on tire replacement though.

CP (49 yr old female)

 

[kiotiken]

hmmm. $5000 + credit for what ever the sales tax is there (that's how it works for trades here anyway) + the cost of new rubber and a battery might make the nice new pretty one that much more tempting! Talk him up on the trade and down on the price of a new one and get a tractor that will meet your needs with a warranty.

 

[murphy1244]

:welcome:

 

[safe2assume]

No tax because I have a farm exemption. I really like the M series, and oh the stuff I could move with a BIG bucket lol.

 

[safe2assume]

Thanks!

 

[kco]

Your L2500DT looks like the model that came after my 1981 L275DT, and the description is about the same. Mine had a loader, was in 10 out of 10 shape and had 2200 hrs. I got $5,000 trade in on my DK35 and Kubota offered $6,500(I think) on an L3540. I likely would have got $6,500 to $7,000 on a private sale. But as kiotiken mentions, the $5,000 trade is equivalent to $5,600 considering the 12% tax here.

I prefer to take less with the dealer and not have to worry about the tractor perhaps failing after a private sale with resulting hard feelings.

The low hours on your tractor suggest your usage is similar to mine. That is, varied small jobs rather than real farm work. If that is the case I suggest you consider going with an HST if you do buy a new tractor. They are easier to operate and I think safer for the work I do.

I felt guilty trading in my perfectly fine gear tractor but that is completely gone now. I averaged 70 hrs/year over the 6 years I had it. With the DK35 HST I will be around 500 hrs when it hits 2 years this April. The increased usage is due to the better manouverability, stability and capability of the new tractor. I could not have imagined how much easier the new tractor would be over the old one.

A major concern when buying the new tractor was that theoretically the old L275DT had a tighter turn radius than the DK35. That is important for my work in the bush and on narrow, winding, hilly trails. But that is for locked wheel turns and meaningless for my use. The DK35 (and Kubota L3x40's) front wheels turn much sharper, resulting in far tighter actual turns.

I'm getting on in age. The ease of operating the new tractor will help me remain on an acreage longer than the old tractor, and that is a pleasant surprise.

Good luck in your search.

 

[Turbys_1700]

For what it's worth...
IMHO...
That was a fair offer...
If you trade they will price it at around 7K and take $6500 or $6000...
Dealers have to make money to stay in business...
You could possibly get more for it but it is a hassle...
Posting on Craig's List, putting up with tire kickers, people coming to look with no money,...
It can be aggravating...
That is the plus of trading with a dealer...
Personally, I would probably be inclined to keep it...
I always calculate the value of a tractor at the cost to replace it...
Tires and maintenance are part of the equation but that is true for any piece of machinery...
Some people don't agree with this philosophy and prefer to trade up...
For example, we have 2 D-17 Allis Chalmers tractors on the farm that are not in use...
One is a series 3, the other a series 4...
If I spent $5K on restoring them each, which BTW they do not need, I would have spent more than what they are worth on the market...
But...
What is the cost to replace a 60 HP farm tractor???
More than $5K...
Much more...
So...
IMHO I would prefer to spend the $5K to get them back up in great condition...
Others would not...
That is fine by me...
To each his own...

 

[kiotiken]

For what it's worth...
IMHO...
That was a fair offer...
If you trade they will price it at around 7K and take $6500 or $6000...
Dealers have to make money to stay in business...
You could possibly get more for it but it is a hassle...
Posting on Craig's List, putting up with tire kickers, people coming to look with no money,...
It can be aggravating...
That is the plus of trading with a dealer...
Personally, I would probably be inclined to keep it...
I always calculate the value of a tractor at the cost to replace it...
Tires and maintenance are part of the equation but that is true for any piece of machinery...
Some people don't agree with this philosophy and prefer to trade up...
For example, we have 2 D-17 Allis Chalmers tractors on the farm that are not in use...
One is a series 3, the other a series 4...
If I spent $5K on restoring them each, which BTW they do not need, I would have spent more than what they are worth on the market...
But...
What is the cost to replace a 60 HP farm tractor???
More than $5K...
Much more...
So...
IMHO I would prefer to spend the $5K to get them back up in great condition...
Others would not...
That is fine by me...
To each his own...

I agree with you, except in this case, she's saying the current tractor is undersized. Maybe it is worth considering since tires are not going to be cheap and trading up in the future will likely be more expensive with Tier IV looming.

 

[KYDan]

I had a Kubota L 2800 with a loader, backhoe, LP 5' finishing mower, that I was planning on trading in on my MX5100. My dealer friend suggested that I sell it outright and he hooked me up with a customer. I sold it for a little less than 1/2 of what I paid for it in August of 2011. It was in excellent shape and looked great and had a little less than 1600 hours on it. It saved me about $3,000 and it was a no hassle transaction. This was just a single incidence deal, but it worked out great for me.

 

[safe2assume]

The more I think about it, the less I think buying new is the way to go (for me). I'm gonna keep my eye out for an L or M series with lowish hours, I do want to stick with Kubota. My tires are living on borrowed time, so either way I'm going to have to spend a chunk of change.

 

[safe2assume]

You did get lucky with that deal for sure!

 

[Briana03]

Welcome to TBN

I moved your thread to the Buying/Pricing/Comparisons forum.

 

[daugen]

The more I think about it, the less I think buying new is the way to go (for me). I'm gonna keep my eye out for an L or M series with lowish hours, I do want to stick with Kubota. My tires are living on borrowed time, so either way I'm going to have to spend a chunk of change.

Hi. I'm sure you know tractorhouse.com, but in case not, here's all Kubotas built after year 2000 from 10 to 20 thousand ,4wd, over 40hp.
http://www.tractorhouse.com/list/li...ecs=1&DRV=4+WD&CTRY=usa&SO=2&btnSearch=Search

I tried NC and zero result, sorry. But spending some time running searches on this site is a good way to find out what your budget will get you. Go up 5 years in age, or limit hours to say 500 hours, and the number of tractors obviously drops. I'd go for lower hours if possible. Just remember, you always have to keep something in reserve when buying used, it may need the same new tires yours does but otherwise is a better machine for you.
Since many Kubota owners are hobby use owners that use their machines lightly, you may find a really good deal on a tractor that someone bought and quickly realized was too small. But not for you....
Good luck.

btw, I've found CraigsList is great for buyers, but not so pleasant for sellers. Run a search for Kubota under Farm and Garden.

 

[SanDucerro]

You may already know this, but... What you have to be careful of in trade-in negotiations, is that the price they are offering you is separate from the price you pay for the tractor. Depending on the price of the new tractor, there is a good possibility that you could negotiate up to 15% off the MSRP to begin with. So, if the new tractor was $30,000 - you might get as much as $4500 off anyway. But, if you trade in they will want to work off list. So it's pretty easy for the dealer to offer you - sight unseen - $5000 for a trade-in off the MSRP of $30k. In which case he essentially bought your tractor for $500. There's nothing wrong with this as the dealer is in business to make a profit - you just need to be careful and keep the negotiations on the trade-in separate from the negotiations on the new tractors price.

 

[case245]

i try selling it on craigslist but then again people might want to trade a riding mower for it thats how it is where im from i would try 4 diffrent dealers to see who has the best deal on a new tractor 10% of is average 15% is a steal

 

[daugen]

i try selling it on craigslist but then again people might want to trade a riding mower for it thats how it is where im from i would try 4 diffrent dealers to see who has the best deal on a new tractor 10% of is average 15% is a steal

my understanding, and I sure don't expect Messicks to confirm it, really...., is that dealer cost is about 30 off, so if you are getting half of that off as a discount, you are doing very, very well. You can do even better if a dealer is in financial
difficulty, and some are, but that sure doesn't help you in times of service. SanDucerro's advice was very good. Work the new tractor first, then do the trade, keeping in mind sales tax savings on a trade.
My "old" tractor was worth so little in trade that I simply kept it. I had fixed it up anyway, new tires, new clutch, and the engine just hummed. So it's ready for another thousand hours, and likely many more.

Sometimes it's nice having that second utility tractor around, to keep a post hole digger on, if you plant lots of trees, for example, or for some implement that is used somewhat frequently and is difficult to get off and on, or like the
phd, one that doesn't need the power of your larger tractor to run. If you get less than $5K on your trade, I'd suggest you think seriously about keeping it, if that can work for you. Or sell it yourself and use it until you do.

You will find lots of help here spending your money, it's one of the members' favorite pastimes.

 

[TripleR]

Good points by SanDucerro and daugen, we traded our L5030 HSTC with 1500 or so hours on it in for a L5740 HSTC and I made sure to figure out all of the aspects of the trade to see how good of a deal I got. I have no problem with the dealer making a few bucks, but I knew my tractor wouldn't last more than a few days on the lot and it didn't. He made money selling mine and money selling the new one as well with very little work.

There is no such thing as having an "extra" tractor, but it sure is nice to have more than one, we found that out years ago; some may not need one, but we use all of ours.

 

[chim]

...................Sometimes it's nice having that second utility tractor around, to keep a post hole digger on, if you plant lots of trees, for example, or for some implement that is used somewhat frequently and is difficult to get off and on, or like ......................

Made that choice twice here. The old Ford 1210 was going to be sold when we got the B7500 back in '02. When the Kubota was pressed into service, the Ford got stripped down to the bare bones for a paint job. Parts of the steering linkage were replaced as well as some other worn stuff. Full service and a paint job followed. At the time I was mowing around 5 extra acres at my Mom-in-law's. #3 Son enjoyed seat time and Mom had a barn to park it in, so I kept the Ford there and drove the Kubota back and forth so we could double team it.

Last spring the plan was to sell the Ford, the B7500 and a Jeep so the new L3200 wouldn't require any out-of-pocket expense. Since we were able to get a great deal on the new tractor, plans changed and we kept the Ford again. Wifey (who recently referred to the L3200 as a glorified garden tractor while describing it to friends) reasoned it might be nice to have something "to do the trimming".

 

[SanDucerro]

When it came time to upgrade my tractor this year, I decided two was better than one and kept the L3130. This past weekend the little L became the wife's tractor while I ran the M7040 through its paces. She's VERY happy to have a tractor she can call hers (even though she's usually at work in her office in Houston). I figured I'd rather have a backup than what little I could negotiate on trade-in - and since I'm in Texas and this is an AG tractor it's tax exempt - so that part of the equation wasn't relevant in my case. But it's a VERY good point for those that don't have the luxury.... I also agree with daugen 100% - it's gonna be nice to have the L3130 setup with the post hole digger while I let the larger M7040 run the cuttin' stuff!