What does "take it to the dealer" mean for you?

[grsthegreat]

Well, that's a whole other topic for sure. Very, very few people diagnose problems, but rather guess and replace parts until it works. And of course it's all at your expense.

But alot of times, it works and saves you a fortune. Case in point, GE wanted to replace entire freezer door on my built in Monogram freezer due to failed ice maker control. They stated…its a known problem. Like a $1800 problem.

I did a internet search and looked at schematics. I found a pcb under ice maker trim panel. It was a $30 ebay part.

It fixed the problem. Has remained fixed for years.

 

[90cummins]

We regularly hear people say "take it to your dealer", or "it's under warranty, so call the dealer". To actually do any of that, what's involved for you? For me, it's a lot of work, a lot of $$, and a lot of time, so really it's the step of last resort. Here are some examples:

My Kubota dealer is 45min to an hr away. I could trailer my tractor or small excavator there, but that will consume roughly 6 hrs to get the trailer ready, load up, drive an hr (it will take the full hour pulling a heavy load), unload, drive home, and unhook and stow the trailer, then do it all again to pick the machine up once it's fixed. My larger excavator would have to be trucked, so I'd guess $500 each way, or $1000 total, and I can't get a tractor trailer in to my place, so I'd have to track the machine out to a location to meet the truck, which of course means the machine needs to work enough to move it around. And I'd still have to make at least one round trip to the dealer to go over the problem and make sure they know what's needed. So that's 3 hrs.

Then there is the actual dealer work. Most are very backed up, so a good chance your machine will sit for a week, if not multiple weeks before it's even looked at. Then any repairs will take at least another week because they will need parts and nobody seems to stock anything other than maintenance and common wear parts. And if their first "guess" at what to replace doesn't work, then you can stay another week while the guess again, and maybe again and again. And of course there is the possibility that the dealer won't be able to reproduce or actually fix the problem, and that you get the machine home and the problem still exists.

Mobile service is an option, but very expensive with billable travel and work time. But it is an option for spending $$ rather than spending your own time. But scheduling and time to repair isn't any better, and possibly worse.

The bottom line is that you will be out 3-6 hrs of personal work time, and up to $1000 in trucking, plus loss of use for weeks to months.

It's mostly the same for my Deere. The dealer is only about 20 minutes away which is a plus, but the tractor would have to be trucked. And from what I can tell they have zero direct experience with 6 series tractors, and only limited experience with 5 series.

All this is probably the biggest reason why I always end up doing work on the machines myself. It takes less of my personal time, and gets things running.

We regularly hear people say "take it to your dealer", or "it's under warranty, so call the dealer". To actually do any of that, what's involved for you? For me, it's a lot of work, a lot of $$, and a lot of time, so really it's the step of last resort. Here are some examples:

My Kubota dealer is 45min to an hr away. I could trailer my tractor or small excavator there, but that will consume roughly 6 hrs to get the trailer ready, load up, drive an hr (it will take the full hour pulling a heavy load), unload, drive home, and unhook and stow the trailer, then do it all again to pick the machine up once it's fixed. My larger excavator would have to be trucked, so I'd guess $500 each way, or $1000 total, and I can't get a tractor trailer in to my place, so I'd have to track the machine out to a location to meet the truck, which of course means the machine needs to work enough to move it around. And I'd still have to make at least one round trip to the dealer to go over the problem and make sure they know what's needed. So that's 3 hrs.

Then there is the actual dealer work. Most are very backed up, so a good chance your machine will sit for a week, if not multiple weeks before it's even looked at. Then any repairs will take at least another week because they will need parts and nobody seems to stock anything other than maintenance and common wear parts. And if their first "guess" at what to replace doesn't work, then you can stay another week while the guess again, and maybe again and again. And of course there is the possibility that the dealer won't be able to reproduce or actually fix the problem, and that you get the machine home and the problem still exists.

Mobile service is an option, but very expensive with billable travel and work time. But it is an option for spending $$ rather than spending your own time. But scheduling and time to repair isn't any better, and possibly worse.

The bottom line is that you will be out 3-6 hrs of personal work time, and up to $1000 in trucking, plus loss of use for weeks to months.

It's mostly the same for my Deere. The dealer is only about 20 minutes away which is a plus, but the tractor would have to be trucked. And from what I can tell they have zero direct experience with 6 series tractors, and only limited experience with 5 series.

All this is probably the biggest reason why I always end up doing work on the machines myself. It takes less of my personal time, and gets things running again faster.

I’ve worked at dealerships in my younger days on Mercedes, BMW, Peugeot, Fiat, Honda, Volvos & Hondas.
I’ve always attempted to do the best possible job within the accepted parameters allowed by time & cost allowances.
At times it’s impossible to do the repair at the highest level due to those factors.
Some technicians may have a bad attitude, bad day or lack of experience.
So to me take it to the dealership means the possibility of subpar work and or get ready to dig deep & cry.
On a few occasions I had no choice but to go to the dealership due to warranty or today’s electronics & complexity.
If I wasn’t self sufficient I would most likely be driving an old beater & living in an apartment.
90cummins

 

[stephenh]

For me, taking it to dealer means a large bill for transport. Twenty miles to dealer, $260 each way for a truck to haul the tractor. I don't have a trailer. Plus, I need to drive the tractor one mile down the one-lane dirt road here to a pick-up spot.

Worst time was when my current tractor was brand-new. I mean, five hours at most on the meter. I had to get it to the dealer because the 3-point quit working. Obviously warranty. I had to pay the transport because when I called the dealer I was told that, yes, they used to offer a $60 each way service to bring in and then deliver back a tractor but they'd quit doing that and used [recommended] a third-party guy. I said, hey, you delivered this last week, brand new, and this will be warranty work. They said, yep on the warranty and the paperwork you signed at the sale says customer is responsible for trucking the machine to the shop even for warranty work.

Dug out paperwork and, yeppers, that is what I signed.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

For me "take to the dealer" would mean that I'm incapacitated, or that it's something electronic that I couldn't find a way to fix myself.

If so it would only be a matter of trailering the faulty tractor to the Kubota dealer, less than 150 miles away.

Now if it's the Kioti that needs to be repaired I sure hope they could do it while I wait as that dealer is 370 miles from here.

Both are good dealerships, but I'd rather not go there other than to buy tractors.

 

[aircommuter]

With 45 years of owning different pieces of heavy equipment some new and some used I have never taken one to the dealer. The only warranty item was Case 855D crawler loader I bought new in 1986. The drive sprockets were soft and completely worn out in 300 hours. Case sent out their service truck and replaced them. I had the machine and used it even after retirement on my final new house project. Then I sold it in 2013. I never bought anything that requires a computer to work on. Never will either.

 

[johneking]

We regularly hear people say "take it to your dealer", or "it's under warranty, so call the dealer". To actually do any of that, what's involved for you? For me, it's a lot of work, a lot of $$, and a lot of time, so really it's the step of last resort. Here are some examples:

My Kubota dealer is 45min to an hr away. I could trailer my tractor or small excavator there, but that will consume roughly 6 hrs to get the trailer ready, load up, drive an hr (it will take the full hour pulling a heavy load), unload, drive home, and unhook and stow the trailer, then do it all again to pick the machine up once it's fixed. My larger excavator would have to be trucked, so I'd guess $500 each way, or $1000 total, and I can't get a tractor trailer in to my place, so I'd have to track the machine out to a location to meet the truck, which of course means the machine needs to work enough to move it around. And I'd still have to make at least one round trip to the dealer to go over the problem and make sure they know what's needed. So that's 3 hrs.

Then there is the actual dealer work. Most are very backed up, so a good chance your machine will sit for a week, if not multiple weeks before it's even looked at. Then any repairs will take at least another week because they will need parts and nobody seems to stock anything other than maintenance and common wear parts. And if their first "guess" at what to replace doesn't work, then you can stay another week while the guess again, and maybe again and again. And of course there is the possibility that the dealer won't be able to reproduce or actually fix the problem, and that you get the machine home and the problem still exists.

Mobile service is an option, but very expensive with billable travel and work time. But it is an option for spending $$ rather than spending your own time. But scheduling and time to repair isn't any better, and possibly worse.

The bottom line is that you will be out 3-6 hrs of personal work time, and up to $1000 in trucking, plus loss of use for weeks to months.

It's mostly the same for my Deere. The dealer is only about 20 minutes away which is a plus, but the tractor would have to be trucked. And from what I can tell they have zero direct experience with 6 series tractors, and only limited experience with 5 series.

All this is probably the biggest reason why I always end up doing work on the machines myself. It takes less of my personal time, and gets things running again faster.

Mortgage the house, farm, airplane and boat first!
Most shops are charging over $150/hour now -- all while they tell jokes, smoke, eat lunch and drink cokes!
THEN it's almost always: "you're .............. was bad and we had to replace it" to the tune of hundreds+++++ when all it was that was causing the problem was a fuse, relay, wiring etc.

 

[Hodado]

You need to find “A guy”
Word of Mouth in your area would be my advice.Some of the best mechanics work on there own

 

[California]

My two elderly Yanmars (each about 1980) bought used in 2003 and 2010, haven't seen, or needed, a pro mechanic as long I've had them. Yanmar designed them to be owner-maintained.

 

[ssgp2]

Take it to the dealer means it is in 2 or more big pieces

 

[RammerJammer]

Its a shame this site doesn’t have a workable app.
Apparently if the word has an emoji it can go crazy without using an actual emoji.

Emoji? What's that? You mean those goofy little, symbol things the kids use all the time? Those things?