<font color="red"> But for what he is asking for a
L3130 I can drive downsate and get a DK45. Is there a comparison there? </font>
I agree, there is no real comparison. But just because the local Kioti dealer gave you a high price does not mean that is the final price. And just becuase the Kubota dealer is too high on the
L3130 does not mean that is the final price either. I'm not picking your brand. But when I bought my NH TC24 last summer that dealer was my last stop (only because he is 8 miles away and I have other brands that are only 5 miles away). I talked to Deere. I talked to Case/Kubota/Cub. In fact I talked to Case/Kubota/Cub a lot. And played with the tractors several times. And talked to them some more. And I think maybe they were just figuring I would give up and pay their prices. While I was talking with them I was also talking with 2 NH dealers. I knew what I wanted, I knew what I needed (wants and needs are a little bit different but similar).
Ultimately the close NH dealer really wanted the deal. I had never bought anything from them, they had never met me, we did everything on the telephone. The first time they saw me was when they brought the tractor to my house to let me try it. The owner of the Case/Kubota/Cub store called me right after that to close the deal and I told him that he was too high and too late. I told him the deal I got and I told him that his sales guy was screwing around with me. When it was over he was apologizing all over himself because I've bought several things from him in the past and he knew I demanded price & service. I'm sure I would have gotten it from him, but he was gone and I got a "sales guy." Their loss, and I am happy with what I got.
I am not brand loyal. I am money driven and service driven. I think too often people think that they need just this one certain unit and nothing else will do. Reality check, there are more than a dozen brands of tractors out there and all of them will do the job! Some my have some features that you like, some may "fit" you better, some may have better ergonomics, some may have more advanced transmissions, PTOs and smoother engines, but all of them will pull a blade, lift a mountain of dirt and drill a post hole. I'm not saying cheapest is best, I'm saying the best deal on the best "fit" is best from the best dealer is the best overall deal. And some of that deal is the upfront cost of the equipment and some of it is the service after the fact.
I disagree with the guys who say that dealers are not important after the sale. For the most part they are invisible, but if you strike a good deal up front they will be at your door for the 50 hour service and the 100 hour service and they will do it for free, or they will do it for the cost of the oil/filters, or whatever you can negotiate, but they will come to you and do it while you are at work rather than you having to go to their store to buy the parts and then spend a couple hours of your weekend doing it yourself. Total cost of ownership includes all sorts of things.
By the way, what size machine do you NEED? There is a big difference between a CK30 and a DK45 and an L3130. I think before you proceed, you need to narrow down the tractors to what you are really look for in terms of CAPABILITIES and tasks. Are you doing a lot of FEL work and if so how heavy? Are you pulling box blades? Blowing snow? Mowing fields? Sit down and figure out what % of your time will likely be spent on the various TYPES of tasks. For every 10 hours on the machine will FEL work be 2 of your hours or 5 of your hours? Will blade work be 1 or 3 hours. Will bushogging be 1, 3, or 5 of the hours? When you come up with the % of time, you can then prioritize the tasks and then find the various brands of machines that are better suited to the tasks. HST is better for FEL work than gear and will save you time, but it might not be worth getting if 10% of your tiem will be FEL work and 40% of your time will be pulling a disk in the field. Now if you plan on using a tiller and covering a lot of ground with it, then cruise control is a fantastic feature. So line up the jobs. Just because the prices on a CK30 and a DK45 are fairly close does not mean that both tractors are well suited for your needs.
Noodlearm, understand one thing when I deal. I WANT IT ALL. I won't pay for delivery, you better build it into the price of the tractor and that price better be competitive. If it is not, that is your fault. The dealer the farthest away (800+ miles) from me had the 2nd lowest price and he beat the Case/Kubota/Cub dealer that is 5 miles from my door. Sorry, I don't buy the logic about these two dealers that Kipper is dealing with.
