Why do tractors cost more in New England?

[lamarbur]

The other day, Junkman was making fun of me leaving Holland and returning jsut over the border back into CT. One of the biggest reasons I left was city people, their attitudes, which forces taxes throguh the roof. Now, getting back on track, I am sure there are a gazillion reasons (from dealers) as to why their cost is so much more than anywhere else.. Like I said in an earlier posts 8,000, (eight thousand) is a lot of difference for the same machine part number by part number. I can see a 18000 MSRP machine sell for 13 where the dealer paid 11. I can't see why it will be 18 or even over 18. There are all three of the big three colors not very far from me.Two of the three colors are dealers that have the same tractors month in and month out. They don't seem to move very much. Nasty attitudes, Full MSRP or higher and what really galls me, why are they allowed to be continued as dealers? They are bad for the colors name, all the way around..

 

[JCA]

"gone" wrote:
People move here from Mass. to get to the country type of life,and then want the (city benifits)!

The property adjoining mine--about 20 wooded acres--went up for sale and was sold to some city folks before anyone bothered to tell me it was for sale. There was no access other than through my driveway; since the deal was already done and there was nothing I could do about it, I granted them an easement for nothing, just to be neighborly. They never even said thank you--just complained that I was taking too long to process the easement paperwork. Then they wanted to pave my driveway. I didn't want to, so now they've got their driveway paved right up to the property line, where it turns to dirt. Their house and yard look just like something you'd see in a subdivision, except it's surrounded by woods on all sides. This winter one of them complained to me because the shared portion of the driveway had ice on it. Go figure.

Bringing the city to the country, for sure.

Jim

 

[Chuck_Lind]

Well...here's one that will contradict some of the opinions:
I spent a lot of time in central Pennsylvania (I'm from Pa; live in NH) last fall/winter looking for tractors and checking prices. I couldn't believe the high prices they were asking in Pa.

I shopped around in NH and finally bought a NH TN65 for an incredible price...much better than I could do in Pa. The folks in Pa. offered a measly $200 off on a comparable used machine...only if I picked it up myself!! Here in NH, not only did they add a new metal canopy on my used TN65, but they shipped it to central Pa. for FREE. The also performed all the maintenance (it only had 200 hours on it), cleaned it up to look like a new one.

Maybe this was beginners luck, but I liked the dealer so much (Chappell Bros. in Brentwood, NH) that I bought a new 12,000 lb. tag-along trailer from them. Very nice and very friendly people...and they were willing to work with me on the price.

Please don't get me wrong...the folks in Pa. are very nice, but they just wouldn't budge on prices.

 

[spencer200]

Well on our tractors after we figure up our cost which include the price of the machine, filling tires, freight and setup charges. We usually add in 1000.00 for the dealership. Which should support the mechanics, sales, parts department, and remaining overhead at the dealership. Do you think that 1000.00 is an unreasonable amount for a dealer in new england to make? If we cant make this amount we can't take care of you as a customer. I have run the numbers on some of the deals I see from the southern states and if those dealers figure any of there fixed cost or even if they dont they are loosing money. For instance some of the tractors not all of them on Corrihers web site are below actual dealer cost. This may be one reason that prices in new england look higher when you start comparing to a dealer like this one. I know people are going to say they are getting a better deal but there not. I have taken every possible program into consideration when figuring there cost of the tractor. Other tractors they are selling on there web site are at cost or in the 400-600.00 range above cost. The other thing to look at rite now is if the dealers you are looking to buy at have fresh recently delivered stock. If they do since January there have been substantial increases in the cost of the tractors and attachment from steel surcharges. I for instances do not have a tractor on our lot that is older than February 2004 so I have all the price increase and surcharges on mine. This may put me a disadvantage at the moment until some other dealers get there older stock cleared out at older prices. One last thing as far as bulk shipping charges of tractors go. The shipping charge to us from New Holland is the same weather we get one tractor of the truck, or the whole truck load stays here its a flat fee that New Holland actually subsidies. I hope this answers some of your questions. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[lamarbur]

then, in my post, a dealer paying 11, selling for 13 with an MSRP of 18, the 18 is too high I know, but, 2g on a machine is not that far off. My in laws were Chrysler/Dodge/ IH truck dealers 53 years and my wife is still at another Chrysler dealership.. We have a NH and Kub dealer that demands full MSRP and then some. Of course their tractors have died on the lot. that is why I cna't understand the corp going in there and finding out why. Chrysler does this (daily) to their dealers. Maybe these tractor corportations should follow suite and get rid of rift raft dealers

 

[spencer200]

Most of the laws in New England States protect the dealers from the manufacturer. The only way to shut a dealer down is if he violates his contract or sells the equipment out of trust. They can not shut him down if they dont feel he is not selling enough product.

 

[JCA]

Spencer200,

Thanks for the information. Sounds like not even (some) New England dealers know why prices down south are lower. I think $1000 is a fine amount of profit for the dealer to make. If I knew that that was how much my dealer was making, I'd be happy with that. I'd want to be convinced that I was seeing real numbers, though...since I've seen bogus "invoice prices" on cars before. And that doesn't mean I'll buy the tractor--even if the dealer's selling for a reasonable markup, it might still be more than I'm willing to pay.

Thing is, dealers are secretive about this information. They don't want you to know how much they paid. One dealer told me that "you don't need to know that." Thanks very much, but I'll decide what I need to know and what I don't. I'm not unreasonable, but I do want to be convinced that I'm getting a good deal before I buy.
Jim

 

[rockyridgefarm]

Spencer thanks for your replies, they really explain a lot!!

 

[spencer200]

I dont know about other dealers! but the last thing I have time for is to make up fake invoices. I know this is common practice in the car business. New Holland does not even send us paper invoices anymore everything comes to a dealers electronic settlement site. So we get an electronic invoice not a paper one.

 

[beenthere]

""Thing is, dealers are secretive about this information. They don't want you to know how much they paid. One dealer told me that "you don't need to know that." Thanks very much, but I'll decide what I need to know and what I don't. I'm not unreasonable, but I do want to be convinced that I'm getting a good deal before I buy.""

Hmmm? I wonder if you would take your financial report (Fed/State tax forms) into the dealer and let the dealer decide how much you could afford to pay? Seems fair to me.

I make my decisions on how much I want to pay for a purchase, and do not really care what the dealer makes. I figure he needs to make enough to stay in business, and I want him to stay in business so he will be there when I need help, and/or when I want to trade up (or whatever).