Why is green paint so expensive?

[Soundguy]

Makes me wonder too. In my area, MF is the bang for the buck of the big 3.. with NH next.. and then orange and green neck and neck...

Unfortunately.. i can buy so much more blue tractro for what I pay for green / orange. I like MF... just didn't see one that I wanted.

Soundguy

I'll be honest. I really want to buy a Deere, but Kubota and NH both offer more tractor for the same amount of money. At least that's how it stacks up in my area. I won't even complain about all of the other colors that offer more bang for the buck.

I guess it's just frustrating to have to compromise on what I want in a tractor (HP, 4WD,tranny, etc.), just to get a Deere. You would think that the "Big 3" would be pretty close on price. I guess those extra dollars go toward marketing, which is why I want a Deere to start with.

My question is: Why should I spend the extra $3-6k to "go green"? I'd love to hear biased and unbiased answers.

 

[HappyCPE]

Not to be a wiseguy, but....
Green paint is worth more because folks are willing to pay more for it.
Image, reputation, engineering, or a well-lit dealer, whatever. The marketplace has decided that Deere can get more money for its products; if somehow folks stopped buying their tractors, the price would go down.

The real answer is, is it right for You? I was ready to pull the trigger on a TC40, but drove out of my way to give the Deere another look. [The local dealer was a bonehead, had no 4x20's and had never seen one]. I went green at +$2500 for the four reasons I cited above, and because it felt right for me.

Now, nobody ever said, "wow, nice truck" to me. But they do complement my tractor. I'm not too proud to admit I like hearing that. What would that be worth to you?

Actually, if you could isolate what makes the green paint special, you could bottle it and become a millionaire. Lots of companies would like to enjoy the respect that JD has as a corporation. But I don't think anyone can really give you a good answer to your question.

 

[Soundguy]

It's not 'worth' more cause people are willing to pay it.. it simply 'costs more' cause people are willing to pay it.

I'm a pretty firm believer than any capable machine from the big3.. sized up for the job.. should perform just about equally. What's left is cosmetics, ergonomics, and economics.

Soundguy

 

[Ken_CT]

There are way more toys, collectibles, calendars, etc. for JD than for all the other brands combined. Says a lot for product recognition. As dmp437 mentions about the Harleys, people are willing to spend more for that.

 

[CWP37]

That's the world we live in...driven by marketing and advertising. I'll admit, I already have a JD ride-on tractor picked out for my 15 month old as soon as he can operate it.

It'd be tough to explain to him why his is green and dad's is orange/red/blue.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

My little 18month old got hers at 1 year and she still loves it.

John Deere's reputation is what it is due to quality and sound corportate management. Let's hope the current and future management have half the scrupples of the past management.

I don't mind paying more if the quality is there. But don't charge me more and give me a product "masked" with green paint. I gotta believe that JD does honestly try to engineer quality products but they are only human too. Dependability will be the standard to which each product will be judged by 20 years down the road.

 

[755inNY]

I'll be honest. I really want to buy a Deere, but Kubota and NH both offer more tractor for the same amount of money. At least that's how it stacks up in my area. I won't even complain about all of the other colors that offer more bang for the buck.

I guess it's just frustrating to have to compromise on what I want in a tractor (HP, 4WD,tranny, etc.), just to get a Deere. You would think that the "Big 3" would be pretty close on price. I guess those extra dollars go toward marketing, which is why I want a Deere to start with.

My question is: Why should I spend the extra $3-6k to "go green"? I'd love to hear biased and unbiased answers.

I'll give you a biased answer from a pro-John Deere man.

You should not pay $3 to $6k more just to go green. If the the other brands give you more tractor than the Deere for less money, you are happy with the dealer and the tractor meets your needs for ergonimics, looks and operability then I don't see how you can go wrong buying either a Kubota or NH. They are both fine tractors.

But as I said, I'm biased.

Jeff

 

[HappyCPE]

It's not 'worth' more cause people are willing to pay it.. it simply 'costs more' cause people are willing to pay it.

I'm a pretty firm believer than any capable machine from the big3.. sized up for the job.. should perform just about equally. What's left is cosmetics, ergonomics, and economics.

Soundguy

Well, not to nitpick, but I say "worth" because I'm certain the value of the green paint will come back to you down the road in resale value.

Of course, you're right, all the machines perform pretty much the same. If JD tractors were SO much better, the competition just wouldn't be around.

 

[Soundguy]

I'm not so certain that just having green paint on it when you go to sell it will bring any price premium. The used market around here pretty much goes base don hp, and options... paint is irrelivent...

soundguy

 

[wolc123]

Things must have changed in the last year or so. Before I bought my JD 4120 back then, I looked at comparable machines from Kubota (GL 4330), and NH (TD-40). At that time, the best price I could get on the Kubota was $500 more than the JD. the NH was $400 less but it lacked the quick-attach bucket offered as standard equipment on the JD. Add that option and the cost was the same, so back then, the JD was tied for cheapest of the 3. Not bad considering the specs on the JD exceeded the others in just about every category, making the purchase a real no-brainer. I suggest you shop around a bit more as you may find a green dealer who will match or at least get close to the other guys prices. If not, there is certainly nothing wrong with the blue or orange. I must admit that JD has been the favored make on my farm going back to 1950 when we replaced a team of horses with a model M 2-banger. Personally, I would put a value of around $1000 on green paint in the 40-60 hp range. I am not completely color blind and have owned several blue (Ford), red (IH), and orange (AC) over the years. The green ones have rarely let me down compared to the others. Even that old M (10000+ hours, 1 engine rebuild) still runs good and performs occasional light duty around here.