Wow, buying a tractor can be interesting!

[frank_f15]

can't tell u what gives on the difference in price, when i was looking for my tractor, 2 dealers quoteing on the exact same tractor were off by $1100.00 . 1 was 20 miles one way from me the other 20 miles the other way.

 

[Kevin37]

I must say...
I'm always curious when I read these posts about distance buying to save some $$$$. I certainly understand the points about supporting your local dealer, what to expect when you need service, and so on. But so many people word their opinion as:"I would pay a little more to buy from the local dealer." Great ! So will I. If it is, indeed, a little. The package I'm looking at is in the high 20's to 30K range. This is just the initial purchase as I get started in my new farming venture, and over the years will be buying a lot more equipment. This is something my dealer should consider when discussung my needs and the pricing for the tractor. But what do you do when a "Distance" dealer will deliver the same package to your driveway for a substantial savings ? $500 savings, I'm buying from the local guy. $1,000 savings?? WOW...that's a lot of money. $1,500...$2,000....with possible no tax on top of that? Picture $1,500 in twenty dollar bills spread out on your kitchen table. Are you willing to throw that money away because your local dealer plays hardball? That could buy some nice implements !!

Not my hard-line opinion...just some food for thought /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Feel free to talk amongst yourselves !

 

[higgy]

I agree, as one pointed out if someone moves in from out of town with is tractor will the new dealer turn them down, I don't think so.

In my case there are two bota dealers that are next door to each other, I do mean next door, not across the road or down the block. One sells the larger tractors 50 hp and up the other upto 50. I bought my 3130 from the dealer with the smaller tractors but I like the other dealer better. I buy all of my parts from the other dealer, I told him that i would buy my stuff from him and he treats me like I bought the tractor from him.

It worked in my case. Talk with the dealer, they all like busness.

Dane

 

[keeney]

To remove any guilt or hard feelings:

Give the local guy a fair chance at your business. Let him know what price he needs to hit to make the sale. Then its kind of up to him. Its not your fault his price is higher than the other guy and he won't come down. The tax thing will be something of a sticky point in this discussion (because it makes it unfair for the local dealer).

Make sure you don't take advantage of the local guy by test driving his demo, taking all his printed literature, and wasting all his time. If you do do this, make sure he understands at the beginning that you intend to shop around for price. What you can offer in exhange for his helpfulness is that he will get first chance at your business and if the bids are close, he will win.

Last time I bought a car, I had three dealers bidding on the same vehicle configuraiton. All guilt was removed when the winning dealer's price was low enough to make the other guys say uncle. All three understood that they needed to be the lowest to get the business. All three had a fair shot at it. The two who didn't get the sale were happy they didn't at the price I paid (even though they claimed the whole time that they would beat any other offer I got).

- Rick

 

[lablovers]

I am torn between this local vs out of state. I would much rather buy locally. But have to admit I have narrowed my purchase a little. Looked at some Kioti's today and like them both. But my local guy was about $2,500 over buying out of state. The taxes and shipping off set each other. I am a weekend kind of guy. So my service requirements should be small. When I was at the World Ag Show recently, I could not get the Big Guys to even talk to me. They were to busy drinking beer and talking with each other. I am in sales and apprecialte loyalty and local purchasing. But loyalty is something that is earned. Who is the customer anyway? The dealer should be courting me, not the other way around.
Just my two cents. Just to be fair some have. Dave of Daves Tractors has been very helpful.
Lablovers

 

[Cliff_Johns]

One way to look at the in-state .vs. out of state thing
is to figure that if you can save $2000 by doing a
mail order tractor, you can give your local dealer $1000
cash as a bribe to always be at the head of the repair
list and so he takes you seriously and still be up $1000

Sounds like a silly thing to do, but it's what you are
really doing if you decide to blindly buy locally because
you are worried about repairs and service
.
If the local dealer will come within some reasonable
amount (whatever that is for you) then fine, but you
can always give him extra cash for repairs and still
come out ahead.

Sounds wierd when you look at it that way doesn't it?
Just a thought.

Cliff

 

[LabLuvR]

Last year my little ol 8N broke down. It was about 3 weeks before I got it back if that soon. I would almost bet that just because I bought that tractor from that dealer did not help me any. This may not be the usual, but I do not necessarily believe that just because you buy one from a certain dealer you will be first in line. What about the customer that has bought 5 tractors to your one??? Who gets the preference then? Money is money when I am spending it. The dealers should fix the first in first regardless of where and how many others were bought. Just my 2 cents.

 

[rockyridgefarm]

This topic keeps coming around.

A dealer is paid to sell products and service them. If he doesn't sell enough products, he will lose out. He may lose his dealer status. Se he needs to be competitive when he sells, the manufacturer is less interested in his making the profit on that sale than in moving products for them.

We want convenient service on products that we have paid as little as possible for. He is paid for warranty work, but no one is getting rich off that anymore. (and who WANTS to go back to the days when dealers were?)

And if you should get a "lemon" the dealer should buy it back, that's only fair, right.

And he better have a spotless shop, highly trained, neatly groomed technicians. And provide loaners, free pickup and delivery, and pull a float in the town parade.

Every part you can imagine is waiting on his bulging parts shelves. Every salesman always knows the answer to even the most arcane questions.

Free coffee and donuts on cold Saturday morning sure are nice.

Somehow in all that. there are good dealers who figure out how to make a profit, which pays the help, and keep customers happy. And sometimes they have to use their profit, not the manufacturers to keep a customer a happy customer. So they do find ways to take care of their customers, while still providing the basic required service to anyone that is entitled warranty work.

Just wait till you've replaced a brand new diesel engine or a transmission under warranty And the manufacturer refuses to pay, do to customer abuse or or unapproved modifications. You get pretty funny about who's warranty work you want to perform. But a good dealer will have a good report with his manufacturers field rep. He knows who his good customers are and can go to bat for them.

In no way am i endorsing price gouging. But dealer gouging isn't helping a consumer, either...

 

[megotatractor]

Yes, interesting. I've learned that I can't afford one. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

 

[fivestring]

<font color="blue">"Wow, buying a tractor can be interesting!" </font>

And EXPENSIVE! /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif <font color="green">$$$$$$$$$ </font>