Buying Advice Is a CUT an impulse buy?

[Creamer]

I recently was at a local MF dealer and was talking to the owner. We were talking over the different types of tractors and things and he mentioned that what he had on the lot was just a sample of what he had - there were about 30 tractors sitting there. he said he already sold over 35 this spring and that he had 170 more in warehouses. I am totaling up the numbers and thinking 235+ tractors is a lot of tractors to sell in a year. He said that tractors are an impulse buy - if they are not on the lot you will not sell them. He doesn't deal in large Ag tractors - his are all the under 100 hp made by Iseki for MF.

Are tractors really an impulse buy? I would think they would be more long term. Thoughts?

 

[Sysop]

Probably for many, yes. For many others, absolutely not. Many folk get good use out of their CUTs. I'd say a lot has to do with the area too...

 

[KevT]

I know mine wasn't. I thought about it for months. I looked at many, weighed my options, talked to a lot of people, and looked at my savings.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

If determining what your needs may be now and later and checking every tractor that may or may not fit those needs over a many month or even years time frame is considered an impulse buy, then yes, most of us on TBN make impulse purchases of our tractors. Maybe this "impulse purchase" means something else to your dealer. An impulse purchase to me would be, I see it, I buy it. Not a drawn out time frame or ANY research done before the time the purchase is made. From the little that I have seen and what I have read here on TBN, this simply is not the case. But again, I am not associated with large numbers of tractor purchases.

My first reaction to the question was no.

 

[airbiscuit]

I don't think it is so much an impulse buy as it is an, I've been thinking about a CUT for a while now, but now that I'm sitting on one and operating it, I have to have one. They are just that cool. and the 0% financing seals the deal. Thinking about one is theoretical. Sitting on one breaks down all the inhibitions )

 

[gladehound]

Have to agree with most here that it is not an impulse buy. I studies spec sheets for 7 years before getting my first tractor. For my second tractor I made excel calculators to compare different models to estimate how fast each would do the various tasks that I do with a tractor. Once I found the right tractor at the right price I operated it at the dealers lot for over an hour before I was satisfied that the ergonomics would work for me. Definitely not an impulse by.

 

[Sprinklerman]

My bx 24 was an impulse buy , neighbor was moving in 1 day asks me if I want to buy his tractor for 4K , I said sure why not. ( didnt have a need for it and didnt realize how much it was worth till a week later) I dont know how I got things done with out it , I use it almost every day .

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

My bx 24 was an impulse buy , neighbor was moving in 1 day asks me if I want to buy his tractor for 4K , I said sure why not. ( didnt have a need for it and didnt realize how much it was worth till a week later) I dont know how I got things done with out it , I use it almost every day .

4k for a BX24?!!!? Somebody call the police. What a deal!

 

[Creamer]

If determining what your needs may be now and later and checking every tractor that may or may not fit those needs over a many month or even years time frame is considered an impulse buy, then yes, most of us on TBN make impulse purchases of our tractors. Maybe this "impulse purchase" means something else to your dealer. An impulse purchase to me would be, I see it, I buy it. Not a drawn out time frame or ANY research done before the time the purchase is made. From the little that I have seen and what I have read here on TBN, this simply is not the case. But again, I am not associated with large numbers of tractor purchases.

My first reaction to the question was no.

The same as my first reaction. But then I got to thinking what makes someone finally pull the trigger and like airbiscuit said - you see it and sit on it and you make the leap. The dealer's point was that if he didn't have them on the lot he couldn't sell them because everybody wants them now. He also only kept one or two of each model on the lot because he wanted people to think it was his last one or at least that he was almost out of that model.

i had never thought of tractors like this but he was fourth in the nation last year by quantity of Massey tractors sold.

 

[davesl708]

After lifting and moving large logs and rocks by hand yes I had an impulse to buy a SCUT with a FEL.

 

[Gary Fowler]

The only impulse that I see in tractor buying is that folks don't realize all the uses that they need them for before they buy. Many if not most folks buy with a few tasks in mind but quickly realize that a tractor is much more capable and perhaps they needed a larger (or smaller) model so the impulsively go buy another to replace the first one or even to keep the first one company.

I suppose that after most folks do months or even years of comparing, reviewing shopping for pricing and settling on a model, it could be called impulse buying by the dealer when they come in and say "I want that tractor today". As far as he is concerned they impulse bought.

 

[TSO]

I'll bet that some people really do buy small tractors on an impulse. Some people may not truly "need" a tractor, but, they have the money, so they buy one. I would suspect that these people are also the ones who would buy primarily on "color" or "brand name" without doing proper research.

Just my opinion

 

[MtnViewRanch]

The only impulse that I see in tractor buying is that folks don't realize all the uses that they need them for before they buy. Many if not most folks buy with a few tasks in mind but quickly realize that a tractor is much more capable and perhaps they needed a larger (or smaller) model so the impulsively go buy another to replace the first one or even to keep the first one company.

I suppose that after most folks do months or even years of comparing, reviewing shopping for pricing and settling on a model, it could be called impulse buying by the dealer when they come in and say "I want that tractor today". As far as he is concerned they impulse bought.

Now this makes a lot of sense. :thumbsup:

 

[arrow]

After lifting and moving large logs and rocks by hand yes I had an impulse to buy a SCUT with a FEL.

Great answer

 

[arrow]

I would have to say categorically it's not. Few people would spend 20-30 grand as an "impulse". Being impulsive of such a purchase I think only a few have the luxury for. This constitutes a purchase without forethought such as the grocer tries to do with all the goodies available at the check out counter.

I agree with Gary F that what the dealer is witnessing as "impulse", the purchaser has given much thought to and even selecting one tractor over another say one with a backhoe or not or a cab or open station, I can bet the purchaser has mulled around more than once. Once he sees his previous "thought patterns" in the flesh, it all clicks in and may look like "impulse"

 

[Creamer]

I would have to say categorically it's not. Few people would spend 20-30 grand as an "impulse". Being impulsive of such a purchase I think only a few have the luxury for. This constitutes a purchase without forethought such as the grocer tries to do with all the goodies available at the check out counter.

I think many car dealers would disagree with you. $20-30k cars are normal and dealers will tell you the sales people make the difference of getting the person to pull the trigger.

 

[flusher]

When I bought my 10 acre place in Jan 2005, it had a nice crop of 3-4 ft tall native plants (aka weeds). I had two choices--hire the mowing done or buy a tractor and do it myself. I looked at four brands at local dealers: Kubota, New Holland/Ford, Mahindra, Branson. Bought the Kubota (B7510HST with the LA302 FEL). Three years later I decided to become a hay farmer. So I traded the Bota for a Mahindra 5525 with the ML250 FEL. Neither purchase was an impulse decision.

 

[arrow]

I think many car dealers would disagree with you. $20-30k cars are normal and dealers will tell you the sales people make the difference of getting the person to pull the trigger.

I sold cars and trucks for 19 years. Even there, what looks like an "impulse" is really what the person wants except when practicality steps in. Things such as price, color, options, insurance costs, etc, alter the initial desire. Also, the need for a car and the need for a tractor can be relegate to a different thought pattern. One might buy 15 cars in a life time but I doubt one is buying that many cuts.

I would agree with you that there are dealerships that want their sales staff to "push" cars on people. Anybody that came to me for a car or truck, that was never done. "Trigger pulling" was only done with careful thought.
I had no desire to put people "on the ladder".

It raises an interesting point however in that I wonder if anyone has ever had to contend with a "slick" tractor salesman in todays world.

 

[TSO]

It raises an interesting point however in that I wonder if anyone has ever had to contend with a "slick" tractor salesman in todays world.

I think so ... We hear stories on here often of a dealer providing false or misleading info in an attempt to sway a buyer. The JD dealer in my town speaks negatively about other tractor brands... So I have little faith in him. A local dealer who had sold Yanmar just picked up Mahindra. I was in there a couple weeks ago and stood at the counter (was getting a price on a used implement in their yard) while he was on the phone talking to a potential customer about a Mahindra max. He was explaining how "Mahindra builds this tractor to be tougher than the competition" and about how Mahindra "builds their tractors and are the number one manufacturer in the world". About the only thing he got right was that the max used a Mitsu engine. After he got off the phone, I educated him in that tractors origins, and then educated him further on the fact that he had "Mahindra" CUT tractors in his lot from 3 different manufacturers (TYM, Mitsubishi, and Mahindra). He was embarrassed. Now, I don't think he was trying to be shifty ... I just think he was uneducated on the facts.

I like my MF/Kioti dealer because he speaks pretty highly about most other brands too, and if he doesn't, he offers specific examples of the problems and shortcomings. He works on all makes, so I generally feel he has a good handle on things. Now, I have caught a few things that he was uneducated on, but they were pretty limited.

 

[GManBart]

I think it depends on what you consider an "impulse purchase." Some might view that as "I'm driving down the road, pass a tractor dealership, stop by and decide I have to get one so I sign papers" sort of thing. I doubt that happens much.

The other kind is that someone decides they want/need a tractor and eventually they visit a dealership. They don't do much/any research and simply buy what they see on the lot, and what the dealer suggests for them. I think that happens a lot. I can see why some folks might call it an impulse purchase.