3540 Cab. Wish me luck

[JP11]

You know.. I just typed that.. but I really don't need luck.

Tomorrow morning the buyer for my used JD 1020 should be leaving with it.

I've studied, and priced, and researched. I priced at 4 dealerships in Maine. One out of state: Barlows.

Barlows is cheaper by about 1600 over the lowest local dealer. This is on tractor, loader, and one attachment.

I'm going to the dealership with a healthy pile of cash, and a credit score in the Mid 800s. I really shouldn't NEED luck. I would LIKE to buy from a guy that's less than 10 miles from home.

I WON'T however pay him that much more over my other prices. I certainly can't hold sales tax against any of them.. and that's not the difference I am talking about.

One way or another.. a 3540 is getting purchased tomorrow. I printed out a sheet of exactly what I want. I WANT to buy it local, but I don't NEED to.

JP

 

[JP11]

Oh.. and a big thanks to all on here that have helped with the research. I went from my old JD, to getting a 3030 and mowing and blowing with it and keeping my dumptruck..

to getting rid of it all.. and buying a 3540 and an exmark ZTR. Bought that yesterday. Delivered in a week or so.

and YES.. I'll post pics. My wife's a professional photographer and I could fill the 72" bucket of that Kubota with cameras.

JP

 

[bigbull338]

congrats i truelly do hope your credit score helps you get the loan through kubota credit.i hsd dealings with them in oct an they turned me down.said i didnt have any credit.an id borrow money an quickly pay it off.an i also pay cash for alot of stuff.called my banker an told her i what i was fixing todo an she said go ahead an write the check.

 

[JP11]

Bigbull-

yeah, these days you never know. A lot of it has to do with debt/income as well. I'm down to just my mortgage.. but it's a large one. I do have a family camp that I share with an uncle and my dad and brother. If I remember right.. they say it doesn't show up that way on the credit report. It appears as if I'm the only one. It's only a 30k camp or so..

I'm fortunate to have a pretty good salary. I would be shocked if I can't finance at 0% with the money I'm looking to put down.

I've planned on just under a thousand bucks is what I can stomach to "buy local"

we'll see if they agree.

JP

 

[ejkessler]

You're on your way :thumbsup:

 

[crazyal]

Well since she's a pro we don't want pictures we want great pictures, maybe some action shots and then the gratuitous setting some in the back ground. Since we know the tractor is great we will be judging her work. :laughing:

 

[JP11]

lol.. Ok, I've set the bar high now.

You guys are trying to get me in trouble. I think I finally got her settled down on buying it... now I gotta make her WORK.

You know.. Barlow's has to pay for delivery.. and I know he's making a profit on the tractor. So, it's up to the local guy. I'm the kind of guy who is loyal. If I buy from Barlow.. I'd be ordering filters and parts from him and having them shipped when at all possible.

If I add up the premium I'm willing to pay the local guy, plus what it must be costing Brady to get it to me.. that's no small amount of money over and above what I speculate he must have for a profit on a 32k dollar item.

JP

 

[arsenix2001]

He just moves a buttload of them, i had to put my dealers nutz in a vice and they were still 800-1000 more than him even after requoting, only difference was a better box blade. And ive bought 175k of equipment off them before ta boot! Go figure. Good luck and you will love it... Great machine.

 

[JP11]

Funny you post that. I did my math on my offer with 900 over barlows DELIVERED price. I can't stomach paying more than that. I priced the implements at rounded off numbers of what another local dealer quoted.

JP

 

[TripleR]

Congratulations, the L3540 is a really nice little tractor.:thumbsup:

 

[JP11]

Done deal. I ended up with a price that I really wanted. I went right up to my limit of 1k over Barlows. It was worth that much to me to buy from a place that's 6 miles away.

Stereo ordered from Crutchfield and on it's way to dealer. Most of the rest of the options they had in stock. Probably be a couple of L O N G weeks till it's ready.

Thanks all. Pictures on the way when it gets dropped off. Maybe I'll even have a few snow banks left to push. If the weather stays like it is today.... I won't have any snow left to play with.

JP

 

[Rockgod]

Done deal. I ended up with a price that I really wanted. I went right up to my limit of 1k over Barlows. It was worth that much to me to buy from a place that's 6 miles away.

JP

When I was shopping (3 months ago) around Barlows quote was right around 1000k less also. Although 1000k is nothing to sneeze at, it wasn't enough for me to cross state lines. Any more than that, say 2-3k it would have been a different story...

What options did you go with? :licking:

Congrates! :thumbsup:

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

Congratulations on your Orange purchase.:thumbsup:
I see people question why tractors cost more/dealers charge more in the New England states than they do in the lower states when the dealers all pay the same price for the tractors.
Well, here is one of the reasons why. When someone pays $1000 more and feels good with their deal, then that is one of the major reasons why. I'm not putting you $1000 more buyers down. I'm just giving, in my opinion, one of the reasons why you guys are charged more.
I've had a lot of reservations about posting this but I just have to say it and hope it doesn't flame anyone up. I'm just pointing out the difference in the value of money between regions or individuals.
I will/would pay more for a local dealer vs a dealer a great distance away. Maybe $300 more or possibly on a overly generous day and with a dealer I really liked up to $500 and that with offers of special service or pricing to offset the higher cost.
I do live in a farm community now and most people here share the farm mentality of "They worked hard for their money and they ain't letting go of it easy". I like that attitude and I'm now one of em. I orginally came from a boom or bust Rail Road Community and it was rich one day and pay anything for what you want to no money to buy anything but the bare essentials of life.
But, any way, that's why I think some dealers can charge a lot more and get away with it vs a dealer sitting down and pricing their tractor with a discount that allows them to stay in business and still give their neighbor a fair deal that the customer feels good about, just as you $1000 over guys do. I'm just a $300 to, maybe, $500 over guy.

 

[lawn_king]

Did you buy from union farm equipment. I found them to be awesome to do business with?

 

[Frankfort Mike]

I will be having an L3940 delivered in mid April. I can't wait to test it out. I had a pole building put up last fall and I need to landscape around the building. Let me know how the 3540 works out and I will give my feed back on the 3940.

 

[ejkessler]

Congratulations on your Orange purchase.:thumbsup:
I see people question why tractors cost more/dealers charge more in the New England states than they do in the lower states when the dealers all pay the same price for the tractors.
Well, here is one of the reasons why. When someone pays $1000 more and feels good with their deal, then that is one of the major reasons why. I'm not putting you $1000 more buyers down. I'm just giving, in my opinion, one of the reasons why you guys are charged more.
I've had a lot of reservations about posting this but I just have to say it and hope it doesn't flame anyone up. I'm just pointing out the difference in the value of money between regions or individuals.
I will/would pay more for a local dealer vs a dealer a great distance away. Maybe $300 more or possibly on a overly generous day and with a dealer I really liked up to $500 and that with offers of special service or pricing to offset the higher cost.
I do live in a farm community now and most people here share the farm mentality of "They worked hard for their money and they ain't letting go of it easy". I like that attitude and I'm now one of em. I orginally came from a boom or bust Rail Road Community and it was rich one day and pay anything for what you want to no money to buy anything but the bare essentials of life.
But, any way, that's why I think some dealers can charge a lot more and get away with it vs a dealer sitting down and pricing their tractor with a discount that allows them to stay in business and still give their neighbor a fair deal that the customer feels good about, just as you $1000 over guys do. I'm just a $300 to, maybe, $500 over guy.

I myself am some where in-between. I would have loved to keep my business local but the differences I encountered the last two times with my trade were 5K to 10K difference above going farther out of state. The overhead with taxes and property values are a real difference out here. I am from a Midwest farming community and currently own and operate a business here in CT. I know that taxes for example can literally be 4 to 5 times as much from other areas of the country to another not to mention that cost of living in those same lower rate areas is less so pay scales are lower as well. To me on a 25K to 50K deal I am not personally going to quibble over 600.00 to 1200.00 respectively because of these very factors. It costs me more to run my business in this region due to these very factors. That is only simple business math and bottom line figures. 5k to 10K as I mention above then KMA. One of the reasons farming is dying out in areas like New England are the costs. My families Dairy and farming business in Missouri would easily be 2 to 4 times the cost out here. My own belief is that for dealers the the extra expense to run a business is not as drastic but does have real differences to keep in mind. That is why the target market out here is the "gentleman farmer and/or weekend warrior suburbanite. Nothing wrong with any of these labels IMO. Not everyone can or wants to be a full scale "farmer". Integrating all of these is where it all comes together.

 

[JP11]

I guess it comes down to what I COULD save with that 1k.

The local guy will come get/drop of my tractor for service work for free, as it's so close.

The tractor I'm buying actually has 9 hours on it. That's because another customer had a warranty issue, and they gave him a new one to use while his was being fixed.

A dealer from far away just can't do that. Will I ever USE that kind of service.. probably not. The tractor SHOULD be very reliable. But what if it's a lemon, and needs many trips to the dealership?

Like I said.. I put the value of that piece of mind at 1k on a 30k plus purchase. You might be willing to put up with more hastle for the chance of saving that 1k. To each his own.

JP

 

[peterc38]

Congratulations on your Orange purchase.:thumbsup:
I see people question why tractors cost more/dealers charge more in the New England states than they do in the lower states when the dealers all pay the same price for the tractors.
Well, here is one of the reasons why. When someone pays $1000 more and feels good with their deal, then that is one of the major reasons why. I'm not putting you $1000 more buyers down. I'm just giving, in my opinion, one of the reasons why you guys are charged more.

Yeah but at least we don't have to pay as much for Lobster as you

 

[milesaweigh]

Yeah but at least we don't have to pay as much for Lobster as you

That new Kubota will blend right in with cooked lobster.

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

Yeah but at least we don't have to pay as much for Lobster as you

Well, actually they are cheaper here. Course ours are alot smaller and not quite as sweet. We also call them crawdads or crawfish.:licking::laughing: Getting hungry just thinking about them.:licking: