Dealer quote experience

[nhman]

Had a funny experience today when getting a quote. Maybe someone can explain it to me.

I have a good quote on a b2910. I live in va. area and there are dealers in Md, west virginia, the district of columbia etc. All within 60 miles. The best qoute I have is from a dealer across the state line. I went to th closest dealer and asked them if they could match the quote. The salesman asked to see the quote. I showed him. He said he'd get back to me. He called me about 4 hours later and said he could not beat the quote and in fact his price was 1500 more. He said they called the other dealer as well. I'm confused as to why the local dealer called the other dealer?

This local dealer was also about 1500 higher when I bought my first tractor. I really want to so business with the closest dealer, but his price is to high. I am also now kind of wondering why he called the other dealer or if he even did so? He said he confirmed the price I showed him on the quote.
So why did he say he called?

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

Why not ask him? /w3tcompact/icons/clever.gif I have a tough enough time trying to figure out why I do some of the things I do without trying to figure out why someone else does what they did.

 

[LGinIA]

My guess is that he did not call the other dealer--unless both dealerships are owned by the same company. If they are competitive dealers, a dealer would not share sales information to risk losing the sale to a competitive dealer. Ask to speak to the owner/GM not the salesman and again explain how you would like to do business with them--ask him to sharpen the pencil or throw in some extra attachments to secure your business. If this does not work, 60 miles is only an hour away-$1,500 is a sizeable sum.

 

[cnoel]

nhman,
From a dealer standpoint, it is possible he called the other dealer for this reason; often we get potential customers who will call or come in claiming the nearest dealer gave them such and such quote to try to get us to lower our price. We, in turn, have called the dealer in question and gotten the REAL qoute only to find it was much higher than the customer claimed. This does not happen to often out here as the nearest dealer is 120 miles away, but sadly it does happen. I would think with a written quote there would be no reason to call, but if this has been a problem for them they may just be gunshy. We work pretty closely with our dealers out here in the boonies because we often share truckloads to save on freight and transfer inventory in and out. We sell very low volume compared to more populous areas and therefore cannot stock large volumes and multiples of any particular model. Just because dealers are competitive doesn't mean they do not have a good business relationship or even friendship outside of business. Its a good idea to get along with your neighbors just in case they have something you really NEED someday

 

[frank_f15]

if he did call the other dealer it was probably to confirm that u were not giving him a line of bull about the price. only thing i can think of.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

A line of bull from the buyer and not the salesman ?? I guss there is even competition in bull

Ben in KY

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

The vast majority of attempts to purpetrate a fraud in vehicle transactions are those involving attempts by the consumer to defraud the dealer. It usually involves a vehicle being traded in being misrepresented. You'd be amazed at some of the things I've seen in my 25 years in business. A lot of time it's relatively minor things like car audio systems or tires being swapped after the appraisal, but I've seen an entire engine swap done on a Jeep, removing a V-8 and replacing it with a four cylinder.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Yes I know it works both ways. Remember " let the buyer beware " . Those of us who deal/trade honestly sometimes are the most likely to get burned if we do not watch out. I really enjoy when 2 dishonest people involved in a deal burn each other. I have also worked several technical support jobs where I had to ask the buyer " The saleseman told you it would do That, well you will have to talk to the salesman because it will not do that and never would. "

Ben in KY

 

[cowboydoc]

I've seen an entire engine swap done on a Jeep, removing a V-8 and replacing it with a four cylinder.

That happened to a friend of mine. He bought a year old Ford diesel and got it home. They started looking at it and he didn't think it was the right engine. He got the #'s and sure enough it was an engine that Ford had on record as having 155,000 miles and this truck was only supposed to have 18,000 on it!

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Just one other thought from me on this subject. It only takes one dishonest salesperson or technician to give the dealer a bad reputation. But one dishonest customer is just one dishonest customer. Not really fair but that seems to be the way it is.

Ben in KY

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

That's a good point, Ben. One other point I'd like to mention is that while there are a myriad of laws and agencies to protect the consumer, there's not a single one to protect a business from the consumer.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I will have to disagree on the laws. What about the defrauding an inkeeper laws. The mechanics lein laws. the theft of service from cable company law. The banking laws that hold banks not responsible for their mistakes if your check bounces because they made a mistake. I once had a bank credit my deposit to another account. There is no law to protect a consumer against that, you have to sue. There are more laws to protect business than consumers, or at least as many. In the homeland security act there is a provision to prevent suits against drug compaines. If the airline is flying a plane over 20 years old and it falls apart and crashes, they are not liable. These are just a few I can think of.

Ben in ky

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

Mechanic's leins protect individual workers, too. The bank situation you describe is an error and not an attempt to defraud and therefor is civil in nature. You seem to be confusing civil and criminal actions.

I've never seen any laws which impute knowledge of unknowable things on an individual, but I can cite example of that which apply to businesses.

It seems as though this is something on which we may have to agree to disagree. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Have a nice Thanksgiving.

 

[TimSullivan]

When I bought my 4300 Deere I was also looking at Orange. The Kubota dealers were smaller and all about the same size. The prices varied about $1000 on a tractor. The highest price came from a salesman who told me as I left to give him a chance at beating a better price. That real burns me. All I want is their best price. I tell them I will shop around and have confidence in Carver so shipping is not a problem. If I can come close to the same price, I would always buy local.

When I zeroed in on the 4300 I called and talked with several dealers and found the farther I got away the higher the price with only one exception. The lowest priced dealer had a real small shop and really did not impress me. The dealer I wanted to buy from was only ten miles away and had a great reputation with the local farmers. Their price was $1000 or so more for the package. I talked with them and showed them the lowest quote. I was impressed the way they handled it. No bad mouthing of the other dealer, no excuses. After talking to the boss the salesman came back with a deal only two hundred dollars more. A no brainer, I took the deal. The service I have gotten from them has been very good.

I have had some problems because I am just new at this tractor thing but they always are responsive. They will have a service man stop on the way to another job to answer my questions. After dealing with them, I know I got the best deal. They still answer my stupid questions and are always willing to help me out. My 4300 needed some recall work and the truck arrived at 8:00 AM and returned the tractor at 1:00 PM the same day. Now I know why the farmers all recommended them.

I know where I will buy my next tractor, no question about it.

 

[Green_in_MI]

I was at a car dealership the other day where I mentioned protection laws. They told me that there was a bunch of things they had to disclose and do because of state laws and protection for the purchaser. I said "and none for the dealership, right?" He said "we have just as many to protect us." Hard to know what he meant by that or what kinds of protection he was referring to. I suppose it all depends on your perspective.

 

[gatractorman]

He probably did call just to be sure the quote was genuine, I'm sure all dealers know what other dealers pay for their tractors as they come from the same place, but there may be price breaks for a quantity buy I dont know, but I dont believe it would $1500 cheaper per tractor, the local dealer is probably thinking you will pay the $1500 more to keep your business close to home.

 

[John_Mc]

Re: caution, topic drift!!

<font color=blue>If the airline is flying a plane over 20 years old and it falls apart and crashes, they are not liable.</font color=blue>

As a pilot, I can say this is NOT true. The liability reform (?) passed by congress a few years back relieves the MANUFACTURER of an aircraft made more than 20 years ago from liability in SOME cases. It does not relieve them of negligence or willfull misconduct. It also doe snot releive them of responsibility for replacement parts put into this airplane which are less than 20 years old.

The OWNER/OPERATOR of an aircraft is ultimately responsible for determining its airworthiness and for its safe operation, regardless of its age. (This would be the airline, in your example, or an individual in the case of many of the smaller, privately owned general aviation aircraft.)

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Re: caution, topic drift!!

I could very well be mistaken on the Airline responsibility on the 20 Year old Aircraft liability issue. However I Thought that Florida passeed a law that went beyond the federal law a few years ago. Of course I could be mistaken or have heard a "NEWS" story that was slanted.

Ben in KY

 

[MReeter]

nhman,We have about 4 Kubota Dealers within about a 100 miles radius in our part of the country (Rural U.S.A.) They all know one another very well.Our Dealer says he can price a unit within 50-100 bucks of any other Dealership,simply because they all work off of the same numbers.

He will tell potential buyers to shop around to get the best price they can,cause he knows that he is right in the same price range as the next guy.

$1500. is a bit too much of a difference for sure.The biggest margin between Dealers is what they will allow for a trade in...