Finally Need My Warranty and LS Is Not There! BEWARE!

[mslisaj]

I absolutely love my LS MT125!! My friends with the orange and green machines will admire the differences in the LS line compared to theirs. My tractor is 5 years old now and I have had absolutely NO problems with this machine at all. But last week I had a front tire that was losing air so I removed the tire and wheel and was very surprised to fine grease/oil on the inside of the rim. Upon a closer inspection the RF Axle shaft seal was leaking and appears to have been leaking for quite awhile. My tractor only has 135 hours on it and there is a lot of idle and backhoe time in that. While this is not a huge deal it needs to be repaired and my tractor has a 6 year warranty so I should have one year left. But the covid and business downturn has closed the dealer that I purchased this tractor from. The next closest LS dealer is 300 miles away!! That's a long haul to take the tractor and drop it off, then come home, then go back and get it and then return home. Can we say 1200 miles and all the time and fuel it takes? Okay, that's not LS's problem and I agree, BUT. I have a New Holland dealer 4 miles from me. New Holland has a tractor called a Workmaster 25S and it's built by LS!! The New Holland Workmaster 25S IS a MT125!! All New Holland's Tractors are built by LS and add one digit to the LS part numbers. They paint the same tractor a darker blue and use "New Holland" decals and we have a "New Holland Tractor". I called LS and they told me my LS dealer now was a whopping 300 miles away! I mentioned that I had a "New Holland" dealer 4 miles away and they didn't care. In fact they told me that if I PAY my local New Holland dealer out of my pocket to fix this that my warranty would be voided. I laughed at the person on the other end of the phone and said "I don't have a usable warranty now"! I truly love my LS MT125 and it's one heck of a tractor but I have heard and read about other owners that have had warranty issues and LS wasn't there and gave the owners a battle. Well I'm taking my LS tractor to "my" New Holland Dealer tomorrow and I will pay the $250 to have this simple issue repaired. But shame on LS for turning their back on this simple problem!! Especially when there is a New Holland dealer in my back yard. I would recommend LS to anyone looking for a tractor BUT, I would warn them that IF you need the Warranty that LS may not be there.

 

[shooterdon]

IMO your request to have NH do a warranty repair on an LS is unreasonable.

Pay for the repair and move on.

 

[mslisaj]

IMO your request to have NH do a warranty repair on an LS is unreasonable.

Pay for the repair and move on.

Oh yes, I do agree with you totally. BUT, LS is paying New Holland dealers to do warranty work on their tractors, what's the difference with my LS MT125. Same tractor built off the same line! Yes I'm going to pay the bill and move on but the issue is LS is losing dealers on a fine product. Do they want someone like me unhappy? I know they could care less about me, but to someone considering a LS tractor they need to be aware there may be warranty issues. I still think I made a great choice with my LS tractor. Just a little disappointed and wanted to vent. I appreciate your comment though.

 

[Hay Dude]

If buying an LS tractor made for New Holland, may be advisable to opt for the New Holland model to increase the chances of dealer support.
Water under the bridge for you, but prospective buyers LS buyers, maybe look at the New Holland version?

 

[mslisaj]

If buying an LS tractor made for New Holland, may be advisable to opt for the New Holland model to increase the chances of dealer support.
Water under the bridge for you, but prospective buyers LS buyers, maybe look at the New Holland version?

Absolutely Agree!! Maybe LS is considering phasing out their own brand name and dealers and moving to the more popular dealer New Holland. It's a great machine so please don't get my comments wrong. But look for a well established dealer network whether it's LS or New Holland. LS was the only game in town for a LS tractor back when I bought mine, but the dealer network never truly got established here for me in Oregon. Maybe where you live it's a different story. I believe to this day I made the best choice for this tractor and I have had literally NO problems except for this silly seal. It's going to be a cheap fix yes, but buy a New Holland and get a better dealer network and if you need warranty work, they are there for you.

 

[4570Man]

I don’t think any brand would have done what you’re asking. But buying a brand with better dealer network wouldn’t leave you with 300 miles in between.

 

[scootr]

Not sure if I would recommend a manufacture that sold me a warranty without ensuring I had support for said warranty. This is the reason why I would not buy from the b list of manufacturers I have 2 Kubota dealers within 20 miles. Both have been here 50 yrs.
With just 135 hrs the tractor should not need a thing from the dealer. I hope this plays out well for you over the yrs and thousands of hrs to come. But it doesn't read like a good start or anything I would recommend.

 

[pmsmechanic]

IMO your request to have NH do a warranty repair on an LS is unreasonable.

I totally disagree. If NH tractors are built by LS and NH does the warranty work on those rebranded tractors, then LS should have no problem paying for NH to service an LS tractor. A tractor that the OP has paid for the warranty on.

Expecting the OP to travel 1200 miles for warranty work is what's unreasonable.

 

[WM75Guy]

Oh yes, I do agree with you totally. BUT, LS is paying New Holland dealers to do warranty work on their tractors, what's the difference with my LS MT125. Same tractor built off the same line! Yes I'm going to pay the bill and move on but the issue is LS is losing dealers on a fine product. Do they want someone like me unhappy? I know they could care less about me, but to someone considering a LS tractor they need to be aware there may be warranty issues. I still think I made a great choice with my LS tractor. Just a little disappointed and wanted to vent. I appreciate your comment though.

Sorry your LS dealer went out of business. You bought an LS so it needs to go to an LS dealer for warranty work. Manufacturers contract out to have another manufacturer build models for them, which then becomes their responsibility for warranty work. New Holland pays New Holland dealers to do warranty work on New Holland tractors that were built by LS under contract to certain specifications for New Holland. The New Holland models are not an LS tractor and LS doesn't pay for the warranty work. The same way JD doesn't do Yanmar warranty work, even though some JD models were built by Yanmar. RK doesn't do TYM warranty work. etc.

 

[4570Man]

I totally disagree. If NH tractors are built by LS and NH does the warranty work on those rebranded tractors, then LS should have no problem paying for NH to service an LS tractor. A tractor that the OP has paid for the warranty on.

Expecting the OP to travel 1200 miles for warranty work is what's unreasonable.

LS should mail the op a check to pay for the work that needs done. But they’re probably not going to and most other manufacturers probably wouldn’t either. When the op bought this tractor he new the risk of what could happen at least regarding the only dealer for 300 miles. He probably saved more than $250 to make it worth it.