HELP!!! IM DISGUSTED WHAT DO I DO

[Bird]

I'm with you on this, Gordon. I can't imagine someone bragging to his local dealer about getting a better price elsewhere, but how many of us have bought a car or pickup from one dealer, and at some point in time go to another dealer for warranty service, whether the reason was purchase price or something else? Since we spent 5 years traveling, I bought a new motorhome in Las Vegas, towed a new car behind it that I bought in Dallas, had a little warranty work done on the car in Georgia and on the motorhome in Ohio and Virginia, and I never had a problem. Why should it be any different with tractors? And it only seems logical to me for a dealer to put his own customers first, but to cheerfully help the others as soon as possible and they may become his customers in the future.

Bird

 

[TomG]

Yes, I believe that's the idea behind auto leasing. Why it can be done so it seems cheap compared to buying. As I understand, the idea is that the customer has to keep coming back to the dealer. Then, there's an opportunity to sell the customer another car. Of course, the idea works only if the service is good enough to keep customers happy.

 

[BobT]

Gordon & Bird & others,

You're right on this issue. Used to be that only a farmer bought a tractor. He probably lived on the same plot for 2-4 generations, so it was logical that the same dealer would sell and service his equipment.

Now lots of people other than farmers are picking up these $20K+ machines. In America, people move an average of every 3 years---so, the RULE is going to be, dealers must service equipment not bought from their own dealership. Same is true of cars, boats, etc.

Also, while leasing tractors isn't so popular as with cars, yet, it likely will be. That means lots more equipment out in the marketplace, all needing service. Any dealer who blocks this off is digging his own ditch, IMO.

No doubt, Kubota is one of the "older" type companies. But with GM, Ford, etc (all "old style" companies) racing to the digital sales world full tilt, I am sure Kubota will have to adapt to this new world too.

Still, you don't have to antagonize the dealer whose price is being beat. Just bring in your tractor for service. Why tell him what the deal was?

My .02 worth.

BobT.

A Indiana Boy

 

[Muhammad]

Bird,

<font color=blue>He once offered to sell me a tractor at his "cost" if I'd sell him my motorhome at a price well below wholesale value. </font color=blue>

/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif That is a first!

 

[gordon]

Now that is a smart dealer always leave the door open. He might not have made as much on the sale but he will make that back and then some over the years with parts and service.

Gordon

 

[MChalkley]

Rebel - Anytime I buy anything, I want the dealer to make a reasonable profit. I want him to be in business the next time I need something. I don't want him to make so little that he'll go under (but, on the other hand, I don't want her to make so much that he can retire early either).

I think dealers try to make a profit on everything - it would be foolish to do otherwise. To sell a tractor for no profit because you're banking on the service is obviously a recipe for business failure, given the amount of service a tractor needs. And as for performing service for free - why? And for how long? It just doesn't make sense. And if a dealer makes money on service, yet refuses to service someone's tractor because they bought it elsewhere, he's too stupid to stay in business long. Just make sure all your neighbors know of his attitude. Of course, they'll find out for themselves in due time, but you can do them a favor and keep him from having an opportunity to abuse them, too.

It's incredible how many folks refuse to take responsibility for their own actions. If they're unhappy, they say it's because someone made them that way. What they don't realize is that they can't feel any way they don't allow themselves to. If they don't succeed, they say it's because someone else cheated. In reality, the fault is usually their own. This particular dealer chooses to believe that if he loses a sale to Carver, it's Carver's fault. In reality, it's no one's but his own. He has to understand that the choice to sell or not is his own. If you want a Kubota, he stands a better chance of selling you one than anyone else, unless his own foolishness or stubbornness gets in the way. I can't believe anyone would buy from Carver instead of a local dealer if the prices were fairly close. All the dealer has to say is: "Ok, you got a price from Carver, so you've got a baseline price - what will you pay for one?" You may feel that you still don't want to buy from him because you had to batter him into lowering his price, or not. And of course, if he were content to make less money on the tractor, the exchange would never have occurred in the first place. He probably has a reason to justify his pricing, but he can only have an excuse to justify his attitude.

Mark

 

[Rick Jay]

Hi,

Having recently just purchased a B2910, I can tell you what I did. After getting three internet prices (delivered to my door, with the equipment I desired), I then returned to my local dealer to talk prices. I had been there a couple of times before and developed a "feel" for him, so to speak. I liked the way he treated me. I let him offer me his price first. A bit of a discount, but not as much as any of the three internet offers. I asked him if he could "sharpen his pencil" a bit, and he said they don't do that. We talked about some other options, and finally I showed him the three prices that I had and told him that I would like to see something in that range. (I kept the identities of the three dealers secret, but I'm sure he knew one of them was Steve Carver.)

He thought some more, and after a bit of..."how about this"... and I countered with "well, I'll pay for this if you throw in that", we eventually settled on a deal that was within the three estimates, not including sales tax. (With the sales tax, it was just over the highest internet bid.) I consider the sales tax as my burden for dealing with a local dealership. After all, he can't do anything about this tax-crazy state we live in (Massachusetts).

If you haven't already purchased your tractor, and this is the only dealer near you and you place a high value on buying local, then perhaps you should try to approach him one more time. We all have bad days, you could've caught him on one. On the other hand, if he turned you off so much that you want nothing to do with him, then by all means look elsewhere. Personally, I really wouldn't hesitate to buy over the internet, and definitely would have had my dealer not been so open-minded.

The internet is going to change the way most businesses are run, and those that are most adaptable can use it to their advantage.

Good Luck.

~Rick

 

[Bird]

Yep, Muhammad, a truly amazing experience. And the most amazing thing is that the guy's still in business. I was new to the area at the time, but since then found that none of my neighbors will even try to do business with him.

Bird

 

[MikeF]

rebel, I feel your pain. I too am about to purchase a new kubota & it will not be from a local dealer, And I have bought a lot of equipment from him over the years. Here is my problem, I got quotes from 3 different dealers close to me and they were all fairly close on the prices. Then I found this site & Steve Carver. After getting a quote from him I feel like my local dealers are all crooks! I dont plan to even give them a second chance at the sale, I asked for their best deal and they gave it to me (not even close), maybe when they see me go up the road with my new tractor they will realize I was serious! Gordon hit the nail on the head (times are canging) My only concern is service but with a kubota it's a pretty safe gamble. Good luck with your purchase!

Mike

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Wow,what a deal,what is it with some dealers anyway?I live in a small rural area where dealers are not a plenty.We have gone to our Chevy dealership the past five times we have traded vehicles,and tried very hard to spend money with them,telling them every time that we would like to spend our money locally,and try to support there business.I can't tell you how I just don't understand why a business such as this doesn't realize that most us of work,and work hard to make a living,and we're not just going to make out a check for whatever they ask.We've driven about 90 miles away from home each time we've traded vehicles and have saved about 2,000.00 on each trip.Now that's around $10,000 we saved,and several dollars that the local boys have let get away from them.What really chaps their rear-end is when they HAVE to perform any warranty work on one of these cars or trucks.No differant in the tractor world,a local dealer will HAVE to perform any warranty work that might come up.We have owned three Kubotas over the past few years,and have not had a problem one.We bought our B2710 last summer from our local dealer only after I had shown him published internet prices,and that we would like to spend our money locally,He matched the best price we could find on the web,and seemed to be happy to do so.Now the business world is changing as we speak,There is old saying out there"When your finished changing,your finished."I'd say,go shoppin,find the best deal you can live with,and go for it.I wouldn't worry about that butt-head,remember,your trying to buy one of the best compact tractors in the world.