Price Check I Don't Get These Prices

[1sty]

I have been lurking in the background and I keep seeing the normal price listed being thousands less than what any dealers seem to be offering up here.
I am looking at Massey Ferguson GC1710/20s and I see people post ~$18K prices for a GC1720 with accessories. How is this possible?
The dealer up here was offering just under $17,000 delivered with no accessories at all for a GC1710. With the drive over 60" mower it was $19400.
They were perfectly happy to see me walk away over the price.
The mower was $2500 alone.

Also if I go with the 0% financing, they want full MSRP for the tractor.

I figured I would try another dealer that was out of state but that specifically posted their price from and they wanted over $20K for the same thing.

A local Kubota dealer wanted $22K for a BX23S with the backhoe and 54" mower.

What's going on here?

 

[TheMadOne]

It sounds like you're in an area where either there's very little competition, there's overwhelming demand, or both.

If you're really hurt by those prices and don't care about having dealer support take a trip down 95 and visit one of the package dealers. Or heck, swing by Messicks if you don't feel like going further south. I'm sure they'd treat you right.

 

[k0ua]

For years it has been reported that tractors are cheapest in the south and higher north, and REALLY higher in Canada. New England areas are generally considered about the worst in the US. Now just why that is, I am not sure, but it seems to be so. Even here in Missouri, the dealers will "deal" and offer discounts either up front or during "haggling". I gave $19,200 for my Kioti DK35se with the canopy as shown in my avatar. A deluxe tractor with hydro and many features.

 

[djefferis]

Sometimes your fortunate enough to live near a dealer who has competition - sometimes not.

If your dealer is ready to see you walk if not paying MSRP - oblige them and go elsewhere.

I'll be honest - some of the prices posted here are bare bones - shops making a few % on the sale from a customer they know they will not hear from again until they are ready to buy another new unit. But based on your experience - I'd look elsewhere. I'm a realist, a dealership needs to make profit to keep good knowledgeable employees and continue to support me when I need it...but if they cant make it not selling at MSRP - they probably wont be around long anyhow in the internet age as they will get killed on price sensitive shoppers and likely big a bigger chain dealership moving in and taking over their territory.

Reasonably, 7-10% off list is doable - perhaps a little less if using promo finance (this is a cost to the dealer of approx 4-10% gross) - accessories are where they typically make their $$$ - as well as service/service contracts. Where your making 15% GROSS on a machine, you make 2x or more that on accessories - and one machine can lead to a sale of 4 accessories and service for 10 years. So its easy to see why dealers want to be the choice where you buy a new machine.

I cannot answer on Massey - other than to say a local dealer here made better deal I know for my father on a similar machine - as to Kubota - Messicks gets alot of love on here and is a supporter of the forum. Call them to get a comparison quote.

 

[ericm979]

You get a distorted view of things on the internet. People aren't going to post their numbers if they're not as good as someone else's. So what you see are only the good deals. And I would not be surprised if some of those forgot some of their costs when they posted them. It's common for people to exaggerate on the internet, either consciously or unconsciously.

I can tell you that the common 10-12% off on Kubotas that gets bandied about here sure wasn't happening for me here in my part of California when I was shopping a year ago. It's an expensive area. There's only two dealers in the area and one is mostly a truck dealer that has a few tractors. It was pretty much here's the price, take it or leave it.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

I too, had sticker shock when I started looking at the only 3 dealers in my area for 300 miles around. They were also way above the Web MSRP, and wouldn't budge a cent. They were a Kb and JD dealers. The third was a real tiny Mahindra dealer, and his prices were up there too, just because he had no lower priced competition. I ended up driving 550 miles each way to pick up my tractor. I still saved almost $6000 from the local cost. I would do it again tomorrow... It was a great road trip.

 

[paulfun9]

I wouldn't think most post wrong numbers as much as I would think that the area your in prices just don't get dropped for other reasons.
When I posted my costs a few years back I was looking directly at my bill of sale and would think most people would know what they paid when you consider the amount these things cost.
When I shopped last I had contact with dealers up north. These dealers contacted me threw this site and offered me great deals but their bottom line was way higher than most of the local prices. Seems to be common from other posts that folks around me pay similar prices and those up in the next few states pay more and even more the farther north you go.
SO if you have fooled yourself into thinking everyone exaggerates don't because we don't and I would say 99.9% of the good deals posted are legitimate numbers because just as I received prices north of me due to business travels to the south I could have saved money by buying there but the amounts saved did not cover the cost of transport for me so I paid just a little more and saved time and travel expenses. Now understand with the prices I was given up north I would have been able to save more than the cost of travel to pick something up down south and haul it home if I lived anyplace from the northern side of New York all the way to Maine.

By the way its also common with other things as well. We have people from all over come to a local trailer shop to buy trailers because the price they have to pay where they live is way higher than the cost of traveling and hauling it back. Yesterday while I waited for them to prep a new trailer we purchased, I met 3 people from out of state and one who had traveled 3.5 hours because the local prices for them for the same trailer was that much higher.

 

[Oldoak]

I find prices in different geographic areas to be "what ever the market will bare", rather than what a dealer needs to make in order to run a profitable business.

Traveling hundreds of miles for a better deal may be ok for some who have their own means of hauling and aren't concerned about service after the sale or warranty work, if the need arises. Shipping costs can add a lot to a so called "great deal".

 

[Thomas]

Welcome to TBN follower Granite Stater.
kOua hit the nail on the head.
When fair season starts check the prices lot dealers have good prices.

 

[newbury]

Welcome to TBN follower Granite Stater.
kOua hit the nail on the head.
When fair season starts check the prices lot dealers have good prices.

Which could be part of the OP's problem - Spring is not the time to look for discounts on new tractors.

 

[450]

If anyone in the lower 48 thinks pricing is bad, move to Alaska. You will be glad to pay your pricing. The other thing up here is, if you don’t buy from your local dealer they will not do any warranty work for you. Also, there isn’t much of a used tractor market up here plus insurance and financing can be a problem. Soon as you mention Alaska, “Sorry but we don’t do financing/insurance for Alaska”, sure gets old hearing that.

 

[ultrarunner]

There was a Ford Dealer that tried denying warranty work to locals that did not buy... it was their policy and they were not shy about it.

Enough people made a fuss so that Ford Motor Company got involved... the policy was changed.

A warranty not honored by a Franchised Dealer puts the manufacturer in a bind when it comes to Magnuson Moss Warranty Act.

Magnuson–Moss Warranty Act - Wikipedia

Of course picking a fight is bound to have ramifications...

 

[Juiced06GTO]

Get a quote from Barlows, he will be the cheapest around from what I have seen. Then compare to local dealers. Chappell in Milford got within $500 of his pricing and was within a 2 hour drive for me so I purchased and picked up there. I found that Kubota seemed to offer the best mix of features per price with JD being way out of whack for the area, and in the size I was looking, not as beefy a tractor with lots of plastic.

 

[ovrszd]

I'm not familiar with MF. Is it possible to "build" one on their website so you truly know what MSRP is? You should expect 10-15% off that.

As others mentioned, don't pay much attention to claimed prices. Pay attention to MSRP and what percentage is knocked off that.

Another wiggle area is added options. Not so prevalent on smaller tractors, but very common on CUT and Utility class.

Good luck with your search. Welcome to TBN.

 

[deserteagle71]

I'm not familiar with MF. Is it possible to "build" one on their website so you truly know what MSRP is? You should expect 10-15% off that.

As others mentioned, don't pay much attention to claimed prices. Pay attention to MSRP and what percentage is knocked off that.

Another wiggle area is added options. Not so prevalent on smaller tractors, but very common on CUT and Utility class.

Good luck with your search. Welcome to TBN.

Maybe with Massey Ferguson. I "built" the Kubota M7060HDC12 on line, then drove to the nearest Kubota dealer (130 miles) and asked them to give me their best price. I was ready to pay cash if the price was right. Their price quote - I have it in writing - was exactly the price I got from Kubota on line. Zero discount for anything.

When the dealers have no competition, this is what they do.

 

[ovrszd]

Maybe with Massey Ferguson. I "built" the Kubota M7060HDC12 on line, then drove to the nearest Kubota dealer (130 miles) and asked them to give me their best price. I was ready to pay cash if the price was right. Their price quote - I have it in writing - was exactly the price I got from Kubota on line. Zero discount for anything.

When the dealers have no competition, this is what they do.

Yep. Doesn't matter what we are shopping for.

I drove 400 miles one way to get my tractor. Strangely, I'm very rural, 100 miles from a city. I traveled to within 50 miles of Chicago and got a cheaper price. Go figure.

 

[k0ua]

Which could be part of the OP's problem - Spring is not the time to look for discounts on new tractors.

Ain't that the truth.

 

[AxleHub]

1sty,

I might suggest there are more reasons than you have considered. Let's take the concept that the dealer doesn't have any competition so he charges as much as he can. Have you ever considered that there may be no competition because there are very few buyers???

And there is logistics as an issue. Order 10 gc1700 units compared to a dealer ordering 3 gc1700 units. Guess what, big difference in shipping cost and likely a difference in discount to the dealer too. So a dealer ordering 3 units has a higher cost in unit and in shipping too.

Next, someone posted not to buy in spring. That is not correct. The bigger promotions of the year are in The early and mid Spring time frames because everyone has inventory then. MF has better promos then as does dealer desire.

But here's the thing . . . let's say your dealer has already sold a bunch or their ordered allotment already. If so, they may not be so eager to order a bunch again to get a better price.

Lastly is all the "assumed" profit margins many believe exist. Let's say you're a small dealer and everyone is interested in one of your brands or models and not other ones. They would likely raise the high demand side in order to help sales of the other models.

Now in my business, I routinely raised my bid prices on people I thought were going to be a pain in the butt, because I wanted customers that were pleasant to deal with. Have you presented yourself as important or as pleasant to deal with?

Here is a suggestion for you. Gather 10 dealer addresses or emails that are the closest ones to you. Then mail or email them a list of what you want by brand and model and accessories and can they send you a quote.

Give them identical (identical) information and see how the prices compare. If they are all close. . . You know it's geographical. If they vary a great deal you will know it is more about dealer size or competition.

 

[ultrarunner]

Here is a suggestion for you. Gather 10 dealer addresses or emails that are the closest ones to you. Then mail or email them a list of what you want by brand and model and accessories and can they send you a quote.

Give them identical (identical) information and see how the prices compare. If they are all close. . . You know it's geographical. If they vary a great deal you will know it is more about dealer size or competition.

I did that with 5 auto Dealers... knew exactly what I wanted and what I would pay... the first 4 soured me but there was one more so it was a simple click to send my e-mail.

About an hour later I get a response from the Sales Manager saying he is very busy right now but would be free after 3 today...

Over the phone he asks if I am ready to put down a deposit for the factory order and I say if it is at my price and as I specified... he said fine... we can do it with a $1000 deposit on a credit card or I can come in.

Easiest new car transaction of my life... not a single glitch.

When I picked up the car he said I made it easy to which I replied so did you...

The easy part is I knew exactly down the option codes what I wanted and what I was willing to pay... the other dealers all wanted to sell me something they had on the lot... lots of dancing around... said a factory order would take 12 weeks... etc.