JD not dealing anymore?

[buckshot721]

Went down to the JD dealership the other day, pricing out a zero turn, (x485 trade in). After talking with the salesman for an hour came up with a price of $9000. and some pennies out the door. Asked if there was any wiggle room on the price and he told me nope, this is what they sell for. This is what you pay. Ok fine told him about the trade in stated he would come over and look at it. This is my 485, 3 point, rear pto, 5 weights on the front and loaded tires. About 400 hrs on the clock and a 54 deck on it. Purchased it new, and well taken care of. The guy stops in and looks at it, $1500.00 IF I throw in my tiller I have! I know they need to make money but come on. Went to the Kubota dealer found almost the same type of machine for $7000. Never told them what happened with JD, the red dealer said if its anything like I told them my trade would be around 3's. (w/o tiller) And after reading some posts about JD not repairing things under warranty kinda makes me rethink another JD purchase. Might be changing from all green to orange, we shall see!

 

[ultrarunner]

Buy low sell high...

I hear of folks doing well with trades but I don't know any.

Just last week I told a coworker that was buying a new SUV I would buy their old one... excellent shape.

I shot them a figure and they said it is mine if the dealer offers less...

Well the Dealer offered less but their nephew said he wanted it... so he got it for my price... already got a ticket and hit a fence... it is still in my co-worker's name... oh well.

JD stays in business by selling product and I still get the feeling their focus really isn't on our market segment.

 

[Milo]

The local JD dealer also owns other dealerships in the surrounding area and they ALL seem to insist on selling at msrp, minus any JD rebates. Kubota and Kioti dealerships all discount off msrp so around here while pricing on websites JD is competitive they are not in the real world.

 

[ultrarunner]

I grew up around the car business starting by washing all the cars on Saturdays at age 12...

Every car was tagged with price... new and used and NO ONE... well almost no one ever came in and paid the sticker...

I say almost no one because a group of nuns came in to buy a van... they wanted to know how much to write the check for... they never asked for a reduction... the owner simply offered a concession and extended service when he learned they were in buying...

Actually got quite a few from local parishes coming in... priests mostly had a car... nuns shared a convent car.

In many ways it would help the buying process if prices were posted... it does help for those on line to build and price... but walking in and seeing prices helps.

One year only Kubota was at the Alameda County Fair... they had a nice BX display with attractive Fair pricing... I later asked and they sold several... very good turf equipment dealer that took on Kubota for a short time and then the line was dropped.

They were greared towards municipalities, school districts and the golf industry.

 

[GreatWhitehunter]

I think this is more a dealer thing than Deere itself. Before I purchased my first tractor I took a day off to hit every dealer in a reasonable driving distance.
I hit Kubota,NH,,Massey, Kioti,CubCadet and lastly Deere. All the dealers seemed extremely interested in the business and were willing to deal. All except the Deere dealer. I was of course most interested in the Deere at this point and talked plainly to the salesman. I asked him why should I purchase the deere over the others?
He told me he had no idea and walked back into his office.

After I got over the shock of the arrogance I decided to check out a Deere dealer a little further away(30 miles). The experience couldn't have been better and the tractor was delivered within 3 hrs of my visit. To this day 10 years and 2 tractors later, the salesmen still know who I am and what I own. The mom & pop dealerships are a dying breed and worth giving the business too when ever possible.

Matt

 

[Wagtail]

I think this is more a dealer thing than Deere itself. Before I purchased my first tractor I took a day off to hit every dealer in a reasonable driving distance.
I hit Kubota,NH,,Massey, Kioti,CubCadet and lastly Deere. All the dealers seemed extremely interested in the business and were willing to deal. All except the Deere dealer. I was of course most interested in the Deere at this point and talked plainly to the salesman. I asked him why should I purchase the deere over the others?
He told me he had no idea and walked back into his office.

After I got over the shock of the arrogance I decided to check out a Deere dealer a little further away(30 miles). The experience couldn't have been better and the tractor was delivered within 3 hrs of my visit. To this day 10 years and 2 tractors later, the salesmen still know who I am and what I own. The mom & pop dealerships are a dying breed and worth giving the business too when ever possible.

Matt

Completely agree... it's your local dealership, not JD corporate. My own 'local' JD dealership have always treated me fair (price & support) and I can walk onto the lot today and be greeted by name. A dealership's reputation goes a long way around here and is guarded jealously.

 

[MF283]

Great JD dealer here for me & they're part of a multi area dealership. The owner still remembers me buying my 1st lawn tractor from him in 95.
The service & parts dept. have been great, they'll walk me through a repair that i can manage myself & thankfully, i haven't had any major issues with none of my equipment.
I made my offer on all equipment, accepted.

Ronnie

 

[Weedy Fields]

My example.
Looking to buy tractor about a year ago.
1ST up, case new holland, talked about which tractor, said they'd call me with a price. Never heard from them.
2nd up, Kubota, Dealer was more familiar with lawn/garden stuff, not the 30-50hp stuff. Was painful to deal with. Didn't have a clue on attachments, buckets, grapples. Came up with a price after 1/2 hr digging in books.
3rd Up JD, was very nice, gave me round numbers off the top of his head, ended up showing me a couple of used tractors with 1000 or less hrs for a big savings over new.

I ended up buying used from a private seller.
I hate dealing with dealers.

 

[Milo]

Yes I purchased my X310 from a smaller dealership in MD after getting the cold shoulder at the local multi location, JD dealer.

 

[MF283]

One thing for sure, we'll hear more about bad service than good service & this day & time, it's ashame.

I manage a flyshop, i'll treat you the same whether you're buying a one dollar pack of material or a 900 hundred dollar fly rod, trust me, i'll sale more one dollar items than nine hundred dollar items.
Oh, you bought a reel online, yes it hurt's to hear that, i'll put the backing & line of your choice on it, if you had bought the reel from us, wouldn't charge for the backing.
I'm all for supporting the folks that support us, if we can't get the service/support we need from one dealer, by all means find one that can give you what you want.
Ronnie

 

[check]

My rural Kubota dealer near the cottage is always given me great service, and good deals. On the other hand, a very large Kabota dealer here in town has not fared so well. Every time I call them they don't know what's going on, and they don't seem to know their products very well.

 

[ultrarunner]

The farm side of the family is very attached to their dealer... he has a big presence in the community... sponsors summer leagues and will provide emergency service.

I really think the art of demonstrating a product is going away... when my cousin was thinking of a new tractor the Dealer dropped one off for a few days and my cousin bought it.

Just about never hear of Dealers doing that here. When I bought my Dozer the JD Dealer had a demo pit out back so I could run it through the paces... noticed a steering clutch wasn't quite right, dealer agreed... we wrote it up having the clutch repaired and unit delivered... put 10k on my credit card and paid the rest over 6 months...

 

[blakbear69]

I have spent a few weeks contacting and visiting a few dealers and I experienced the same with JD. They wouldn't budge from the list minus rebates. I ended up buying a New Holland from a good dealership. They gave me a good price and was quick to respond to any/all questions and concerns. Gave me pricing over email and treated me with respect. JD makes a nice tractor but so do other brands. The dealership makes the deal. If they aren't willing to work with you, then they will not get the business they could have.

 

[bigtiller]

My dealer is great! I don't argue about the price, I know the salesman is giving me the best price he can. In return the dealer has helped me so many times.

One afternoon I was broke down on the road, I called them and in 30 minutes 2 guys with a truck and trailer were there to help me.

One time the owner of Van-Wall Equipment gave me $5 out of his pocket for gas, so I could mow my yard.

 

[Wagtail]

The farm side of the family is very attached to their dealer... he has a big presence in the community... sponsors summer leagues and will provide emergency service.

I really think the art of demonstrating a product is going away... when my cousin was thinking of a new tractor the Dealer dropped one off for a few days and my cousin bought it.

Just about never hear of Dealers doing that here. When I bought my Dozer the JD Dealer had a demo pit out back so I could run it through the paces... noticed a steering clutch wasn't quite right, dealer agreed... we wrote it up having the clutch repaired and unit delivered... put 10k on my credit card and paid the rest over 6 months...

Living on an island State, my JD dealership doesn't have all models on their lot. They didn't have a 4105 there when I was looking/considering... so the salesman called up a previous customer and asked if we could come out and demonstrate on his = Yep! So he drove me over to the commercial site it was at and I took it for a spin.

A year or so ago I got a call from that salesman; someone in my area of the State was considering a 4105 and could he try mine out at my property? Yep! Considered it as returning the favour... and the potential customer received my opinion of the tractor to boot!

 

[GGB]

Count me in the column of having a great local JD dealer. I walk in, their receptionist greats me by name, so do all the sales department, not just the guy I work with. Same with the service department. Still old school, even though they are part of a multi-location JD dealer group. I suspect it starts with the owner, who hires like minded people.

Recently, I referred my neighbor to them when he was in the market for a new UTV, and my neighbor later thanked me for pointing him to this dealer.

I just traded my one year old JD zero turn for another current year zero turn because they deal fairly. I'll be looking to upgrade my CUT next spring.

 

[KEYBEAR]

Our Local Dealer was very good and now sold to a bigger Dealer and all new people . All the sales people know is that they are told to do/say . No longer can a sales person just make a deal he needs to have the ok of a higher up . The last two Mower Tractors I bought I drove out of state because of price . I bought a new 2016 X-758 with a 3 Bag Power Flow for less than a X-758 local .

 

[tractorshopper]

It must be about where you live and how big a tractor you're looking at.

We had a local small JD dealer where I live who basically Deere pulled his dealership from him probably about 10 years ago now I heard due to not doing enough sales. I had asked him one time for a price on a small tractor with a few attachments, which he gave me. I asked him about test driving that particular tractor and he told me that if I went ahead and ordered it from him, I could test drive it as the owner. No deal. He didn't have but a few tractors on the lot and they were all much bigger than I was looking for. He mostly sold lawn tractors I guess. I had just started researching tractors and he literally went out of business about that time.

Now all the remaining JD dealers in a decent driving distance from me are all one company. I had a JD lawn tractor and was able to get parts from the 2 closest to me (neither are real close), so I know parts supply is fine, etc. But also asked them about their tractors for prices and all I got was MSRP and they really didn't seem to want to waste much time with me. They obviously didn't need my business and wouldn't budge on price at all. In fact, one told me that he didn't have a lot of time to spend with me familiarizing me with options, etc. Told me I could look at the one SCUT he had on the lot, but couldn't test drive it because he didn't have time but gave me a pamphlet and sent me on my way. This wasn't after hours or anything. So, I wasted my time even going there in the first place.

I think they are in the big tractor business and that must be where the money is.

Just my experience and to be fair, that was a while back. Haven't been back to find out if anything has changed.

 

[bigtiller]

Not all salesmen are of high quality. I once had a shoe salesman tell me the straps on cowboy boots weren't there for pulling the boot on.

 

[ultrarunner]

The JD Dealers around me in California are AG based and large.

In Washington State I found lots of small family owned one or two location Dealers from various manufacturers... only problem is I was Tractor shopping in California.