My LS P7010C purchase story

[Gary Fowler]

That's spitting in the dealers face.

So per your comment, we should all just pay the offending dealer his asking price and go merrily on our way with a face full of spit which is what he is doing to us when he quotes thousands more than another dealer. We can make up for it by paying his inflated prices for parts and service later also.
If one dealer can make a profit at XXXX dollars any other dealer should also unless he is too greedy to deal in which case he deserves to lose the business and get all the unfavorable advertisement from word of mouth that can be put out.
If Mike paid $1500 for delivery and still got a much better price, that should tell you something about the first dealer and his price gouging.
By the way, if he continues to try and sell at inflated prices, he is likely not going to be in business long enough to do any warranty work anyway. There is or should be a limit to customer loyalty to a nearby dealer when the refuse to negotiate on pricing. What every happened to the "find a better price and we will match it" philosopy. Or as some car dealers advertise, "find a better price and we will match it and give you $1000." Now that is confidence in your pricing.

 

[TractorTidy]

I'm glad you know it all Mr. Fowler. You've got it all figured out.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I'm glad you know it all Mr. Fowler. You've got it all figured out.

Some of us do and then they are those that dont have a clue and those folks sure are an annoyance to all of us that do.
No offence to your dealership but dont try to make anyone believe that you loose money on warranty work.

 

[Mike1369]

Gary Fowler for LS tractor CEO...you have my vote.... If I didn't know any better, I would guess that tidy tractor is either the guy that tried to sell me the tractor or his twin brother. In either case, I hope that for LS my tractor doesn't have any warranty issues, because they will see how crazy a cuban redneck can be.

 

[rwork]

I could be speaking off base here, because I'm not sure about the tractor world, but I'm in the auto business, and I can tell you, we're glad to get service business, regardless of where it comes from. Warranty work, yes we are paid by the manufacturer. They're set pay rates for a particular job, based as Gary stated, on average time for a {competent} technician to complete. It may be minimal pay warranty work this time, but if the customer is taken care of they WILL return for customer pay service, as well.

 

[Rainbody]

I could be speaking off base here, because I'm not sure about the tractor world, but I'm in the auto business, and I can tell you, we're glad to get service business, regardless of where it comes from. Warranty work, yes we are paid by the manufacturer. They're set pay rates for a particular job, based as Gary stated, on average time for a {competent} technician to complete. It may be minimal pay warranty work this time, but if the customer is taken care of they WILL return for customer pay service, as well.

I totally agree. I would think some income via warranty work is better than no work. It might not put a pool in your backyard but it keeps the bills paid and your employees with a paycheck.
Not to mention the training value for the techs. More exposure to the machine (tractors in this case) increases experience which pays dividends in the long run.

 

[Mike1369]

Well going to the farm was a wasted day, tractor wont be in until monday or tuesday. Im really pissed, not sure at who but I was promised the tractor on saturday and now I have to wait until he's ready to come down from his other delivery.
all the work that needs to get done and now I may have to cancel an appointment or two to go and wait for him.... whatever, can't control so Im going to just hope its monday on my birthday... can't wait...

 

[mad deranger]

Judging from the lack of problems not posted here on TBN about LS tractors, I find it hard to see any LS dealer making much money off of warranty repairs.
To be fair, I had one warranty issue with a starter fried by a bad battery ground bolt. The dealer got me a new starter sent to me. Put it on and happily tractoring since. I think it was just a "freak" occurrence. 300hrs on the machine and she still isn't quite broken in yet.

As for an out of state dealer? In Alaska, there is only one LS dealer 250mi away from me. I find that distance is not as big a factor if you have reasonable wrench skills.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Judging from the lack of problems not posted here on TBN about LS tractors, I find it hard to see any LS dealer making much money off of warranty repairs.
To be fair, I had one warranty issue with a starter fried by a bad battery ground bolt. The dealer got me a new starter sent to me. Put it on and happily tractoring since. I think it was just a "freak" occurrence. 300hrs on the machine and she still isn't quite broken in yet.

As for an out of state dealer? In Alaska, there is only one LS dealer 250mi away from me. I find that distance is not as big a factor if you have reasonable wrench skills.

I totally agree with this. Only major issues with a tractor would require dealer issue. All of the farm tractor dealers send a truck out to you for diagnostic and repair in the field if possible. It seems that these CUT dealers want you to truck it in or pay them to haul it back to their shop to change a fuse or some other easily fixed problem from a service truck. Of course back 40 years ago when I was farming, dealers didnt charge you to come pick up a tractor for warranty work either but now very few will include transportation for free.

 

[Iowa Farm Equipment]

I think that whole thing with dealers loosing on warranty is a crock of SXXX and you have been brainwashed into believing it OR you are trying to make us believe it. They dont LOOSE anything, they just have to settle for a reasonable cost to fix it which is what we all should be paying in the firs place. They are raping folks with repair costs in most cases and the manufacturers wont pay that. They know just how long a competent mechanic should take to diagnose and fix a broken part and they know the price the dealer pays for the part. They may not get to mark up the parts 200% as normal practice but I'm sure they get a little for handling cost. That is all they pay for, not the coffee breaks, BS sessions and ***** scratching that they do when looking at the machine.
A good example of screwing the customer was when I took my B26 in with specific instructions to check the hydraulic operating pressures as the machine was getting weak. Rather than check the pressures and flow, they took it out to dig a bit with it, swapped 4 of the hydraulic hoses around to screw up the operation and charged me $150 (2 hours labor) then said they fixed the problem. When I got it home, I couldnt even operate it as everything was backward. First thing I had to do was find and undo all the hydraulic hoses that they moved and then discover that it still was the same way, they hadnt done anything to it. When I asked them about the flow test or pressure relief valve test: No we didnt do that. Does anyone think that warranty would pay a dealer for that kind of work? I had no choice but to pay if I wanted my tractor back and this from the biggest dealer in Arkansas who has 2 Kubota dealerships that I know of and maybe more.
Think about this, if the dealers, especially large volume car dealers didnt make money on warranty work, they would be out of business pretty fast since the majority of work done is warranty work with perhaps some oil changes thrown in. In todays world of car sales, in order to be competitive, they arent making big money on the initial sale and the salesman gets half of the profit in the sale as commission (in most cases) which is why they jack the price up and hope to find an uninformed customer. The internet has provided most folks with a quick way to compare prices nationwide in just a few minutes but repairs are a different story. The owner is usually at the shops mercy as they have a broken machine and need it to be un-broken as soon as possible so they pay the going rate. Even the mom and pop mechanic shops charge the same rates as dealers in most cases so it usually doesnt pay dividends to go anywhere else. It's similar racket to health care, where else are you going to go in the USA as it is all the same price.

Mr. Gary Fowler & Mike1369,

Sounds like you probably have never been in the position to have to do Warranty Work on a Tractor from a dealers standpoint, "ALL" manufactures have their set times allowed for repairs and only pay you for the allotted time they deem required for the repair, many times it is not sufficient time to do the repairs in less than ideal conditions and as a dealer you are fortunate to break even on repairs AND Warranty's do not pay for pickup and delivery of the tractor or cleaning time, dealers eat that cost too. Gary, one dealers sin doesn't make all Dealers guilty, that's no way to go about doing business. Mike1369, as you already know nothings free, so getting the cheapest price and the best service would be ideal but a bit unrealistic. If you do have an issue I don't see the dealer all the way from Indiana driving down to pick up your tractor and fix it, so they can afford to sell at a cheaper price, they plan on never seeing the Tractor again! TractorTidy's got it right here. Mike1369 congratulations on your purchase, the P7010C has been a great tractor and should serve you well for a long time!

The issue is now mute however A Man's Word still means a lot out here and you did break it with the original dealer according to your post, you should have at least asked him to match the deal or get really close to it.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Mr. Gary Fowler & Mike1369,

Sounds like you probably have never been in the position to have to do Warranty Work on a Tractor from a dealers standpoint, "ALL" manufactures have their set times allowed for repairs and only pay you for the allotted time they deem required for the repair, many times it is not sufficient time to do the repairs in less than ideal conditions and as a dealer you are fortunate to break even on repairs AND Warranty's do not pay for pickup and delivery of the tractor or cleaning time, dealers eat that cost too. Gary, one dealers sin doesn't make all Dealers guilty, that's no way to go about doing business. Mike1369, as you already know nothings free, so getting the cheapest price and the best service would be ideal but a bit unrealistic. If you do have an issue I don't see the dealer all the way from Indiana driving down to pick up your tractor and fix it, so they can afford to sell at a cheaper price, they plan on never seeing the Tractor again! TractorTidy's got it right here. Mike1369 congratulations on your purchase, the P7010C has been a great tractor and should serve you well for a long time!

The issue is now mute however A Man's Word still means a lot out here and you did break it with the original dealer according to your post, you should have at least asked him to match the deal or get really close to it.

You sound like another dealer trying to justify your charges. I dont know of any dealers around here that EAT the cost of pickup and delivery or anything else not covered under warranty as most charge at least $200 for that service. I agree that warranty coverage doesnt pay the dealers normal rate, but he should still make money with warranty work by keeping his mechanics busy. HE shouldnt loose money if he has competent mechanics and proper shop tools and equipment. And if you send in your tractor for repair, warranty or otherwise and it has 6" of mud all over it, they will charge you to clean it off, none that I know of do anything for free anymore. You and TractorTidy keep throwing out the Less than Ideal conditions, what are you calling less than ideal conditions, heck if they dont have an enclosed shop with concrete floor and heat then they should modernize their shop. None of them try to fix anything in the field anymore and charge you the pickup and return fees or the owner has to "eat the cost" of transporting it himself which isnt reimbursed by dealer or warranty regardless of where you buy it.

You both have to be dealers to have the mentality that you do. Answer this for me, If I have a broken tractor and agree to install the parts myself rather than bring it in, do you charge the warranty for installation of the part, I would bet yes you do. Who's to know that you didnt install it.

 

[Guesseral]

You sound like another dealer trying to justify your charges. I dont know of any dealers around here that EAT the cost of pickup and delivery or anything else not covered under warranty as most charge at least $200 for that service. I agree that warranty coverage doesnt pay the dealers normal rate, but he should still make money with warranty work by keeping his mechanics busy. HE shouldnt loose money if he has competent mechanics and proper shop tools and equipment. And if you send in your tractor for repair, warranty or otherwise and it has 6" of mud all over it, they will charge you to clean it off, none that I know of do anything for free anymore. You and TractorTidy keep throwing out the Less than Ideal conditions, what are you calling less than ideal conditions, heck if they dont have an enclosed shop with concrete floor and heat then they should modernize their shop. None of them try to fix anything in the field anymore and charge you the pickup and return fees or the owner has to "eat the cost" of transporting it himself which isnt reimbursed by dealer or warranty regardless of where you buy it.

You both have to be dealers to have the mentality that you do. Answer this for me, If I have a broken tractor and agree to install the parts myself rather than bring it in, do you charge the warranty for installation of the part, I would bet yes you do. Who's to know that you didnt install it.

I have also been told when getin warrenty work on my tractor that on tractor company will cover the replacement of any fluids, being oil, antifreeze, grease, or gear lube and that is charged to the customer.

 

[Mike1369]

Well after much ordeal and 2 week wait, my baby is home. Already put 2 hours on her and tucked her in to bed.
Long day tomorrow, need to figure out what half those buttons and levers do...lol
Also need to find a happy medium for speed for doing choir work. Kept fidgeting with gears and speeds. Hopefully with a good 6 hr of seat time tomorrow I can figure it out... To bad the weather is going to be in the 70's because I wanted to try out that dam a/c....
Here is a picture of her in bed... More to follow...
Again special thanks to Steve at TriCounty tractors and for everyone's input..




Haven't been this excited since my first trip to a gentleman's club....lmao

 

[mangus580]

All that and we get one measly picture????

:dance1:

 

[Mike1369]

It was either take pictures or play with the new toy... You can tell which one won... More tomorrow, going to bed to wake up super early to go to WORK...lol

 

[Mike1369]

Well after 2 solid days of working on the farm I'm happy to say that I only took out 1 palm tree and a 6' sprinkler. No more damage after that. I will say that I have never been happier with any purchase I've ever done.... This is from a jeep fanatic that owned 12 jeeps at one time.
I love the AC and the radio jams, and the power puts our old Kubota to shame.

I did notice that I might have bought 1 size too large of tractor. I have a few rows where the palm trees have grown so big I can't get my baby in there. Once those are sold, life should be grand.

Can't wait for next week for more seat time.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Well after 2 solid days of working on the farm I'm happy to say that I only took out 1 palm tree and a 6' sprinkler. No more damage after that. I will say that I have never been happier with any purchase I've ever done.... This is from a jeep fanatic that owned 12 jeeps at one time.
I love the AC and the radio jams, and the power puts our old Kubota to shame.

I did notice that I might have bought 1 size too large of tractor. I have a few rows where the palm trees have grown so big I can't get my baby in there. Once those are sold, life should be grand.

Can't wait for next week for more seat time.

Most TBN folks dont think you can get too big, but as you see, there are instances where little is better. I like working my P7010 but many instances my little Kubota B26 is just the right size for the job. The B26 wouldnt even lift my disc or bushhog I dont think, at least I wouldnt even try with the size of those lift arms but for light dirtwork and getting into tight spots it is the best and the HST makes it fast to operate when I have a lot of forward and reversing.
Mike: you didnt tell us what you were doing with the 7010 that tired you out so much. Now that you are back at work and resting, whats the scoop. Next time take the wife and camera for some action shots.

 

[Mike1369]

Most of the work has been clearing out 3 years of neglect and trash. Haven't really gotten into the heavy lifting but clearing out has been a breeze.
Family going this coming weekend so I'm hopping for some action shots.

 

[Ralph Copp]

I think you will be happy with your 7010. I bought one last fall and very happy with it. Working good up here in the cold country. Lots of snow to move around. One thing you don't have to worry about. I have loaded the rear tires and studded the front ones. You probably don't have to worry about the studs but will need to load the rear tires. The tractor is light in the back end if you load up the bucket with heavy material. Anyway best of luck, you will have fun with your new tractor.

 

[bullbreaker]

Ralph could nt help but notice beautiful tractor cab mounted safety light and mirrors ! :thumbsup:

Boone