Strange shopping experience

fwc · May 19, 2006

HI there tractor folks. Its been well over a year but we finally finished building our new house and I am again looking at tractors. I had a strange experience at a local dealer that got me to wondering if I needed to rethink plans or ignore the visit completely.

A local dealer sells Kioti and Farmtrac. (I had looked there a while back at a Long HST, but decided to wait til the house was built so I would not have to tow the tractor). Any way the dealer has since taken on Kioti. I been reading the Kioti group and the CK30 HST seemed like it might be a nice match. I had looked and sat on them one day after closing time at the dealer and stopped back another day.

It was late and the sales person that came up was not one that I had seen there before. He asked me what I was gonna use the tractor for (note old thread - land is only cleared for house and drive now)

link to thread

- I said driveway maintenance, some clearing and moving dirt and rocks and such around on the 8.8 acres. Right out of the chute, he said that he would not get a 4wd or even a compact for that matter. I added that the land had hills and could have traction issues. He kept trying to steer me away from the compact to something like a farmtrac 535 2wd.

He said its easier to fix and cheaper to repair - I wondered if the guy was actually one of the repair guys and not reqular sales since he kept focusing on those issues. He said there is more stuff to break. He noted "The first thing to go on a compact is the 4WD." He said the loader on compacts are really better suited for moving manure on a horse farm.

He did say that they had not even actually had any warranty repair issues on the Kioti yet..

I was just curious if anyone has had any similar experiences and suggestions about what I should do. SHould I go back and try to latch on to a different sales person or maybe a different dealer. Or maybe the guy is right? (sure don't think so considering I see all kinds of neat things done with compacts here.. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif )

Thanks guys but this experience left me puzzled.
fwc

fwc · May 19, 2006

HI there tractor folks. Its been well over a year but we finally finished building our new house and I am again looking at tractors. I had a strange experience at a local dealer that got me to wondering if I needed to rethink plans or ignore the visit completely.

A local dealer sells Kioti and Farmtrac. (I had looked there a while back at a Long HST, but decided to wait til the house was built so I would not have to tow the tractor). Any way the dealer has since taken on Kioti. I been reading the Kioti group and the CK30 HST seemed like it might be a nice match. I had looked and sat on them one day after closing time at the dealer and stopped back another day.

It was late and the sales person that came up was not one that I had seen there before. He asked me what I was gonna use the tractor for (note old thread - land is only cleared for house and drive now)

link to thread

- I said driveway maintenance, some clearing and moving dirt and rocks and such around on the 8.8 acres. Right out of the chute, he said that he would not get a 4wd or even a compact for that matter. I added that the land had hills and could have traction issues. He kept trying to steer me away from the compact to something like a farmtrac 535 2wd.

He said its easier to fix and cheaper to repair - I wondered if the guy was actually one of the repair guys and not reqular sales since he kept focusing on those issues. He said there is more stuff to break. He noted "The first thing to go on a compact is the 4WD." He said the loader on compacts are really better suited for moving manure on a horse farm.

He did say that they had not even actually had any warranty repair issues on the Kioti yet..

I was just curious if anyone has had any similar experiences and suggestions about what I should do. SHould I go back and try to latch on to a different sales person or maybe a different dealer. Or maybe the guy is right? (sure don't think so considering I see all kinds of neat things done with compacts here.. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif )

Thanks guys but this experience left me puzzled.
fwc

DUMBDOG · May 19, 2006

If you are going to do loader work with a compact, you will want four wheel drive. Talk to another salesman or go to another dealer. Get the tractor that you need, not one that a misinformed salesman wants you to get.

DUMBDOG · May 19, 2006

If you are going to do loader work with a compact, you will want four wheel drive. Talk to another salesman or go to another dealer. Get the tractor that you need, not one that a misinformed salesman wants you to get.

KiotiJohn · May 19, 2006

This is another case of a salesman who doesn't really understand his business. A front wheel assist tractor (4wd) is much safer on slopes, and performs loading much better as a loader-full tends to push the front wheels into the ground more and the assist helps pull the front along.

Obviously this guy doesn't really understand what can be done with a compact tractor for whatever reason.

Just learn to tell sales people that you have your own ideas of what you want, and to go away if they can't do what YOU want.

You've probably read enough on here that you know more than that particular "salesman" anyway.
John

KiotiJohn · May 19, 2006

This is another case of a salesman who doesn't really understand his business. A front wheel assist tractor (4wd) is much safer on slopes, and performs loading much better as a loader-full tends to push the front wheels into the ground more and the assist helps pull the front along.

Obviously this guy doesn't really understand what can be done with a compact tractor for whatever reason.

Just learn to tell sales people that you have your own ideas of what you want, and to go away if they can't do what YOU want.

You've probably read enough on here that you know more than that particular "salesman" anyway.
John

gamble77 · May 19, 2006

I sent you a PM...call me. The man you talked to was not one of our sales reps. I know who talked to you and when we talk I will explain what he said, why he said it, and what my take on the situation is...it will all make sense then. Thanks.

gamble77 · May 19, 2006

I sent you a PM...call me. The man you talked to was not one of our sales reps. I know who talked to you and when we talk I will explain what he said, why he said it, and what my take on the situation is...it will all make sense then. Thanks.

dbear · May 19, 2006

Sounds like the salesman adheres to the archaic and incorrect auto sales principles of (1) the customer has no idea what he wants, and (2) it's the salesman's job to match the customer to the correct vehicle.

These were actually told to me, and religiously believed and faithfully practiced, by both the sales manager and my training saleman when I got a auto sales job many years ago.

Despite the fact I ended up being #1 saleman of the month in my first month on the job (30 sales in 30 days), I never internalized these stupid notions. Consequently, I was constantly harrassed and resented by the other salesmen and the manager to the point where I eventually told the manager to stick his job where the sun didn't shine! Best decision I ever made...

dbear · May 19, 2006

Sounds like the salesman adheres to the archaic and incorrect auto sales principles of (1) the customer has no idea what he wants, and (2) it's the salesman's job to match the customer to the correct vehicle.

These were actually told to me, and religiously believed and faithfully practiced, by both the sales manager and my training saleman when I got a auto sales job many years ago.

Despite the fact I ended up being #1 saleman of the month in my first month on the job (30 sales in 30 days), I never internalized these stupid notions. Consequently, I was constantly harrassed and resented by the other salesmen and the manager to the point where I eventually told the manager to stick his job where the sun didn't shine! Best decision I ever made...