Buying Advice What do you guys think about this 2012 bobcat ct450

[MESSMAKER]

I think you are getting advise that is safe but I am still not sure.You have to decide how much risk you are willing to take. The cab and blade should be worth nearly 1/2 the asking price if you had to buy it. The blade is not as valuable as a loader but in my area, a tractor that new with 4x4 and a cab and loader would be North of $20,000 by quite a bit. I would not worry about the dealer thing if you have a Bobcat or Kioti dealer near. You should be fine.

 

[powerscol]

If you do go and look, look carefully at the overflow bottle when running. White smoke can be confused with steam. AKA - blown head gasket. If so there will be evidence in the radiator bottle, either oil or you will see bubbles and it would overflow due to pressure. To me if it were a timing issue you would see other smoke like black due to overloading. If it is a stuck injector you could also have a washed down cylinder. A stuck injector will make the motor sound louder too.
Hope this helps.

 

[Wild and Free]

That is a steal of a price for it, don't let it get away. I paid 18000 for a 2011 model with 1400 hours and a loader a year ago and locally that was a steal for my area especially considering a comparable Kubota would have been 25-30K. Mine is clean but I did have to fix a few minor leaks after I bought it. They are an indirect injected engine and its the nature of the beast to start rough and blow lots of white smoke for about 10 seconds after initial cold start even after glow plug operation. Timing can play into it a bit but its just normal for indirect injection engines.

The CT 450 is comparable to the Kioti DK 50SEH and DK50SCHC models, they are Kioti built tractors in Bobcat makeup, the cab and some of the related wiring is bobcat designed sitting on a kioti tractor.
Bobcat rates them at 49 hp and kioti at 50 hp but imagine that is an emissions thing for bobcat to sell them somehow.

 

[SirMaxwell]

Nice price, if all is well. With little info to go on, the safe bet is to walk swiftly away. If you can do most work yourself, then perhaps you can make it worthwhile. I've owned my 450 since 5 hrs on the clock, the only time I have sen a wisp of white is after sitting for a month or so and cold start.

All used machines come with a possible pucker factor, that is the nature of the deal. Perhaps go to your nearest Kioti dealer and see if you can talk to a mechanic that works on them, in person, describing every site, sound , smell, you have seen. (even if you need to drop him a few bucks, worth every penny).

For a quick 'smoke' primer - Diesel Smoke tells YOU a Story... - Cost Effective Maintenance

Good luck.