Kubota warranty service for warranty

[RichM752]

Dang. Got a hydraulic hose issue inside backhoe boom on my nearly new L47TLB.
Things happen, I know. 7 hoses tucked tightly inside boom, all "protected with the mesh type hose covering, so impossible to see which hose is the problem. Called dealer, no problem, they can take care of it, and its covered under warranty. The bummer is that the next available date to get work done is May 15.
I guess it's back to shovel and wheelbarrow.

 

[85Hokie]

Dang. Got a hydraulic hose issue inside backhoe boom on my nearly new L47TLB.
Things happen, I know. 4 hoses tucked tightly inside boom, all "protected with the mesh type hose covering, so impossible to see which hose is the problem. Called dealer, no problem, they can take care of it, and its covered under warranty. The bummer is that the next available date to get work done is May 15.
I guess it's back to shovel and wheelbarrow.

I think on a brand new machine.....I would be asking for a loaner - quick like and in a hurry, one does not pay 30k or more to have it in the shop when one has important work to do!!!!

 

[Repair]

I had a line leaking on my new L2501's loader with 4 hours on it, hope Kubota doesn't have a quality issue.

 

[lugbolt]

I think on a brand new machine.....I would be asking for a loaner - quick like and in a hurry, one does not pay 30k or more to have it in the shop when one has important work to do!!!!

Read the warranty statement booklet that comes with every piece of equipment sold. Page 5 I think it is.

 

[RichM752]

Read the warranty statement booklet that comes with every piece of equipment sold. Page 5 I think it is.

Correctomundo. No loaner.
I think tomorrow, I'm call the dealer to inform them I will be delivering tractor in the afternoon. It's doing nothing for me sitting in the barn. Bummer, as the weather finally broke, plenty of work to do, and no working tractor. Hopefully, they can get to it before the 15th.

 

[Racer X]

Probably just a loose fitting. Easy enough to fix with a crow's foot and a 3 foot 3/8 drive extension on a ratchet.

Be sure to tape the crow's foot to the extension.

Ask me how I know to do that.

 

[RichM752]

Probably just a loose fitting. Easy enough to fix with a crow's foot and a 3 foot 3/8 drive extension on a ratchet.

Be sure to tape the crow's foot to the extension.

Ask me how I know to do that.

I checked fittings. The leak is in the hose. Which hose is the question. 7 hoses, all of them covered with protective sleeve. A very tight fit. I'm loading tractor up, and driving the 91 miles to the dealer, to drop her off.

 

[Racer X]

I checked fittings. The leak is in the hose. Which hose is the question. 7 hoses, all of them covered with protective sleeve. A very tight fit. I'm loading tractor up, and driving the 91 miles to the dealer, to drop her off.

Bummer.

Good luck getting it sorted out.

 

[85Hokie]

Correctomundo. No loaner.
I think tomorrow, I'm call the dealer to inform them I will be delivering tractor in the afternoon. It's doing nothing for me sitting in the barn. Bummer, as the weather finally broke, plenty of work to do, and no working tractor. Hopefully, they can get to it before the 15th.

So.....

what we have here is a "farmer" getting ready to plant or harvest a crop - goes out and buys a 40k machine, problems exist that prevents him from completing such task. And he has to drive it back to the seller? ......

I think this farmer (us non farmers could wait) would be pissed and changing colors if you know what I mean.

I think in this case - the place you bought it from should be out inside 48 hours with a repair man to fix it in the "field" - or barn ...or garage or whatever. Service on a new machine is a huge selling point for those that dont own just yet.

And yes I get why it says no loaners.....but still - A new machine should work a while without a problem that prevents it from doing the job.

 

[Racer X]

So.....

. . . . . . . a "farmer" . . . . . . . . . . . . goes out and buys a 40k machine, . . . . . . . .

I think in this case - the place you bought it from should be out inside 48 hours with a repair man to fix it in the "field" - or barn ...or garage or whatever. Service on a new machine is a huge selling point for those that dont own just yet.

A new machine should work a while without a problem that prevents it from doing the job.

I agree. For at least the first 30 to 60 days the dealer should have a field service technician that comes out to the customer and makes the machine right again. Kubota should bend over backwards to ensure the customer gets what they have paid for.

This thing of making the customer spend time and money to take the tractor to their shop and then wait until the dealer fixes it at their convenience is very bad business.

Other machine manufacturers have field service fleets that provide very good customer service.

Why doesn't Kubota?

 

[sheepfarmer]

I agree. For at least the first 30 to 60 days the dealer should have a field service technician that comes out to the customer and makes the machine right again. Kubota should bend over backwards to ensure the customer gets what they have paid for.

This thing of making the customer spend time and money to take the tractor to their shop and then wait until the dealer fixes it at their convenience is very bad business.

Other machine manufacturers have field service fleets that provide very good customer service.

Why doesn't Kubota?

Some Kubota dealerships do offer this service, others don't.

 

[lugbolt]

I worked for a dealer.

I wish it was possible for the little dealer I worked for to have a service call truck, as a poster mentioned, it's a bad deal for a customer to have a brand new tractor and it be broken within a month, and the dealer can't do anything about it. But think of it from the dealer's perspective:

Kubota doesn't buy the tech's tools. So the tech is responsible for buying ALL his or her own tooling, tens of thousands of dollars (or in my case closer to $100k-but we were a multi-line dealer). Ask yourself-how long does it take to recoup the $100k investment if you're making $22,000 a year after taxes, and after paying YOUR bills (house, car, sales taxes, property taxes, PP taxes, food, water, utilities, medical bills, etc)? A long time. I never did recoup the cost, and you can't write it all off or deduct it either. Used to you could deduct a percentage but not anymore, not in the last 15 years or so that I know of. So if a tech can't buy a second set of tools for a shop truck, then it leaves either (1) Kubota or (2) the dealer to pay for it. Based on the warranty statement, I can guarantee you that Kubota ain't gonna do it. And most of the time neither is the dealer.

We've gotten used to cars and trucks. Yeah they'll give you a "loaner" if your brand new car breaks; but you paid for it when you bought the car. You may not think so, but you did. This is a service that almost all car dealerships offer and it's a convenience-which they include into the price of the car when you buy it. It's a transparent cost-which we (the consumer) never sees. But it's also one reason why a new pickup truck costs $50,000+. Tractor dealers don't have this-unless you buy into a service contract. That's up to the dealer.

If you don't think a tech can spend $100k on tools, look at what a hydraulic flowmeter set and a hydraulic pressure test kit costs. Then A/C refrigerant recovery systems. Tractor splitting stands for different kinds of tractors. That's just the tip of the iceberg. CRS testing tools. Injector test tools. Clutch alignment set. Lift slings of different sorts. There's ~$10k right there if you get decent stuff, closer to 15-20k if you get good stuff. Hand tools. Special tools of different kinds, types, sizes and then a place to store/lock them. Kubota auto-ships "essential" tools-which are charged to the dealers. These are tools that are considered mandatory for performing normal servicing, but repair servicing tools aren't auto-shipped. The dealer is responsible for it, and if dealer won't buy it, the tech does (and this was my case-I had to buy my own). I had it personally insured for $100k and that was my WORK tools, also had a second set at home that I use for my own stuff at home.....if I were to be doing field repairs, it would require a dedicated truck-usually 4x4 van of some sort ($40k+) to get out in the fields where tractors are broken, more tools more pay to the tech, a lot of times overtime pay (which in our case wasn't possible because our insurance only covered us for 40 hr work week-aka normal business hours only), etc etc.

Yeah some of the big dealers will do it-because it don't make any sense to haul a combine into a dealer for an oil change, but I guarantee that an oil change on a combine isn't $100. It was closer to $700 by time you pay for the service call and parts + labor, of the few that I had to do when I first got into the business nearly 30 years ago. You want convenience, you are going to pay for it in one way or another-and with the little kubota equipment (they don't make combines obviously), it is generally cheaper for the owner to drag it to the dealer.

 

[RichM752]

All fixed. I swear I checked all fittings on both ends. Unloved the tractor when I got there. I was at the service counter, hadn't even talked to the writer, when the sales rep walked by and asked how i was doing. Told him of my problem, and that I wasn't happy about having to wait for days to get it taken care of. He in turn walked me to the shop, corralled the first two mechanics he saw, and told them to "take care of this guy". Had the tractor in an open bay, crow's foot with extension, 7 minutes minutes later I was loading her back on the trailer for the trip home. No charge, and with my tail between my legs, I made the return trip home.
Chicken dinner for RacerX.

 

[85Hokie]

"I wish it was possible for the little dealer I worked for to have a service call truck, as a poster mentioned, it's a bad deal for a customer to have a brand new tractor and it be broken within a month, and the dealer can't do anything about it. But think of it from the dealer's perspective:"

Lugbolt - I get you, really I do - I understand exactly what you are saying. And a loaner is a problem that really would not happen at a small dealership that sells tractors. And might not be possible for a large dealership either!

But again - the dealer's "job" is to have a usable product - whether big or small dealer, sell it with respect and to make a profit for the people that work for the dealership. Most of us either bitch about what the dealer did NOT do, several of us have praised the dealer for going above and beyond. Either way - in the real world, those people who buy a machine, whether it is a car, truck or tractor - that is used to make "money", and here is the key difference, THE MACHINE is a tool that makes money for the owner, A farmer, a truck driver, hell even a taxi driver - that TOOL must work from the get go. NO amount of tool cost should hamper that, that machine must do the job it was intended to do. Now - most of use are what they call weekend warriors, a machine down is not going to reflect a loss in the ol pocketbook, we are still just as pissed the new machine is not working well, but there is a difference. Even the tools that you describe in the high overhead, THEY TOO must work, the first time they are tested. Can you imagine a new code scanner that a dealer paid 2k for, and the first time it is used to scan a new Kubota, it does not work? Describe the dealer's/mechanic's viewpoint now - that piece of plastic is going to be thrown across the shop......or placed back in the box carefully and a new one sent!

I am sure different dealers have a different "standard" when it comes to assembly and such. IN this specific case - the dealer should have sent a worker out and brought the appropriate tools to fix the leaking hoses. Simple fix in this case. Not all are this simple.

How many times has the dealer NOT done the small things when it comes to an assembly, lets say a hydraulic line is not tight, a wheel lug is not tightened , or even in a case of a while back, a simple ZIP ties not placed in a position that saves a hose. ALL these could be attributed to not allowing the machine to be tested after the assembly or a bad mechanic doing the work.

Those dealers that are successful have several pieces of the puzzle that MAKE them successful.

They have a person that talks the talk, a person that fixes what is broken, and perhaps someone that just listens to the complaint. ALL in all - the dealer that does not have these pieces......will not be a dealer long.

Last note - I can not imagine what a dealer goes through, selling 100 tractors a year, and 95 are perfect, but the other 5 drive the dealership crazy, with "it will not start" (person not sitting in seat correctly) - "I cannot make it go forward" (person does not have it in gear - hst) or the person the want the FEL to pick up a rock the size of a VW! AND to that - the new owners have their part in the story too - RTFM!!!! Read the ......manual.

Lugbolt - thank you for you post again, always two sides to every coin.