Kubota Dealer Messed Up, Should I Pay

[Pquackenbush86]

Looking for advice on how I should handle an issue I am having with my local dealer. Two months ago I took my L3240 in for a leak from the bell housing area. I asked them to split the tractor, replace any and all seals inside the bellhousing and then replace the clutch if it was soaked in fluid. I also asked for a price on a fuel tank since one of the vent lines had broken off and also for a price on resealing the front hub seals as they were lightly seeping. They called back and said their is a bulletin and it was a seal on the front of the pto shaft and they didn't have to split the tractor but had to tear down the front end and replace the seal. Total to fix the leak from the bell housing, and reseal the front hubs $1400 and $300 for the tank if I put it in myself after. I reiterated that I felt the leak was coming form the bellhousing. They insisted it wasn't so I agreed to the repairs. After numerous reasons ( parts delays) (work schedule) etc and 5 weeks time they called and said it was done. I picked it up and the mechanic told me I really should have replaced the front hub because the spline was butchered from a previous repair ( news to me as nobody called and said anything but apparently they increased the labor to cob it back together) already annoyed I started pulling on the trailer and it started dripping from the bell housing. I went back inside and they said it's residual... First job I went to it started leaking out the bottom consistently throughout the day drip drip drip. I took it back. Now after 2 weeks of looking at it and having a Kubota rep come out they have determined it is in fact a seal in the bellhousing and they want $1700 to fix. I lost it on the phone and they said they would talk it over and call back. Now they are saying $1200 and they will refund some of the first repair. Is this reasonable?


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[Bulldog]

Do you have a written work order where they were told to replace all the seals when they had it apart?

Sounds like a bunch of crap but written proof is everything.

 

[shooter56]

I would be smoking mad too, they fixed it where it was not leaking! Hope you get Some satisfaction from that shop! I think they owe you a bunch of cash back!

 

[Pquackenbush86]

On the repair order they wrote bell housing leaking that's it... when I called in the beginning I asked for a quote to split the case and replace all the seals and possibly clutch. They said $600 labor plus parts so I said ok I'll drop it off Saturday. I reiterated the same thing to the service advisor on the Saturday I dropped it off. I realize some of the labor is from the front hub seals but I don't know what portion of it so I don't know how much I should be insisting they refund. Of the $1400 initial repair $200 was for parts.


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[Pquackenbush86]

Ironically I am actually a mechanic by trade and could have repaired myself but thought it's going to be time consuming and it will be faster to just have Kubota do it. Also if I sell it at any point I can provide receipts for the repairs lol


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[1970cs]

I would probably talk to the store manager and plead your case. Along with the receipt from the first repair and tell them your concerns and would like some compensation or break on labor for the correct repair! Then if that does not play out, request a meeting with the owner.

Pat

 

[Bulldog]

May be worth the time talking to another dealer and getting a quote from them for the same work.

If I only had my local Kubota dealer to work with I would have bought a different color.

 

[Pquackenbush86]

I would probably talk to the store manager and plead your case. Along with the receipt from the first repair and tell them your concerns and would like some compensation or break on labor for the correct repair! Then if that does not play out, request a meeting with the owner.



Pat

That's what I was thinking. Had they listened to me the first time and said it will be $1700 for just the bellhousing I would have had no issues and prob waited to fix the front axle seep till later.


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[lugbolt]

How much would it have cost you the first time if you'd had them split it to replace the propeller shaft seal, shaft, collars, etc? If it would have been X amount on top of what you already paid, then you'd have had to pay it anyway, even if you'd had them do it the first time.

$1400 for kingpin seals and input shaft seal is on the high side, IMO. Not a big job really, not on a L3240. I've never had to do an input seal on the front axle. Done plenty of propeller shaft seals though; and I ASSume that's why Kubota addressed it by updating the part numbers.

 

[Pquackenbush86]

How much would it have cost you the first time if you'd had them split it to replace the propeller shaft seal, shaft, collars, etc? If it would have been X amount on top of what you already paid, then you'd have had to pay it anyway, even if you'd had them do it the first time.



$1400 for kingpin seals and input shaft seal is on the high side, IMO. Not a big job really, not on a L3240. I've never had to do an input seal on the front axle. Done plenty of propeller shaft seals though; and I ASSume that's why Kubota addressed it by updating the part numbers.

From what I was told they replaced the front pto shaft seal and had the pto shaft out. Can it be pulled out the front? Also could they have damaged the pto seal in the bellhousing when putting the shaft back in?


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[Kendall]

I had a dealer quote m $500.00 for repairs, when I went to pick it up they aid it was now $750.00. I said I have a signed quote, he basically told me to pound sand, and I walked out. I needed some tractor work done so I hire a guy to do te work, $1,700.00. I sued the dealership for not honoring the contract, and in court I proved he lied. The judge game me my tractor back, I had to pay no repairs, and the dealer had to pay me $1,700.00.
I don't take it any more, I'm too old to get jerked around my dealers. Don't get me started how I sued Ford and got a new replacement for my lemon and I sued Chrysler for the same thing and got a new cat and got to drive their car for free for three years.
My looooong point it sue them in small claims court. Dealers and dealerships are afraid of courts and it is the only thing that gets their attention. I mean what do you have to lose you're already upside down on this deal. Small claims court only costs under $100.00 to sue, but once they get served the owner and GM will be on the phone the next day bending over backwards to make it right.

 

[GEP]

I had a dealer quote m $500.00 for repairs, when I went to pick it up they aid it was now $750.00. I said I have a signed quote, he basically told me to pound sand, and I walked out. I needed some tractor work done so I hire a guy to do te work, $1,700.00. I sued the dealership for not honoring the contract, and in court I proved he lied. The judge game me my tractor back, I had to pay no repairs, and the dealer had to pay me $1,700.00.
I don't take it any more, I'm too old to get jerked around my dealers. Don't get me started how I sued Ford and got a new replacement for my lemon and I sued Chrysler for the same thing and got a new cat and got to drive their car for free for three years.
My looooong point it sue them in small claims court. Dealers and dealerships are afraid of courts and it is the only thing that gets their attention. I mean what do you have to lose you're already upside down on this deal. Small claims court only costs under $100.00 to sue, but once they get served the owner and GM will be on the phone the next day bending over backwards to make it right.

I would contact the regional Kubota representative and make sure he knows how the dealer treated you. Sounds to me they don't know what there doing and are rip of artists. Kubota don't like issues like you had

 

[SDT]

I had a dealer quote m $500.00 for repairs, when I went to pick it up they aid it was now $750.00. I said I have a signed quote, he basically told me to pound sand, and I walked out. I needed some tractor work done so I hire a guy to do te work, $1,700.00. I sued the dealership for not honoring the contract, and in court I proved he lied. The judge game me my tractor back, I had to pay no repairs, and the dealer had to pay me $1,700.00.
I don't take it any more, I'm too old to get jerked around my dealers. Don't get me started how I sued Ford and got a new replacement for my lemon and I sued Chrysler for the same thing and got a new cat and got to drive their car for free for three years.
My looooong point it sue them in small claims court. Dealers and dealerships are afraid of courts and it is the only thing that gets their attention. I mean what do you have to lose you're already upside down on this deal. Small claims court only costs under $100.00 to sue, but once they get served the owner and GM will be on the phone the next day bending over backwards to make it right.

I expect that your dealer has changed his ways.

I expect that they are no longer providing written quotes.

SDT

 

[BAP]

I had a dealer quote m $500.00 for repairs, when I went to pick it up they aid it was now $750.00. I said I have a signed quote, he basically told me to pound sand, and I walked out. I needed some tractor work done so I hire a guy to do te work, $1,700.00. I sued the dealership for not honoring the contract, and in court I proved he lied. The judge game me my tractor back, I had to pay no repairs, and the dealer had to pay me $1,700.00.
I don't take it any more, I'm too old to get jerked around my dealers. Don't get me started how I sued Ford and got a new replacement for my lemon and I sued Chrysler for the same thing and got a new cat and got to drive their car for free for three years.
My looooong point it sue them in small claims court. Dealers and dealerships are afraid of courts and it is the only thing that gets their attention. I mean what do you have to lose you're already upside down on this deal. Small claims court only costs under $100.00 to sue, but once they get served the owner and GM will be on the phone the next day bending over backwards to make it right.

And that’s why everything is so expensive, Sue Happy people drive up the cost of doing business.

 

[D2Cat]

And that’s why everything is so expensive, Sue Happy people drive up the cost of doing business.

Things are expensive for a lot of reasons.

A suit in small claims is a method for two parties in disagreement to get the issue resolved without high cost or an attorney. It's a pain in the axx to go through the process, but it does get ones attention and usually the problem is rectified.

It's best to negotiate, then litigate! The reason one gets a quote in writing (and it usually has an expiration date) is to confirm cost for budget purposes. If someone's written word is not good, than litigation may change that practice for others dealing with that person/business.

An honest mistake is one thing. It needs to be acknowledged and agreed upon by both parties. And usually a compromise is reached.

 

[Kubota BX 1860]

I was pretty much on board with you until you happened to mention that you'd sued both Ford AND Chrysler for apparent lemon issues. The chances of your having two cars that were bad enough to warrant this type of response is pretty remote in my opinion. Now I'm not so sure about your standing with your dealer.

 

[SDT]

I was pretty much on board with you until you happened to mention that you'd sued both Ford AND Chrysler for apparent lemon issues. The chances of your having two cars that were bad enough to warrant this type of response is pretty remote in my opinion. Now I'm not so sure about your standing with your dealer.

I agree, 1860.

Hard to believe.

SDT

 

[rjcorazza]

That difference would raise enough concern for me that would require an explanation and description of what additional work was necessary. If no additional work was done, then I would likely insist they stay within 10% of the estimate. I don’t think I would sue over $250, but we all have a limit!
Most of us have had negative experiences with dealer repairs, and I am no exception. A dishonest shop is going to be a problem no matter how the customer reacts. Keeping a cool head with an honest dealer is always the way to go.




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[Daren Todd]

I've fought with a local dealer (green tractors) over a few invoices. My biggest beef was them tacking on 3 hours labor for computer diagnostics on a mechanically governed engine That one instantly ticks me off since there isn't anyway to hook a computer up to it.

After a couple over billings, creative invoices, and some heated arguments with management of said dealer, I've since quit dealing with them and bus my equipment 30 miles north to there competitor.

Here's my expectations when I take something to a dealer. I want a written estimate with printed and signed signature from the service manager. This way they can't deny it later.

I also expect a call if they discover something that's gonna increase the cost over the estimate. This is just a good business practice. I do this same thing for my customers.

Back years ago, Sears auto center used to just throw parts on a vehicle and charge for it even though the repairs weren't authorized. They would then hold the vehicle hostage till the invoice was paid. I had a vehicle in for an oil change. Had a copy of the slip where it just authorized an oil change. Went to pick up the vehicle and they had put new shocks and windshield wipers on the truck. And then demanded I pay for the shocks and windshield wipers before I could get my vehicle back.

I called the police on them. Got with the manager along with the police officer. I walked out of there paying for the oil change. I did thank them for the new windshield wipers and shocks

 

[lugbolt]

Estimate:

a : to judge tentatively or approximately the value, worth, or significance of
b : to determine roughly the size, extent, or nature of
c : to produce a statement of the approximate cost of


Now y'all keep in mind that someone doing an estimate is simply ROUGHLY guessing at the cost, before the work is done. An estimate is just that...an estimate...and there's no guarantee that the job will end up within $.01 of the estimated cost. I do my best to get it exact, but it rarely happens. Sometimes you get into something and find other issues...like splitting a tractor to find that the clutch is soaked with hydraulic oil, tax rate change, supplies rate change, etc etc. Do you (a) call and give customer a supplementary estimate, or (B) just put the part in so you can move onto the next job. (A) is the correct answer; BUT y'all also need to consider that a professional shop that has any merit will always be busy....and certain times of the year, other owners will be calling & griping continually because their crap ain't fixed yet. Then the boss is all over the tech for the same reason...or maybe a different reason...tech might get sick and have to take a day off (like I did last week), puts said tech 2 or 3 days behind....there's a million things that a dealer can do that is "wrong" in a consumer's eyes, and when I see or hear the "sue" word, I'm out, and you're on your own until court time rolls around.

BTW there was a bulletin for the bellhousing leak. Dealer should have referred to it. You (the owner) can ask them about it. Have you called Kubota customer service yet? Lot of times they can help you when nobody else can. Lastly, what kind of oil is in the transmission?

Oh and no, dealerships are NOT scared of having to go to court....that's a very uninformed statement. Inconvenienced, yes, but afraid? Not so much. Have been in the courtroom myself a couple times in almost 30 years of dealer work....and it didn't bother me. Took me out of the shop for a couple hours but at least I had a/c

I know of...and have had to work for...some folks who make/made their living off of lawsuits. I have absolutely no use for them, period. Actually there are still a bunch of them around, and I reserve the right to refuse service to them if/when they need my service, with the explanation that I just don't feel comfortable doing the job.