Tractor Purchase Not Working Out, Getting Stressed

[PaulL]

I agree that the 'jump ship now' sentiment feels a bit hasty and destructive. I would also rather give them a chance to set everything right. If they're willing to fix everything and throw some free implements my way to patch things up, then I shouldn't be burning bridges so readily.

I think that's the right attitude. My caution would be that he might feel getting you a genuinely brand new tractor is setting things right, he might not think he needs to offer more than that.

You have stated a few things that aren't correct though. After I complained, my dealer did say he'd noticed some of the sun fading when the tractor came in, and that he was "unimpressed" with the other dealer. He was either too laid back about it, and/or crossed his fingers and hoped that I wouldn't notice/care about the aging on the tractor. In either case, I expect he's learned now that such a wager may end up having some blowback. Also, I did not get the tractor quickly once they started the transfer. It still took a couple weeks longer than expected, I think partially because they had to order parts to repair a hydraulic leak, and partially because they just weren't moving as fast as they could.

That's less good. So I'll change my position to "he may not have known quite how bad it was, but he tried to let it slide and hoped you wouldn't complain." That would give me a few more reservations about the dealer.

I'll feel pretty weird/uncomfortable about moving forward with this whole thing if Kubota corporate doesn't get back to me with something reassuring. I'd hoped in 2 days someone would have at least glanced at my letter and sent a simple 'we're looking into this'. I just forwarded my email/letter to one more person:

Christa Lander is Kubota's Brand Communications Manager - christa.lander@kubota.com is actually just a guess at her email address, based on the format of other Kubota email addresses.

In my experience, that's not unusual for corporates. Some have a policy of replying pretty much instantly, but with a "we're sorry you're disappointed, we'll look into that for you." Which is an acknowledgement but no actual info. Others will have sent a please explain down through 3 layers of management to get to the dealer to see what he reckons is going on, then come back to you with a considered response. Others are completely useless and never check their e-mail. Again, no need for hasty decisions.

 

[Ike]

I don't think I would trust this dealer to far. The way the deal started and now this. If they had that tractor intheir shop and work was done on it and no one said anything about what you found. What does that say about their service people. It seems if there was some of this model on other lots he could have had one shipped to his dealer ship for you. He got his one from another dealer

 

[Tractor_Chunks]

"If they're willing to fix everything and throw some free implements my way to patch things up"

Chimpy, I don't understand, the very least they must do for you, after all they put you thru, is to take that one back and give you a brand new one plus the EXTRAS. I do believe this is a Frankenstein, and a good dealer and or someone you e mailed in Kubota will discover this by the serial number. And I don't believe they would risk their reputations on something like that. There is just too much to ignore. The dirt on the motor alone says a lot. You showed the NEW 2380's on the lot, how clean were they.
Sit back, see what the dealer comes up with. Or send that one back to him, then wait. Don't jump ship just yet.

Yes, that's what I meant by 'fix everything' - take the funky tractor back, give me a new one like I was promised, and do something spectacular enough on the implements to make me feel good about the whole thing even with all the lost time and hassle (2 months of lost productivity and dozens of hours of headache, at this point). I have a notion for what that solution looks like, but I think I'd rather heat Kubota's solution first. I think it is still possible that I could walk away from this with a BX and not feeling sour. Ball is in their court now.

I did email my John Deere guy today to tell him what happened. Curious how he'll respond. My local John Deere dealer is an AHW - same company that sponsors Tractor Time with Tim on Youtube.

 

[Tractor_Chunks]

I don't think I would trust this dealer to far. The way the deal started and now this. If they had that tractor intheir shop and work was done on it and no one said anything about what you found. What does that say about their service people. It seems if there was some of this model on other lots he could have had one shipped to his dealer ship for you. He got his one from another dealer

I agree somewhat. The dealer has bunch of machinery in their shop ranging from new to almost new to 20+ years old. Plenty of really rusty stuff being worked on in there. The guy fixing the hydraulic leak probably doesn't know the exact deal on my particular tractor. In general, I agree that people kinda just turned a blind eye. My dealer did admit that he'd noticed the extra aging on the tractor.
They had me waiting more than a month already and finally got this thing transferred and had to decide what to do. They made the wrong decision. The dealer probably should have called me in to explain and show me the aged state of the machine and asked me what I wanted to do at that point.

 

[Tractor_Chunks]

I think that's the right attitude. My caution would be that he might feel getting you a genuinely brand new tractor is setting things right, he might not think he needs to offer more than that.

Before delivery, I'd already expressed my extreme disappointment in the delays and constant failure of 'delivery next week', and John Deere's drop in price during the wait. So he was already talking about doing some implements 'at cost'. What bothers me is that we haven't discussed any specific numbers. A few hundred dollars reduction on a nearly $35k purchase isn't going to impress me in the slightest.

 

[DustyRusty]

If the BX23S is such a hot seller, then why was this one on the lot so long without being sold? Sure would love to hear the back story from the dealer that took the original delivery from Kubota. Either he is grossly over priced for what he is (n't) selling, or something dramatic happened to this tractor and it couldn't be sold as new. My 15 year old BX22 is in better condition with almost 700 hours on the clock.

 

[Tractor_Chunks]

If the BX23S is such a hot seller, then why was this one on the lot so long without being sold? Sure would love to hear the back story from the dealer that took the original delivery from Kubota. Either he is grossly over priced for what he is (n't) selling, or something dramatic happened to this tractor and it couldn't be sold as new. My 15 year old BX22 is in better condition with almost 700 hours on the clock.

I actually asked Messick's on Youtube and their response was the same - how does any dealer have such old stock on a BX23S? My dealer told me that the place he got it transferred from actually had other BX23S's, with the quick-attach bucket that I wanted, but they wouldn't let any of those go and would only transfer the one that I received. My impression is that my dealer was told that they didn't want to let go of their quick-attach bucket versions, but it seems clear now that they wanted to dump the tractor for other reasons.

 

[Sodark]

Kinda starting to sound like you wanted a Deere, bought a Kubota for the price and will ultimately be dissatisfied no matter the outcome. My JD dealer completely soured me on the brand when I was buying my mower. After I got my KUBOTA CUT and saw that they made mowers also... I still like my JD, but I'll bet that orange mower is niiice... Researching the brand you're about to invest in is part of the fun. Now, regardless of the resolution, you're dry docked until the seasons change, you say. Maybe if your only remaining hangup on going green is prior investment of time, money and energy... This might be another last opportunity to change direction?

 

[Tractor_Chunks]

Kinda starting to sound like you wanted a Deere, bought a Kubota for the price and will ultimately be dissatisfied no matter the outcome. My JD dealer completely soured me on the brand when I was buying my mower. After I got my KUBOTA CUT and saw that they made mowers also... I still like my JD, but I'll bet that orange mower is niiice... Researching the brand you're about to invest in is part of the fun. Now, regardless of the resolution, you're dry docked until the seasons change, you say. Maybe if your only remaining hangup on going green is prior investment of time, money and energy... This might be another last opportunity to change direction?

No, I actually started liking the Kubota much more from a general size and aesthetics perspective, and the Kubota design just seemed sleeker and nicer, like it was more though-out. Deere's seemed blocky and dated. The biggest thing that brought me to Deere was the extra loader capacity, and position control seemed like an upgrade but ultimately I didn't feel like position control would make a lot of difference for me. When you're coming from a shovel and wheel barrow, both options look great and both will get the job done. If you're using the tractor daily, price becomes less a concern and productivity is king. For me, I just didn't see that loader work going ~15% faster was worth thousands of dollars more, at the cost of trying to squeeze a bigger machine through my tight spaces. I was also just very impressed with the line of Land Pride implements. In the end I'm sure either machine would work for me.

Your note about sunk cost fallacy is only valid if the dealer/Kubota isn't going to offer me anything for this hassle. If that's the case, I'll walk away from the deal entirely.

 

[Sodark]

Your note about sunk cost fallacy...

THANK YOU! Omfg I was wracking my brain trying to recall that term, lol.

 

[Tractor_Chunks]

Oh, one other thing I forgot to mention: in my video I pointed out where the electrical connection for the 3rd function seemed strangely damaged and repaired with an additional connector. My dealer said he thought the extra connector was there so that you had something to plug back into itself after removing the loader, thereby protecting the connector from intrustion by the elements. I don't know about this - I feel like Kubota would have just used a connector with a built-in cover or something. The extra unprotected loop of, what, 24awg black wire just seems so silly and delicate. The electrical tape treatment seems dumb - I would have used some nice waterproof heat shrink or something actually suitable for exposed wiring.

Anyone else with the Kubota OEM third function on the BX that can comment on how it was installed?

 

[PaulL]

Your note about sunk cost fallacy is only valid if the dealer/Kubota isn't going to offer me anything for this hassle. If that's the case, I'll walk away from the deal entirely.

To me it really comes down to whether you think the Kubota is the right tractor or not. It does sound a bit to me like you need a machine in between the BX and B2601 in size, and the JD 1025R is that. But as you say, a bunch of different compromises, and for you the size is really king, not the capacity or features of the machine.

The BX remains the smallest real tractor you can buy, and is very capable given that size. Sure, other tractors (like the JD 1025R) have a little higher capacities on various measures. But they also tend to be a little larger (so of course they have more capacity), and as you note, they aren't quite as refined. I'm definitely a Kubota bigot, but I also feel that if I bought another machine I'd spend time remembering how much better the Kubota was to use.

Of course, I do like the JD drive over deck, and I'm still partial to the way their loader can pick up the mower deck once you disconnect it.

Anyway, seems to me like you want a BX. If you want a BX, then choices are a BX from the dealer you're working with, or a BX from another dealer.

Sounds like your second closest dealer is the one who actually had the crappy machine you've got. Two ways to look at that. On the one hand, he has some other machines that aren't crappy. So you could get one of them. On the other hand, he's clearly dodgy.

Your closest dealer sounds like he's sort of trying, but he's turning a blind eye to sloppy staff and a machine that's in poor condition. That's not a great recommendation, but if he gets you a good machine, then whatever. He's your closest dealer, and you'll know to triple check everything going forward.

If you walk away entirely, what would you do? If you want a BX, then buying a JD makes no sense. If you want a JD, then you should walk away now and get one. You'll have the machine long after this current shambles is just an amusing story you tell friends at parties. If you're going to another dealer, which dealer, and for what deal? Like I say to people looking for a job, don't leave the job you have until you have a new one, and never leave a job to get away from something you don't like - always go towards something you do want. So, what deal do you have on offer from another dealer, and are you sure it's something that you want better?

 

[dlundblad]

UPDATE:
My dealer came by yesterday afternoon to look over the tractor. He got there a few minutes before I did, and when I walked up he was already apologizing. We went over the tractor pretty thoroughly, and my dealer took a lot of photos of rust and other things. He also couldn't remove and reconnect the loader without getting off and shoving the loader arm into place with his shoulder. He didn't give me one bit of 'it's a tractor, it's supposed to be rusty' or anything like that. He said that he should have personally looked it over more closely before delivery. He said the other dealer (turned out to be a different company, not another dealership in his company) "basically lied" to him. He said he needs to take this to Kubota and see what they want to do, but he's going to push hard to get me a brand new tractor (the quality control issue that was stopping shipment of new BX23S's might still be an issue though).

I haven't heard from my dealer today. He did mention that one issue is that there is no area Kubota rep available right now (maybe he's out of the country or something, I can't recall). So I guess whomever my dealer would normally go to on these kinds of issues, can't be got at the moment.

I have not handed over any money at this point. The night my dealer delivered the tractor, he had me sign a simple invoice stating that I was buying the tractor and that we would enter into the Kubota financing agreement soon (adding the implements as well). Maybe I'm the fool, but I don't feel that it is likely that anyone will force me to keep/pay for this tractor. I'm more concerned that situation is in limbo and I still don't have a working tractor/implement solution going forward.

It has been 2 business days since I first contacted Kubota using their online contact form, and I haven't gotten a reply. Last night I emailed some other Kubota people, but none of them responded to me today. I find this lack of response on Kubota's end rather bothersome.

At this point, my mind is less focused on this particular tractor deal and more focused on the idea that choosing Kubota was a mistake. I'm going to shoot an email to the John Deere dealer I met with a couple times to let him know what happened, and see where he's at on inventory and price.

Here's the funny part of the story: turns out the dealer that pawned this lemon over to my dealer, was the next dealer in line if I was going to switch to a different dealer.


Here are the Kubota contacts I was able to find:

Todd Stucke – Senior Vice President, Marketing, Product Support & Strategic Projects
Email: todd.stucke@kubota.com
Phone: 310-294-0877

Alex Woods – Vice President, Sales Operations, Supply Chain & Parts
Email: alex.woods@kubota.com
Phone: 817-532-3875

Jon Cheek - National Accounts Manager
Email: jon.cheek01@kubota.com, jon.cheek@kubota.com
Phone: 817-532-3875, 817-914-2055

Mike Spillars - National Accounts Business Development Manger at Kubota tractor Corporation
Email: mike.spillars@kubota.com
Phone: 817-532-5592 or 817-756-1171
Cell: 817-915-2743

As biased as I am with Kubota, youre doing good with going with JD at this point.

Tell that to your Kubota dealer. Hey come get your tractor. I’m going with JD now. Maybe they will speed things up.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

might try one of these guys !!!

https://www.kubota.com/company/corp-info/board/index.html

I'm betting THEY take it very seriously !!

 

[atitus]

Anyone else with the Kubota OEM third function on the BX that can comment on how it was installed?

I don't have a 3rd function for FEL but I have the front snow blower which has its own 3rd function on it for hydraulic deflection. It does have the wire connector, and it does have an 'extra' cap to cover the connector when the snowblower isn't installed. So the dealer is correct in that regard. However, mine isn't implemented as poorly as that one.

 

[Tractor_Chunks]

might try one of these guys !!!

https://www.kubota.com/company/corp-info/board/index.html

I'm betting THEY take it very seriously !!

Ok, how do I contact them?

 

[GreensvilleJay]

that was a kwik google, though I'm sure here must be 'contact info'. Try googling 'kubota a name emailaddress' of similar...

 

[Tornado]

I would be walking away from this already. The dealer is careless. He shows up however and probably talks a good game. Its easy to fall into that trap, because humans are emotional beings. He shows up, apologizes, seems to take initiative, seems to be trying to do you right, but all the while he has dropped the ball. The fact that his dealership let THAT tractor go to your house is all you need to know. Period. End of story. No explanation he can offer bypasses that one act alone. It shows carelessness, no attention to detail, not customer first focused. Of course he talks the right stuff you want to hear when you talk to him, He likely has a lot of practice at this. If you continue to deal with this dealership after all this then it is at your own peril. There has been enough in this thread to paint some clear pictures of the owners character.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Ok, how do I contact them?

You don't... they are way above what you need!
Seriously why would a Corporate person case about your little one off issue, they wouldn't.
Maybe if you buy a 10,000 units then they might read an email or answer a call.

This has gotten so blown out of proportion that's it's getting to be bordering on ridiculous.

You have a problem with the dealer, not Kubota corporation.

I'll say it one last time, tell the dealer pick it up, all you're messing around with this is just showing all of us, including the dealer that he can pull one over on you and get away with it.

There is no grey area here, it's black and white, he delivered a crap tractor, he needs to take it back!

I'm beginning to think that you aren't telling us the "real story", I'm wondering if your written words to us aren't matching the spoken words with your dealer.

 

[Kmyers]

You don't... they are way above what you need!
Seriously why would a Corporate person case about your little one off issue, they wouldn't.
Maybe if you buy a 10,000 units then they might read an email or answer a call.

This has gotten so blown out of proportion that's it's getting to be bordering on ridiculous.

You have a problem with the dealer, not Kubota corporation.

I'll say it one last time, tell the dealer pick it up, all you're messing around with this is just showing all of us, including the dealer that he can pull one over on you and get away with it.

There is no grey area here, it's black and white, he delivered a crap tractor, he needs to take it back!

I'm beginning to think that you aren't telling us the "real story", I'm wondering if your written words to us aren't matching the spoken words with your dealer.

Agree with most of what Wolfman said.

Those high level guys wont respond. No different than any other company. Im sure Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Michael Jordan, or John May (New CEO of John Deere) would not replay to my emails. Regional manager possibly, whoever that is, but should be your dealer reaching out, not you.

Dealer needs to pick it up and return your money, or replace it. Its really that plain and simple.