HST fluid change with filters

D2Cat

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Lifetime Member

Equipment
L305DT, B7100HST, TG1860, TG1860D, L4240
Mar 27, 2014
13,816
5,559
113
40 miles south of Kansas City
My dealer quoted $150 plus parts. I turned it down and just bought the supplies.
The thing that piqued me was the parts counter guys kept trying to sell me UDT when I was requesting SUDT or SUDT2. He kept trying to convince me my tractor should use UDT.... especially down here in Texas ....where the climate is perfect for UDT. (Neither of us certainly could not for-tell THIS week.) 😅

Since the tractor (a 1996 M4700) was new-to-me.... I figured he must know what he’s talking about so bought three 5-gal pails of UDT. Later-on, reading the Owner’s Manual...turns out it left the factory with SUDT and that is what is recommended both in the OM and the WSM. So I took the UDT back for exchange.
He was very insistent that I should keep the UDT and use that in my tractor...and I had to repeatedly tell him “I WANT SUDT2!”..... and only after several back-and-forths.... did he finally make the exchange with me.
It really puzzles me why a seller will argue with a customer when the customer...even after explaining their reasoning...and that reasoning agrees with the mfr’r..... clearly and purposefully states what they want!
I am likely to install 80W90 GL5 in the front axle when the 600 hr service occurs sometime next month.
Yup, one of the key points in salesmanship is. "Sell the customer what he wants, then he'll come back and buy what he needs!"
 
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GeoHorn

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Equipment
M4700DT, LA1002FEL, Ferguson5-8B Compactor-Roller, 10KDumpTrailer, RTV-X900
May 18, 2018
6,040
3,316
113
Texas
Yup, one of the key points in salesmanship is. "Sell the customer what he wants, then he'll come back and buy what he needs!"
I guess I don’t “get” your meaning D2Cat.... I was wanting what (unknowingly) Kubota specified, and the seller insisted on selling me something different. When I discovered my original request was what was needed...the seller continued arguing in-favor of the wrong fluid. If he’d sold me what I first requested I would not have had to return anything. Perhaps you can clarify your post....
 

arto98607

Member

Equipment
Kubota F3060, Grasshopper 721D, Ford 1310, JD 440 ICD, JD 300
Aug 24, 2014
64
4
8
Southwest WA State
I guess I don’t “get” your meaning D2Cat.... I was wanting what (unknowingly) Kubota specified, and the seller insisted on selling me something different. When I discovered my original request was what was needed...the seller continued arguing in-favor of the wrong fluid. If he’d sold me what I first requested I would not have had to return anything. Perhaps you can clarify your post....

I fully agree with D2Cat!
Selling a customer what he wants means the customer will not be pi**ed off and will come back again!
As you already know, your story is a prime example on how not to treat a customer.
 

random

Well-known member

Equipment
L3301, bucket, backhoe, grader, plow, harrow, cultivator
Nov 2, 2020
717
401
63
NC
I worked in retail sales for a couple years - not like department stores but where "selling" was actually a thing. I would never have INSISTED a customer get X vs Y - but my approach was always to (a) find out what the customer was really trying to do (sometimes didn't match what they came in to buy) and (b) inform and educate the customer to make the best decision he could. But in the end, the decision was up to the customer.
 
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DustyRusty

Well-known member

Equipment
2020 BX23S, BX2822 Snowblower, Curtis Deluxe Cab,
Nov 8, 2015
6,237
4,816
113
North East CT
My dealer quoted $150 plus parts. I turned it down and just bought the supplies.
The thing that piqued me was the parts counter guys kept trying to sell me UDT when I was requesting SUDT or SUDT2. He kept trying to convince me my tractor should use UDT.... especially down here in Texas ....where the climate is perfect for UDT. (Neither of us certainly could not for-tell THIS week.) 😅

Since the tractor (a 1996 M4700) was new-to-me.... I figured he must know what he’s talking about so bought three 5-gal pails of UDT. Later-on, reading the Owner’s Manual...turns out it left the factory with SUDT and that is what is recommended both in the OM and the WSM. So I took the UDT back for exchange.
He was very insistent that I should keep the UDT and use that in my tractor...and I had to repeatedly tell him “I WANT SUDT2!”..... and only after several back-and-forths.... did he finally make the exchange with me.
It really puzzles me why a seller will argue with a customer when the customer...even after explaining their reasoning...and that reasoning agrees with the mfr’r..... clearly and purposefully states what they want!
I am likely to install 80W90 GL5 in the front axle when the 600 hr service occurs sometime next month.
The reason he kept pushing the UDT, is because they know that all the newer tractors are going to be using SUDT2, and the parts guys don't want to get stuck with obsolete fluids. I have been in many stores that sell oil, and when the salesman tells them that a particular product is going to be phased out, and to dump the inventory, they start by putting it on sale, and keep dropping the price till it is all gone. No retailer wants to have obsolete inventory that they cannot sell. In retail, the saying is "your first loss is your least expensive one". Every time you mark a product down to sell it, you are losing more money.
 

69 SS

Member

Equipment
2015 L3901 HST,with Canopy,LA 525 FEL with SSQA bucket
Sep 26, 2015
103
21
18
Ft. Inn sc
Sent coupon in on 22nd ,still no reply,not turned down ,but not " contact within 72 hrs after team confirms your request". Have to submit again. Seems like they could do a better job. BTW ,bought tractor new.
 

ayak

Well-known member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
L3301 HST
Feb 16, 2018
609
819
93
WV
What are you guys seeing locally for price on a 5gal bucket of SUDT-2? I’ve seen $125 and $129 at the two different places around here, and online $103+likely $40 shipping at Messicks. Coupon came quick here, after submitting the info.
 

arto98607

Member

Equipment
Kubota F3060, Grasshopper 721D, Ford 1310, JD 440 ICD, JD 300
Aug 24, 2014
64
4
8
Southwest WA State
Bought a 5 gallon bucket at a regular price $103.12 at a local dealer two weeks ago.

The coupon is only for tractor users, not for mower users!
 

arto98607

Member

Equipment
Kubota F3060, Grasshopper 721D, Ford 1310, JD 440 ICD, JD 300
Aug 24, 2014
64
4
8
Southwest WA State
The reason he kept pushing the UDT, is because they know that all the newer tractors are going to be using SUDT2, and the parts guys don't want to get stuck with obsolete fluids. I have been in many stores that sell oil, and when the salesman tells them that a particular product is going to be phased out, and to dump the inventory, they start by putting it on sale, and keep dropping the price till it is all gone. No retailer wants to have obsolete inventory that they cannot sell. In retail, the saying is "your first loss is your least expensive one". Every time you mark a product down to sell it, you are losing more money.
Just making less profit.
 
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GeoHorn

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Lifetime Member

Equipment
M4700DT, LA1002FEL, Ferguson5-8B Compactor-Roller, 10KDumpTrailer, RTV-X900
May 18, 2018
6,040
3,316
113
Texas
I’ve tried three times to fill out the form online and each time it refuses to recognize my data as “valid”.... my name, serial, model, etc are all correct.... but Kubota refuses to recognize it. (No it’s not grey... it was sold new by a Kubota Dealer in Baytown, Tx in 96.)