I purchased a BX-25D about 3 months ago from the local upstate NY dealer, Springer's Inc. A week ago I happened to be passing by and was shocked to see they were out of business. This leads me to wonder if I have made a mistake going with Kubota. I received no notice from Springer's and, even worse, no notice from Kubota. I have to wonder if Kubota cares about it's customers.
Does Kubota care?
- Thread starter Davidupstate
- Start date
TripleR
Active member
Equipment
BX2200, BX2660, L5740 HSTC, M8540HDC and some other tractors and equipment
I'm sure they do, we had a substandard dealership near me that was really hurting Kubota's reputation and Kubota as well as New Holland pulled their tractors.
CaveCreekRay
Well-known member
Lifetime Member
Equipment
L3800 HST, KingKutter box scraper, KingKutter 66" rake, County Pride Subsoiler
Remember, the manufacturer treats the dealer like customers, because that is what they are. They just have somewhat better access to the manufacturer than you and I do.
After watching Bingham Equipment here in Phoenix have to go to the mat several times with Kubota on my 3-pt issue, it cannot be fun being the middle man between an unresponsive manufacturer and the upset customer. Especially when the margins of tractors are slim and the dealers plan to make it up in service later on.
Dealerships are run like every other business with good businessmen and bad businessmen. The manufacturer doesn't get involved in that. Other than promotional material and signage (which the dealer has to buy), their involvement stops at the loading dock where their machines and parts get dropped off.
Any other dealers within an hour drive? You should be good to go except for maybe a "punch-list visit about 6 months before your main warranty runs out, around the 18 mo point. Drive train runs 36 mo so you are covered there as well. You shouldn't have any problems. The machines are generally very reliable. Break her in gently and service her regularly and she'll last decades. Keep your receipts on oil, filters, and fluids.
After watching Bingham Equipment here in Phoenix have to go to the mat several times with Kubota on my 3-pt issue, it cannot be fun being the middle man between an unresponsive manufacturer and the upset customer. Especially when the margins of tractors are slim and the dealers plan to make it up in service later on.
Dealerships are run like every other business with good businessmen and bad businessmen. The manufacturer doesn't get involved in that. Other than promotional material and signage (which the dealer has to buy), their involvement stops at the loading dock where their machines and parts get dropped off.
Any other dealers within an hour drive? You should be good to go except for maybe a "punch-list visit about 6 months before your main warranty runs out, around the 18 mo point. Drive train runs 36 mo so you are covered there as well. You shouldn't have any problems. The machines are generally very reliable. Break her in gently and service her regularly and she'll last decades. Keep your receipts on oil, filters, and fluids.
Dude not to worry, any Kubota dealer will honor your warranty. As far as Kubota, take a deep breath and relax, you have one of the most popular machines out there, and the big "K" does take pride in their machines and will stand by them.. Now if it makes you feel any better they closed 3 Harley shops with in 30 miles of me why I don't know, I dealt with all of them and never received any kind of notice, even the store where I bought my bike closed and I never got anything. SO smile and know your little orange machine is well engineered, and with some care, and some preventive maintenance on your part she will out live you!
skeets, you've got me confused. You state, "Dude not to worry, any Kubota dealer will honor your warranty. As far as Kubota, take a deep breath and relax, you have one of the most popular machines out there, and the big "K" does take pride in their machines and will stand by them.. Now if it makes you feel any better they closed 3 Harley shops with in 30 miles of me why I don't know,..."
Why/how does "the big 'K'..." close a Harley shop? It's not the same corporation is it?
Why/how does "the big 'K'..." close a Harley shop? It's not the same corporation is it?
the thing most in you favor is that you bought Kubota. I have seen Kubota dealers come and go over the years. Kubota works very hard to replace failed dealers. When your dealer closed, it was surely after Kubota did what they could to avoid their closing. This dealer going out of business was no doubt self inflicted. I am fortunate to have an old line dealer with a massive inventory. Kubota and my dealer are the least of my concerns.
They might both leak oil, but I haven't seen that from my L3200 yet, so maybe that isn't the connection either.
LMAO you guys is funny,, No cat what I was trying to say was, that dealers close and open all the time,, My dealing with HD has been some what less than impressive I have to say but I love the old gal anyway,,,
(and HD has,, as far as I know, no connection with Kubota though you can never tell who sits one who's boards any more),
and if its not a profitable dealer or the company has received to many complaints they will often times pull the franchise. So yes it sucks when your dealer goes away, but any dealer has to honor the warranty no matter where you bought it. What he has is a good machine and not to worry about it much,, with care it will out live most of us in here
And Harleys don't leak oil,,,,, They just mark their territory
(and HD has,, as far as I know, no connection with Kubota though you can never tell who sits one who's boards any more),
and if its not a profitable dealer or the company has received to many complaints they will often times pull the franchise. So yes it sucks when your dealer goes away, but any dealer has to honor the warranty no matter where you bought it. What he has is a good machine and not to worry about it much,, with care it will out live most of us in here
And Harleys don't leak oil,,,,, They just mark their territory
They have the same top speed also.
The two Kubota dealerships nearest to me are both a pain in the @ss to deal with. If you have something new that you got from them they are ok. If you have something older or did not get it from them, they do as little as they can get away with with out pissing off Kubota corp. Another dealership that has 3 locations, the nearest being about 75 miles away are fantastic
Kubota Gross Profit Margin (Quarterly): 29.65% for Sept. 30, 2014
Kubota Net Profit Margin (Quarterly): 9.07% for Sept. 30, 2014
I do not think they are going any wheres fast.
The two Kubota dealerships nearest to me are both a pain in the @ss to deal with. If you have something new that you got from them they are ok. If you have something older or did not get it from them, they do as little as they can get away with with out pissing off Kubota corp. Another dealership that has 3 locations, the nearest being about 75 miles away are fantastic
Kubota Gross Profit Margin (Quarterly): 29.65% for Sept. 30, 2014
Kubota Net Profit Margin (Quarterly): 9.07% for Sept. 30, 2014
I do not think they are going any wheres fast.
Dieselbob
New member
Equipment
BX 2230, LA211 loader, 60†MMM, 2†wheel spacers, grille guard, gauges, bucket e
In my area, the only Kubota dealer in my county SUDDENLY stopped selling Kubotas and started selling Mahindras. I have heard some "rumors" of shenanigans and this being a Kubota decision, but I have no proof, so I won't go any farther with that. The upshot is that the dealer from two ajoining counties (where my tractor actually came from) IMMEADIATLY set up a third store in my county. However this whole situation developed, I feel certain Kubota was going to make sure that a market of our size was NOT going to be under represented. IF you live in a fairly populated area, I would expect Kubota to try to pick up representation from another dealer or back a new one in your area. This is one of the reasons I prefer buying from the more established manufacturers that you KNOW are going to maintain good dealer support. Good luck with some of those "off brand" skid steers and compact tractors when something does go wrong.
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85Hokie
Moderator
Staff member
Lifetime Member
Equipment
BX-25D ,PTB. Under Armor, '90&'92-B7100HST's, '06 BX1850 FEL
Well said skeets !Dude not to worry, any Kubota dealer will honor your warranty. As far as Kubota, take a deep breath and relax, you have one of the most popular machines out there, and the big "K" does take pride in their machines and will stand by them.. Now if it makes you feel any better they closed 3 Harley shops with in 30 miles of me why I don't know, I dealt with all of them and never received any kind of notice, even the store where I bought my bike closed and I never got anything. SO smile and know your little orange machine is well engineered, and with some care, and some preventive maintenance on your part she will out live you!
Thanks, everybody, for the encouragement. You are right that I should not worry, but I'm still going to feel all offended and pissy about this for a while longer. When that (unnecessary waste of time) gets old, I'll pull on my big boy shoes again and move on.
One question though... how do you wipe that big goofy grin off your face after playing with your orange beast? My face muscles are starting to ache.
One question though... how do you wipe that big goofy grin off your face after playing with your orange beast? My face muscles are starting to ache.
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Answer: Break something expensive!One question though... how do you wipe that big goofy grin off your face after playing with your orange beast? My face muscles are starting to ache.
CaveCreekRay
Well-known member
Lifetime Member
Equipment
L3800 HST, KingKutter box scraper, KingKutter 66" rake, County Pride Subsoiler
A few years back, I was in the market for a go kart. Not your average go kart but the kart equivalent of an F1 car: A Tony Kart shifter kart. Out the door, these Italian marvels run about $10,000 with a motor and all the extras you need to race.
I found a last-years model that was on the market for $5300 by the Tony Kart distributor. This was a "show queen" and had been trucked to different Kart shows and races as a "prop." Best I could tell, it had never run. After looking at it for about ten seconds I realized that if someone else walked through the door, I'd lose my opportunity.
As we were writing up the deal, I mentioned that it would be ever so handy to have this dealer close by should I have any problems. I remember, the two sales guys gave each other deer-in-the-headlights glances but neither one said anything at all.
A week later, I found out the dealer was closing its doors. The owner had died in a crash of his Segway at a kart race when his batteries died and the Segway dumped him on his head. (His case was one of the reasons Segway had a huge recall.) The wife was blowing out everything in the business for cost so I bought enough spares to keep me running for years. When I sold it, I had enough parts to make the deal very nice for the buyer. (I actually made money!)
52hp on a 200lb frame... Zero to 100 in six seconds was fun while it lasted... even without a dealer nearby.
I found a last-years model that was on the market for $5300 by the Tony Kart distributor. This was a "show queen" and had been trucked to different Kart shows and races as a "prop." Best I could tell, it had never run. After looking at it for about ten seconds I realized that if someone else walked through the door, I'd lose my opportunity.
As we were writing up the deal, I mentioned that it would be ever so handy to have this dealer close by should I have any problems. I remember, the two sales guys gave each other deer-in-the-headlights glances but neither one said anything at all.
A week later, I found out the dealer was closing its doors. The owner had died in a crash of his Segway at a kart race when his batteries died and the Segway dumped him on his head. (His case was one of the reasons Segway had a huge recall.) The wife was blowing out everything in the business for cost so I bought enough spares to keep me running for years. When I sold it, I had enough parts to make the deal very nice for the buyer. (I actually made money!)
52hp on a 200lb frame... Zero to 100 in six seconds was fun while it lasted... even without a dealer nearby.
Daren Todd
Well-known member
Lifetime Member
Equipment
Massey Ferguson 1825E, Kubota Z121S, Box blade, Rotary Cutter
A few years back, I was in the market for a go kart. Not your average go kart but the kart equivalent of an F1 car: A Tony Kart shifter kart. Out the door, these Italian marvels run about $10,000 with a motor and all the extras you need to race.
I found a last-years model that was on the market for $5300 by the Tony Kart distributor. This was a "show queen" and had been trucked to different Kart shows and races as a "prop." Best I could tell, it had never run. After looking at it for about ten seconds I realized that if someone else walked through the door, I'd lose my opportunity.
As we were writing up the deal, I mentioned that it would be ever so handy to have this dealer close by should I have any problems. I remember, the two sales guys gave each other deer-in-the-headlights glances but neither one said anything at all.
A week later, I found out the dealer was closing its doors. The owner had died in a crash of his Segway at a kart race when his batteries died and the Segway dumped him on his head. (His case was one of the reasons Segway had a huge recall.) The wife was blowing out everything in the business for cost so I bought enough spares to keep me running for years. When I sold it, I had enough parts to make the deal very nice for the buyer. (I actually made money!)
52hp on a 200lb frame... Zero to 100 in six seconds was fun while it lasted... even without a dealer nearby.
A few years back we were tailgating for the pepsi 400 in daytona. We kept hearing a v8 rev up, then a bunch of clicking
walked over an looked over the privacy fence. There was an arcade, and had a go cart drag track They were running propane powered 350's in a go cart frame cost twenty bucks for three runs down an 8th mile track. We were averaging 3 1/2 to 4 seconds down that track. Bosses gf had to drag us out of there before we handed the cashier our credit cards and said let me know when the card runs out