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Dealers win against John Deere

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Well-known Member
NH Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal by JD and other manufacturers challenging the dealer's bill of rights. This upholds the limits on the manufacturers ability to force dealers into expensive upgrades of their buildings, provides for fair compensation for warranty work, limits their ability to force dealers to hire out of state contractors, and calls for just cause for ending a dealer's franchise.
 

IMHO that's a GREAT accomplishment & long overdue.

JD forced my brother whom had been a dealer from '53-'88 to sellout because he didn't desire to open(purchase) more locations. His building(facilities) were about 10 yrs old at the time. Same thing happened to his ex-wife that had a dealership at another town 30 miles away. Now both locations are owned by one dealer that also has 2 other locations.
 
Mother Deere has shown us what they think of use with the Mega Dealers,,they allowed normal competition to fly out the window,,our arrogant Super dealer has 8 stores here, if you don't like their deal go ahead and drive 200 miles and check another..and when you do deal away from them Deere still gives them part of the money because you live in their zip code..
 
That's great for NH but most likely that does not impact other states at least in the short term. Too bad these upper management types can not distinguish agriculture from construction where that business model is has less impact on the customers as the customer can pass along the increased cost to their customer. The farmer certainly cannot make price for the most part whether it is meat, milk, grain, or vegetables. I know Deere bashing is entertaining for some but I would point out that Case was doing the mega-dealer formula here way back in the 1970's outright closing dealers who to that point were in good standing.
 
Local Deere dealerships all got Mercedes into 20 locations, which was then cut down to maybe 12 or so? Can't really keep track.

Case did about the same some years ago, thry seem small scale now tho with 3-4 dealerships merged together but still have the family owned
dealership feel to most of them. (Titan is nearby but not quite local, I imagine they are the Deere model.)

New Holland faded away on its own, tho several dealerships are off in the distance and are shared with Agco under the same roof.

Agco has three strong independent dealerships, tho two are also NH dealers. The Agco dealers were generally AC or Oliver dealers, Massey is
not well represented here at all. Back in the 80s there were some very small Massey dealers on the fringe, but they all closed.

Paul
 
Polaris did the same thing a few years back. Forced a lot of good dealers out of business because their store "didn't project the Polaris image properly" or some such rot. Local Chevy dealer was forced to take on more inventory "or else". Both the chevy dealer and the ford dealer have "refurbished" their store fronts. Seems that all of the car companies have decreed that all car dealerships, regardless of brand, have to all have a cookie cutter look now.

I can remember when there was six major manufacturer tractor dealerships in Lowville, with several more short line dealers and there were several more within 40 miles. I can also remember selling a couple of 1650's for $200 over inventory to make the sale. One local dealer would sell a new tractor for $50 if that's what it took to make the sale. Unless you sold Wal-Mart volumes of machinery, nobody made any money, either. Which is why we are down to 2 multi-store dealers and neither of them local.
 
There were three Case dealers within 15-20 miles of us and they were all successful in moving product in their territory. None of them were just caretakers satisfied with just selling parts. One had a good but older building and one other had a new structure. All three finished out the 1970's with shortlines or taking on another brand tractor line but when hard times hit in the 1980's they were out of the farm equipment business. The local most JD dealer was pinched in terms of territory plus the immediate area is not the most prosperous. There was no getting a jump on the JD dealer's in vegetable country so the local dealer hung on until retirement and then closed. Even if the children of that dealer wanted to run it would have required a new building as cab equipped tractors and combines would not fit in the shop. Even a 5020 was hard to get in from what I was told.
 
I should also mention that market saturation hit locally during the 1960's meaning each tractor sold going forward was going to idle a bunch of other tractors. This meant less service items sold for those other tractors. Going into WWII saw in hindsight farms were under equipped for tractors due to the Great Depression so existing farms could absorb a couple more tractors than what they had prior to 1940. Sons were still staying on the farm so dad saw no problem in having 3 tractors versus one as the boy(s) would each run one. This all changed going into the 1960's as sons were more apt to leave the farm. IH was a bit better off as they thinned the herd more aggressively so each remaining dealer had a little more territory to work with. One IH dealer had over an hour to his south w/o IH competition due to the configuration of the Finger Lakes.
 
not sure where you're at. same thing here in Northern Indiana and southern MI about 5 or more smaller family shops are merged into 1 and most of the local stores are all gone. not even sure if i wanted to, where to go to get a JD. at least a 40 min drive i think. used to be 15 min

i've heard of guys saving $10000 plus buying the same JD tractor in GA and having it shipped up. don't tell deere. they'll stop that too.

not much mergers in the Case side since the 1980s. but there is really only one nearby anyway.
 
Here is a comment I left on another forum on topic:

Not sure what to think. There are big dealers that are dunderheads and small dealers that are dunderheads too. What I'd like
to see is elimination of any dealer to dealer price fixing between brands. If one big outfit operates three JD dealerships or
any other brand dealer that would do the same in your area, essentially locking you out of a better price - that should not be
allowed IMHO. There should be competition.

Also if it's near and dear to the the mother ship and mega dealers are essential to the business, then locate one near the mom
and pop dealer and let them compete and the best dealership wins. I have a feeling - if the small dealer has their ducks in a
row, they will prevail or at least remain in business long term.

YMMV

Bill
 
What strikes me is - we use to have very small Ford, Chevy, a Chrystler/Plymouth, AMC - IH Scout, and Buick dealers within 20 miles - all are out of business now. None of them sold a ton of cars. Pretty sure this pattern existed across this country for many many years.

So what's in it for a Ford or GM corporate to have such small dealers? IMHO the dealer has a price they have to pay for the car to Ford/GM corporate. Corporate has made their profit - end of story, but if there were 2,000 small dealers across the country that sold 15 cars or trucks a month - that's 15 x 12 x 2,000 for 360,000 cars moved and at least corporate profit made on them. It's also 360,000 in future parts business. It boggles my mind that that number is unacceptable!

I get it that maybe you want a dealer to have some sort of appearance, nothing offending - but requiring them to build mega-new buildings just adds IMHO unnecessary overhead to the small dealers and snuff out their ability to service and sell cars.

One of these days there will be a Harvard study on COMMON SENSE and the outcome of it will STUN the nation.....

Bill
 
Fact is no one HAS to buy a John Deere the pressure on lowering their prices will come from other brands if the Deere Zombies would wise up,if not let them pay the price
I couldn't care less because I'm not buying a JD.
 
FYI - Deere prices are not always higher. When I bought my JD 5055d new - it was lower cost than a comparable New Holland 55 Workmaster and a MF2615 with equal or more features, i.e. standard remote out the back.

My advice is shop the purpose of the tractor, features, price and dealer - forget about the color and make your deal. That's how I found myself with a new JD.

YMMV
 
(quoted from post at 10:06:20 10/04/16) What strikes me is - we use to have very small Ford, Chevy, a Chrystler/Plymouth, AMC - IH Scout, and Buick dealers within 20 miles - all are out of business now. None of them sold a ton of cars. Pretty sure this pattern existed across this country for many many years.

So what's in it for a Ford or GM corporate to have such small dealers? IMHO the dealer has a price they have to pay for the car to Ford/GM corporate. Corporate has made their profit - end of story, but if there were 2,000 small dealers across the country that sold 15 cars or trucks a month - that's 15 x 12 x 2,000 for 360,000 cars moved and at least corporate profit made on them. It's also 360,000 in future parts business. It boggles my mind that that number is unacceptable!

I get it that maybe you want a dealer to have some sort of appearance, nothing offending - but requiring them to build mega-new buildings just adds IMHO unnecessary overhead to the small dealers and snuff out their ability to service and sell cars.

One of these days there will be a Harvard study on COMMON SENSE and the outcome of it will STUN the nation.....

Bill
Click to expand...

Bill actually the studies have been done. The same people that would have purchased a new car at the local small dealer now just travel further to buy that new car. On the other side of the coin they, the company save considerable money not have to ship cars and parts to all those little stores. Are you stunned?

Rick
 
This has been going on for years.

Back in the 1970's when I was in the boat repair business, every winter or early spring Mercury shipped its dealers an annual "assignment" of new outboard motors to sell-with the dealer being forced to pay for them or lose the dealership. The dealers historical annual volume of sales had nothing to do with it.

I had a McCulloch chain saw dealership in conjunction, and all that mattered to McCulloch was how many new saws you sold. The fact that I could tune up someone's saw, sell him a new chain and bar, and make more money than if I sold him a new saw didn't enter into it. Then McCulloch was always jacking around on prices. You'd stock up on a particular popular model of saw, then McCulloch would get into a price war with Homelite and you'd be notified to reduce the retail price of that exact saw. You couldn't win.
 
The small-town dealerships where I grew up had the attitude that they had you over a barrel. You'd pay their inflated prices and put up with their slow incompetent service because you had no other choice.

That may have worked in the 1950's when people thought a 30 minute drive was a day trip, and you were lucky if the car could make the trip without breaking down, but even in the 1980's people were willing to drive to the city an hour away to get a better deal.

So it wasn't all the big evil corporation causing the downfall of the small "family" dealership. They shot themselves in the foot too.
 
"Bill actually the studies have been done. The same people that would have purchased a new car at the local small dealer now just travel
further to buy that new car. On the other side of the coin they, the company save considerable money not have to ship cars and parts to all
those little stores. Are you stunned?
Rick"

Not stunned and amongst the people I know, they didn't typically go to another town to buy a car or truck. The idea of local dealer warranty
service without the "you didn't buy it from us" hassle is still a driver. When the Ford dealer closed, they went to the Chevy, Dodge or Homda
dealer.

I've had conversations with a local auto sales guy and he thought the future was essentially mail order cars via Internet. You buy from
whomever, they deliver it and there is a central OEM service center, with up to date equipment/training to service all buyers - regardless of the
dealer and their location.
 
"Bill actually the studies have been done. The same people that would have purchased a new car at the local small dealer now just travel
further to buy that new car. On the other side of the coin they, the company save considerable money not have to ship cars and parts to all
those little stores. Are you stunned?"

Not stunned and amongst the people I know, they didn't typically go to another town to buy a car or truck. The idea of local dealer warranty
service without the "you didn't buy it from us" hassle is still a driver. When the Ford dealer closed, they went to the Chevy, Dodge or Homda
dealer.

I've had conversations with a local auto sales guy and he thought the future was essentially mail order cars via Internet. You buy from
whomever, they deliver it and there is a central OEM service center, with up to date equipment/training to service all buyers - regardless of the
dealer and their location.
 
My price fixing comment was with regard to like dealers, owned by the same owners.

My JD was lower in price than the comparable New Holland and MF.

By the way, some of the motivation was to buy a pre-final tier 4 emissions tractor. This tractor essentially relies on a wire for the fuel shutoff solenoid and a wire to the starter relay. Whatever wiring bundles are largely safety, gauges, charging system and lights. I was glad to get it - it was one of the last.
 
I saw a news clip one day and the CEO of GM said the same thing about their cars. Not long after that the Datsun showed up and the Toyota. My
mother bought a 1960 Toyota. I had never heard of them. Funny how over the years, the big 3 have changed their attitudes.

Remember all the super hot US built cars back in the 50's and 60's, especially the hard tops.......slam/shut the door and the windows would rattle
for 15 minutes....no lock on the hood so some creep could pop your lid and run off with whatever they wanted....here's this gorgeous Rocket ship
tail fin Cadilac Eldorado and you think geez, what a car......till you shut the door. Don't remember? Check it out on movies available today made
with American cars of the era.

Today my GM P/U, over 5 years old now, close the door and all you hear is "click". Too bad it took imports for us to get what we should have had
in the first place.
 
(quoted from post at 13:20:22 10/04/16) "Bill actually the studies have been done. The same people that would have purchased a new car at the local small dealer now just travel
further to buy that new car. On the other side of the coin they, the company save considerable money not have to ship cars and parts to all
those little stores. Are you stunned?"

Not stunned and amongst the people I know, they didn't typically go to another town to buy a car or truck. The idea of local dealer warranty
service without the "you didn't buy it from us" hassle is still a driver. When the Ford dealer closed, they went to the Chevy, Dodge or Homda
dealer.

I've had conversations with a local auto sales guy and he thought the future was essentially mail order cars via Internet. You buy from
whomever, they deliver it and there is a central OEM service center, with up to date equipment/training to service all buyers - regardless of the
dealer and their location.
Click to expand...

Yea there were dealers and then there were dealers. Here in the early 70's we had a local Ford dealer. He service after the sale wasn't the best and you could drive 25 miles, get the same new car much cheaper and better service. JD was the same way back then. The "local dealer" was a joke. He didn't even carry u-joints for common JD balers in stock. The JD 25 miles away did! The local dealer wasn't always the best dealer. So why on earth would I buy from the local guy if he was going to charge a lot more than one a little further away and provide poor service too? I would care if the owner was my brother, I'd go elsewhere! I like to support the local guys when I can but I'm not going to let them rob me either!

When I bought my last new car, years ago now that was a question I ask. What happens if I take it to another dealer for a warranty issue. They gave me a card with a 1-800 number to call if a dealer gave me a problem about servicing or repairing it, no matter what GM dealer I went to. That stuff went away years ago or was supposed to. [/b]
 
Have you seen the inside of a 5055d tranny? Help me understand the weak points. Perhaps there is a history of tranny problems with the 8/4 collar shift tranny I don't know about. It would be good info to have.

I know there have been issues with these series 5000 series tractors, i.e. brakes, over heating hydraulics, etc. These tractors have been in production, I think, since 1992 - some of them must have been OK to avoid a ground up redesign or a Yanmar green Deere replacement.

I have an uncle with a JD5400 (might be a 5300) he bought new - probably around 1992. It is used in the mountains of NC in tabacco, corn, hay, tillage - just about everything. Well taken care of, but worked hard - even today. I'm hopeful I get the same service out of mine.
 
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