Looking for a used tractor? Should you buy from a dealer or at an auction? Tractor Time with Tim shows the sales trends for dealers and auction. Be informed before you buy!
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50 Comments
Very informative…..thanks…..
I get the feeling unless the tractor is very low hours you are facing repair issues that aren't necessarily visible at auction
Videos like this are great Tim. A lot of people don’t have time to research the hard data, and when a personality they trust presents it for them, they learn things they wouldn’t otherwise.
Tim, nice statistical analysis. I agree that sitting on your hands for a bunch of auctions makes you a wiser man. If as you point out you have the time versus loss of potential job opportunities. Nice review of the data and how it's grouped and how it can be used to make better buying decisions. Quick datapoint about my own negotiation for a used 2017 Kubota BX23S at a dealer several years ago. When I tried to negotiate their price based on several items that my buddy who is a professional diesel mechanic and I had found. I was told – You want it or not. That's the price. Take it or leave it! Maybe dealers out your way are not representative of those in New England where used compact and sub-compact tractors demand and get a high price. I would be curious if tractorzoom takes location into consideration in building their database. Nice episode. Thanks and God Bless.
10% to auction 8% tax
Interesting conversation. I think you nailed it when you indicated that you need to identify the kind of buyer you are. Are you someone who can invest the time and effort into buying at auction. And are you someone that will take on the risk if something needs repair?
I traded my ‘16 1025r h120 60” setup in October for a 2038r. The dealer offered me $13500 for my 425 hour trade. I jumped at that. I tracked the dealers website for my trade and it was initially offered at $15999. Early this year it was noted as sold on their site with a reduced $14999 price. Given that the dealer did some reconditioning, marketing…etc the sale price was a bargain for the buyer and a thin margin for the dealer.
For late model equipment it’s hard to beat the dealer…and in my view that is a good thing. The client and dealer both win. The client can trade a quality machine with little worry, a used buyer can buy that quality machine with the knowledge that a reputable dealer stands behind it and the dealer has two satisfied clients that own machines and will return for parts and future equipment.
Like these informative videos, hope to see more. Thank you!
I bought a BX1880 brand new a few months ago and frankly I can't complain about it, I love that little tractor. Out the door I spend just about 24k, but I got a lot of amenities for that price, a skid steer quick attach loader, 3rd function, grapple and 3 point quick hitch. I also got 0 apr for the lifetime of the loan, a 6 year powertrain warranty and Kubota insurance so if I put in a lake or it gets stolen for whatever reason, I pay $200 and they fix or replace, and of course you have to pay for that insurance up front, it added about $1800 to the total, but it's a one time payment. Originally, I wanted a John Deere, but they are just too expensive and no great financing either, you're stuck with 3% and it was going to be more than 30k for what I wanted.
I've gotten a lot of great deals at auctions in the past. Haven't bought a tractor yet but I've come close. I had what they call self control. 😂
Keep on tractoring!
One thing the video overlooked are all the added hidden cost such as tax, shipping and any additional costs in repairs (Tim points this out with his own experience). It's not cheap to ship those tractors as a consumer.
Good information… You forgot to mention that the person putting a tractor into an auction has to pay the auctioneer 10% of the final purchase price further reducing the money he gets for the equipment.
The live auctions I have attended all charge a 10% premium above the bid price. I assume this is pretty standard.
I'm kinda thinking this gap is wider now than when the pandemic was going on. Some tractors were going for outrageous prices at auction 😢. (Both large farm and compact tractors)I guess the bigger question will be, will the gap get greater once we move further away from the pandemic, or have we achieved the normal gap?
Like this type of video
Go to more auctions. I love those videos.
Great video content
Thoroughly enjoy this type of video. Thank You
I don't mind action purchasing for equipment but at the same time it may have problems with it that is never disclosed and it doesn't have the options on it that u can get anymore for that year make or model anymore ect. Plus, there is no warranty.
That why I went with dealer for my 4066r with fully loaded options plus attachments.
The dealer will help out more ect when you purchase from them.
We have been using the same dealer since 1979 too.
My 2 cents not asked for. If it’s not around 50% of the new price, all buy new. Just not worth it to ME to save a little with the risk of unseen damage or lack of maintenance. Also have to consider that finding used equipment in the trim level/ setup like I want is almost always impossible. I also question why they are even selling. Why would you buy something and then resell it a few years later? And if that’s the way you operate, why would you even do the maintenance if you only need a year or two before selling? Anyway Thanks for the videos Tim and crew.
50-500 hours at a dealer was a demo unit. sometimes there are 1,500 hour ones when they can't sell a demo or don't want to, then it becomes a rental demo unit. sometimes those sub 150 hour units were the sales guy told them the tractor could do something it can't , to the customer and the customer is unsatisfied and returns it for a better machine than can perform to the abilities needed. over promising
Great presentation. Unlike cars and trucks there isn't a Blue Book available for used tractors that I'm aware of. So attending auctions and looking at dealer websites and not all post their prices is
your only option.
the reason most stuff winds up at auctions is because it was abused and no dealer will take it because they know exactly what to look for and would never give it a wishful thinking price for the damage that is done. if you are lucky, it is from a farmer getting out of the business, just plain old retiring, sold the farm to a developer and is moving down south or nearer the grandkids and bought an RV. then there is the farmer who just couldn't survive the farming conditions and the bank foreclosed.
when machines are used by multiple employees there is no respect given to the machine that it is taken care of and not damaged, and it's when that damage becomes considerable that the employer will trade it in for aq newer one if the tax breaks work out well or the old machine simply failed that often or that badly at the over demanding jobs they want to use it for.
Kinda dry but interesting.
Does the data include the premium charged to buy something at an auction? The data might include auction premiums, but it might not. If auction premiums aren't included, that would reduce the difference between dealer and auction prices.
Tim, I love this kind of onfo. You called the name of a cab that was on a john deere tractor in your data and said that was probably the cause it was a little higher priced. My question is: do you know of anyone that builds a cab like the john deere cab that comes from the factory that will fit an open station tractor like a John Deere 3033R? I surely wish I had bought a cab tractou to begin with but now a cab tractor is about $11,000 higher than the same tractor in an open cab model. I would appreciate your opinion and help with this.
Excellent video Tim! Very helpful.
Learned a lot. thank you
Good info and food for thought. Blessed
i thought it was a great video idea. makes me want to hit a couple auctions just to observe not buy.
Great informative video. Your correct about dealer discounts. Don’t be shy when it comes to negotiating. A couple months ago I purchased my first Kubota B2601 and got a nice $1500 discount plus a few hundred dollars on implements for buying 3 or more and another $800 off for paying it all off instead of getting a loan. That’s a lot of discounts…
Thanks Tim. I purchased a JD3520 recently from a dealer and negotiated 5% off list price. Which is in the range of the listings in the video. Great content. Keep it up.
A couple other advantages with a dealer, one – there might not be any auctions in your geographic area, and two, a dealer will probably deliver the tractor to you, so you don't need to buy or rent a trailer.
if tractor sells for 10 k at auction add another $800 to $1200 for buyer fess depends on auction and state !
Usefully information.
Suggestion! How to handle disputes
You can have a tractor with an hour of time on it and still be used…if someone bought it, got it home, found it wasn't the right one and had to return it for a different model, that tractor is now used because it was sold, warranty activated etc. So going with 50 hours doesn't necessarily mean much LOL….although, you'd hope with a tractor that new it wouldn't have problems, however, a lot can go wrong in 50 hours, and the auction is where a lot of those problem tractors and equipment ends up.
Plenty of good info from this. I know at least one of the well known equipment rental companies auctions off some of their stuff every so often. It does make me curious whom would provide a small 90-day warranty, if they even would.
Great info brother.
If you're funny a tractor from a dealer sometimes they don't come with a warranty
I got my Kubota M105 back in 2020. At a auction it has 1,800 hrs about. I got it at the right time before everything used equipment went up , when I got it home. I change All filter and oil and hydro oil for a pice of mine
When I was doing my research leading up to my tractor purchase I became disturbed.
I’m far more familiar with the new VS used market of vehicles, RVs recreational vehicles, and boats. All of these items traditionally have steep depreciation curves, once you exclude the two recent years where COVID played havoc on many items.
My data told me major tractor brands subcompact utility tractors (SCUTs) on the most part have price depreciation that’s more item specific, more connected to condition and hours used.
I saw many SCUTs with low hours and in excellent condition selling for the price they sold for when they were new. Used by 1, 5, 10, 20 years didn’t matter.
I went new, then experienced a similar finding with my tractors trailer purchase. I went new with that also.
In both cases, I purchased exactly what I felt I wanted, needed, brand new and haven’t experienced a moment of regret.
I do wonder if an economic slowdown will result in used tractor depreciation, but with my tractor approaching 2 1/2 years of age, over 350+ hours on the dash meter, and many projects completed, even if depreciation occurs now, I’ve gone long enough that I would have needed a tractor long before now anyways, so no harm, no foul.
The new John Deere tractor 0% financing offer was the final nail in the coffin for my consideration of going used.
🚜💨
I enjoy analyzing data. 👍
I have been seeing tractors at auction that are beat up that go almost as much as a new model
Tim my ? is not about tractor prices I have a 2019 1025r and after watching your 54 quick hitch snow blade installation will the same kits fit on my 2019 ? thanks for your help and time !!!! Carl
I found that auctions a lot of the price variances will depend on the number of buyers present and the prices those particular people are willing to pay.
The same item (year, make & model) at the same auction location, on different days can have a large variance in prices.
Thanks for the info Tim
Thanks for the info. We bought new, and happy with it.
One thing to take into consideration as I see it as an industry "insider". Dealers are generally going to keep the lower hour, super clean "creampuffs" they take on trade and retail those on their own lot. If the unit has some cosmetic issues, has a torn seat and needs all fluids and filters, new mower blades and belt and a thorough going over, it's probably getting sent to auction or sold to a wholesaler. With shop labor rates at $90-130 per hour or more, the cost to recon a marginal unit can soon outweigh the $ value gained by spending $1-3K to put in in "retail" condition. Plus there's increased liability for the dealer when they sell a higher hour or rougher used machine because the buyer is going to expect some sort of warranty on a machine that's been "through the shop".
I suspect this may have some effect on the price difference between auction and dealer prices.
Great information Tim
You certainly put the dot to the plot in this episode! Great facts and info!
Something to consider when buying is usually your dealer has lower financing than does your bank in my experience 😊