This is depressing information. What is interesting is the fact that the average person has no idea that there is such a difference in engines. Most would think that a kohler would be a good choice.. I do notThis s--ks think I would buy a riding tractor if I thought it would only last for 5 years. This s--ks.
those new Murray's
- Thread starter jakewells
- Start date
ILENGINE
Lawn Royalty
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- May 6, 2010
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I think a lot of the problem started with the got to keep up with the Jones' and the mentality of a throw away world. If people are going to upgrade their equipment every few years then the equipment makers are going to engineer to anticipate this. If people would demand that equipment would last 15 years then they would build it. The problem though is the cost would go up a lot, and people would not be able to afford the equipment.
A do repair work for Aaron's Sales and Lease and there cash price on riders is about twice what you would pay for the same mower at Walmart, but they can't be out the full amount to purchase outright, so they have to make payments. After interest and the high priciple they pay about $2000 for a $900 riding mower.
The down side of the cheap mowers is people don't want to pay to repair them, they would rather replace the mower after 2 years than spend $100 to fix it (which is the reason for the short average lifespan, in turn leads to cheaper equipment because of replacement interval). Was informed Monday that Poulan has changed their warranty policy to units that will cost over 50% of replacement cost, I have to call dealer tech and request a replacement unit, instead of the old policy of we don't pay technicians to exchange units just fix it regardless of cost.
A do repair work for Aaron's Sales and Lease and there cash price on riders is about twice what you would pay for the same mower at Walmart, but they can't be out the full amount to purchase outright, so they have to make payments. After interest and the high priciple they pay about $2000 for a $900 riding mower.
The down side of the cheap mowers is people don't want to pay to repair them, they would rather replace the mower after 2 years than spend $100 to fix it (which is the reason for the short average lifespan, in turn leads to cheaper equipment because of replacement interval). Was informed Monday that Poulan has changed their warranty policy to units that will cost over 50% of replacement cost, I have to call dealer tech and request a replacement unit, instead of the old policy of we don't pay technicians to exchange units just fix it regardless of cost.
Looks like one of those deals where the name is being rented by the store and the mowers furnished on contract with an agreement as to the engines. The name is a trusted one and the mowers just rebranded. Good for all involved I would imagine. Briggs will sell engines , the store will sell markup and MTD will sell units and the warranty stations will sell warranty work and the scrap yards will collect the metals. There will also be aplenty of complaints on the internet about Murrays with engines that will not start when hot, primer bulbs that melt, mowers that will not start in the spring, wheels that fall off of riders even though the person changed the oil and cleaned the airfilter, belts that will not stay on, blades that will not spin even though the owner never hit anything ever and only used the mower for three minutes. And every single one will claim they never got a manuel of any kind with the unit and were ripped off. In other words, same old same old with a different name.