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Gentlemen,

Last week I purchased a 2020 Timecutter 50 inch with the My Ride Suspension system. I absolutely love it and wished I could have bought one years ago. Having cut the grass 3 times now, its coming up for its first oil and filter change at 5 hours, so off to the dealership I go to purchase a filter.

What a shock to discover that the oil filter (stamped Made in China) is $28 CDN (including tax)? Once home and after a search online I find that Home Depot has the same filter for $11.97 CDN before tax! And I discover I can get the same filter many other places all for under $14 all day long.

The day I purchased the mower I asked about putting an hour meter on the unit (for the money I paid for the mower it should have had one already on it from the factory) and was told it was about a $100 CDN option. I opted not to purchase one. Instead I bought an hour meter online for $25 including shipping that showed up 3 days later and took me all of a half hour to install.

Why do these companies insist on raping you every time you need parts?

I'll be doing a lot of online shopping for any needed parts in the future before I venture back to the Toro dealership.

What are you looking for an 85% rebate check on all your parts? Here in the States, businesses have things to pay for like electricity, cable modems, employee insurance and so on. That and many more are just a few to keep the doors open.

Buy a multi-thousand dollar mower and complain about the price of an oil filter.

slomo

I do admit $30 seems awful much for a oil filter, but slomo does have a good point..
Maybe next change cross reference the filter to a Wix or K&N.
They'll probably run between $10-$20 USD...

OEM maintenance items are high profit items for all manufacturers and dealers. Some folks are willing to pay for the convenience. Some folks are willing to do the research to find alternative sources at a lower price. I find $56 for an OEM JD/Kawasaki air filter a little outrageous but JD sells thousands every year. All depends on what you want/need to do.

Hammermechanicman said:

OEM maintenance items are high profit items for all manufacturers and dealers. Some folks are willing to pay for the convenience. Some folks are willing to do the research to find alternative sources at a lower price. I find $56 for an OEM JD/Kawasaki air filter a little outrageous but JD sells thousands every year. All depends on what you want/need to do.

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My jaw has never dropped that hard... $56 for ONE air filter?... But Wix air filter for my Kawasaki is $40...not much difference

It is called LOGISTICAL COSTS .
the parts store orders 1000's of filters a month so they get a better price on the filters than the dealer does
The parts store buys directly from the importer, manufacturer or wholesaler
The mower shop buys from their franchise warehouse who buy from some one else so there is an extra set of costs and extra transport

When I ran a warehouse the cost of a pallet sitting on a rack was $ 50 / week
It cost $ 4.50 every time it was lifted down to have a picker take parts from it
Then the pickers cost was another $ 3.75
Add to that the despatcher who packs the goods & loads it into the delivery van,

Before all that some one at the factory has packed them into boxes, then cartons then pallets then wrapped & stock piled till they truck takes them away
The USA is a Bloody big place and it costs a lot to shift a pallet 1/2 way across the country.

In a dealeship, those filter are ordered in , usually is case quantaties so they have to be stored some where and that storage space has to be paid for.
The spares sales person might be able to do 50 sales a day
The automatic on line processor can do 1000's of sales day

GBHRPS said:

Gentlemen,

Last week I purchased a 2020 Timecutter 50 inch with the My Ride Suspension system. I absolutely love it and wished I could have bought one years ago. Having cut the grass 3 times now, its coming up for its first oil and filter change at 5 hours, so off to the dealership I go to purchase a filter.

What a shock to discover that the oil filter (stamped Made in China) is $28 CDN (including tax)? Once home and after a search online I find that Home Depot has the same filter for $11.97 CDN before tax! And I discover I can get the same filter many other places all for under $14 all day long.

The day I purchased the mower I asked about putting an hour meter on the unit (for the money I paid for the mower it should have had one already on it from the factory) and was told it was about a $100 CDN option. I opted not to purchase one. Instead I bought an hour meter online for $25 including shipping that showed up 3 days later and took me all of a half hour to install.

Why do these companies insist on raping you every time you need parts?

I'll be doing a lot of online shopping for any needed parts in the future before I venture back to the Toro dealership.

Click to expand...

Sounds like you have a Toro® engine, guess where that is made........

And I think you over paid for that aftermarket hour meter, I have paid less than $14. for a good one .

My Toro is still old school (2014), but did come with hour-meter & etc... But I like checking out the MyRide® models, Just can't seem to find one with a Kawasaki.
But mine is still too good for me to change up.

Slomo,
I have no objection with the dealership making a profit. I would have no objection with him charging $15 or $16 for that oil filter that I could have purchased elsewhere for $12, ... but to charge $25 before tax guarantees that I'll purchase the needed oil filters someplace else next time. And I'll do online research before I purchase any needed parts for the mower as well, to compare prices before I go back to him.
I'm all for supporting local businesses, but not if it means that I'll be paying twice what I could buy the parts for elsewhere each time I do.

GBHRPS said:

Slomo,
I have no objection with the dealership making a profit. I would have no objection with him charging $15 or $16 for that oil filter that I could have purchased elsewhere for $12, ... but to charge $25 before tax guarantees that I'll purchase the needed oil filters someplace else next time. And I'll do online research before I purchase any needed parts for the mower as well, to compare prices before I go back to him.
I'm all for supporting local businesses, but not if it means that I'll be paying twice what I could buy the parts for elsewhere each time I do.

Click to expand...

I'm with you. Shop around and find a better price.

slomo

GBHRPS said:

Slomo,
I have no objection with the dealership making a profit. I would have no objection with him charging $15 or $16 for that oil filter that I could have purchased elsewhere for $12, ... but to charge $25 before tax guarantees that I'll purchase the needed oil filters someplace else next time. And I'll do online research before I purchase any needed parts for the mower as well, to compare prices before I go back to him.
I'm all for supporting local businesses, but not if it means that I'll be paying twice what I could buy the parts for elsewhere each time I do.

Click to expand...

The thing you need to remember is the dealer is probably paying 2 to 3 times what the parts store is payin.

A classic example
I use a lot of Stens parts & currently I get them for wholesale - 5 %
The shop up the road pays wholesale - 35 %
The big box pays wholesale - 48 %

SO what is happening is I am subsidizing the sales from the big box to the tune of 33 % .
The big box can sell the filters retail for less than I pay for them wholesle
And the more people who buy from the big box the bigger the discount they get .

Not withstanding that the Toro dealer is probably charging too much, the question is will the extra $ 15 paid once every 2 to 3 years an impossible financial burden ?
People complain all the time that they can not get quality products

Some folks just want to walk into the dealer and get what they want when they want and have someone lookup what they need and they are willing to pay for it. Others are willing to do their own research and leg work to get a better price for certain products. Not to offend anyone but rent a building, hire employees, buy stock, get insurance, etc, etc. Then tell me what you need to charge to for an oil filter to make a profit. That is pay for the filter, cover overhead and expenses what is left is profit. There are supply channels for different shoppers, pick the one you want.

bertsmobile!,

Its a financial burden when every 50 hours I get charged twice what the filter is really worth, because I will do 2 oil changes this season alone, and every season thereafter. I don't have to pay any more than about $14 for the oil filters on each of my 4 cars, each one having an engine far more elaborate and expensive than the Toro. And the car manufacturers state right in their owner's manuals to change your oil every 5000 miles or 3 months ..,. "whichever comes first".Oil breaks down over time and heat and blow by contaminates start to eat engine bearings.

So I will do 6 oil changes in your stated 3 years, and the tractor will have a fresh oil change and filter in it when stored for the winter. You really do one oil and filter change every 2 to 3 years? No wonder you don't see a $28 oil filter charge too expensive. If that was all that was necessary to take care of the engine properly ... I wouldn't be complaining about the overcharge either because it would only happen once every 3 years, instead of twice a year in my case.

Once a year in my case, no matter how little the hours I used it.

There is nothing magical about oil filters. As long as you avoid the ebay no name filter crapshoot or anything with the word Fram on it. There are only a couple different thread sizes and pitch, a few different gasket diameters and a few different can sizes. With or without anti-drainback valve. Look hard enough you can find lots of cross reference filters for about any filter for a gas mower engine. Find a cross for a filer and check Rock Auto. I get filters there for my vehicles for less than half the auto parts store.

GBHRPS said:

bertsmobile!,

Its a financial burden when every 50 hours I get charged twice what the filter is really worth, because I will do 2 oil changes this season alone, and every season thereafter. I don't have to pay any more than about $14 for the oil filters on each of my 4 cars, each one having an engine far more elaborate and expensive than the Toro. And the car manufacturers state right in their owner's manuals to change your oil every 5000 miles or 3 months ..,. "whichever comes first".Oil breaks down over time and heat and blow by contaminates start to eat engine bearings.

So I will do 6 oil changes in your stated 3 years, and the tractor will have a fresh oil change and filter in it when stored for the winter. You really do one oil and filter change every 2 to 3 years? No wonder you don't see a $28 oil filter charge too expensive. If that was all that was necessary to take care of the engine properly ... I wouldn't be complaining about the overcharge either because it would only happen once every 3 years, instead of twice a year in my case.

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Usually the oil filter change time is 200 hours , not with every oil change.
While it is annoying that Toro charge so much it is also annoying then the service counter has no one there but a pimple faced youth who stares at you blankly while twiddleing on the key board because h has no idea unless there is a model number to look things up with.\
OR the Toro dealer closed down so you have to order all your Toro exclusive parts from some one on line & hope.