"Lemon" Bobcat Parked By The Road

Lemon Bobcat Parked By The Road TRACTORS Miscellaneous “My 2006 Bobcat S300 skid loader has been an absolute nightmare It had so many problems I’ve only been able to put less than 200 hrs on it in 5 years It cost me so much work I had to shut down my business ” says Alvin Bose Ord Neb “The machine was delivered new on July 5 2006 I had a full year’s work booked when it arrived However the auxiliary hydraulic pumps failed on start-up Joystick controls were erratic and required calibration daily The engine lacked power and would surge and then die when I cut the throttle The air conditioner had to be charged twice a day if I wanted use it By June 2007 the machine had been returned to two different dealers a total of seven times and mechanics came out twice “My dealer refused to accept the machine in trade yet insisted it met all their standards As of this August the only problem they even corrected was the fuel injection pump and that took 11 months “Now the skid loader sits on my lot at the edge of town and is unusable I painted the engine cover on back of the machine lemon yellow and erected a sign next to it to voice my displeasure It sits next to a busy road and a lot of people stop on the road to take photos A Bobcat attorney threatened to sue me for damage to their reputation but I think they were just trying to intimidate me “I’m 72 years old and started a pasture renovation and tree removal business 10 years ago to supplement my social security I normally would buy a new skidsteer every 2 years “The 2006 model replaced my 2004 Bobcat which I used day in and day out for two years with no problems The 2006 model was built the last week of production before a South Korean company bought out Bobcat A number of other farmers in my area have had problems with their machines since the ownership transfer “I didn’t spend any money out of pocket for repair work but I figure I spent about $48 000 hauling the machine back and forth to repair shops and going to job sites up to 100 miles away after I was told the machine was repaired But once I got to the job site I would find the machine wouldn’t work and I couldn’t do the job ” “After 2 1/2 years I finally hired an attorney and filed a lawsuit but it was dismissed Finally I refused to pick up the skid loader at the dealership so they hauled it to my place and dropped it off “I didn’t have another $50 000 to buy another machine while this one was down so I had to go out of business It wasn’t as much the money I lost on the loader but that it took away my livelihood my means of making more money That’s what hurts the most ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Alvin Bose 925 N 22nd St Ord Neb 68862 ph 308 750-7297

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