How many of you guys are brand loyal? Maybe some of the Cat guys, I would think that when buying used equipment, brand doesn’t play in the decision making process as price, availability, shape of machine your trying to buy. I have owned Hitachi, Komatsu, Case, Deere, New Holland, and Bob Cat. No Cat as of yet because when I was purchasing a used machine Cat just wasn’t in the mix for that machine at that time. None of the brands that I have owned have disappointed me. The only mistake that I have made was to buy a machine to small for what I wanted it to do. Lots of posts on here debating what brand is better, I could see if you are buying a new machine but for used machines I think it doesn’t make that much of a difference as price, availability, specs, and shape of machine type you trying to buy. Not that debates are not fun, but when it comes to used, brand just doesn’t seem to be on the top of the list.
Cat used to be the most common brand 20-25 years ago but soon as the overseas brands moved in Cat got left behind. John Deere and Hitachi are the most popular excavators and now Komatsu has a good chunk of the pie. Cat Wheel Loaders and Dozers are the choice of any gravel pit or excavation contractor. Old 1969 966C wheel loaders still sell for 20,000 dollars they are in demand the 66 C is a good machine. You also can't beat Cat dozers. What usually happens is everybody uses what ever is common in the area if one brand of excavator say works the best everybody else uses it.
When it comes to buying something used I'm not. The condition and price are more important to me. I've never been one to think one particular brand is hands down better than the rest, although there's been a few brand models I'll avoid when I hear enough complaints about something being a problem. Like for instance the Ford 6.0L diesel engine. I've never owned/driven/worked on one. I've owned Ford trucks before, and been happy, but this particular engine has such a bad reputation I'll avoid ever owning one. For me equipment would be the same way. But If I've had good luck with a particular brand I'll be more inclined to try them again. It's nice to stick with things that are familiar, if possible.
Like Jeff said I would stay away from the ones with bad "press" and then go by price and condition if it was used. If new, I know what I'd buy but I'm not telling...:bouncegri
Cat for everything except for Deere loader backhoes and small dozers, service is just far superior in our area for these, its a no brainer to go with these brands for us.
2004f550 too bad the other manufacturer's don't service their products in your area any better, i have 10's of thousands of hrs. seat time in excavators, and trust me, cat and deere have NOTHING over on kobelco, hyundai, etc....they're all good machines. the key in your area is the service aspect. it might take awhile for the others to create that service network that you are accustomed to
Well I have yet to own my first machine,(i hope it isn't to far off) but from what I have seen at work, my employers are primaraly caterpillar and thats because of service and parts availability not to mention that cat pretty much own the market when it comes to large dozers, loaders and haul trucks, but I figure down the road when some of the other manufacturers start building larger equipment, caterpillar probebly wont be as strong as they are now.
I think CAT has their hands full keeping the "wolves at bay". Hitachi and Komatsu are big in the Heavy mining side and Deere, CASE, Volvo, and Komatsu again are not giving them a rest in the remaining market. All four of these companies are now full line manufacturers. All the way from skid steers and blades to haul trucks and 800 size excavators. What I have noticed is that CAT in most types of machines can no longer be more expensive and still sell machines. I think the competition has gotten better and the quality of service has improved or CAT has slipped perhaps. There is no one in my area that runs CAT exclusively and that was not the case only a couple of years ago (there were two companies and now there are none).
Komatsu is really hurting Cats sales they are really digging into the mining market trying to push Caterpillar out :bouncegri Caterpillar has so much competion in the crawler excavator market they probably are feeling the loss in sales. I think right now Komatsu is Caterpillars biggest thorn in their side because Komatsu has all the equipment line up that Cat has.
It's funny you say that LT, my parents were just in Whistler about 10 days ago. He said about 99% of the excavators and equipment working on the Sea to Sky highway was CAT!!! Artics, excavators, dozers, all of it. Said mostly 300's, said he saw a 345 or something fairly big and a couple 200's and I imagine the artics were 40 tonners. 6's and 8's for the dozers apparently, all high track.
The question that I have is when you guy's buy used equipment does the brand make as much of a difference as the other factors. Wondering how many are like me and don't care if it is Cat or Kamatsu etc. along as the machine fits into my other specs; price, shape, hours, size. Or when buying a used or new machine you are brand loyal?
The contractor doing that job is Peter Kewit and its a all union job you look at where Cat machines are used the most is union operations. Pretty well the rest of the equipment used in B.C. is other brands. Almost all the independant contractors use other brand excavators with Komatsu being one of the more major brands. Also with Deere improving their line up Deere is becoming more common. Finnings Canada is mainly interested in the oil fields the small time contractors really don't mean much anymore they are not money makers for them. We are seeing the local mines going to Komatsu they are offering better deals and better service.
I'll say this 'til I'm blue in the face....dealer support should play a big part in machine selection regardless of whether it is new or used. When that machine breaks (and they all do), which brand will be up and running the fastest? A machine can't make money sitting on a job broke, it is imperative that it be repaired as quickly as possible. A few dollars saved on purchase price will come back to haunt you if you can't get parts overnight.
Steve responded while I was typing, but that's much like what I was going to say. Dealer support means more to me than the quality of the machine itself. Every machine will break down at some time. I'd rather have a machine that broke down regularly but the dealer would also have someone out to fix it promptly (and have parts readily available) than have to deal with a machine that may sit for several weeks waiting for service or parts when it goes down. Around here, CAT is king. Komatsu, as well as Deere/Hitachi are gaining ground, but you'd be hard-pressed to find any job with more than 2-3 machine that at least one wasn't CAT. Komatsu excavator's are gaining ground, as well as Terex articulating dump trucks though. Many of the local Union companies (Clyde, Ames, Granite, DC, etc) all run CAT exclusively, and a large reason for that is based on dealer support. Most of the local Union companies predominantly do the large jobs (highway, reservoir, bridges, infrastructure, etc) and with hard-to-meet deadlines and short windows of opportunity (night highway closures, closing runways at airports, etc) it's a big financial loss if a machine goes down. And when it's an essential machine like the 385 loading ADT's or the D10 pushing 631's, you need a dealer who will send a mechanic out with the necessary parts to get the machine back up ASAP. I saw that Kiewitt Industrial Corp. was mentioned which is interesting in this thread because a large reason for their 100% CAT fleet of equipment is for efficiency reasons. I worked as a grading foreman for Kiewitt when they did the 45 mile I-15 rebuild through Salt Lake City. They had several Efficiency/Safety Coordinators on that project who would monitor the efficiency as well as safety of all of the equipment/operations. I was told that CAT has the most extensive cataloging and recording of pass matching their machines of any dealer and this provided Kiewitt with a way of monitoring the efficiency and therefore profitability of their operations. Efficiency Coordinators would pull up next to a cut and check the loading speed of the scrapers on the crew I was running. It was imperative that a D10 never take longer than 8 seconds to load a 631 or a D9 take longer than 8 seconds to load a 621 (unless they were touching up the final subgrade). The Coordinator would time 10 consecutive loadings, if they were too long, he would get with the foreman and tell him to speed up the operation. The coordinator would then check back later to make sure that things had been brought up to speed. The same was done with loading times on ADT's, the traveling speeds (gears used) of the trucks/scrapers, the efficiency of the sheepsfoot on the fill(s), etc. Since no other manufacturer has as thorough a record of how many passes it should take a certain excavator with a certain bucket to load a certain ADT, or loading times on dozers pushing scrapers, I was told that was a large reason all of Kiewitt's machines are CAT so they can closely monitor efficiency. Sorry if this is somwhat hijacking the post.
I'll admit I'm typically biased toward the Yellow brand, but that's more a sign of interest toward which company I want to end up working for than a firm belief that it can do no wrong. I won't attack personal choices of equipment, because as Steve and Mass X have pointed out (most recently in this thread), dealer support and parts availability varies -- as does preference. If I'm allowed to like Cat, then someone else is allowed to like Komatsu. (Or anything else.) Just a note, though -- LT, I don't believe that Komatsu is out-selling Cat worldwide in mining equipment. I don't think it's possible to come up with pubilc numbers, and though in general certain product lines (excavators, for instance) may be doing better for one company, I think the situation is still largely unchanged.
In an answer to your question, I am not brand loyal. I look at the quality of the machine taking in account hours, and the condition of the machine. I then determine the remaining life if it is a machine I plan to keep. That is because I will but a machine to complete a contract then sell it. If I plan to keep the machine I will then look for the best quality machine in the price range I want to spend, regardless of brand. The last part of the decision is dealer support. The exception to that is in dump truck engines. There it is always yellow. See Ya.
I never said Komatsu is outselling Cat in the mining equipment but Komatsu is taken a decent chunk of the sales now. For us on the West Coast of B.C. Deere and Komatsu offer the best service you can get they get to know you. In my are you see the dealer support and mechanics all over can't say that for Cat.
Loyalty to CAT I am loyal to CAT, not only because they make great awesome powerful machines, but also because CAT is a great stock. Incredible results, and right now it's hugely undervalued by the market and a great play for January. CAT is trading at about 61.50, and watch it zoom up this month. Awesome company. :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup
Am I reading this incorrectly???
I agree with the Cat stock,I own some myself
Komatsu maybe getting allot of sales but they haven't outselled Cat in the mining equipment. For residential excavation contractor and forestry contractors Deere and Komatsu is brand of choice. Dealer support is way better and Deere and Komatsu will build the machine the way you want it. Out of the 100 or more excavators digging in the area very few of them are Cat if they are Cat usually pre 90s machines. When you get 15,000 hours out of a Hitachi or Deere why use anything else. Like I said before Cat is still used for wheel loaders and dozers but for excavators the other brands are better. As for your guys phobia of having dealer support isn't that common here we don't call the dealer for every single problem with the machine. Does Cat machines break down that much they need a dealer mechanic to babysit the machine I think some of you guys are way too dependant on having things now move to a rural place like where I live its part of life waiting for parts. The world isn't going to come crashing down because your machine isn't running In the area we have heavy duty mechanics with more experience than the dealer mechanics if its something that we can't fix call a local mechanic job is done. Have any hydraulic problems we have a good hydraulic shop that picks up your parts and takes them to be fixed. The only thing the we need from the dealer is the specialized parts everything else is aftermarket. The undercarriage parts we deal with companies that rebuild tracks no need to see the dealer. The dealer deals with the same people we deal with take for example the same hydraulic shop we deal with the Cat dealer deals with so why go through a dealer they tack on their 50 cents when we can deal directly with the hydraulic shop. I know the service man for the hydraulic shop we use he says Cat can't rebuild their own hydraulics they do it. You can save a ton of money going directly to the parts source if you have to buy from the dealer man your getting ripped off. For us if the dealer is closer than 100 miles thats a bonus otherwise thats what couriers and air planes are for flying in parts.
When a machine isn't making money, it is costing money, plain and simple. Anyone who wants to remain in business looks to reduce expenses, and a broken machine is an expense. Getting that machine off the expense side and back on the income side of the ledger as quickly as possible is imperative to remaining solvent, especially for a small company. My market is very competitive. I've found that pricing has a ceiling, and that the only way for me to make more money is to squeeze more work in to the same amount of time. I do this with my machine, and if it is not working, neither am I. No machine equals no or very reduced income for me. Ford LT-9000, perhaps in your area waiting for parts is not a big issue, but I'll bet for the majority of our members it is. From your other posts we've learned your economy has taken a crap, there is little work to be had, jobs don't pay well, and the cost of living is tremendous. It seems to me that anyone who is going to have a successful business needs it to be a productive one, especially there, or they will be out of business in a hurry. A broken machine can not be productive!!
Cat has alot to be desired and its going to bite them in the rear A good example of Cat's antics have been ticking off the Irving family as of late with poor service starting at the sales room floor.They ticked them off so much they are starting to purchase only Deere equipment as of late,also much of the municipal equipment around here have been slowly switching over.Atlantic Cat is slowly falling apart and I hear Hewitt isn't much better,Wajax is amazing for support and I like the folks that work there and Wallace (Deere) isn't far behind. As far as being loyal,for myself its the machines quality above all else,how i'm serviced after the sale and the cost of parts when issues pop up is a very close second.
What I'am getting at is don't get in a huge panic that the machine is broke down. If its down a day its not the end of the world even if we owned a Cat machine the dealer mechanic puts you on a waiting list. You think they are going to send the Cat mechanic to come look at your mini excavator ya right the mechanic will come look when he has time you phone the dealer to get a time slot. When I was ordering Cat parts for a trackloader I waited a week and a half. Ordered parts for the Kubota mini here the next day same with Komatsu. The dealer mechanics are so busy with the mining companies they don't have time to go see another customer. The mining companies and larger customers are priority pretty well 99% of the time the Cat dealer asks you to bring the machine to them. Komatsu and Deere are not like that and they know Cat isn't interested in the little guy anymore. I have talked with the Komatsu reps they are getting allot of customers that just can't take Cats BS anymore. I guess excavation contractors are different in B.C. than in the US. I know 90% of the excavation contractors here do their own repairs. If you have to rely on a dealer mechanic to do your repairs thats very very costly. For us if you can't repair your own equipment you shouldn't be in the business. We have one contractor in the area that can't do his own repairs on his excavator we laugh because it costs him thousands extra he is loosing money. Its good for the shop the guy takes his equipment too. When your paying a shop rate close to 100 dollars per hour that adds up pretty quick. When the dealer sends a mechanic out to look at your machine its the same rate might be even more. Excavation contractors working in the area for 40 years the same way do all your own repairs to keep maintenance costs down. Most contractors own enough mechanics tools to do most repairs on a machine or truck. I have enough tools at home to do equipment repairs. If your working on such a fine line that if the machine goes down for a day and you can't afford it then you have a big problem. I know contractors that have lost 1000 dollars a day for one excavator because of a break down. Yes its a little stressfull but you deal with it tear into the machine and fix it. If you get stressed out about break downs why are you even in the excavation business go get a office job or something. Sorry for getting so far off topic but if you guys need to get a little more independant. The dealer support isn't the beall end all, maybe in the States Cat or any other brand dealer will bend overbackwards for you its not the case in most places in B.C. You buy a machine because its PROVEN and DURABLE and meets the needs you have. You don't buy a machine because the dealer will give you easy financing and when you snap your fingers the dealer will jump to it.
I guess I started a very good topic for debate, not my intention, but still good for the forum. I have not had years of maintance to go from but I can add this: The past two repairs that I had to do, brake job on my Mack and swing motor on my eX60 I did myself with some help from a friend. The only reason I did this is because of the high price of taking the truck or excavator to a shop. I didn't know how but learned to do the work myself real fast. If the dealer didn't have the parts for me to fix the truck or excavator than that would of been very bad. The excavator broke in the middle of the summer and I had allot of work lined up for it at the time, and the weather was not going to hold for ever. Rain in the near future, so I agree with both lines of thought. You should do every thing you can yourself and you should be able to get your hands on the parts needed in a couple of days. I could see on a large scale operation that the dealer would be very important if the company had service work done on site by dealer. For a smaller scale operation doing tthe work yourself could be the only option because of the high cost and just not being big enough to the dealer for the dealer to give you fast service, if they are doing work for a much bigger company than yours. Now the big question for every one to determine is: Does owning Cat equipment get you faster parts and or service than the other brands. Could be different for every location in the world depending on your locattion. I found that we have good dealers for all the major brands and I have been able to get parts and advise for other brands besides Cat. For me the dealer doesn't come into play on purchasing used equipment because all the brands I own have dealers that have parts close by. They all charge or over charge for that matter for service at the your location or at the dealers shop. My 2 cents
Yes...in many parts of the world nobody can compete with Cats huge network. I have had parts overnight from 2500 miles away..ordered at 4 pm and available at 7 am the following...nobody here can do that...even if they do have the parts in the country. That said, I'd like to be brand loyal...but these days you have got to keep your eyes wide open and way all the odds. In our game we see a lot a tools and equipment out of china....a lot of this is junk that wont stand up to professional use. Manufacturer's often have various lines...some built "budget" and some built to last. The throw away stuff is actually good in some applications. For equipment I'm not sure the colour matters too much...it has to do the job efficiently and effectively and be repairable when it does break...because generally it will...no matter the colour. I would say that I think building a relationship with a dealer is important to my business. They need to have an interest in my business over and above the next Cheque. I good working relationship generally leads to good service...especially when your in a jam.
To this point I haven't mentioned any brands in my posts, my opinions were directed at your original post as a method to make a decision on what brand is best supported in your area. I still feel this should be an important factor for anyone making a living off their machines. They aren't making money if they aren't running! For some reason Cat has become a target of this thread, and perhaps for good reason. Caterpillar's reputation hasn't happened by chance, it is well earned and is what other manufacturers compare themselves to. I own a Cat 248, my first Caterpillar, and with the service I've seen from both it and the dealer, it would be a tough sell to get me to buy another brand. My dealer is 10 minutes away, and has a full service repair facility including an extensive machine shop. When I shopped for my machine, I really didn't consider comparing cost. The Cat machine was just so easy to operate compared to the others and much more refined, I felt I could do a better job faster in their machine. After the purchase I learned of the support Cat gives their machines. The day I took delivery of my machine, I was given a tour of the dealership, introduced to both the parts manager and service manager. I learned that parts are guaranteed delivered overnight if not in stock. Many common items are indeed in stock. To date I've had to make 2 repairs to my 2000 machine, a fuel solenoid and muffler replacement. And yes, I make my own repairs whenever possible. The fuel solenoid was an emergency repair, it was in stock and I was down just a few hours, the muffler was a scheduled repair but again was in stock. If a repair comes along that is over my head, I know the dealer is well equipped to handle it, either at their shop or with one of their many field service trucks. They also have a number of rental machines available so I can continue to work while my machine is being repaired. I've owned machines where I've had to wait for parts for a week or more in order to work and this is what has taught me the true value of branding. I count on my machine to maintain a level of production that keeps my business profitable, it's exactly why I chose to make the investment . If another manufacturer can offer me the reliability and support that I've experienced with my Cat, by all means I'll consider them, but in my area they are the ones to beat.
Then Squizzy in your corner of the globe Cat has proven to be the brand to look at first over all, and all other things being equal because of the service, and parts, you have seen in the past. That makes complete sense to me :yup In the my area I am fortunate enough to have most brands represented and so far have been able to get the parts needed in one day. The Hitachi machine that needed the swing motor parts was a gray market machine and I was afraid that the parts would have to come from Asia, but I had them in 24 hours. I hope the same is true for Komatsu, Case, and Deere next time I need parts for them. The fact that parts are available in my area is a bonus for me because that gives me the freedom to look at all makes and use the factors stated in this thread when buying. I don't think that anyone has said that Cat machines are hands down better than the rest and that means something.
Steve, you snuck you post in just before mine, I agree that Cat is Cat for a reason, they are the ones to beat no doubt about that. Also the fact that you have had such a good experience with yours means that the dealer is doing the right thing by you. I feel the same way with my Deere Dozer, but thats all that I have had. So next time I buy a dozer I will look at Deere first, but I could be missing something and not even be aware of it. I might not even be aware that someone else makes a better dozer for same amount of money. Consider this, that in this day and age of consolidation every manufacturer is making good products and for all we know the technology is shared in allot more ways than we know.
Jmac, I'm sure you know this already but, one thing I do when I'm reading peoples opinions on the forum, and am trying to decide how much weight to give their opinion, is look at how well they've done for themselves regarding what their opinion was given about. People who have started with nothing and built themselves up to a successful business person will usually give you sound advice. I don't have alot of experience with heavy equipment, but do with semi's, and believe me good dealer support is important, even if you are a good mechanic. It's far from being a phobia. I know how hard it is being an independant business person, as you do, as many of us do, but not all do. It's easy to tell people they need to be more independant, another thing to actually understand what that means. We all get to have an opinion I guess, and although I usually don't let others get to me, some of the statements I've read in this thread are like a slap in the face to those of us who actually have put our money where our mouth is. It's a fine line between running a successful small business, and going under. We all teeter on the edge sometimes. To think it otherwise shows a lack of understanding as too what being in business is about. There is no safe bets or easy ways to make a buck, it determination, persperation, and sometimes a lucky break. I also think that the word "we" and "us" might have gotton used earlier in this thread alittle too loosely. Just using those words doesn't mean that the actual responsiblity in a business is shared. Atleast that's what we in Minnesota all think. And I'd bet if the truth be know there's alot of people that were included in the previous "regional business philosophy" summery that I got to enjoy that would like to have been excluded if they would've had a choice. Take care.
How true that is Jeff, very good post. I know a lot of very good, hard working guys that own their own companys that have gone under at least once and have come back from the ashes to be bigger and better than before. So a fine line is a understatement. I also have learned something from this thread that all things being equal or maybe not even equal the dealer can and will make the difference.
Good posts so far. Personaly being a small company, I've found the dealerships could care less if we grace their doors. Like most have said the dealer relationship is huge, make friends with the service department. I know its expensive but I am not a mechanic, something simple may take me all day to take off, try to find the right tool, and on and on. Most times it goes to the shop, if I'm not operating I better be signing work or collecting checks because its a much better use of my time. I became a much better operator when I had to pay for what I broke. As far as brands I always research the machine from dealer or other contractors that may run what I am looking at. We don't have Cat machines and people may look down at our Case stuff but they have been pretty good. I use to think it would be best to have all one brand but now am more likely to cherry pick and end up with something from everyone.
CAT and Deere CAT is in this position for a reason. They practically invented the stuff, going back to Benjamin Holt in Stockton. Deere has a great reputation too, and Deere stock is actually outperforming CAT in the market at this moment. Nobody seems to know why, but it is. CAT seems to have a black cloud over it, stuck in the low 60's, but CAT should get steaming ahead during the month of January when lots of new money pours into the market. We'll just have to wait and see . . .
I think Cat needs to make its dealers treat smaller customers better then it may regain sales otherwise the other brands will keep stealing customers. Now that Deere has improved the line up Deere excavators will grab allot of the market.
Deere And the color combination on the new Deere line makes them stand out on the jobsite too. Smart move.
I think if there is a company that could pass Caterpillar I would have to give it to Deere and thats because of the many different products that they offer outside of construction equipment that the other brands dont such as agriculture (which is what made Deere) and forestry equipment, I know Cat also builds forestry equipment but I dont think they could tuch Deere, I think the best Deere move happend a few years ago when they purchased Timberjack forestry equipment, Timberjack was the most popular when it came to skidders and tree harvestors. I also dont think it is too far off before we see Deere build a Haul truck along the lines of a cat 769 or a 773 to compete with Cat & Komatsu.
John Deere is really working on the forestry equipment on the West Coast building log loaders,road builders,bunchers and delimbers. I think the association to farm equipment is gone it pretty well started when Deere changed from the 90s series numbers to like the rest use 160-200 etc. I know many people swear by the old 690 Deeres.
590D was probably one of the best excavators ever built. There's 3 of them around here with 8,000 plus hours on all of them. I'd buy one in a minute.
Cat245 -- I may be wrong, but I'd be surprised if Deere moves into the quarry trucks by itself. Joining up, sure, but on its own... we'll find out, I suppose. Some of Cat's forestry equipment is that of Timberking -- and, like Deere, Cat has announced that all the Timberking colors will now become Cat colors. I don't think Cat puts much marketing muscle into its forestry line, which may (or may not) be a reflection on the strength of those products. (Just blabbing; no idea whether that's true.)
we've got a mid 90's 690-elc. 6000 hrs. we "think" we should be trading it and updating. why i don't know. availability and serviceability are running 100%, the undercarriage is pushing 80%, engine uses no oil. only 3 times need looking at, both hoist cylinders and crowd cylinder "could" be repacked. that's it, it's a wonderful hoe that has had virtually no downtime except for replacing the turbo last yr.
AMEN!!! I know very few owners who beat the crap out of their equipment. Example: I was in a gravel pit the other day and saw a driver trying to break loose a sticky load by running the rpms way up and slamming the dump cylinder against the top stop and dropping it about a foot and repeating as fast as possible. This was on what looked to be a fairly new 379 Pete. :crying You can usually tell which operators/drivers aren't paying the fuel and maintenance bills.
If one of the local contractors seen their driver doing that the guy would be walking home probably fired on the spot. There is no need to be damaging company equipment. If your a dump truck driver and your not carefull about tires you will be in deep s*** some guys will terminate your employement your costing the company money.
Xing, big seaside development here is running Hitachi 6 wheel dump trucks, AH 300's I think...I don't know wether they are 6WD though.
Indeed. In a bizarre three-way twist, the Bell 300D, Deere 300D, and Hitachi AH-300D are all... the same product, perhaps excepting the engine choice. I would bet that if Deere forayed into quarry trucks (ie 772F, 773F size), it'd be with Hitachi. I won't burn myself by listing reasons (just in case Deere does build its own), but for the life of me, I'd be very surprised if Deere went on a limb enough to build a brand-new line of haul trucks.
I don't own machines myself but I'm aware that some customers have tremendous loyalty to their dealer... sometimes the dealer gave them a break when they were starting out or helped them through a recession or through a period of misfortune. If the dealer is associated with a particular product then that would rightly so become preferred.
Same as all suppliers you deal with for that matter. When I was buying some of my first equipment the Bob Cat dealer gave me in house credit the first day I walked into his store. He also allowed me to pay over time. This made me very loyal to him and I will buy from him even if he is little more money than thee next guy.