Prior to purchasing a 2015 Special Edition John Deere 825i Gator at an online auction through auctiontime.com I contacted the seller, KC Nielsen Ltd at 515-890-2701 the day the sale was to end. The salesman I spoke with really talked up this gator stating that it only had a few minor typical scratches on the outside and other than that it was in excellent condition.
I explained to him that i was 250 miles away and could not look at it prior to the auction so I then asked him if there were any mechanical problems with it or any other issues with it or anything not working and he explained it was in excellent condition and a very sound vehicle and i would not have any problem with it what so ever.
He went on and on praising the gator and we trusted his opinion. I asked him for his absolute honest opinion and he spoke like he knew the vehicle real well and said the only reason they selected it for the auction was because they had too many on their lot, further stating i would have no problem with it what so ever if i won the bid.
The pictures on the auction website conveniently hid the physical flaws he failed to mention as he said there were only a few minor typical scratches. We ended up winning the bid at $9,900 and made the FOUR hour drive to Humboldt IA to pick it up on Saturday 22-June just before they closed. We paid cash at the dealership, then when we looked at it the few scratches were more than that, there was several spots where the paint had peeled off, quite a bit of rust, a broken drivers side rear view mirror, and a big dent in the tail gate.
This was not mentioned during the call I made inquiring about this gator that was explained to me as "being in excellent condition with a few small typical scratches". The sales guy that took the money assisted us with loading it and It would not start, the starter kept kicking in and out. So he then said the battery was low and it would not allow it to start, and said he would go get a jump box to jump start it.
When he returned with the jump box he stated that something was probably left on which drained the battery not allowing it to start. Which had nothing to do with it because it was a starter gear problem, which is still a problem today. He lied to us so we would take it home with us. A little bit of white smoke came out of the tale pipe to start with.
We then pointed out the rear view mirror was broken and the guy at the dealership said if we call them back on Monday they could probably send us a replacement. I then asked that sales guy about the performance of the gator and he also talked it up, said it was a good running vehicle, and should not have any problem with it again stating that the problem starting was the battery.
This guy at the dealership then helped us load it on the trailer right away but it wasn't until we returned home that we found it was not the sound vehicle in excellent condition that they told us it was. Once we got home with it we also learned that the windshield wiper does not work, it does not go beyond 14 miles per hour in high gear, the emergency brake does NOT work (major safety issue), and there is a grinding noise in the front end, and a dent in the tail gate.
There were no pictures online showing the physical flaws in fact the pictures/angles they took conveniently hid this. I feel it was done intentionally. We were flat out lied to so they could make a sale and bump the price at the online auction. They had it listed on their actual website for $15k before putting it in the auction, further giving us the impression it was in 'excellent condition'. If the guy on the phone would have been honest we would not have bid on it.
If the guy at the dealership had been honest I would have expected my money back and we would have left without it. This kind of manipulation sales tactics must stop. If they took it in as a trade and it turned out not to be what they expected they should not rape other customers to benefit from it. I have always been a John Deere fan but this put a real bad taste in my mouth.
We called KC Nielsen LTD back the following Monday (because they were closed Sunday) and put them on speaker phone so everyone could hear what they said. I talked to the same guy that told me it was in excellent condition and a sound vehicle. After pointing out everything that was wrong with it and going back and forth he told me that he lied about the condition to bump up the auction price. So in other words he knew we thought we were bidding on a Gator in Excellent condition so we bid against whoever else was bidding (someone at John Deere).
Not sure but think that type of auction is illegal. I asked why he would lie and told him he would have saved me a trip and a headache had he just been honest and he said he didn't really know much about the vehicle but lied about the condition just to sell it. We were then transferred to another John Deere employee higher up in the food chain who apologized for lying to us and also admitted to the misdeed and offered to give us our money back.
We (my wife and I) drove another 4 hours there (and back) to drop it off and get our cash back. I also asked for the gas it cost to drive there and back two times ($240) because they lied and it would have saved us the gas. They refused to give us the gas refund, even though they admitted to lying which brought us up there in the first place. I think it is only fair that they reimburse for the gas, i'm not asking for the wear and tear on the F250 diesel truck, only the gas it took us to get there and back.
If they would have been honest we never would have taken the trip. I am not going to stop pursuing this and thinking if i have to hire a lawyer i will be asking for legal fees to be refunded as well. Conveniently all upper staff was out of the office when we arrived and could not discuss the gas bill they owed us.
K.C. Nielsen Ltd. Reviews
Prior to purchasing a 2015 Special Edition John Deere 825i Gator at an online auction through auctiontime.com I contacted the seller, KC Nielsen Ltd at 515-890-2701 the day the sale was to end. The salesman I spoke with really talked up this gator stating that it only had a few minor typical scratches on the outside and other than that it was in excellent condition.
I explained to him that i was 250 miles away and could not look at it prior to the auction so I then asked him if there were any mechanical problems with it or any other issues with it or anything not working and he explained it was in excellent condition and a very sound vehicle and i would not have any problem with it what so ever.
He went on and on praising the gator and we trusted his opinion. I asked him for his absolute honest opinion and he spoke like he knew the vehicle real well and said the only reason they selected it for the auction was because they had too many on their lot, further stating i would have no problem with it what so ever if i won the bid.
The pictures on the auction website conveniently hid the physical flaws he failed to mention as he said there were only a few minor typical scratches. We ended up winning the bid at $9,900 and made the FOUR hour drive to Humboldt IA to pick it up on Saturday 22-June just before they closed. We paid cash at the dealership, then when we looked at it the few scratches were more than that, there was several spots where the paint had peeled off, quite a bit of rust, a broken drivers side rear view mirror, and a big dent in the tail gate.
This was not mentioned during the call I made inquiring about this gator that was explained to me as "being in excellent condition with a few small typical scratches". The sales guy that took the money assisted us with loading it and It would not start, the starter kept kicking in and out. So he then said the battery was low and it would not allow it to start, and said he would go get a jump box to jump start it.
When he returned with the jump box he stated that something was probably left on which drained the battery not allowing it to start. Which had nothing to do with it because it was a starter gear problem, which is still a problem today. He lied to us so we would take it home with us. A little bit of white smoke came out of the tale pipe to start with.
We then pointed out the rear view mirror was broken and the guy at the dealership said if we call them back on Monday they could probably send us a replacement. I then asked that sales guy about the performance of the gator and he also talked it up, said it was a good running vehicle, and should not have any problem with it again stating that the problem starting was the battery.
This guy at the dealership then helped us load it on the trailer right away but it wasn't until we returned home that we found it was not the sound vehicle in excellent condition that they told us it was. Once we got home with it we also learned that the windshield wiper does not work, it does not go beyond 14 miles per hour in high gear, the emergency brake does NOT work (major safety issue), and there is a grinding noise in the front end, and a dent in the tail gate.
There were no pictures online showing the physical flaws in fact the pictures/angles they took conveniently hid this. I feel it was done intentionally. We were flat out lied to so they could make a sale and bump the price at the online auction. They had it listed on their actual website for $15k before putting it in the auction, further giving us the impression it was in 'excellent condition'. If the guy on the phone would have been honest we would not have bid on it.
If the guy at the dealership had been honest I would have expected my money back and we would have left without it. This kind of manipulation sales tactics must stop. If they took it in as a trade and it turned out not to be what they expected they should not rape other customers to benefit from it. I have always been a John Deere fan but this put a real bad taste in my mouth.
We called KC Nielsen LTD back the following Monday (because they were closed Sunday) and put them on speaker phone so everyone could hear what they said. I talked to the same guy that told me it was in excellent condition and a sound vehicle. After pointing out everything that was wrong with it and going back and forth he told me that he lied about the condition to bump up the auction price. So in other words he knew we thought we were bidding on a Gator in Excellent condition so we bid against whoever else was bidding (someone at John Deere).
Not sure but think that type of auction is illegal. I asked why he would lie and told him he would have saved me a trip and a headache had he just been honest and he said he didn't really know much about the vehicle but lied about the condition just to sell it. We were then transferred to another John Deere employee higher up in the food chain who apologized for lying to us and also admitted to the misdeed and offered to give us our money back.
We (my wife and I) drove another 4 hours there (and back) to drop it off and get our cash back. I also asked for the gas it cost to drive there and back two times ($240) because they lied and it would have saved us the gas. They refused to give us the gas refund, even though they admitted to lying which brought us up there in the first place. I think it is only fair that they reimburse for the gas, i'm not asking for the wear and tear on the F250 diesel truck, only the gas it took us to get there and back.
If they would have been honest we never would have taken the trip. I am not going to stop pursuing this and thinking if i have to hire a lawyer i will be asking for legal fees to be refunded as well. Conveniently all upper staff was out of the office when we arrived and could not discuss the gas bill they owed us.