Ziegler Cat in Altoona

[Shimmy1]

Anyone have a relationship with these guys? My dad is looking for a dozer, they have one but I think the salesman is playing games since we're 3 states away.

 

[Welder Dave]

Trying to remember if Zeigler was the dealer involved in the most epic thread ever, D6C loss of oil pressure. I think they were but have a few different locations. Required Cat corperate to step in. Just looking it up might trigger night tremors.

 

[Vetech63]

salesman is playing games

This is their nature.

 

[Nige]

"Trust me, I'm a salesman........"

 

[Shimmy1]

Seriously, here's the story. Machine is a 2005 D6N, ALY01704. Price is fair, machine only has 8100 hours. Seems low, but you never know. Story is there is compression in the radiator. Salesman claims that the shop will not get back to him with a quote on what they would charge to pull the head, probably would want to put a new one on. I feel the salesman is kicking the can, doesn't want to deal with a machine that has to go through the shop before the sale.

 

[KSSS]

I bought a 590 Super N from Zeigler in Shakopee, Mn. Sight unseen. The machine was as advertised and the deal went very smooth, for whatever that may be worth.

 

[Acoals]

I don't think the dealers like doing refurb work on used stuff of that age in order to sell it. Fabick sells stuff like that pretty much as is where is. They are pretty open and transparent with issues.

 

[Welder Dave]

Seriously, here's the story. Machine is a 2005 D6N, ALY01704. Price is fair, machine only has 8100 hours. Seems low, but you never know. Story is there is compression in the radiator. Salesman claims that the shop will not get back to him with a quote on what they would charge to pull the head, probably would want to put a new one on. I feel the salesman is kicking the can, doesn't want to deal with a machine that has to go through the shop before the sale.

Sounds like the salesman doesn't want to tell you the price because it's will go up a lot if the shop has to fix it. He thinks he has a sale at X amount but if repairs are needed and added to the price, so the shop makes a profit, then the price becomes X plus $5K or X plus $10K or more. You might have second thoughts and decide to look at other machines that don't need fixing and/or are less money. Could also be a while till the shop can get around to fixing it.

 

[Shimmy1]

Don't really care. We know the price as-is, know it has an issue. They can fix it just as well as anyone around here. I think your point about backing out is valid, but that is easily solved by a P.A. stating the details. I think he's just trying to shy away because, yes, there is a bit of risk on the unknown. Or, they already know there are other issues and just want it to leave without blowing the top off.

 

[TallDan]

I bought a newer D6N with 11,500 hours on it from Ziegler a few months ago for a fair price. Everything was as described. Had a lot of good picture and they did all the oil samples. Gave me the full service history and complete download of the ecm. I went through it with a fine tooth comb and changed all the fluids after I received it and everything looks great. They are honest about issues they find and price accordingly. They won’t spend much time looking at it. You gotta decide if you want to fix the issues or pass. It doesn’t really make sense for cat to fix everything then sell. They more so just want to sell it for a fair price then you decide what to do with it. Used equipment is always a gamble you just don’t know what’s about to go out. Cat doesn’t always know either. Personally I would rather buy from Cat than a contractor. My cat dealer(fabick) hasn’t ever given me the impression that they’re looking to rip anyone off.

 

[Welder Dave]

Not wanting to open a can of worms could be a good reason the salesman is hesitant. As I mentioned previously I think it was one of Ziegler's branches that tried to take advantage of the owner of a D6C. It required Cat corporate to straighten them out. At one point they wanted to be paid a big repair bill and they kept the machine. They messed up on repairs. It was probably an isolated incident, probably but it did happen. Just something to keep in the back of your mind.

 

[Acoals]

It really isn't that complicated. Dealers don't like dealing with old stuff. They are in the business of selling new machines, the old stuff is sold as is, where is.

As far as D6C's, you try taking a D6C into any Cat dealer in North America and you are going to get pretty much the same result.

 

[grandpa]

Been doing business with Ziegler for over 60 years. Will continue doing business for the next 60...... hopefully.

 

[Welder Dave]

It really isn't that complicated. Dealers don't like dealing with old stuff. They are in the business of selling new machines, the old stuff is sold as is, where is.

As far as D6C's, you try taking a D6C into any Cat dealer in North America and you are going to get pretty much the same result.

The service dept. made some bad mistakes that weren't a result of it being an older machine/engine. I'm not going to go back to find the specifics but there were things missed or not done that members on here said should have been normal things to do. Maybe an inexperienced mechanic or he had something else on his mind I don't know. Then you add a service manager with a bit of an attitude and it becomes a big mess. It was likely an isolated incident but you here about things like this from time to time even with what are generally really good dealerships or repair shops. It has to be pretty bad for head office to get involved.

 

[Acoals]

You take 10 D6C's with similar problems into 10 different Cat dealerships and you will find the the average result is what was experienced by the fellow in the D6C thread.

The salesman at Fabick considers my 2006 315C to be a dinosaur. A 1960's D6C is a nostalgic picture on the wall.

 

[Welder Dave]

Not basic things being missed. It was an extreme example and had little to do with it being an older engine. Obviously the service dept. made some mistakes if Cat head office had to step in to rectify things. I'm not saying it's a bad dealer but they did make some bad mistakes in that particular case. I doubt there's a dealer or anybody for that reason that has never made some bad or dumb mistakes. Some are easy to fix and some are more complex or expensive. A customer shouldn't have to pay for a shops mistakes but I'm sure it happens and the customer has no idea.

 

[Mcrafty1]

I don't think the dealers like doing refurb work on used stuff of that age in order to sell it. Fabick sells stuff like that pretty much as is where is. They are pretty open and transparent with issues.

That's the kind of dealer I like to work with, there seems to be fewer and fewer of those type all the time.