Robert S.

I bought a new compact Kioti tractor a couple years ago and all went well until I had an issue with it two months before the warranty expired... wouldn't start. I'm an older retired fellow and had no need to buy a trailer so I asked the dealership if they could deliver it under these circumstances. No problem, it was delivered the next day. Now, back to the starter problem, having no trailer I asked for a little help from the dealership and got nothing but an abrasive attitude from this owner in Kountze Texas. I tried to find a used trailer that I could resale after the warranty work was done. Having no luck I contacted the Koiti Tractor Headquarters in North Carolina and asked for a short extension explaining my situation. After several emails and a certified letter to them they finally responded with a NO.

Conclusion: The dealership (Hardin County Tractor), in bold letters on their website reads: "Doing Business The Old Fashioned Way"... hmm, don't think so, the old fashion way would have been the loan of a trailer or a drive out to look at the tractor instead of indicating I need to buy a trailer (new approx. $2100) to get my tractor to them for warranty work. And the Kioti Headquaters reads "Whatever assistance you need KIOTI is here to help". "Contact Us". Not so sure about that one either. I did contact them and all I asked for was an extension on my warranty should I not find a trailer in the warranty time frame and the answer was no. The words some use to entice you are often misleading (lies). As a heads up, if you never heard of Kioti, other than a wild dog (coyote) in the bushes, that's good. If you have heard of Kioti, the tractor version, and are thinking about buying one, think hard. There are much better choices and dealers.

Two versions: Long and Short.
Short version: (This is the best if you don't care about details)
The owner of this business is far from honest or helpful. If you have a warranty issue and could use a little help, it's unlikely you will get it here. If you buy a product from this dealership and never have a problem requiring help you might even give them 5 stars.

Long version:
Two years ago I bought a compact tractor from this dealer and things went as well as could be expected... until the warranty was about to expire. With two months left on the warranty, tractor wouldn't start. Went to this dealer and explained the situation and he tossed a 'starter switch assembly' on the counter and said that's your problem install this. Nothing more was said. Installed it the next day, took approx 3 hours with heat breaks. This did not correct the problem. Back to dealership, told him that did not work. He said the tractor was still under warranty and to bring it in. I explained to him, just like I did before I bought it that I did not have a trailer and could someone drive over and take a look at it. That's when things went south. He said (and this is as close as I can get to a quote) " that someone would be me, I'm busy and I don' have time for that and bring that switch back so I can sell it". Also he explained that driving to my property is not covered under the warranty. I left and tried my best to find a used trailer to buy including a trip to the north (Lufkin) and west (Brenham). No luck.

The bad thing is I don't have any proof of any of this. But my lesson learned (for what that's worth) is always try your best to conduct business by e-mail, not in person or on the phone. If one person is honest and the other person is comfortable with lying, the honest person will loose every time without proof. And I found that to be true when I used BBB for a review of Hardin County Tractor and BBB sent me the dealers response to my review. I have copies of all of that and his response was untruthful. One last thing and one of the biggest lies is on their web site, in bold letters it reads: "Doing Business The Old Fashion Way". I'm old enough to remember the old fashion way business was done, if a person was in a bind and needed help you helped them. But this guy refused to help and expected me to spend $2500 on a new trailer so I could get my tractor twenty miles to his business for warranty work.
BTW, also I asked the Kioti Corp. if they would give me a short extension on my warranty in the event I couldn't find a decent used trailer before my warranty expired. Their answer was NO. When the warranty expired I rigged a wire and old school push button to start the tractor. Not only would I advise against using this dealer but you might be better off with a different tractor brand. Wish I could do over.