For tech-weary Midwest farmers, 40-year-old tractors now a hot commodity

Re:For tech-weary Midwest farmers, 40-year-old tractors now ... by zozbot234 on Monday January 06, 2020 @11:55PM (#21976994)

The manufacturer of the more reliable car can win by offering a warranty and/or "discounted" repairs. That way, even a naïve customer who doesn't expect the manufacturer to make a reliable car will be incented to buy it anyway. Of course, this will only work if building a more reliable car really is more efficient than doing constant repairs on a less-reliable one. IOW, it actually leads to properly-aligned incentives all around.

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Re:For tech-weary Midwest farmers, 40-year-old tractors now ... by magduf on Tuesday January 07, 2020 @04:37PM (#21985186)

A warranty is utterly worthless if there's no company to back it up. Would you trust a brand-new company to be around for 10 years if they offered a warranty that long?

For cars, at least, "discounted" repairs are pretty much impossible in the USA: manufacturers aren't allowed to own the service shops here, by law. The service has to be done by independent dealers. Of course, the manufacturer could heavily subsidize this service (by paying most of the cost directly to the dealer), but that's going to take away all their profits.

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Re:For tech-weary Midwest farmers, 40-year-old tractors now ... by pavon on Tuesday January 07, 2020 @12:10PM (#21981943)

After years of dealing with manufactures that find any possible way to weasel out of honoring their warranties, I don't place any credence in them whatsoever. I don't even consider warranty when making a purchase, just reputation for quality, which takes time to build; time most startups don't have to start showing a profit.

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