I think that would be a good enough reason for me to look at other brands. Heck, I bought my John Deere (used of course) from a Toro/Snapper dealer and he said he would take care of any issues I had with it (haven't had any yet) or with any other brands I had (they make more money on service then on selling mowers).

His dealer agreement states that he must accept warranty work on the product regardless of where it was purchased. However, some dealers refuse machines that they did not sell simply because they do not have the space and/or personnel to accommodate them. They want to make sure their sales customers are looked after.

He said they only make money by selling mowers, not repairing them, so you have to buy from him. (What if you moved here and brought your mower with you?)

Also, a few things that seemed to either contradict what I'd read here, or just didn't sit well with me:

1. The Toro Recycler and Superrecycler are the same quality.
2. They are built to last about 5 years.
3. The best idea is to use them for 3-5 years and then throw them away and replace with new ones.

That last comment certainly didn't seem very environmentally aware to me.

So I'm going to visit the Honda mower dealer now!

Sounds like an ignorant dealer to me. Of course he wants you to buy a new mower from him every few years.

I would pass his comments on to Toro the buy my mower some where else.

Walt Conner

My local Toro dealer has a sign stating that he will NOT work on any Home Depot/Lowes equipment. He's been in business for over 25 years and hasn't had any problem from Toro. The list contains many other brands that he won't work on.

He is only shooting himself in the foot. A lot of dealers take his attitude out of spite but they are annoying the very customer they would like to lure away from big box.
I worked for a very successful Echo/Toro dealer six blocks from HD. Their customers came to us for parts and service, HD did not even carry Echo 2 stroke oil. We gained sales when people realized they could get the same machine properly set up for very little more. Some went back to HD because 'they are always cheaper' but we didn't need those chiselers.

That was a wise dealer you worked for, canguy. It sounds like you learned from his example, too.

That may be one unexpected positive from the Big Boxes, they are weeding out the bad dealers. If you can't provide more service than a Big Box, you shouldn't be in a service oriented business anyway.

I took the half hour drive to the Honda dealer. Very pleasant woman, no flim flam. I told her about the Toro dealer's buy-it-here-or-no-service comment, and she said that was a very old fashioned attitude. She'll happily fix Honda mowers from HD or anywhere else, because they want to win over customers through good service.

I feel for the small dealer who loose business to the big boxes but I bet their service dept's business is waaaay up...a lot of those HD/Lowes mowers are not wuite up to the specs of those sold by dealers...likely more repairs..not sure...should benefit the little guy. Now if HD/LOWES were to start to farm out repairs then that might be trouble. I have heard bad stories about their carpet installs and such.

"He said they only make money by selling mowers, not repairing them, so you have to buy from him. "

He has an unusual operational model that differs from most in the business. Possibly he is counting on adding a premium to the MSRP to generate all this revenue.

"Also, a few things that seemed to either contradict what I'd read here, or just didn't sit well with me:

1. The Toro Recycler and Superrecycler are the same quality."

Utter nonsense - the guy is either ignorant or intentionally lying to you.

"2. They are built to last about 5 years. "

Then I should not tell him about the 30 year old Toro I just replaced. I suppose that means the Toro Super recyclers will automatically stop running after 5 years and 1 day...

"3. The best idea is to use them for 3-5 years and then throw them away and replace with new ones. "

That fits into his business model of overpricing his lawn mowers and high turnover.

"So I'm going to visit the Honda mower dealer now!"

You might also give another Toro dealer a chance.

Roadbike, I would have tried another Toro dealer, but this is a rural area and there's only that one within an hour of me.

Our local HD does NO repairs at all. You can't even put gas in the tank to drive a rider onto a trailer.

They round up the returns, put them onto a trailer and ship them to the next state for repair.

I thought I'd scope my local Toro dealer out to ask him about his warranty policies. We've known each other for 50 years, so I don't think he jiving me.

His sign says NO warranty work will be done on ANY equipment not bought from him. Period. He handles Toro, Snapper, Echo and many other brands.

There is also a sign that says he will not work on about 6 different items, such as Weedeater, Poulan, and other models bought from box stores. In fairness to him, I won't work on them either. Try replacing the pull rope. The machine is built around the pull rope.

He showed me the two steel deck Toro models and the 4 aluminum deck models. The two steel deck models are exactly the same thing as HD sells. They are made to compete with the Sears line. He makes $7.00 profit on the sale of these models. The front wheel drive models have plastic gears in the drive and last about a year. He won't even carry that line. The warranty work is even less profit, considering the paperwork.

On the bright side, he'll sell you any parts you need!

...I do not believe him. Thats like saying I bought my Toyota at dealer X, moved and dealer Y will not service it.

If push came to shove I have no doubt Toro would require him to service the unit. I would think he would want the business...

Tell him that refusing to repair an item that he is authorized for may cost him his authorization. When I call a dealer with a problem and they ask me if I bought it from there, I tell them 'what difference does it make.' If they give you ANY, I mean ANY resistance, call the manufacturer and REPORT them. Don't feel bad about doing it as they are the ones that signed the agreement to provide warranty and out of warranty service. Its the same thing as if the Police pulled you over because you were a certain ethnic background. Its unethical and illegal.

Dealers like that...I love when they go out of business...go packing.