By
Rainman
So here's the short of the long and I'd like to run this by others. I got a good deal, but I may have been scammed, depending on the facts behind the scene, as I will explain.
I was looking at inexpensive UTVs with what I could afford and had 3 brands in mind. The only one that was available was the Coleman Outfitter UT400, which was sold at Tractor Supply. The internet showed they only had one left, so the next day I went down to take a look. When I got there the salesman told me that the model they had was just sold, but he would show it to me so I could see it. Then he came back and said he couldn't find it, as it may have already been picked up by the buyer, but he would talk to the manager to see what he could do.
The manager confirmed the floor model was just sold, but he had one in the back they couldn't sell. He took me to see it and proceeded to tell me they couldn't sell it because a year ago, after they moved from one location from across the street to their new location, they lost the keys. It also needed a gas cap and a couple of the reflectors were missing. Since it was a 2021, he really wanted it out of the store, so he offered it to me for $6000. Now the internet price was $8000, and the tag on the UTV with the sku number said $9000.
I told him I'd have to think it over, even though I was saving between $2000-$3000, I wanted to make sure I could get parts, since I also found out that Coleman had filed Chapter 11 back in February.
I came back 4 days later and told him I would not purchase if unless I was able to drive it and the only way to do that without the keys was to hot wire it. He was okay with that, so I got it started and took it for a drive. There were a few bangs and clunks that went away, probably due to it sitting around and now knowing that the shifter problems exist, which may have been some of the noise. But all in all, it started right up and for the most part, ran good.
I bought it, took it home, and it sat in the barn for almost a week while I was trying to locate parts. Seems that the more I learned about this particular model and it being a 2021, parts were not readily available. Now taking into consideration the manager stated this was a brand new UTV, here is where I started to scratch my head.
Supposedly, the UTV sat there unused for about 18 months. The manager said he only started working there about 6 months ago. When I finally did some research and started learning a little bit about the UTV, I was able to check the actual hours and mileage. The dash showed me that there was just under 7 hours and 23 miles on that UTV. Then, when I went to install the new ignitions switch, since I couldn't get keys for the original switch, I had to swap out the connectors only to find out that the wiring to the original ignition switch had one of the wired cut and someone had soldered it back together.
After I started to clean the dust and dirt accumulated on it for the past 18 months, I noticed the clear head light lenses were scratch inside and out and the head light compartment was loaded with dirt and debris. Under the hood was mud that had kicked up there and the windshield was also scratch up, both inside and out. Two bolts were missing off a piece on the exhaust system, which I know had fallen off on someone else's UTV, but the bolts vibrated off of his after about a year of use. And today I found out that there may be a wiring problem with a brake light, which by the way is the only light that didn't have a zip tie holding the rubber dust boot on the back of the brake light assembly, which tells me someone else may have tried to fix the problem.
So with all that said, I did only pay $6000 for now to be know as a slightly used UTV, saving between $2000-$3000, and with that I am okay - BUT - Was I scammed by the manager at Tractor Supply or him only being there 6 months (if that is the truth), was he telling me only what he was told and he is innocent?
So my question is (3 hours later), do I keep it, fix it, and feel good about what I paid for it and what I saved, or return it and do without, because I really can't afford to pay 10 or more thousand for another brand? I do need a UTV to be able to maintain my 12 aces and I'm now 70 years old, so I'm trying to make a good decision here, even though I am still not certain if I was scammed by Tractor Supply or this deal was done in all innocents and miscommunication with Tractor Supply employees.
I'm open for any input and thank you in advance.
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