Welcome to Nashville Bobcat - home of shoddy repair work

[rodbuilder321]

After buying a Bobcat 553 and a Kubota RTV on Craigslist, I went to the Nashville metro area to pick up both units. Once i saw the Bobcat i decided to take it to a dealer there to have the controls set to "center" and have2 hour them fix the so-called "traction lock", as it wasn't releasing properly and located Nashville Bobcat in Antioch, Tn.
I took the machine on up to Antioch early in the morning and was told they could get me in, so they unloaded it off my trailer with a fork lift and put it in their shop. I was told that it needed a bushing kit in the control linkage, but that adjusting the "center" on them would help alot, and I ok'ed the repair. After paying them their $296.96 the machine DID make it back up onto my trailer, but when I got it back home and off the trailer my mechanic/friend called me about 9:00 pm that night, telling me that the machine wouldn't move an inch -
that the interlock was screwed up again! Of course I was furious. I just paid Nashville $296 for absolutely NOTHING! After messing with the machine's electrical circuits for about 2 hours, after I had gone back to the house my guy decided to read the manual I got with it.
He called me on the phone, saying he read the trouble-shooting section of the manual and was instructed : "that if all the lights are on, on the BICS computer, you should check for a corroded fuse in the fuse block." - which he did and found that the interlock fuse was severely corroded!!!
He replaced the circuit with an inline fuse holder and a 15 amp fuse and BINGO - the machine was fixed!! The job cost me $75.00 and it was fixed correctly by a 28 year-old AUTO mechanic, that took the time to read the manual and do the right thing.
Here's where things get really stupid: I talked to Nashville Bobcat's service Mgr. "Arron" and his boss, who both told me (basically) they did what I was charged for and that they weren't going to refund my money. Arron and the boss man both told me that the dude who worked on my machine was (quoting) "the most "productive" mechanic in their shop"!!! "Productive" i said? Ya' mean he puts more work out the door and makes the most money - right? To which they BOTH said: "Yes". Does "productive" mean "good mechanic" to anyone reading this?
Repeated calls to the owner's St. Louis store have gone un-replied to and I have never heard from the store's owner, "Dan Anich". Now, The good ole' boys Arron & Chris have come up with this cock and bull fantasy that after THEY worked on the machine and BEFORE i took it to my guy to have him paint it and put new axle seals in it, I (according to the Dynamic Duo) supposedly took the machine's control linkage apart and screwed it all up!!! Now if YOU were going to pay a dealer almost $300 to fix YOUR skid loader would YOU take it apart after they worked on it? Of course you wouldn't and either did I!
Moral of the story: Got a problem with your Bobcat-branded machine? Live in Nashville, or St. Louis? Then if I were you I'd be looking for a dependable, competent repair shop to have the work done, because "Dan" and his Bobcat dealerships in the Nashville and St. Louis areas are a total rip-off. If you want to know more about this horrid experience don't hesitate to give me a call at 815 - 973 - 8128.

 

[South Texas Rancher]

Unfortunately yours is too common a story. No matter if it is a loader, tractor, atv, car or truck. I can not understand why we have so many incompetent mechanics and poor service. For what they are charging there is no way they are not making good money. The dealership or shop should make sure every mechanic is properly trained. If the mechanic can not do good work in a timely manner he should be fired. Minimal returns and complaints from any work performed should be the norm, not the exception. All work performed should be checked by the shop foreman before it leaves the shop. I think some of the problems come from too many business being run by low paid managers instead of the owner. I have been disappointed too many time by dealerships. That is why I have the shop repair manuals for every piece of equipment I own. I got tired of high dollar excuses and now do all of the work myself. There are good mechanics and shops out there. You will have to ask around and there will probably be a waiting line to get your work done. If you are in a hurry you may have to learn to repair the machine yourself. A sad situation that their is no excuse for. There is no such thing as a good mechanic that is not busy.

 

[Rojas]

Unfortunately yours is too common a story. No matter if it is a loader, tractor, atv, car or truck. I can not understand why we have so many incompetent mechanics and poor service. For what they are charging there is no way they are not making good money. The dealership or shop should make sure every mechanic is properly trained. If the mechanic can not do good work in a timely manner he should be fired. Minimal returns and complaints from any work performed should be the norm, not the exception. All work performed should be checked by the shop foreman before it leaves the shop. I think some of the problems come from too many business being run by low paid managers instead of the owner. I have been disappointed too many time by dealerships. That is why I have the shop repair manuals for every piece of equipment I own. I got tired of high dollar excuses and now do all of the work myself. There are good mechanics and shops out there. You will have to ask around and there will probably be a waiting line to get your work done. If you are in a hurry you may have to learn to repair the machine yourself. A sad situation that their is no excuse for. There is no such thing as a good mechanic that is not busy.

Well before we get out a broad brush I have another story to relate. My niece took her car to a repair shop because the check engine light was coming on. The shop called her back and said she needed a new engine. I went to the shop to see how they came to that conclusion. The mechanic said the low oil pressure light was coming on when they test drove it. They performed an oil pressure check, found metal shavings in the variable valve actuator filter and the valve train was noisy. I checked the oil it was right on the full mark and felt and smelled fine. I asked them what caused this and they said someone had run the car low on oil. My niece had had the car for about 30K miles, had records of all the oil changes. I was a bit dubious so I had the car towed to my shop. I checked the opposing variable valve filter. Half full of shavings. Placed these into a clean bag. Drained the oil into a fresh, clean container. Removed the oil filter cartridge. Lots of metal there as well. Took it over to the bench to place into a bag and whoa! That filter was an inch shorter than the factory cartridge I had obtained from the dealership. Damn, oil was bypassing the filter. I went ahead and put fresh oil and the correct filter in the car and installed a test gauge. Started the car and allowed it to warm up. Twenty minutes later and the oil pressure is about half of the factory specification. No knocking but a lot of valve train noise. Went to the oil change shop that had been doing the oil. Talked to them and showed them what I found. It took them about a week but they called back and are taking responsibility.

 

[BobCat]

Well before we get out a broad brush I have another story to relate. My niece took her car to a repair shop because the check engine light was coming on. The shop called her back and said she needed a new engine. I went to the shop to see how they came to that conclusion. The mechanic said the low oil pressure light was coming on when they test drove it. They performed an oil pressure check, found metal shavings in the variable valve actuator filter and the valve train was noisy. I checked the oil it was right on the full mark and felt and smelled fine. I asked them what caused this and they said someone had run the car low on oil. My niece had had the car for about 30K miles, had records of all the oil changes. I was a bit dubious so I had the car towed to my shop. I checked the opposing variable valve filter. Half full of shavings. Placed these into a clean bag. Drained the oil into a fresh, clean container. Removed the oil filter cartridge. Lots of metal there as well. Took it over to the bench to place into a bag and whoa! That filter was an inch shorter than the factory cartridge I had obtained from the dealership. Damn, oil was bypassing the filter. I went ahead and put fresh oil and the correct filter in the car and installed a test gauge. Started the car and allowed it to warm up. Twenty minutes later and the oil pressure is about half of the factory specification. No knocking but a lot of valve train noise. Went to the oil change shop that had been doing the oil. Talked to them and showed them what I found. It took them about a week but they called back and are taking responsibility.

It pays to do your own works whenever possible. Hell I had a plumber come in the other day for 2 hrs and it cost me 300 bucks. Fixed the problem but 150 an hour? If it ain't rocket science do it yourself.

 

[siduramaxde]

It pays to do your own works whenever possible. Hell I had a plumber come in the other day for 2 hrs and it cost me 300 bucks. Fixed the problem but 150 an hour? If it ain't rocket science do it yourself.

I think I am going to have to step in here and stick up for Bobcat of St. Louis. They have helped me out tremendously on more than one occasion and I can honestly say that they are the only reason I buy bobcat equipment.... List of things they have done for me: Loan me specialty tools at no cost. Let me use a machine with attachment controller because mine didn't have it (another freebie). Answered my hail mary phone call at 3am in a snow storm to help me - then met me at the dealership at 4am so I could get parts. I have gotten numerous tips from their mechanics on fixing things (no cost).... I have bought 2 used skids and 1 mini skid from them and it was always an enjoyable experience..... Did the OP have a bad experience with them???? I guess so...it happens in business, we have all been there and it sucks. Should this dealership be judged by one persons bad experience??? I don't think so. Its like when you look at a review on the internet for something you are going to buy. There may be 1 or 2 bad reviews out of 1000. To me that is the sign of a good product.....Just my thoughts....Sorry OP had bad experience

 

[donald73d]

Well before we get out a broad brush I have another story to relate. My niece took her car to a repair shop because the check engine light was coming on. The shop called her back and said she needed a new engine. I went to the shop to see how they came to that conclusion. The mechanic said the low oil pressure light was coming on when they test drove it. They performed an oil pressure check, found metal shavings in the variable valve actuator filter and the valve train was noisy. I checked the oil it was right on the full mark and felt and smelled fine. I asked them what caused this and they said someone had run the car low on oil. My niece had had the car for about 30K miles, had records of all the oil changes. I was a bit dubious so I had the car towed to my shop. I checked the opposing variable valve filter. Half full of shavings. Placed these into a clean bag. Drained the oil into a fresh, clean container. Removed the oil filter cartridge. Lots of metal there as well. Took it over to the bench to place into a bag and whoa! That filter was an inch shorter than the factory cartridge I had obtained from the dealership. Damn, oil was bypassing the filter. I went ahead and put fresh oil and the correct filter in the car and installed a test gauge. Started the car and allowed it to warm up. Twenty minutes later and the oil pressure is about half of the factory specification. No knocking but a lot of valve train noise. Went to the oil change shop that had been doing the oil. Talked to them and showed them what I found. It took them about a week but they called back and are taking responsibility.

I am just curious here, the filter that was wrong was just smaller and less capacity? True at some point when it filled up it would go into bypass, but was the shorter filter filled? Maybe it was filled with shavings also? But then my question is where did the shavings come from that started the chain. I agree finding a good shop is key for your car and equipment. I do what I can and have the shop do the rest. My local shop installed a reman engine in my Jeep and it came out fine. It was not cheap and the cause was piston skirt failure (it does happen to the 4.0 engine) and some cost savings changes Jeep did around the 2000-2001 model year.

 

[Rojas]

I am just curious here, the filter that was wrong was just smaller and less capacity? True at some point when it filled up it would go into bypass, but was the shorter filter filled? Maybe it was filled with shavings also? But then my question is where did the shavings come from that started the chain. I agree finding a good shop is key for your car and equipment. I do what I can and have the shop do the rest. My local shop installed a reman engine in my Jeep and it came out fine. It was not cheap and the cause was piston skirt failure (it does happen to the 4.0 engine) and some cost savings changes Jeep did around the 2000-2001 model year.

This vehicle has a cartridge style filter. You change out the element only. It is very similar to the Bobcat air filter setup on a 743, 763 and other models. If the element is short in the axial direction the flow will simply bypass the element. The sealing surfaces are on each end. Oil has been bypassing since the filer was installed.