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This is my first post here, been lurking doing research and bought my mower today but I have a question. I've been researching on ZTR's and reading so much I got even more confused. Finally decided to just narrow it down ASAP and buy from a dealer close to me home. I had it narrowed down to a Ferris 400s or a Scag Liberty Z or maybe even a Freedom Z. This morning wife and I loaded up and headed to the dealer, when we got there they had just sold the last 400s and said they don't really carry the Liberty and Freedom due to problems with them. I needed a mower so started looking at the Ferris IS600. They had a 2017 sitting there on the floor with all the other different models, long story short we negotiated a deal and they were going to service the unit while I went and grabbed a trailer. Picked her up and brought it home, unloaded it and started to do a little practice driving when I noticed the hour gauge had 10.6 hours on it! I was told I was buying a brand new mower but I got home with one with almost 11 hours on it. When I engaged the blades I noticed a bunch of old dried grass/dirt flew out from under the deck. It seems to run fine but I'm just a little irritated, I was led to believe I was buying a brand new mower right off the showroom floor but no telling how this thing got almost 11 hours on it. Was it a demo? A return? Who knows.

It's not like I got it at a steal, I paid $5,199 for a 2017 so they made out well. My thoughts are I'd like to load it up in the morning and take it back to the dealer and tell them I paid for a new mower I'd like a brand new mower. I'd really appreciate some of you guys opinions on this please, thank you!

Best,
John

I would take it back if you are unhappy. You thought you were buying a new, unused, mower and you obviously got one that has been used, at some point. You will always have that in the back of you mind if you don't take care of it now.

10 hours is pretty much same as new. I wouldn't worry about it. BTW, some hour meters register hours if the key is accidentally left on.

If you do go back, be pleasant, BUT be wearing a LONG BLACK trench-coat, sun-glasses, and a hat ( they will DEFINITELY pay attention at your appearance ) ( LOL ) then NICELY,.. explain your grievance, IF you are NOT satisfied, SMILE the biggest smile you can, and give them the ol Terminators line .. I'LL BE BACK ! Hopefully they won't call the swat team, and will try to satisfy you in every way affordable, IF all that fails, fall on the floor screaming I need my meds NOW !! ..:laughing:..:laughing:

NOT trying to make light of your situation, just trying to ease your tensions ! Seriously... being NICE will probably be best to express your feelings .

It's probably been used as a demo. If it has the full warranty, it can't be a 'used' unit, i.e., having been sold to someone else and returned.

Look at it this way: After you put 500 hours on it, the hour meter will show 510. No big deal.

As already stated, most likely a mower that has been used as a demo.
Get under the deck and have good look at the blades, if they are dull or burred make a complaint and do the same with the belt.
Check it very carefully.
Technically if a bill of sale has not been issued for the mower it is considered new.

Some dealerships will store the mower inside at night, and then in the morning will start all the mowers, and then start driving out to the front of the store one by one. It wouldn't take long to rack up 10 hours just driving in and out of the building twice a day over the summer. Maybe somebody tested the mower at the dealership on some grass which could equate for the grass coming out from under the deck.

I appreciate everyone's advice, thank you. I looked under the deck and it looks fine, just a little dirty-no big deal. The blades do feel a little dull and have small nics and dings in them but again, nothing huge. I just feel like they weren't honest with me. Years ago I worked in a large bike shop and we sold mowers as well, if I had sold a demo to a customer without telling them when they came back to complain the owners would've laid in me but good. You just don't do that.

I'm still unsure of what to do but I do know that I'm a little OCD and this will bug me if I don't say something. I guess I'll go talk to them this morning, I don't plan on being rude I'll be nice. I figure they can look at it as you had an interested customer and you let him try your demo out, he liked it and would like to purchase a new one. No harm no foul.

Thanks again everyone!

JohnGP said:

I appreciate everyone's advice, thank you. I looked under the deck and it looks fine, just a little dirty-no big deal. The blades do feel a little dull and have small nics and dings in them but again, nothing huge. I just feel like they weren't honest with me. Years ago I worked in a large bike shop and we sold mowers as well, if I had sold a demo to a customer without telling them when they came back to complain the owners would've laid in me but good. You just don't do that.

I'm still unsure of what to do but I do know that I'm a little OCD and this will bug me if I don't say something. I guess I'll go talk to them this morning, I don't plan on being rude I'll be nice. I figure they can look at it as you had an interested customer and you let him try your demo out, he liked it and would like to purchase a new one. No harm no foul.

Thanks again everyone!

Click to expand...

There's a lesson to be learned here,.. IF you buy a BRAND-NEW machine, BEFORE you sign the dotted line and accept the machine, look it over CAREFULLY, and/or ASK if it was a DEMO or a returned machine, if it was, you just might get a price reduction, especially if the machine was returned by a previous owner, but the "paperwork" should divulge that info.

You'd think I would've thought to check the hour meter but it just slipped my mind, oh well lesson learned. I took it out this morning and mowed my neighbors front yard, then spied the other neighbors yard, looked a little too tall so mowed it too. It's nice and smooth, cuts beautifully so I'm going to keep it. Thanks for the help/advice everyone! Have a great weekend!

John,
It is not a toaster that the factory put in a box then you take it out in your nice cosy kitchen.
It should have been run & tested at the factory then shipped to the store where it should have been run & tested again.
When i was working on the Leyland production line the speedos mostly had 999,900 miles on the clock.
I queried this as I was a student and was informed that it was to allow for delivery & testing.
Some came through with anything up to -1000 miles on the clock and this was because they were going to remote dealers who only order a couple of cars a year so the car were driven to the dealer by pensioners who got paid a flat fee + accomodation to deliver the cars.
I have been told the new electronic ones have a one use only reset function to zero all reading when a new car is delivered.

As Illengine noted, the local big glass front sits on 2 acres.
The workshop, sales rooms & car park take up about 1/2 the site , the rest is a grassed mound where the mowers are driven out onto daily for display and also used to test repairs and to demo mowers on.
Customers buy the mower that they ( and every one else ) drove around the mound then the workshop preps a new mower to take it's place.
They do this because the mower the customer gets, is the mower they drove around and accepted thus no chance of a hurried technician forgetting to add oil, check blades were tight or leveling the deck before it was despatched to the new owners on a tilt tray so if it arrives damaged the claim is against the tow truck driver.
They do however replace the blades and keep them to go on the new demo mower ( which are sharpened to a knife edge to make the cut better ) .
The local JD dealer does similar.
A mower shop is not like a car yard where they might sell 50 of each model every year so they can afford to keep a demo of each model.
Even more so if they are selling new vehicles directly off the production line as the only cars in the yard are the demos.
A mower shop would be lucky to sell 50 ride ons a single season, across the entire range so they can not afford to have 20 demo mowers sitting on the shop floor all season.
They sell from stock, not against manufacturers inventory, so they order in what they think they will need on this ordering cycle and usually have 60 to 120 days to pay for them.
Thus one on the floor and a couple more in crates around the back is about it.
Space costs money so out back they are in crates stacked 2 to 4 high till needed.

Now big box stores are different .
Lowes probably sell 100 a week, but the one on the floor is usuually the only one they have so you look at it pay your money and hope what turns up in the box from the factory is the same.