So after a trip to a local dealer today to look at a municipal one owner Champion blade I was left pondering which is the lesser of 2 evils.
Machine 1- 1996 720 champion series 4 with 11k hours, county owned, well maintained, fair rubber, no leaks, only real issue is the front end getting loose and the tires at about 30% . Seemed to be a pretty solid blade, just had some hours on it.
Machine 2- 1995 Champion 720 series 4 w/ 4100 hours on it. One owner city machine. Rubber looked new, relatively tight machine, sounds like the Holy Grail of used machines over the phone. Went and looked at it and the first thing I noticed is none of the fluids or filters have been changed since 2009-2011. Engine oil was dirty and the motor had several "seaps" that were producing enough oil to leave a slick on the differential. Also the paddle shifter was finicky and at times didn't want to shift up like it should of in the forward ranges. Didn't appear to be any electrical fault codes so it was probably in the shifter.
Its hard for me to get excited about either machine for the money (30-35k) For all intents and purposes I've got more confidence in the low hour machine but no maintenance records are available. If the 4k hour machine had been in the same physical condition as the 11k hour machine I'd probably have written a check today, but the lack of maintenance and the laziness of the dealership (its been on the lot for a month) irritated me enough to loose interest.
In your opinions what is the lesser of the 2 evils? High hours and good maintenance or Low hours, sitting around, and possible poor maintenance?
Machine 1- 1996 720 champion series 4 with 11k hours, county owned, well maintained, fair rubber, no leaks, only real issue is the front end getting loose and the tires at about 30% . Seemed to be a pretty solid blade, just had some hours on it.
Machine 2- 1995 Champion 720 series 4 w/ 4100 hours on it. One owner city machine. Rubber looked new, relatively tight machine, sounds like the Holy Grail of used machines over the phone. Went and looked at it and the first thing I noticed is none of the fluids or filters have been changed since 2009-2011. Engine oil was dirty and the motor had several "seaps" that were producing enough oil to leave a slick on the differential. Also the paddle shifter was finicky and at times didn't want to shift up like it should of in the forward ranges. Didn't appear to be any electrical fault codes so it was probably in the shifter.
Its hard for me to get excited about either machine for the money (30-35k) For all intents and purposes I've got more confidence in the low hour machine but no maintenance records are available. If the 4k hour machine had been in the same physical condition as the 11k hour machine I'd probably have written a check today, but the lack of maintenance and the laziness of the dealership (its been on the lot for a month) irritated me enough to loose interest.
In your opinions what is the lesser of the 2 evils? High hours and good maintenance or Low hours, sitting around, and possible poor maintenance?
Machines with higher hours and regular maintenance,or Low hours and poor maintenance?
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