When I moved up to NH a few years ago from Princeton NJ and needed to obtain a snowblower, a local steered me to a small-engine dealer and told me I'd regret buying the same model from a box store. Manufacturers use cheaper (i.e..: more likely to fail) parts in the models they ship to box stores in order to keep their products price-comp…
When I moved up to NH a few years ago from Princeton NJ and needed to obtain a snowblower, a local steered me to a small-engine dealer and told me I'd regret buying the same model from a box store. Manufacturers use cheaper (i.e..: more likely to fail) parts in the models they ship to box stores in order to keep their products price-competitive and use more reliable (and expensive) parts in the models they sell through dealers. As he put it, the box store price will ultimately be more costly than the dealer price. My Ariens has been kicking butt on my driveway for four years now.
This formula does not work on everything, of course, but any product that is sold both in box stores and through manufacturer's licensed dealers is always better from the dealer. As Peter Venkman said to Egon, "Good safety tip."
When I moved up to NH a few years ago from Princeton NJ and needed to obtain a snowblower, a local steered me to a small-engine dealer and told me I'd regret buying the same model from a box store. Manufacturers use cheaper (i.e..: more likely to fail) parts in the models they ship to box stores in order to keep their products price-competitive and use more reliable (and expensive) parts in the models they sell through dealers. As he put it, the box store price will ultimately be more costly than the dealer price. My Ariens has been kicking butt on my driveway for four years now.
This formula does not work on everything, of course, but any product that is sold both in box stores and through manufacturer's licensed dealers is always better from the dealer. As Peter Venkman said to Egon, "Good safety tip."