Summary: http://www.gopherforum.com - Buying used outdoor power equipment can be a great way to save money but it can also open a can of worms and end up costing if repairs are needed. How do you know if a used lawn mower is going to be a good deal? Thatâ??s what one of our forum memberâ??s asked when he wrote no the Gopher Lawn Care Business Forum â??I have found a deal on a 2007 ExMark LZ25KC604 60â?³ with 25 HP Kohler with 240 Hours. I have been offered this for $3000.00. It appears to be in great shape. This is my first zero turn and I have been looking at Scags and Exmarks. What should I look for before I decide? I think this is a good deal. Any comments or suggestions appreciated.â?? Thankfully one of our forum members is a outdoor power equipment dealer and he knows his stuff. He responded â??First, are you buying this from a Dealer or from an individual? If from a dealer, will they give you any warranty? Since you have been looking at new mowers of the same brand, how much would a similar one cost you new? Assuming it has no warranty and passes the test as follows below, I would pay no more than about 60-70% of the new price of a similar piece of equipment. Do you know if $3000 is the lowest price you can get on it? Have you tried to get a lower price? Here are some questions you should ask the seller before you buy a used mower. 1. If you are buying from an individual, why are they selling it? 2. Was it used to mow their own yard only? or was it used for commercial use (to mow more than their own lawn). 3. Can you verify their answer to the first two questions without asking them directly or even indicating you are questioning their answer (they may answer â??I no longer need this big of a mowerâ??, or â??I decided to get out of the lawn care businessâ??, orâ?¦.. Just think, â??does their answer make sense?â??) 4. Do they have maintenance records? Will they provide these records to you to preview before the purchase? Will they provide these records to you with the purchase? 5. Can they tell you who serviced the equipment when it was serviced? Can you verify this? 6. If buying from a dealer, have they serviced the mower including sharpen the blades, check the belts, change spark plugs, Air Filter, Fuel Filter, and oil? 7. Have they ever serviced this mower before buying it? 8. Did they sell the mower new? 9. Why did the original owners sell it? (Again, think about their answer to see if it makes sense or not. Typically power equipment dealers are considerably more honest than car dealers but there are a few here and there that may still lie to youâ?¦.) There are more questions to ask, review them here http://lawnchat.com/?p=640 If you are in need of free lawn care marketing material for your lawn care business, please visit our site at http://www.gophersoftware.com. We have hundreds of free lawn care logo, flyer, door hanger and web templates you can download and use for your lawn care business. We also have free lawn care business contracts, estimate and proposal forms. Download our trial version of Gopher Lawn Care Business Software. Gopher will help your lawn care business schedule and invoice more customers in less time, allowing you more time to grow or enjoy your life. Check out my lawn care business blog at http://www.lawnchat.com and my lawn care business forum at http://www.gopherforum.com
