I had a few extra minutes today and thought I would check my local pawn shops for a steal on a Stihl.............
I really did not need one, and was not planning on buying one, I just wanted to see how prices etc. compared to dealers. The first shop I found 2 identical Stihl ms170 saws, a little suspicious at first because of two, I thought they both might have been bought as trimmers and possibly worn out and sold.
But the cases appeared almost perfect, and both had all the required numbers, so I thought they were both legit saws.
http://www.stihlusa.com/chainsaws/MS170.html
One was priced $179.95, and the other $219.95, both were identical, except one was a little more used looking, the other appeared almost new. I inspected the air cleaners on both, one was dirty, the cheaper one looked perfect....Hmmmmm.
After a closer inspection, I noticed the $219.95 one had a cracked casing where the brake bar was mounted to the left side frame, pretty easy to miss. I pushed the brake and it pulled away from the frame........not good.
I asked the manager why they were priced different and he said they probably had more in one than the other.
I ask if he would take any less on the $179.95 one and he said no..... because they always marked them low enough from the start so they always sold very quickly.
I had no numbers to go by at this time so I thanked him and proceeded to my local stihl dealer.
I walked up to the counter loaded with shiny new Stihls and located the "new" model ms 170.......and almost fell over when I saw the "new" sticker price.
$169.95 for a brand new Stihl ms 170 with an obvious warranty and numerous other enticing tidbits I'm sure. This means that had I not thought to check, I would probably be stuck with a used ms 170 for at least $10 dollars more not counting tax, and I'm pretty sure they would not give a refund if I had wanted to return it for any reason (maybe store credit).
I went to another pawn shop, found another new looking trimmer, STIHL MS 192 T, looked perfect.........almost.........it too had the entire brake missing off the front ! I knew something looked odd, and after examination I realized it looked as if someone had maybe dropped it out of a tree, especially since it was a top held small trimmer.
It was priced $99 dollars, I was tempted, and figured a brake could not cost that much.........I came home and looked it up and here is what I found,
http://www.stihlusa.com/recalls/recall_MS192T.html
I'm not sure if above recall included the saw I looked at because I did not check the numbers, but after seeing this, it was plenty close enough for me..........
So it was a good day to just look and not buy...........Be careful, examine closely, and I think a warranty does mean a lot, along with a good company and local backing like many people we have on these forums.
By the way, I like pawn shops, sometimes I find great deals, I think you just have to inspect closely before you buy.
Robbie.
I really did not need one, and was not planning on buying one, I just wanted to see how prices etc. compared to dealers. The first shop I found 2 identical Stihl ms170 saws, a little suspicious at first because of two, I thought they both might have been bought as trimmers and possibly worn out and sold.
But the cases appeared almost perfect, and both had all the required numbers, so I thought they were both legit saws.
http://www.stihlusa.com/chainsaws/MS170.html
One was priced $179.95, and the other $219.95, both were identical, except one was a little more used looking, the other appeared almost new. I inspected the air cleaners on both, one was dirty, the cheaper one looked perfect....Hmmmmm.
After a closer inspection, I noticed the $219.95 one had a cracked casing where the brake bar was mounted to the left side frame, pretty easy to miss. I pushed the brake and it pulled away from the frame........not good.
I asked the manager why they were priced different and he said they probably had more in one than the other.
I ask if he would take any less on the $179.95 one and he said no..... because they always marked them low enough from the start so they always sold very quickly.
I had no numbers to go by at this time so I thanked him and proceeded to my local stihl dealer.
I walked up to the counter loaded with shiny new Stihls and located the "new" model ms 170.......and almost fell over when I saw the "new" sticker price.
$169.95 for a brand new Stihl ms 170 with an obvious warranty and numerous other enticing tidbits I'm sure. This means that had I not thought to check, I would probably be stuck with a used ms 170 for at least $10 dollars more not counting tax, and I'm pretty sure they would not give a refund if I had wanted to return it for any reason (maybe store credit).
I went to another pawn shop, found another new looking trimmer, STIHL MS 192 T, looked perfect.........almost.........it too had the entire brake missing off the front ! I knew something looked odd, and after examination I realized it looked as if someone had maybe dropped it out of a tree, especially since it was a top held small trimmer.
It was priced $99 dollars, I was tempted, and figured a brake could not cost that much.........I came home and looked it up and here is what I found,
http://www.stihlusa.com/recalls/recall_MS192T.html
I'm not sure if above recall included the saw I looked at because I did not check the numbers, but after seeing this, it was plenty close enough for me..........
So it was a good day to just look and not buy...........Be careful, examine closely, and I think a warranty does mean a lot, along with a good company and local backing like many people we have on these forums.
By the way, I like pawn shops, sometimes I find great deals, I think you just have to inspect closely before you buy.
Robbie.
