Congrats on the new ride, Hope you like yours as well as I like mine.
I opted not to buy the service package my self but I also went over the tractor with a fine-toothed comb when it arrived and repaired every thing I found wrong, this is why I have no decals on the hood I opted to leave them off.
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Here is what I have had repaired the first two months of ownership of a 2003 GT5000, 25hp Kohler, manual shift 6 speed, 48" deck.
1. Dents in hood before it was painted, (new hood and decals shipped to my home) very minor dents but coming from the inside of the hood on top, one had to look down the hood to see them. The old hood I was allowed to keep.
2. Rattle under the tractor, (turned out to be a belt keeper touching the steering shaft only as the belt was pulled through it) a slight bend to the rear fixed it. A complete top to bottom go over by the service tech and me looking for the rattle only to over look it for it was not in contact with anything or loose, (I found it later when I noticed it go away when the steering wheel was turned).
3. A rear wheel center welded out of square inside the rim 1/8 inch, (would have caused major issues down the road if not fixed) it caused the tire tread to move 3/8 of an inch at the ground in turn pulling and pushing on the axle hub and transaxle housing and retaining clips this was found after the first 30 day free at home and I was told on the phone there would be a $20.00 trip fee, this fee was not charged by the service tech once he arrived and saw it was in fact a warranty issue and not damage caused by me. He ordered the parts from his van and they arrived at my home 5 days later. A new wheel, tire, valve stem, and a return trip to mount them up and install them on the machine were all set up from his van. I was allowed to keep the old bad wheel and almost new tire, so I now have a spare tire if I need one.
4. Oil drain valve did not seal tight after the first oil change at 5 hours and dripped one or two drops every few days nothing major but a leak none the less, (they shipped me a new drain valve to replace the bad one).
Every thing listed except the oil drain valve was wrong with the machine when it left the factory and I had to go over the machine my self to find the QC issues that should have been corrected at the factory. I do not return a machine for issues like this unless they do not fix them or give me problems. I would rather have the issues fixed and know the machine is right, rather than get a new machine sent out and a whole new set of issues, and I told them this on the first service call on the machine when they offered to bring me a new machine out for the hood dents over the phone.
I am now confident that all the QC issues with the exterior of the tractor have been looked at and corrected and the machine is as good as it could be on the outside at least as I want it(less decals). The only parts of the machine that have not been inspected by a service tech and me is the inside of the transaxle and the engine.
Take advantage of the free at home while you have it in force, go over the tractor from top to bottom and make them fix every thing that is not right that should have been correct before it left the factory, some of the minor QC issues overlooked can cause major problems later after the warranty runs out, Like the bad wheel I had, it took me a little more than a month to notice the small wobble in the wheel. So keep looking for things.
I am very pleased with the performance of the machine and the service I have received under the warranty, but I also live on the edge of a large city where a service center is near by.
They are great utilitarian machines for the money and do a great job if maintained. Starting season 2 on this machine.
