What has been your end of lease experience with Butler?

[Papa John]

I'm trying to figure out if I should lease, finance or pay in full on a Butler.
Or get a HM cds.
The hydromaster CDS seems to take up less space.
Butler seems to make acquiring one very easy. But the hydramaster can be maintained by my local distributor.
The lease payments on a Butler are managable-but I fear the end of lease experience. Did you have a big unexpected balloon payment and still had to surrender the van?
Every van we have had has been rear ended at least once.

 

[Papa John]

Fred please correct the title from please to lease.

 

[Bob Pruitt]

Mark would be the expert on this or call Butler directly. They will assign someone to you based on where you live. You will be financing/leasing through a bank. So depending on your credit you may not have the Butler as a choice...it was difficult for me to qualify is why I'm saying that. But I was brand new. The HydraMaster will be easy to lease but the interest rates and fees might be higher. The lease they offered me was much higher...not HydraMaster but a big brand company.

Bottom line for me was the Butler will still have 6 years left on the warranty after 4 years and the other guys will be out of warranty in 2 years...half way though the 4 years. Aluminum waste tanks might be OK in 4 years but maybe not. Butler's stainless steel...like new.
Anyway this was my thinking...no question there will be more room with the hydra master and no question you are going to need service help with it.

 

[ruff]

John,
About the lease etc. I have no idea. Beside the time when GMC was offering 0% financing of van & machine for 5 years, I've always bought my vans and equipment cash.

Your local distributor will serve the Butler. It may take a little longer for parts to arrive. However, my experience is that these days most distributors hold very little inventory, so you have to wait anyhow. And if you have a good trustworthy mechanic, he will be able to service it. Most mechanics charge less per hour than your local distributor charges for his mechanic.

The butler will have less storage space and to keep their warranty valid, it requires more weekly, monthly etc. maintenance, which is both good and bad. However their maintenance is much easier than the CDS and everything is easily accessible. Removing the inside engine cover with the CDS is a hassle, it deteriorates with time, grease nipples are not easily accessible and the whole area becomes a greasy mass.

Butler's new Mid Mount saves space and has a fresh water tank, which is nice if you need it. But unless you get an extended, it will not have anywhere even close available storage space as the CDS. The Butler's electric reel is not as convenient as the narrow ones you will buy for the CDS. Particularly an issue if you work from the side door.

CDS and other companies with aluminum tanks seem to develop leaks at water outlet etc. Usually it takes more than 5 years for it to happen, so if you do not keep your vans longer than that, it's a non issue.

Butler is a pleasure to deal with. Everybody there is patient, professional, responsive, informative and with no sale pressure whatsoever.

 

[JS41035]

I'm trying to figure out if I should lease, finance or pay in full on a Butler.
Or get a HM cds.
The hydromaster CDS seems to take up less space.
Butler seems to make acquiring one very easy. But the hydramaster can be maintained by my local distributor.
The lease payments on a Butler are managable-but I fear the end of lease experience. Did you have a big unexpected balloon payment and still had to surrender the van?
Every van we have had has been rear ended at least once.

This is where the resale on butler is so important. And the high resale value of 4 and 5 year old Butlers is the reason some of these finance companies offer the terms they do on them. 4 years ago I was convinced that if I bought a new Butler I would be stuck with a dated van and machine when Chevy inevitably updated. Now here we are. And that 4 year old butler sells for 75percent if it’s original cost at least. My truck sold originally for 96000 grand. Granted that was set up completely.
Now 2 years later how much do you think I could get out of it ? The completely redesigned Sapphire 370 leads me to believe that my 870 will also look like the “old model” soon as well.
Has Butler ever done that? Has anyone driven off with a new butler and a 70 grand loan,only to discover that they are now 6 months into payments on a truck with the “old looking Butler system”?
There are things to critique about Butler for sure. But you gotta hand it to the guys for figuring out how to maintain loyal customers and amazing resale prices on used machines.

 

[Tony Wilson]

The fact that the same guys are installing these units day after day at Butler corp. I think makes all the difference. Quality control seems to be second to none and wrenching on them as an owner/operator seems to be easier than most other slide ins and CDs type machines. Only drawback for me is I'm in California and would have to bypass my local prochem/Hydramaster dealer.

 

[Papa John]

My Butler sold originally for 96000 grand.

So is the new butler for $60K just a myth?

 

[JS41035]

My truck is a Chevy boxtruck/870 combo.

 

[Bob Pruitt]

The Standard Butler System is 25k and the basic Chevy van starts at 31k. So that might be 60k with tax and all the other stuff that gets added to a new vehicle. So not a myth.

So is the new butler for $60K just a myth?

 

[ronbeatty]

I owned Butlers for 25 years, always bought them and resold them thru Butlers website. easy, peasy. The resale value is always exceptional if you take care of them. If they built a decent box truck i would still be running them, well maybe, a little spoiled by Aerotech

 

[Desk Jockey]

I owned Butlers for 25 years, always bought them and resold them thru Butlers website. easy, peasy. The resale value is always exceptional if you take care of them. If they built a decent box truck i would still be running them, well maybe, a little spoiled by Aerotech

We have a 2005 Butler in a box that still runs like a champ. It's been a great combo truck for commercial carpet cleaning and water damage work.

 

[hogjowl]

Yet you’re buying Prochem

 

[Desk Jockey]

lol
We have 2 Butler units and they are primarily used for carpet cleaning. We have 4 Prochem units, primary used for WDR.

However since getting the Everest 650 it's the most popular unit in our fleet. Could be because it's new, they always like the new stuff.

The crews say they like the power and versatility. We had a large WDR commercial job 2weeks ago that had all 6 of our TM's there.

One of the tech's asked why not run two setups off the Everest. We had another wand and extra hose run out and had 7 wands extracting.

They will also run dual Zipper Spinners off it when doing commercial work. It's proven itself enough to them for to make it first choice when headed out.

 

[hogjowl]

Thanks Saiger

 

[Desk Jockey]

You asked...bitch!

 

[hogjowl]

There’s no question mark at the end of my sentence!

 

[Desk Jockey]

Well EXCUSE ME!

 

[Cleanworks]

Yet you’re buying Prochem

Just because of a pretty face.

 

[hogjowl]

Just because of a pretty face.

 

[crimson850]

Get a butler. They rule. 60k will be a stripped down rig, likely with roll up windows. If i were you, I'd atleast get the 6.0 engine, extended van and high heat package.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Yes she is and she may have had some influence on the purchase She answered all my questions and was very helpful after I committed.

I did spend several years checking it out. Using it in Aptos and Nashville. After being out on a truck through a storm run using our oldest unit, I said fook it. I bought another new Spartan and the Everest 650. It was a good move for the company.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Get a butler. They rule. 60k will be a stripped down rig, likely with roll up windows. If i were you, I'd atleast get the 6.0 engine, extended van and high heat package.

If you're financing the difference between loaded and stripped isn't significant. Get loaded, get the the 210 tank.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Shut up!

 

[hogjowl]

 

[Cleanworks]

If you're financing the difference between loaded and stripped isn't significant. Get loaded, get the the 210 tank.

Yeah, yeah.

 

[Mark Saiger]

I have done different financing on every van really. I have also paid a large chunk of on some... Well most of my Butlers.

For years I even bought used and did whatever I needed to them.

Most of the vans I have owned are on 3rd or 4th owners and still with high miles and high hours cleaning and making money like crazy.

I just bought another new one. I put a large sum of cash down for a lower comfortable payment and a $1 buy out at the end.

We make our decisions based on tax advantages at the time of purchase and life just shows up with changes all the time for us... So we roll with it!

I feel I could buy any unit I wanted too... And I am definitely more than satisfied with our many Butlers and their performance.

Would be tough to get me into something else after so many years of great satisfaction... And most can tell you from seeing my Butlers ... My Butlers have plenty of suck, heat and are super quiet and reliable...

 

[Russ T.]

I was attracted to the consistent design and install that was mentioned. My Butler is 15 years old and doesn’t look much different than the new ones, besides the aging design of the ‘02 GMC.

I’m still running the Cleanco as I put the finishing touches on the Butler. Bumpers and grill turning black soon and head and tail lights being updated too.

 

[Russ T.]

She’s getting a new Devastator Wand too!

 

[Papa John]

John,
About the lease etc. I have no idea. Beside the time when GMC was offering 0% financing of van & machine for 5 years, I've always bought my vans and equipment cash.

Your local distributor will serve the Butler. It may take a little longer for parts to arrive. However, my experience is that these days most distributors hold very little inventory, so you have to wait anyhow. And if you have a good trustworthy mechanic, he will be able to service it. Most mechanics charge less per hour than your local distributor charges for his mechanic.

The butler will have less storage space and to keep their warranty valid, it requires more weekly, monthly etc. maintenance, which is both good and bad. However their maintenance is much easier than the CDS and everything is easily accessible. Removing the inside engine cover with the CDS is a hassle, it deteriorates with time, grease nipples are not easily accessible and the whole area becomes a greasy mass.

Butler's new Mid Mount saves space and has a fresh water tank, which is nice if you need it. But unless you get an extended, it will not have anywhere even close available storage space as the CDS. The Butler's electric reel is not as convenient as the narrow ones you will buy for the CDS. Particularly an issue if you work from the side door.

CDS and other companies with aluminum tanks seem to develop leaks at water outlet etc. Usually it takes more than 5 years for it to happen, so if you do not keep your vans longer than that, it's a non issue.

Butler is a pleasure to deal with. Everybody there is patient, professional, responsive, informative and with no sale pressure whatsoever.

Does the Hydramaster CDS have a blower silencer?
Which is quieter- the HM cds or bulter?

I would prefer the Everest because I like bigger blowers--
but now I'm thinking I would like quieter machines in a shorter van and still have space for a portable and 361i bh. and some room to pick up area rugs.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Its been 10 years since we had our CDS's so the new ones could be far different but I think they all sound about the same. If there is difference I down any homeowner could tell.