Anyone shopping around for a Fendt 312 Vario will see prices that are miles apart. We counted 37 examples on the European market: the cheapest was up for EUR 39,500, the dearest for EUR 154,700. That is not random. The difference comes down to hours, year and specification, and anyone who can read those three knows fairly precisely what an example ought to fetch.
The 312 Vario has been in production since 2003. Power output sits between 120 and 143 hp, from a continuously variable transmission. The full factory specification, right down to bore and stroke, can be found on the model page; the technical data comes in part from traktor-daten.de.
The model in brief
Back to the machine itself for a moment, because anyone about to go and look at three of them wants to know what they are looking at. The engine is a 4-cylinder of 4.0 litres, the tank holds 210.1 litres, and the rear linkage lifts Cat. II. The transmission is a Vario. If an example deviates from that, it is no disaster, but it ought to be reflected in the price: wider tyres are worth money, a worn set is grounds for a deduction. The complete factory specification is on the model page, alongside the specifications we come across in practice.
What the clock does to the price
On average the examples we saw show 3,902 hours, but the spread is wide: from 2 to 14,000 hours. And the clock is far and away the strongest price lever there is:
| Hours | Machines | Average price |
|---|---|---|
| under 3,000 hours | 11 | 108,368 |
| 3,000 to 6,000 hours | 5 | 65,280 |
| 6,000 to 9,000 hours | 6 | 61,445 |
| above 9,000 hours | 5 | 49,162 |
Between the lowest and the highest band there is some 55 per cent here. Bear in mind: the year travels along inside that figure, because plenty of hours and plenty of years usually go together. So it is not a bare hours effect, but as a rule of thumb when bidding it works perfectly well. Prices exclude VAT where the source states it, so that German and French adverts sit fairly side by side.
Something else this table shows: under three thousand hours you are paying for the remaining service life, above that increasingly for the standard of maintenance. Two machines with six thousand hours can be miles apart, depending on who has been driving them and whether the rough work was done on the front linkage or the PTO. From around eight thousand hours you are effectively buying the service book, not the clock.
Where the supply is
We found most of the supply in Germany (18 units), followed by France (12) and the Netherlands (6). That is more than a piece of trivia: buying across the border can pay off, but do the VAT position and the transport honestly before you set a German figure alongside a Dutch one. A German price usually includes nineteen per cent, a French one excludes it; we convert for that, an advert does not.
Which specification you will come across
Of the 45 examples in our count, the majority share a recognisable equipment pattern: continuously variable transmission (100%), cab (31%), front linkage (31%), air conditioning (29%). An example that falls outside that is not automatically suspect, but it does explain price differences you would otherwise struggle to place. Front linkage and GPS in particular add up in the asking price; a bare specification ought to be correspondingly cheaper, and in practice it is.
What to look for at a viewing
With this model, what applies to any used tractor applies here too, plus a few quirks. Check the hours against the service book and against the wear on the pedals and the seat; a clock that is too good for the seat beneath it is too good. On machines with a front linkage, check whether it has actually been used, because a front linkage that is merely bolted on has raised the price without ever lifting a thing. Start the engine from cold, not warm: a cold start tells you more about the fuel pump and the compression than an hour of running. And ask questions when a business is winding up; those are often the most honest machines, with the most honest histories.
Before you bid
Put three or four comparable adverts side by side before you make an offer, and correct for hours and year instead of looking only at the figure. A 312 Vario with two thousand hours fewer may well cost thousands of euros more and still be the better buy. Be sharp on the VAT story: between margin scheme, inclusive and exclusive there is a good twenty per cent, and that is by no means always spelled out in the advert. Factor in the transport on a machine from abroad, and the buyer's premium on an auction lot; a keen hammer price is less keen with fifteen per cent of costs on top.
Frequently asked questions
Is 3,902 hours a lot for a 312 Vario?
No, that is precisely the average of what is currently for sale. Concern is only warranted with a clock well above the 14,000 hours we saw as the highest, or with a suspiciously low reading on an old machine.
Why are there such different prices for the same model?
Because it stops being the same model as soon as hours, year and specification differ. Half the market sits between EUR 60,000 and EUR 112,917; anything well outside that either has very few hours, or a story you want to hear before you go and look.
Am I better off buying in the Netherlands or across the border?
Supply is often greater across the border and, on balance, prices need not differ, provided you compare excluding VAT and factor in the transport. Look at the machine above all, not at the seller's number plate.
What is it worth now?
The median asking price of the 37 examples we saw is EUR 91,750; half the market sits between EUR 60,000 and EUR 112,917. The Fendt 312 Vario page carries the current supply with year, hours and price for each machine, plus an estimate that takes your own hours and year into account. The figures in this piece are a snapshot; the model page moves with the market every day.
How we arrive at these figures
Everything in this piece comes from our own count of the European supply: adverts and auction lots that we record daily, with price, year, hours and equipment alongside. We convert prices to figures excluding VAT where the source states it, so that a German advert sits fairly next to a French one; it makes a good twenty per cent of difference if you do not. Technical model data we take from specification sources such as traktor-daten.de, always credited on the model page itself. What we do not do is invent figures: if it says 'insufficient data' somewhere, that is the honest answer.
An asking price is not a selling price
Every figure on this site is an asking price, and we say so deliberately every time. Between asking and getting there is negotiation, and how much sits in between varies from case to case: a dealer with a full showroom moves more readily than a farmer who only sells when the price is right. At auction you see the difference in black and white; there the hammer regularly falls ten to fifteen per cent below comparable asking prices, though do watch the buyer's premium that goes back on top. So anyone wanting to bid keenly uses the asking prices as a ceiling and the auction results as a floor; somewhere in between lies the deal. And give an advert that has been online for months some extra attention: a machine that is not shifting at that price is too dear at that price, and by now the seller knows it too.
Looking further yourself
Every tractor with us has its own page with technical data, the current supply and an estimate that takes your hours and year into account. Much viewed at the moment: Claas Axion 810, Claas Axion 830, Fendt 724 Vario. The full overview is on the makes and models page, and in the knowledge base you will find the other market analyses, among them what hours do to the price of a tractor.