Think Twice Before Purchasing John Deere Equipment

I have a JS30 walk behind that I got at Lowes. What a piece of junk. I
will NEVER get another John Deere mower.....This company might have
been good once, but now it's just another manufacturer of cr_p. If you
call the company (in Iowa) with a question, they can't answer the
simplest of questions about their own equipment and will only refer
you to a sales/service location in some out-of-the-way rural location
that is open only Mon-Fri. to 5pm.

And John Deere wonders why they're having troubles. Along with a
cruddy economy, they now have just another low-quality product.

This mower is only just over 2 years. I have changed the oil, the
battery, the air filter, the spark plug, and tuned the engine. It
starts but will not turn-over.

Good luck getting a sales and service location to return a call/email.
They don't stand behind all their products.... which is probably why,
when you drive miles out of the way to go into one of the rural
locations for a part, the places are ALWAYS empty.

One of the salesguys at Lowes told me that they hear nothing but
complaints about the John Deere mowers, but sell them because there
are some people who still haven't heard that John Deere's are junk.

Therefore, I just went out and bought a Troy-Bilt. It can't be worse,
and I would be a fool to get another John Deere.

Soooo, let me get this straight:

John Deere is responsible for your failure to check the oil and other
fluids??

So the engine blew just after the warranty ran out? Sounds like the
company knew its equipment pretty well.

A standard warranty is timed such that it will be in effect only for
as long as the equipment is expected to work without a problem. The
company does not want to spend its money fixing its equipment, so it
makes a point to know how long its equipment will last and warrants
that equipment only for that time period.

Your mower lasted just long enough for the warranty to expire. You
accepted that warranty when you bought the mower. It was part of the
product you bought. I am willing to bet you were given the option of
purchasing an extended warranty when you bought the mower, but you
declined it.

I really am sorry this happened to you, but you got what you paid for.

Did you purchase the equipment from a John Deere dealer, or from a
retailer such as Home Depot or similar hardware store? The reason I
ask is that I know that the tractors sold in retail stores are of
lesser quality and not as sturdy as the ones sold at dealers. These
mowers are "scaled down" in quality and overall power. If this is the
case, then you could be a victim of this fact. Since it is out of
warranty, then you may be out of luck. But I cannot beleive that the
first time you verified that there was oil was when you tipped it over
at a garage sale... I used to do mowing for my neighbors on my
family's John Deere tractor when I was a little younger to make some
money. My dad taught me that the first thing you do is check the gas
level and the oil level on any mower. I thought that this was common
knowledge. I guess not.

You must love your new mower! :)

Any chance a local tractor/mower repair place could help you out for a
fraction of the cost? It might be worth a phone call.

"I use the mower for 1 season and the block blew out. I called John
Deere and the warranty had just run out. They blamed me saying that I
must have not put oil in the engine. Well the unit was supposed to
have oil in it when I purchased it."
My car did too, but I check it on a regular basis. Thar oil doesn't
last forever and must be refilled and replaced. I am sorry this
happened to you, but it sounds like John Deere is not liable in this
case.
And it is our responsibility to read the owner's manual for
everything we purchase. I prefer it that way. Then I have all the
information I need to use and maintain the hard earned purchase.

I think your best bet would be to hire a lawnmowing company to take
care of your lawn. That way you dont have the hassle of maintaining
your equipment.

I suppose if you Google anything you can find *one* complaint like
this. Now there are two. But like the others posters, I feel you
should have checked the oil levels. As Bill points out, the oil in a
brand new unit is to prevent it seizing. I doubt they would even be
allowed to ship engines filled with oil. If a box (or pallet of
boxes) tipped over, there would be a huge mess. Freight companies
frown on that sort of thing.
Having said all of that, I think that if this had happened within the
warranty period, they would have covered it. A neighbor of mine
neglected to check oil levels in her new mower (not sure of the brand,
but it was a B&S engine). She returned it and they allowed the
exchange.

You say you used the mower for a season. You should check the oil
level in a lawn mower regularly, much more often than once a year. At
least every few uses. It isn't clear that you ever have checked it at
all, since you made the statement that it should have oil in it when
new and some oil leaked out when you tipped it over. The right way to
check the oil is look at the dipstick.

When the motor failed, did you take it to a qualified repair shop?
You say that you "called" John Deere, but a repair shop could best
diagnose how and why the motor failed.

Based on what was written, it is unclear this mower was maintained
properly. I'm guessing that if the motor worked for a whole season,
and the mower then went out of warranty, they won't cover the repair.

Joseph L.,

While I feel for you it is pretty obvious that you did not read the
Owners Manual or Warranty.

The oil they put it mowers at the factory is for lube during storage
and at the store to keep the "inneards" lubed.

It is incumbent for the new owner to verify fluid levels prior to
first use and for each use after that.

I don't see that JD owes you anything especially after you shared your
thoughts on your negatibe marketing campaign.

BillR.