Complain about a product or service

John Deere

Karen of Knoxville, TN November 5, 2009

My family purchased a commercial grade John Deere 757 Ztrac mower in the fall of 2005. After only 148 hours of use, we have replaced a clutch and a right head and gasket. Total repairs have been 1,090.21 for a machine we paid 8,300 for 4 years ago. Service tech at local dealer advised this particular model was experiencing a lot problems with the head and gasket and even the customer service rep advised they had a problem that had been corrected in the factory (we were never notified of any problem or advised of how it could be corrected).

I know machine in out of warranty but thought we had purchased from a reputable company that would stand by any problems it had found. Two separate customer service reps have "documented" our comments but nothing will be done since machine is out of warranty.

Larry of St. Charles, MO October 31, 2009

I bought my John Deere L120 mower a few years ago and after 230 hours(engine time) the hydrostatic transmission (am131590) is slipping badly. There is no recourse except to buy a new transmission for over 600.OO. That's if you install it. I read numerous complaints regarding this problem. If I have it installed you approach the half way mark of buying new mower you had planned would last longer than a couple of hundred hours.

robert of Challis, ID October 20, 2009

I've been reading the many complaints about certain John Deere riding mowers purchased from Lowes and Home Depot. Sorry I can't locate it now, but recently read why this is so. In short, the big box retailers go to John Deere and others and ask for a "watered down" version of a best selling model. Many parts are compromised and a favorite trick is to include a higher HP engine because that is a number which has a tiny bit of relevance to Joe consumer. In many cases the higher power engine is actually too powerful for the rest of the machine and is more power than is needed for the mower to cut properly. John Deere products have an envied reputation. If you want a John Deere mower, buy only the model numbers stocked at authorized dealers. They are the true JD quality.

Michael of Sumter, SC October 17, 2009

I bought a John Deere LA150 riding mower from Lowe's in 2007, thinking I was getting a better-quality piece of equipment than the Troy-Bilt mowers that were also for sale. Did not buy a Husqvarna due to my lack of experience with them. Have known Troy-Bilt to be nothing but junk. Have had NUMEROUS issues with the carburetor on this mower, and have started running "good" gasoline as the mechanic who repaired the mower last time told us to do. We buy nothing but Sunoco gasoline for the mower, so it is not getting junk from the corner store with a--supposedly--dirty tank.

Well, the mower has been used only four times since the last repair and now has only 69.5 hours on the clock. Once again, the motor lacks power, runs out of gas briefly (pops) when the throttle is high, will not idle at a fixed speed, and surges while moving. I am going to give the mech a piece of my mind when I take the mower to him next week (instead of paying him to pick it up). I will have him fix "every little thing" with the mower, and intend to report back here when things begin to break (and I will let him know of this fact).

In my opinion, I'd probably have done better with a Husqvarna mower and am not at all impressed with John Deere equipment. Having minor paint issues as well, despite housing mower in a garage and cleaning it up after use.

After this experience, I feel bitten both ways. I've bought cheaper equipment (Poulan chainsaw) in the past and had bad luck with it (broke first time I tried to saw a large tree, despite being set up correctly and handling smaller limbs OK), so paid more for better quality (Stihl) and had no problems (for years and to date). I thought paying more up front would result in a better mower, but have not been pleased with my John Deere experience.

Jeff of Galveston, TX October 17, 2009

I got a 2009 John Deere LA 115 on Jan 21st as a gift for all the work I had done on some rentals after hurricane IKE paid us a visit here in Galveston,TX. I noticed a few weeks ago that the paint was bubbling and peeling off and called the 1-800 number and of course they tell me to take it to the dealer so a warrenty expert can look at it. I had my buddy go with me because I figured they were going to say no that is not covered and I would lose it. Well we get there and half the people were in agreement with me.

Not even eight months old and paint is comming off in sheets. The one person said " I told them they have a paint problem" right off. I heard "Oh thats bad" "That should not be like that" kind of comments. This tractor is my baby. Everytime I use it. I rinse and dry it and put it in the garage. I live on the coast of course and when we went to get it at Lowes no one said, Hey if you live withing x miles of the coast we will not cover it or nothing to the fact that these do NOT belong anywhere near water even though they are kept in pristien condition in a garage.

Anyrate a few days go by and sure enough the warrenty expert says that they will not cover it as it is ENVIROMENTAL CORROSION. Well Im hot my buddy is tee'd off so I call the company again and they give me the line about workmanship bla bla bla and I figure it is workmanship but they just keep saying the same thing they are paid to say. Then the rep says "I can have a supervisor call you but she will tell you the samething.

Here we are a tractor with a TWO year warranty and they will not take care of a problem 7 1/2 months into it. I grew up on a farm we have had a lot of tractors including JD. Now here is my buddy that was about to buy a 500 series or so with a frontend loader and bushhog and now is wondering what kind of service and warrenty the company will provide after he drops 25 or 30k. This is a bad deal do NOT BUY A JOHN DEERE IF YOU LIVE BY THE COAST OR ANYWHERE!. I guess since JD has become like every other company that does not stand by thier product everyone should consider buying something else instead of getting taken by a corprate giant who does not care about their customers problems after the sale. Rick at Brookside eqp was very nice and said they will probably just replace the main deck as the paint peeling around the back and sides by the gastank.

Stephen of Cynthiana, KY September 18, 2009

I bought an L135 John Deere lawnmower from Greenhill Equipment in November 2006.This mower was brand new and I spent1934.50for it thinking I had a good mower that would last a long time.I was notified later that Cahall Bros. had bought Greenhill equip.In August2009 the transmission stopped working and the front axles are worn out with only 176hrs.on the mower!!! I called John Deere to tell them of the problem at which time they tell me they have no record of me buying the mower.The JD.operator told me to go back to the dealership and have them transfer the mower into my name and have them look at the problems and give a quote on fixing them. One week later JD consumer complaints calls me back and says that they could not give me any after warranty assistance because the mower was used when I bought it. I tried to explain to the woman the I bought it brand new but with no other result. I understand that JD only has a two year warranty but this is ridiculous!!

Deanna of Tulsa, OK September 10, 2009

I purchased a John Deere L108 four years ago from a local Home Depot. While it was still under warranty (within the first year), it simply would not start; took more than 6 weeks and many, many calls for the first authorized dealer to repair it. (Maybe they were trying to wait for the warranty to expire.) Upon return, it was VERY noisy, but did an okay job of cutting the lawn; nothing spectacular, just "okay".

Mid-summer this year, the steering became very stiff, then three weeks ago became impossible to steer and the blade would not engage. I just learned from the authorized dealer (not the first one) that the front axle is broken and some part on the cutting blade is also broken. We do NOT have rocks, boulders, limbs or anything else in our yard that would break an axle or dislocate the blade. John Deere makes JUNK lawnmowers as far as I am concerned.

Mark of Lebanon, TN September 9, 2009

My wife and I bought an LA130 mower in 2007, supposedly a quality machine from Lowes with an extended warranty. I should have noticed from the beginning that things weren't as quality as you would expect. The grass catcher didn't fit right and the steering was loose. As we used the machine, the steering got more and more loose to the point that it was extremely difficult to drive, and there was no adjustment at all (apparently it was a common problem as the new ones have an adjustment!)

Also my wife was mowing one day and there was a whine from the spindle as she was mowing. I had greased and serviced the mower regularly even though the grease fittings are almost inacccessible. By the time I got to her, the bearing on the center spindle disintegrated and the blades were knocking into each other. My wife was horrified and I shut down the machine.

I took the machine and it took several weeks to hear anything, but basically Lowes warranty said everything was caused by neglect! What was interesting was tghe tech said that the machines were entry level and on average lasted about 125 hours and that these issues were faily common! I was blown away... I was sold a bill of goods that wasn't what they said. And on top of that, he said they won't tell you this but they have an amount cap or limit on what they will cover and if it goes over they will blame the customer.

I would not recommend buying any of these cheap chinese machines and certainly would't spend the extra money on an extended warranty that doesn't cover anything if it does go wrong. Although I spent 26,000 over the last 3 years at Lowes, they have lost a customer for life! I wish I had read this website before I bought anything as I see there are several people with exactly the same problems!

Danny of Princeton, MO September 7, 2009

i have this john deere 111 lawn tractor with not enough power to turn the blades,.. the blades turn freely , so that is not an issue.... the engine starts ok but is rated in chicken power...

Lynette of Winnsboro, LA September 3, 2009

We bought a John Deere riding mower in 11/08 and have nothing but problems with it. We have replaced 3 belts on it and had the mower deck replaced and now 2 weeks after that we need another mower deck and they say it is our fault like always. My husband had to have a John Deere and i said you are paying for the name and boy i was right cause now they want 700.00 to fix it cause it was our fault they made no mistakes putting the new deck on it. I found out that if the deck is not balanced right it will break again and it did. The mower is less than 1 year old and it is not worth anything now so 1500.00 down the tubes. We took the mower the first time to a dealer and it was fixed and now they picked it up and called and told me what was wrong and we needed to pay for it and i said no so i told them to take it back to my house and they did and then sent me a bill for 60.00 for picking it up and bring it back and they are about 3 miles from my house (boy gas cost alot). I refuse to pay the bill. Stay away from John Deere and that is what we should have done now i have to pay 50.00 a week to have my yard mowed. John Deere does not care about it nor there customers. I will be buying me a Exmark next year which is what i should have done all along.

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