Don't buy this mower! It rated very high in Consumer Reports, but I had major problems. I don't know if my case is isolated or not, but I had a terrible experience after purchasing this mower by a "reputable" manufacturer -- one that wouldn't stand behind their product. See below:- SUMMARY: I had to take the John Deere dealer to small claims court to get my money back for this mower, after the dealer AND John Deere refused to take back the mower. The judge sided with me and ordered dealer to refund me the full $665.00. - Purchased mower in April of 1999
- After mowing the second time, the blade-brake clutch broke and had to be replaced (covered by dealer)
- NOTE: I followed all scheduled maintenance throughout this process.
- Asked to exchange the mower at that time, dealer discouraged me from doing so and told me that if I had any further problems, they would exchange it for me.
- After mowing the 5th time, mower began operating sluggishly, and would not stay running.
- Brought mower back to dealer, they rebuilt the carburetor (covered by dealer)
- After mowing the 8th time, same problem occurred with mower operating sluggishly and quitting. I went to re-start it, and after trying to pull it about 30 times, the starter cord came right out of the mower!
- Went back to dealer and demanded a return. Dealer told me it was past the 30-day return period!!
- Dealer looked at mower blade and said that I must have hit something that stopped the blade, causing the flywheel key to bend or shear. Said he could take the engine apart to verify this, but that I would have to pay $110 to have them take it apart, examine it, and replace the flywheel key.
- Called John Deere and talked to explained the problem to them (also explained that I did not hit anything in my lawn causing the blade to stop). They called the dealer, and took his side of the story -- even though the dealer had not even seen the flywheel key. They would not stand by their product -- and return or exchange the mower.
- Sued dealer in small claims court. - Before case went to court, took mower to another dealer and explained the situation. For $10, they took the engine apart and examined the flywheel key. Voila! -- No problems at all with the flywheel key. They suspected that I got a lemon of an engine (I guess I thought $665 for a walk-behind self-propelled mower, would get me one that was not a lemon) - Judge sided with me and entered judgment against dealer for $665.
- Went out and bought a Honda HRB215 -- love it!! Just as good as the John Deere was (when it operated properly for those few mowings), and the detents for the different mowing speeds are much better. The Honda is one of the few mowers that have a blade-brake clutch like the John Deere (where the mower stays running but the blade stops while you empty the bag). John Maring
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