AUC15402

In yesterday’s post, I complained about John Deere and how much I disliked the way they seem to milk their customers in various ways to maximize their profits. The post was prompted by the failure of the hour/fuel level indicator on my John Deere S160 Lawn Tractor after just three seasons. I have no problem with parts failing; it’s just the way things work, components age, parts can be defective or have unknown manufacturing defects, etc. What I do have a problem with is when a part is intentionally manufactured to fail, as is the case with the AUC15402: Hour Fuel Gauge with Fuel Level Indicator installed on my John Deere tractor. The gauge is powered by a CR2032 lithium …

I want to support American companies, I really do, but some of them make it so hard. John Deere is a good example of this. Recently, John Deere paid $99 million dollars to settle a lawsuit brought by the Federal Trade Commission and the Attorneys General of Illinois and Minnesota. Deere was accused of restricting farmers’ ability to repair their equipment by preventing them from accessing diagnostic software and tools needed for repairs. Because of this, farmers had to rely on John Deere dealers for repairs. Not only was this more expensive, since the dealers essentially had a monopoly on the service, but it also delayed repairs because there were often waiting lists for access to their services. Imagine being …

Replacing the AUC15402: Hour Fuel Gauge with Fuel Level Indicator

Taking Advantage of the Customer