I sort of promised a followup to some earlier comments above.

My very conventional riding mower experienced more than 16 recorded instances of ignition of vegetation, two of which burned out enough parts to disable the mower. The second time the mower was "totalled" I filed a notice with the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which elicited an offer from the Mower Manufacturer to repair my mower, which was a couple of years out of warranty, as a "customer satisfaction" issue.

Note that the flaming mower problem is not "brand specific." The potential seems to be about the same for any of the mowers of the 4-wheel "tractor style" mowers I've looked at. "Looked at" includes taking measurements on significant dimensions in several cases, on several brands. I was hoping to find one that was better, so that I could steal a fix.

I had estimated about 3 weeks for my own repair of the mower, including some time to make a couple of special tools I didn't have on hand. The repairs I would have made probably would have required about $500 in parts. A qualified dealer repair shop should have required not more than 2 weeks to do the necessary work, once parts were available.

Total time elapsed from delivery of my mower for repair to return to my own use was 112 days, which unfortunately included the entire "mowing season" for the year. Only relatively minor additional repairs were necessary to make the mower usable after I got it back.

A recap:

Day 1: 09 May 2005: Mower delivered to local Dealer, in compliance with instructions from the Mower Manufacturer.

Day 4: 12 May 2005: Mower and Engine Mfr Rep(s) view damage (confirmed by Dealer about a week later) A reply was promised within "about 2 weeks."

Day 49: 22 May 2005: Engine Mfr asserts "warranty repair approved."

Day 54: 27 May 2005: Dealer apparently received authorization to make warranty repairs and estimates completion in "about 10 days."

Day 91: 03 August 2005: Engine Mfr Reps at Dealers to "verify list of parts ordered by dealer." Authorization for Engine Mfr warehouses to ship engine parts was apparently not given until some time after this date. Dealer estimates completion by August 11, "barring unforeseen problems."

Day 105: August 16, 2005: Call from Dealer claims he is waiting for parts from the Mower Mfr (ordered ca. Day 54). Engine parts apparently had been received and installed.

Day 112: 23 August 2005: Call from Dealer to say mower is ready.

Mower was picked up approx 2 hours after they called. Started (barely) but out of gas. Filled on way home. Mower ran for about a half hour, then failed to restart due to misrigged safety interlock switches. I finished mowing my 3 month growth of lawn by running 3 clip-on jumpers to bypass open interlocks and disconnecting 2 kill-switches.

Subsequent re-rigging of interlocks took about 2 hours, although I consider the fix temporary. I do not consider self-tapping sheetmetal screws into thin sheetmetal brackets an appropriate method of attachment for safety devices, particularly in an "engine vibration" environment, so I'll eventually add bolt/nut attachments or at least Tinnerman nuts. (This is probably a "defect" common to most similar mowers, regardless of nominal brand naming.)

The NEW STUFF:

Day 291: 24 February 2006 I returned Customer Satisfaction Survey from the Motor Manufacturers. (Approx 4 days after receipt). The Survey asked only whether I was satisfied with the Dealer's performance. I gave the dealer a satisfactory rating, but included a "relatively mild" (IMO) opinion of the Engine Mfr's performance.

Day 309: 14 March 2006: Received a package from the Engine Manufacturer containing a DVD (from their Customer Training Department), a "coffee table" book on the history of the company, and a rather nice "Sports Bag" with a tasteful company logo. An included letter, apparently actually signed by a real person (Warranty Account Manager) offered a brief sort-of apology that probably wasn't just a form letter, as it did make identifiable reference to my case.

An apology is always something of a "delicate" matter, and an "apology with gift" sometimes can look like an attempt to "buy off" a complainant. I must admit that my intitial reaction to the latest items was a bit mixed; but I'll take it as a well meant gesture. I believe that it indicates that appropriate people have been informed that there was a problem, and there is at least the possibility that they may take some action to provide reduced likelihood that others will have similar experiences. I'll feel better when I've checked the blogs in a few months to see whether any evidence (either way) shows up.

***

Now if the kit I recently extorted from the Mfr of my RV airconditioner (that hasn't worked in the three+ years I've had the RV) actually works...

(I had to wait until the warranty on the RV expired to get past an obviously incompetent dealer, and it's been too cold to test it since they shipped the parts.)

John