John Deere Recall: Class Action Suit Filed Over Brake System Defect Plaguing Compact Utility Tractors

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Deere & Company faces a proposed class action lawsuit over an apparent brake system defect that led John Deere Compact Utility Tractors sold between November 2017 and July 2024 to be recalled in September.

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The 17-page John Deere lawsuit states that the tractors at issue, bearing model numbers 1023E, 1025R and 2025R, are equipped with brake systems whose front bell crank in the brake linkage can fail, causing a tractor to lose braking ability and posing a crash hazard. However, the suit calls the recall “no more than a repeatedly ineffective waste of time” as there apparently exists no permanent fix for the John Deere tractor braking system problem.

“In all, Defendant’s Recall leaves more questions than answers regarding the Class Tractors’ safety and braking system and, as such, results in a diminution in value for the Class Tractors in question,” the lawsuit contests.

John Deere recalled nearly 148,000 of the green and yellow Compact Utility Tractors in September 2024. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has urged consumers to immediately stop using the tractors and to contact an authorized John Deere dealer to schedule an appointment for a free repair. John Deere is contacting all known purchasers directly about the tractor recall, the CPSC said.

However, the lawsuit contends that the fix-and-repair recall will cost John Deere tractor owners hours of their time and does not guarantee that the brake problem will be addressed permanently. The complaint asserts that without a more comprehensive recall from John Deere to “truly fix the root cause of the defect,” the tractors’ braking systems will fail again.

“Even if one was to presume that the Recall was effective and offered a true fix, which is by no means a fair presumption, Plaintiff is still burdened with a tractor that has been devalued by Defendant’s actions because the value of a tractor with a known history of faulty brakes is worth much less than a tractor with properly working brakes, or at least a history of working brakes with no critical issues,” the class action suit argues.

In the recall announcement, the CPSC said it has received four reports of brake linkage failures, including one that required hospitalization, two impact injuries, and minor property damage to the tractors, which reportedly retail for between $12,700 and $21,000.

The suit charges that there exists “no foreseeable reason for any of [the tractors’] individual parts to fail,” and places blame for the braking defect on John Deere’s allegedly “improper engineering, design, or manufacturing.”

“In all, Defendant’s Recall amounts to tens of thousands of hours and dollars needlessly taken from Plaintiff and other Class Tractor owners,” the suit scathes.

The John Deere tractor lawsuit looks to cover anyone in the United States who bought or leased any 2017-2024 John Deere 1023E, 1025R, or 2025R tractors.

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