Which? Gardening Magazine
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Join nowPower issues are the most common faults across all lawn mower types, with cordless mower batteries failing to charge, electric mowers suffering electrical failures and petrol-mower engines failing to turn over.
Knowing which brands develop the most faults and how quickly is vital when buying a new lawn mower. That’s why each year we ask thousands of Which? members to tell us whether they're happy, or have experienced problems, with their lawn mowers in our unique customer satisfaction survey.
In our latest analysis, we've looked at the performance of the biggest manufacturers – including Cobra, Flymo, Gtech, Honda, John Deere – and have calculated a customer score for each, so you know which brands to choose and which to avoid.
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Expert advice through the seasons so you know what to do and when. £4.99 a month, cancel anytime.
Join nowAs part of our latest lawn mower brand survey, we've crunched the numbers to calculate customer satisfaction scores for 19 different lawn mower brands.
Our data is based on a survey conducted in January 2022. We gathered feedback from 5,387 lawn mower owners and recorded the percentage of mowers that remained fault-free after seven years. Brands with insufficient sample sizes were not included and the results below from corded, cordless and petrol hedge trimmers are combined.
Best | Worst | |
---|---|---|
Average score in our lawn mower tests | 78% | 56% |
Customer satisfaction score | 90% | 68% |
Average scores correct as of January 2023.
As you can see, there's a big difference in both average test score and customer satisfaction when we compare the best and worst brands.
By consulting our expert lawn mower reviews before you buy, you can be sure that you're investing in a mower that's easy to use and effective at cutting different grass lengths. The best models also stand the test of time, so you won't be dealing with expensive repairs and spare parts.
Read our guide on how to buy the best lawn mower to help you find the perfect model for all your grass cutting needs.
Join Which? to get access to the table below, plus all our Best Buys and lawn mower reviews. We’ve tested lawn mowers from brands including Bosch, Flymo and Mountfield, but only the very best make a Best Buy.
Brand (cordless, electric or petrol) | Customer satisfaction score | Percentage fault-free after seven years |
---|---|---|
90% | 89% | |
86% | 88% | |
86% | 97% | |
84% | 94% | |
84% | 98% | |
82% | 96% | |
80% | N/A |
Fault-free percentage based on products purchased between 2015 and 2021
Although each type of lawn mower is very different in terms of the mechanics that make them run, the most common issues owners of all types of lawn mowers face relate to power outages.
These can be caused by Li-ion batteries in cordless mowers struggling to retain a charge, or by key elements of the engines in electric and petrol mowers rusting or wearing away over time. Moist or cold storage environments can often exacerbate or accelerate these problems.
Other than proper storage, the best way to extend the life of your battery is to charge it up a few times in the off season, so that it doesn't ever deplete all the way to 0% charge. If it does, you may find that when you come to use it again in Spring it fails to hold any charge at all.
See our Don't Buy lawn mowers to take note of the models you should make sure to avoid.
Which? has a wealth of information on the UK’s favourite garden product brands. Every two years, we ask Which? members to tell us about the garden products they own – from how likely they would be to recommend a brand, to how reliable the products are once you get them home.
Our reliability surveys, combined with our extensive lab tests, mean we can recommend the best lawn mower you should buy.
This data is crucial for our testing, too. If a brand falls far below the category average, we take away the manufacturer’s Best Buy recommendations and won’t recommend any of its products unless a marked improvement in reliability is shown.
Ready to find the perfect lawn mower for you? Head over to our lawn mower reviews