American Farmers Are Turning To Ukraine To Hack Into Their Own Tractors: Report
This all comes back to John Deere’s refusal to grant diagnostic and service information to owners, instead forcing them to sign a licensing agreement which basically requires them to have an “authorized” John Deere rep come out to their farm to have a look at the problem. Motherboard spoke with farmer Kevin Kenney, who described what a typical John Deere tractor service, saying:
This sounds like a bit of a nightmare, as if you own any vehicle, you should have every right to repair it. In fact, that’s one of the main tenets of the Right To Repair movement. And John Deere’s statement to Motherboard agrees, saying:
I suppose one option is Don't Buy Deere ...
This all comes back to John Deere’s refusal to grant diagnostic and service information to owners, instead forcing them to sign a licensing agreement which basically requires them to have an “authorized” John Deere rep come out to their farm to have a look at the problem. Motherboard spoke with farmer Kevin Kenney, who described what a typical John Deere tractor service, saying:
You want to replace a transmission and you take it to an independent mechanic—he can put in the new transmission but the tractor can’t drive out of the shop. Deere charges $230, plus $130 an hour for a technician to drive out and plug a connector into their USB port to authorize the part.
This sounds like a bit of a nightmare, as if you own any vehicle, you should have every right to repair it. In fact, that’s one of the main tenets of the Right To Repair movement. And John Deere’s statement to Motherboard agrees, saying:
When a customer buys John Deere equipment, he or she owns the equipment...As the owner, he or she has the ability to maintain and repair the equipment. The customer also has the ability through operator and service manuals and other resources to enable operational, maintenance, service and diagnostics activities to repair and maintain equipment.
I suppose one option is Don't Buy Deere ...