Your membership has expired

The payment for your account couldn't be processed or you've canceled your account with us.

Re-activate

Save products you love, products you own and much more!

Save products icon

Other Membership Benefits:

Savings icon Exclusive Deals for Members Best time to buy icon Best Time to Buy Products Recall tracker icon Recall & Safety Alerts TV screen optimizer icon TV Screen Optimizer and more

    Most Reliable Gas Riding Mower Brands of 2025

    CR surveys thousands of members to help determine which brands are less and more likely to have problems in the first five years of ownership

    When you shop through retailer links on our site, we may earn affiliate commissions. 100% of the fees we collect are used to support our nonprofit mission. Learn more.

    a man mowing grass with a Kubota Z231KW-42 Zero-Turn Mower
    Kubota earned top scores for reliability and owner satisfaction in CR's member surveys for its zero-turn-radius mowers.
    Photo: Kubota

    Kubota is the only brand to earn top scores across the board in Consumer Reports’ new riding mower predicted reliability and owner satisfaction ratings for 2025. The brand receives stellar marks in those key attributes for both its gas lawn tractors and zero-turn-radius mowers in CR’s survey-based ratings.

    In this article Arrow link
    More on Lawn Mowers and Tractors

    These latest findings come from CR’s exclusive member surveys fielded in the fall of 2022, 2023, and 2024, which leveraged data on 12,222 gas-powered riding mowers that members purchased new between 2014 and 2024.

    Below is a breakdown of the winners and losers across the three gas riding mower categories we test: lawn tractors, zero-turn mowers, and rear-engine riders. CR’s exclusive surveys also include data on cordless electric—aka battery—riding mowers. But because battery riders are a relatively new product category that has been widely available for only a few years, we don’t yet have reliability or owner satisfaction ratings for that group.

    Also keep in mind that our current gas riding mower performance ratings don’t include every brand that we rate for reliability and owner satisfaction based on survey data. But knowing owners’ experiences with various brands can help you make good choices when shopping, regardless of whether a particular model is in our ratings.

    For our reliability results for walk-behind mowers—including both gas and electric models from brands such as Ego, Greenworks, Honda, and Toro—check out our guide to the most reliable walk-behind lawn mower brands.

    Most Reliable Gas Lawn Tractor Brands

    Lawn tractors are your quintessential riding mower, with a big engine in front and a seat and steering wheel mounted over the cutting deck.

    Become a member to read the full article and get access to digital ratings.

    We investigate, research, and test so you can choose with confidence.


    Tobie Stanger

    Tobie Stanger

    As a senior editor at Consumer Reports for more than 30 years, Tobie Stanger specialized in helping readers shop wisely, save money, and avoid scams. Her home- and shopping-related beats have included appliance and grocery stores, generators, homeowners and flood insurance, humidifiers, lawn mowers, and luggage. She also covered home improvement products, including flooring, roofing, and siding.