How To Choose Between Home Depot And Lowe's When Buying A New Lawn Mower

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Whether you're looking for a new walk-behind mower or upgrading to a riding mower to cut your grass, picking out a new one is an exciting time for lawn care enthusiasts. As with any big purchase, though, it's important to take time and research in order to avoid any common lawn mower purchasing mistakes. While this does include picking the best overall mower, it also involves picking the best place to buy one. For many people, this decision comes down to either Home Depot or Lowe's. Thankfully, both of these retailers can be great places to plan your purchase. However, before you make your decision, it's important to keep some key store-specific factors in mind.

Lawn mowers can be a big investment — and you want to pick an option that's worth the cost. That's why shopping for a new one involves paying attention to the features of the store as much as the mower itself. When you're trying to choose between Home Depot and Lowe's for your new lawn mower, it's important to consider things such as offers available at a certain store, their purchase and return policies, the variety of mowers they offer, and what other people are saying about their purchases. To help you decide, we'll look at one lawn mower both retailers carry.

The Home Depot offers gas, battery, and corded lawn mowers. Their options range from riding lawn mowers to self-propelled and push lawn mowers, and they even sport reel options if you're looking for a lower maintenance mower. While Home Depot's lawn mower prices vary (especially between different types of mowers), they do offer sales and temporary offers for certain holidays.

Home Depot also has a thirty-day return policy on gas-powered equipment – giving you peace of mind about your purchase. For non-gas equipment, the policy isn't as clear. However, it appears Home Depot does accept most purchases back within 90 days, and there is a customer support contact provided where you can reach out for questions specific to your return. With both retailers, it's important to remember that pricing and policies are always subject to change. For the most up-to-date information, always check with the retailer first.

One popular choice at Home Depot is the John Deere Z315E riding lawn mower for $3,299. This model is a zero-turn lawn mower with a 3-gallon gas tank fit to cut anywhere between 1 and 2 acres. Currently sitting at 475 reviews, this mower has 4.4 out of 5 stars. While many reviewers raved about the overall efficiency of the mower in their yards, some of the lower-rated reviews complained about issues with delivery from Home Depot as well as some issues with the mower. As one buyer opined, "It's a good mower, but Home Depot didn't make the experience great at all. My mower was delivered with no key or manual. After I had to drive to the next city over to get the key and manual, I get home to start it, and the battery is garbage. I call them and had two choices, return the whole mower or go to John Deere and try to exchange the battery."

In terms of variety, Lowe's closely rivals Home Depot. However, when it comes to robotic lawn mowers, Home Depot only offers eight robotic mowers across two brands, while Lowe's has 23 across several. Lowe's also offers more lawn mowers overall, with over 200 current listings as of this writing compared to Home Depot's 170. Aside from that major difference, Lowe's also offers gas, battery, and corded lawn mowers, as well as riding and push mowers. As far as price points go, Lowe's occasionally has holiday sales, and many of their prices are similar to that of Home Depot. Although Lowe's doesn't specifically state lawn mowers in their return policy, they do accept new and unused items for return within 90 days of purchase. If you need to reach out to customer support for further questions, contact information is provided near the bottom of their Returns page.

Like Home Depot, Lowe's sells the John Deere Z315E riding lawn mower for $3,299. With 348 reviews at the moment, it also has a 4.4 total rating. Many of the negative reviews speak more specifically to issues with the lawn mower itself, although there are others regarding the delivery process. Overall, the interactions with Lowe's staff seem to be more positive than that at Home Depot. For instance, while one reviewer revealed that the "pre-delivery inspection ... was not thoroughly done," they also praised the delivery team who brought the mower, noting they were "respectful of [the] property."

Overall, if you are looking to purchase a new lawn mower at a big box store rather than a dealer, you may want to start with Lowe's. While their return policy is less clear than that of Home Depot, Lowe's offers a larger selection of lawn mowers across different types, brands, and price points. The interactions with Lowe's staff members in-shop seem to be more informative according to reviews, too.