The Peg Perego John Deere Gator XUV is not only adorable and rugged; kids love that they get the pleasure of riding in one and will never want to get out – unless it’s to dump things out of the back.
Peg Perego is a prominent brand of electric children’s vehicles in Italy. Because their designs and products are so good, they’ve started to appear here in the US.
Peg Perego is known for its utility vehicles, such as the Polaris Outlaw. With this John Deere Gator XUV, you can tell Peg Perego knows what children like and want – here, we see it’s a mid-sized version of something that’s way too expensive to let a kid drive and way too big to keep in a suburban garage. But this XUV should fit fine in almost any garage, which is already a huge plus.
Best Feature About The Peg Perego John Deere Gator XUV
Let’s start with something super positive about Peg Perego’s product and start with its best feature: the large dump bed with an opening tailgate.
That thing is so cool your kids will never stop playing with it! Just load it up, haul it to another part of the yard, dump it, and do it all over again – just like a real tractor.
Heck, you could use this little vehicle to move entire piles of gardening dirt from one part of the yard to the other if you wanted some help with your new plants.
Imagine it whooshing around your yard with your kids while you sip ice tea on the longest day of summer.
Those are the kind of memories that this sort of ride-on toy builds, and trust me, as a former child, things like this John Deere Gator are the things you remember.
Why?
Because of the freedom, of course – which can be any ride-on toy, so let’s look and see why this Peg Perego product might be the best choice for you.
Technical Specifications
Manufacturer Recommended Age Range: 3 to 8 years
Volts: 12V
Top Speed: 2-speed levels: 2 1/2 MPH and 5 MPH plus reverse
Seating Capacity: 2 (Has an adjustable seat for growing kids)
Maximum Rider(s) Weight: 130lbs
Location for Use: Outdoor
Assembly Required: Yes
Click here for more information about the John Deere Gator XUV
Other Good Features About This Peg Perego Ride On Farm Toy
Just because there’s the best feature for this XUV doesn’t mean there aren’t other excellent features we need to discuss. Here are a few of our highlights.
Peg Perego John Deere Gator Battery Life
Batteries are almost always an issue in battery-powered vehicles for kids. They are very easy to destroy by simply overcharging them, which is awful when you’re a busy parent and forget to unplug the battery after ten hours or what have you. 
You’re easily out fifty or a hundred bucks.
This battery is very powerful because of this method. When you place it in the vehicle to drive, it will spark at the connectors.
In fact, you have to grab a screwdriver to remove the compartment cover to put the battery in – you can’t just drop it in and hook it up like in most vehicles.
This provides a decent amount of upfront power, an hour or two of driving time, and some leniency when leaving the battery on the charger for more than a couple of hours.
To make the best of the rechargeable battery, we recommend getting the Peg Perego 12V Quick Charger which allows you to recharge the batteries in under 2 hours.
Safety Reverse
The reverse option is an excellent addition to this vehicle. In addition to having a 2-speed shifter and a limiter to keep the truck from going faster than you can run, it has a cup holder, automatic brakes, and the cherry on top: reverse.
Suppose you don’t hold the shifter in the right direction. In that case, the Gator won’t keep going backward, which does wonders in stopping some serious tree crashes.
Suppose, for some reason, your child keeps going in reverse anyway. In that case, there’s a nice passenger grab-handle for any riders who find themselves in the unfortunate situation of returning when they expected going forward.
Attractive Cockpit
The cockpit of this John Deere ride-on is fantastic – it looks like the real thing (and perhaps is even a bit classier. Don’t murder me, John Deere).
The entire front looks like it came straight off a tractor; yellow pair of side-by-side seats, a yellow-rimmed steering wheel and tires, and the best dumper handle right in between the seats.
This is a great feature because the driver obviously operates all the fun stuff, like the go and the steering, but this allows the passenger to be more than just a companion for a fun ride.
Automatic Brakes
We talked about this a bit above, but I want to introduce it as its own point because it’s so neat: automatic brakes.
If your child takes their foot off the accelerator pedal, the car stops – done and done. This is great for new drivers or particularly panicky seasoned drivers, too.
This ride-on car can be driven on any surface and plays music through the MP3 input plug accessible through the steering wheel.
The battery of this ride lasts up to 2 hours, guaranteeing a lot of playtime for the child.
The Not So Great Features
With every good, there has to be a bad. No one wants to spend this kind of money on a toy only to find out that it wasn’t what they wanted. Fortunately, the beds are super limited on this vehicle, but we still need to mention them, to be fair.
Assembly
This is by far the most challenging part of this vehicle. While the instructions are clear and concise, which is a HUGE plus, there are thirty steps to assembling this puppy out of the box. Each step takes an average of 15 minutes, meaning that this Peg Perego Gator SUV can take up to eight hours to assemble – and that’s AFTER you’ve spent the money to purchase it in the first place.
You should place the battery on the charger as soon as possible because it takes 18 to 20 hours to charge the first time. Since you’ll spend some time assembling it, you can save time and shorten the time before you ride it. The end product is excellent, and it isn’t challenging to do everything correctly.
Wheels
Another big complaint about this vehicle across the board is the wheels. They are plastic, meaning the traction is substandard on hills and basically anywhere but grass.
If this ride-on vehicle is driven a lot on concrete, the wheels will wear down in a matter of months, and forget about getting it to go up any hill once those wheels are shot.
However, there’s a reason behind this – if the ride-on had rubber wheels, it would undoubtedly get better traction.
But doing this would significantly reduce the battery life. It would either need a secondary battery (more weight and definitely more expense) or a larger battery in the first place (which is not common in small vehicles with tough speed caps like this one).
The good news here is that the wheels are replaceable if you find yourself in a pickle, they’re also easy to tread with some rubber to get better traction. A little bit of rubber goes a long way, and there’s a LOT of power behind the back end. Hills, concrete, grass, dirt, or hard surfaces are not an issue as soon as it has some traction.
Is The Peg Perego John Deere Gator XUV Ride-On Good Value?
While there are some flaws with this John Deere Gator XUV, it’s an adorable, charming, and fun toy for kids up to about six.
It also comes with a 2-year warranty for those extra rough and tumbles kids, and it’s just as photogenic as possible.
This is a lovely toy that will grow with its kids for several years and then have several years more with another child who will enjoy it and dump things all over the yard as much as their heart desires.
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In the article it is mentioned that it comes with a remote for the parents but i can’t seem to find it anywhere that it comes with a remote. Which model is it??