Failures of what? What kind of failures? I owned a Ford 1920 (one size smaller)for 11 years and never had any type of problem. The only reason I sold it was to move up to a bigger New Holland tractor. Sounds like a lot of baloney to me. I know several people that owned the 2120 and they had nothing but praise for its performance. As a matter of fact, its power and performance has been outstanding. I wouldn't pay any attention to this story. I would take a knowledgeable friend along to look the tractor over to see if its been abused, damaged or well taken care of. Any brand tractor can be ruined in short order by a person that doesn't know how to take care of it.