It's not a Legacy XL, but I have a Simplicity Prestige in MF red, bought new in 2007, and it's a very solid machine. I consider John Deere, Kubota, and Simplicity (in no particular order) a league apart from all other tractor style lawn mowers. I especially like Simplicity's ACT (automatic controlled traction); it works great on slopes and around ditches. My only complaint is that their decks are a little harder to put back on after you take it off than JD (at least mine is harder to put back than the deck on Dad's JD 345). I guess that ties into the issue of the grease fittings being on the underside of the deck, requiring removal to grease the spindles. Overall though, these are minor complaints since no deck is fun to take on and off.
I'm also happy that Simplicity hasn't diluted their name by developing a lower end machine to meet a national retailer's price point. I believe this helps keep their quality and image up. With Simplicity, there is no confusion as to which model is sold at Lowes and which is sold at the dealer; no inquiries about the differences between the "big box" mowers and the ones at dealers. While this undoubtedly eliminates bragging about huge market share, it helps those of us who own Simplicities because when resale time comes, our machines have an image of uncompromising quality and used Simplicities aren't competing in price with almost identical looking Simplicities down at the mega store selling for $1500-2000.
