First off: on the difficulty of L series battery replacement, I suspect the initial statement of difficulty refered to the older Grand L series like the L3600s or Lxx10s. Those had a loader subframe that wrapped around about 1/3 up the side panels and did make this more difficult than the newer Lxx30 and Lxx40 series w/o this style FEL subframe.
Back to the original topic: no, JD is neither overrated nor overpriced. This feeling that JD is overrated and overpriced is most often heard from those for whom a tractor is a "luxury" and who do not depend on their tractor daily as part of the primary source of income.
When all one is doing with a tractor is working on their own land, after work, cutting the grass, tilling the garden, and doing various property maintenance tasks, then the benefits of JD (or AGCO, CNH, Kubota) often factor in below the usually lower cost of a Bobcat, Kioti, Mahindra, etc. If you're not making a sizeable portion of your income with a tractor, then purchase price plays a much stronger role in deciding what to buy than does timely parts and service support, since a little downtime isn't costing much (if anything).
OTOH, for those who DEPEND on their tractor(s) for a living, a broken machine can cost as much or more in a day (or hours) than the initial purchase premium. Therefore JD and other top tier (AGCO, CNH, maybe Kubota) mfgs justify their prices through a strong reputation for keeping these businesses up and running, even if it has to be done through taking parts off of a machine on the lot or bringing out a loaner. When there's hay on the ground or wheat to be cut, the weather won't hold off just because your tractor broke down.
None of this is to say that JD is the best brand out there. Kioti, Mahindra, and LG/LS, etc. make good tractors and usually charge less than the American and Japanese brands. But there are benefits to any top tier brand that the casual user will probably never take full advantage of that a commercial user needs. Farmers tend to be frugal. They wouldn't continue to buy JD (and other leading Ag brands) if it were not cost effective.
Seriously, the subframe for loader blocked access to the front and side. I couldn't even clean the radiator screen because you couldn't pull it past the FEL subframe.
