Another Reason to dislike Traxxas

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@ScaleJunkie

Take no offense to anything I said that does not apply to you, or anyone for that matter.

You have to understand that any business is not in business to keep others in business. I know you know that. This hobby is just another business till the day these guys make RCs for free.

You may not see it this way, but our hobby is very over saturated given it’s small size and the hobby is killing itself way more than Traxxas is. If everyone cared about tomorrow they wouldn’t buy cheap china LiPos, chargers, tires, kits, or hop up parts. The hobby would down size again and the companies worth staying would reap more profit. If anything, I think China is doing more harm than Traxxas
I've enjoyed (hate this is an actual subject, but it is) reading all the posts and the counter posts. Good honest feedback and I'm in the same boat (really like RC's) as verybody here but see 2015GTRBE's explanation as the real truth. I really hate lhs's closing but my first "over an hour away" shop closed because it was the small "race only" type shop. Heck, remember the paved oval guys? They had an actual Daytona shaped in ground oval track. Awesome, but there was nobody racing on that track for a few years before the entire place shut down. Wasn't any fault of Traxxas.
I got into the hobby in 91 with an Associated RC10 Championship Edition car (with the mechanical speed control) that was on the shelf at Hobbytown. (I couldn't afford a full kit race setup at the race track shop across town). I felt I had let the race shop down but couldn't help it. I later bought a full set of bearings for it at the race shop for $50!!! Can get a set now for $20 LOL. I've raced on and off for years and brought my son up racing with Associated and Losi but we both went and bought a Traxxas Slash a week after they came out (he was about out of school by then) and we had a BLAST running these on our home made track! And let anybody that walked up have the radio to beat the crap out of them and only broke a couple sets of servo gears ($3). We would not dare let anybody run our racing vehicles. Would have broken then in half! LOL.
I have bought Losi, Associated, Traxxas X-Maxx, and a Kraton in the past few years and REALLY like them all. Hey I'm stingy and bought the X-Maxx only because I felt that parts would be available for it 10 years later (maybe). I still race randomly but enjoy bashing because of my work schedule and hate the way turnmarshals have always gotten talked to every since I've been in this hobby (by biggest pet peeve of ALL TIME)! I really like trail riding and bashing due to the relaxed nature of these vs racing.
I've not mentioned anything about shops closing and people losing their jobs due to Traxxas because I've not experienced it locally but I had a LOT of friends in the past have due to government and corporations and don't watch news media because of all the people losing jobs since the Free trade agreement back in early Clinton days. Local clothes manufacture plants all over closed up and left the country. Been that way ever since.
Oh, I'm stingy so I hope that Traxxas stays in business and I can buy X-Maxx parts in 10 years AND I hope Arrma still sells Kraton parts in 10 years also!!! I still can find parts for my Associated T4 sometimes! Love RC y'all ???
 
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Parts aren't really that much cheaper online to be honest as compared to my lhs. They may be a dollar cheaper, but it's the sales like when ebay has 15-10% off or amazon prime actually has a part I need. If lhs stores carried parts for every brand then I'd go there as seeing something in person is always much better than online. Sadly the last time I went to the store a month ago they had even less than before. The same ole proline Ford Raptor body for 1/10 scale, the same type of tires etc. No variety.
 
Parts aren't really that much cheaper online to be honest as compared to my lhs. They may be a dollar cheaper, but it's the sales like when ebay has 15-10% off or amazon prime actually has a part I need. If lhs stores carried parts for every brand then I'd go there as seeing something in person is always much better than online. Sadly the last time I went to the store a month ago they had even less than before. The same ole proline Ford Raptor body for 1/10 scale, the same type of tires etc. No variety.
And that my friend is the problem, the world has changed and so have we. I remember being 10 yrs old and going into the hobby store and coming home with a brand new Kyosho kit after my neighbor introduced me to the hobby after he came by with his Monster Beetle. This was the 80s and those were great times for this hobby. Lots of RC tracks, stores, and the hobby was booming because at this time Video games were not nearly as popular. I also loved cars from the moment I saw one.

I now have a 17 yr old (I’m 40, not that old) and as young of a father I am to him, I am generations apart from the way he thinks and the way his world works which is why we all have such a difficult time adapting to change. I go into the music topic on here, and most still listen to 80s glam bands, and if that isn’t an indication to resisting change than what is? :).

It’s easy to blame someone, or a company for this but realize we embraced technology and how we buy things these days. If a LHS was near me that had everything I’d support them more myself, but recently I went to the nearest one and I couldn’t get a single part I needed. They didn’t even have Tamiya black paint. They only carry stuff for the drag racing converted slashes and random parts for nitro because I guess that is what the locals are into. It just makes no sense anymore.
 
Where are you from? I am in NYC
Way up state NY. I believe near the Canadian border.
I am pretty much dead center of the state. It is roughly 4 hours to NYC, and 3 hours to Syracuse or Rochester. Bicketybam was close on what he said. I used to live 2 hours from the Canadian border, between Syracuse and Watertown, and, my in laws still live in that area, so we visit there quite a bit. I love to drive. so, i have driven all over N.Y., PA and NJ.
 
Don’t believe everything you read on the internet, hobby shops aren’t closing because of Traxxas they are closing BECAUSE OF US! We are the reason, and it’s not the few people who still go to a LHS, but the world no longer has patience. We want to order a part online because it’s cheaper, no tax, no driving anywhere, no tolls, no gas spent, and no time taken out of your life. That is humanity in 2019.
This same thing goes for pretty much every other type of store not just hobby stores, when was the last time someone said hey let's go to Circuit City?
 
I've enjoyed (hate this is an actual subject, but it is) reading all the posts and the counter posts. Good honest feedback and I'm in the same boat (really like RC's) as verybody here but see 2015GTRBE's explanation as the real truth. I really hate lhs's closing but my first "over an hour away" shop closed because it was the small "race only" type shop. Heck, remember the paved oval guys? They had an actual Daytona shaped in ground oval track. Awesome, but there was nobody racing on that track for a few years before the entire place shut down. Wasn't any fault of Traxxas.
I got into the hobby in 91 with an Associated RC10 Championship Edition car (with the mechanical speed control) that was on the shelf at Hobbytown. (I couldn't afford a full kit race setup at the race track shop across town). I felt I had let the race shop down but couldn't help it. I later bought a full set of bearings for it at the race shop for $50!!! Can get a set now for $20 LOL. I've raced on and off for years and brought my son up racing with Associated and Losi but we both went and bought a Traxxas Slash a week after they came out (he was about out of school by then) and we had a BLAST running these on our home made track! And let anybody that walked up have the radio to beat the crap out of them and only broke a couple sets of servo gears ($3). We would not dare let anybody run our racing vehicles. Would have broken then in half! LOL.
I have bought Losi, Associated, Traxxas X-Maxx, and a Kraton in the past few years and REALLY like them all. Hey I'm stingy and bought the X-Maxx only because I felt that parts would be available for it 10 years later (maybe). I still race randomly but enjoy bashing because of my work schedule and hate the way turnmarshals have always gotten talked to every since I've been in this hobby (by biggest pet peeve of ALL TIME)! I really like trail riding and bashing due to the relaxed nature of these vs racing.
I've not mentioned anything about shops closing and people losing their jobs due to Traxxas because I've not experienced it locally but I had a LOT of friends in the past have due to government and corporations and don't watch news media because of all the people losing jobs since the Free trade agreement back in early Clinton days. Local clothes manufacture plants all over closed up and left the country. Been that way ever since.
Oh, I'm stingy so I hope that Traxxas stays in business and I can buy X-Maxx parts in 10 years AND I hope Arrma still sells Kraton parts in 10 years also!!! I still can find parts for my Associated T4 sometimes! Love RC y'all ???
I find parts for my RC10B2 sometimes as well :ROFLMAO:
 
My views on Traxxas weren't always bad. I don't hate them because I wanna be part of some bandwagon, their business practices, the poor quality of their product, the push for endless upgrades (I don't mean planned weak points to save more important parts from breaking), and their disconnect and disregard for their customers have made me dislike them more and more over the years.

Edit: For the record, this post is not intended to sound as angry as it came out.
I’m the same way. My stuff sounds more angry than I am lol.

Let me just say, @Evol_13 makes some great points and I agree with them all.

Have you ever had to deal with Traxxas support? If you have you’d know they’re some of the best. Every time I’ve had a problem out of my control they’ve always sent a replacement out free of charge.

I’ve burnt out so many vxl-3s esc’s, hell one was 3 months old but they still replaced it for free. I’ve had a vxl-6s burn out in my e revo 2 months in, also replaced free of charge. I actually sold it on eBay. Driveshafts for slash 4x4 platform wore out prematurely and were replaced. (Definitely an annoying weak spot for the truck but that’s the same problem on every other truck of the same class)

Everytime I’ve ever had a problem that was in my control, I’ve always gotten a big discount on that item.

My Traxxas generation 2 3s lipos in my e revo 2.0 have 180 runs on them and one is doing pretty horrible, Traxxas sent me a print off and agreed that it’s totally under their battery warrenty to turn it in for a new one for $40, no questions asked. That’s about the same price as other 5000mah good quality lipos that can pull around a heavy 8th scale MT for 180 cycles, don’t you think?

Given, when it was for stuff like a worn out motor I had for years, the 50% discount was only a hair cheaper than the eBay price, it’s the thought that counts. I agree with your weak point discussion. Many older Traxxas platforms aren’t that durable at all. I will say from personal experience, the slash 4x4LCG/rustler 4x4 LCG chassis platform is fantastic for durability, and the new e revo is also great for durability. All have their weak points but are definitely by design (i.e. caster blocks that break when you hit a wheel on something rather than the whole a arm) and in the revo’s case pushrods that pull out rather then bending a shock.

Customer service is the only reason I still deal with traxxas. It’s definitely superior to most manufacturers. Arrma is obviously even but they offer nothing better, just the same, which is great support.

You can thank castlecreations for the way all modern supports work, they started the trend in the rc industry with “standing behind your product”
 
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I go order stuff from my LHS usually but I have gotten stuff from Jenny rc because that's sometimes a way to actually get what I needed when the LHS tells me I can't get a blx diff for two months.

I got an RC10GT/OS cv12x LONG ago and it was over my head (think I was in 6th grade). Later got a traxxas rustler kit/MSC which led to a emaxx. .15 maxx and 2.5 maxx. Since I've had a xxx-t, MGT, nitro evader, evader, etc... currently own 1 traxxas, 1 hpi, 1 ecx, 1 redcat, 1 losi, 1 kyosho and 2 arrmas.

So obviously I started with AE but didn't stick with it. Traxxas had me next and kept me for a few vehicles and maybe without that I wouldn't be where I am now ( think odd ALL THE MONEY I'd have saved lol) but I still do enjoy my maxx and remember that I loved my old dual brushed E and 2.5T abs maybe just because they didn't go 50mph back then but I remember my rustler being a tank. At one point it actually had an evx running 12 cell packs and I am 99% sure I only broke a few castor blocks.
 
I’m the same way. My stuff sounds more angry than I am lol.

Let me just say, @Evol_13 makes some great points and I agree with them all.

Have you ever had to deal with Traxxas support? If you have you’d know they’re some of the best. Every time I’ve had a problem out of my control they’ve always sent a replacement out free of charge.

I’ve burnt out so many vxl-3s esc’s, hell one was 3 months old but they still replaced it for free. I’ve had a vxl-6s burn out in my e revo 2 months in, also replaced free of charge. I actually sold it on eBay. Driveshafts for slash 4x4 platform wore out prematurely and were replaced. (Definitely an annoying weak spot for the truck but that’s the same problem on every other truck of the same class)

Everytime I’ve ever had a problem that was in my control, I’ve always gotten a big discount on that item.

My Traxxas generation 2 3s lipos in my e revo 2.0 have 180 runs on them and one is doing pretty horrible, Traxxas sent me a print off and agreed that it’s totally under their battery warrenty to turn it in for a new one for $40, no questions asked. That’s about the same price as other 5000mah good quality lipos that can pull around a heavy 8th scale MT for 180 cycles, don’t you think?

Given, when it was for stuff like a worn out motor I had for years, the 50% discount was only a hair cheaper than the eBay price, it’s the thought that counts. I agree with your weak point discussion. Many older Traxxas platforms aren’t that durable at all. I will say from personal experience, the slash 4x4LCG/rustler 4x4 LCG chassis platform is fantastic for durability, and the new e revo is also great for durability. All have their weak points but are definitely by design (i.e. caster blocks that break when you hit a wheel on something rather than the whole a arm) and in the revo’s case pushrods that pull out rather then bending a shock.

Customer service is the only reason I still deal with traxxas. It’s definitely superior to most manufacturers. Arrma is obviously even but they offer nothing better, just the same, which is great support.

You can thank castlecreations for the way all modern supports work, they started the trend in the rc industry with “standing behind your product”

I've contacted Traxxas support once in 2017. I told them that my Summit didn't come with a manual and asked if they could send me one. This was their response.
When you see it
32791

32789


Apparently their best advise is to take a pdf of the manual to a business, that at that point had been closed for almost a decade, and have it printed out.
 
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I've contacted Traxxas support once in 2017. I told them that my Summit didn't come with a manual and asked if they could send me one. This was their response.
When you see it
View attachment 32791
View attachment 32789

Apparently their best advise is to take a pdf of the manual to a business, that at that point had been closed for almost a decade, and have it printed out.
I think I'm missing the point because, I don't get it. Seriously lol, you're gonna let this minuscule thing that can be easily resolved make you hate their support?

Google the manual, what's the big deal?

Personally I've never emailed them. All the cases I've had (like I mentioned above, hundreds if not thousands of dollars of warrenties) I did on the phone with them, and theyd email me an rma.

However, everyone is entitled to their opinion and I really like their support. Their product and advertising and sales is a different story, but their support, thumbs up from me.

Edit: and they stopped providing manuals with most of their trucks a few years ago. Also not a smart decision.
 
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I think I'm missing the point because, I don't get it. Seriously lol, you're gonna let this minuscule thing that can be easily resolved make you hate their support?

Google the manual, what's the big deal?

Personally I've never emailed them. All the cases I've had (like I mentioned above, hundreds if not thousands of dollars of warrenties) I did on the phone with them, and theyd email me an rma.

However, everyone is entitled to their opinion and I really like their support. Their product and advertising and sales is a different story, but their support, thumbs up from me.

Edit: and they stopped providing manuals with most of their trucks a few years ago. Also not a smart decision.
It's not the fact that they wouldn't provide me with a manual, it's that they told me to go to a business that at that point had been closed for nearly a decade. When people call up my work and ask for appliances I don't tell them to check Sears.
 
It's not the fact that they wouldn't provide me with a manual, it's that they told me to go to a business that at that point had been closed for nearly a decade. When people call up my work and ask for appliances I don't tell them to check Sears.

Wait... what happened to Sears? I'm pretty sure my mall still has one and they sell appliances. At least I sure thought so.
 
Wait... what happened to Sears? I'm pretty sure my mall still has one and they sell appliances. At least I sure thought so.
They aren't doing so well and they are closing stores all over the country, same with Kmart. Ours closed like 2-3 years ago now. And our Kmart is in the process of closing.
 
While I appreciate Traxxas and their efforts in expanding the hobby (I have three Traxxas vehicles in my household), their antics have put me off from the brand. On top of that, their lineup is nowhere near as robust as Arrma's and believe me, people are definitely taking notice.

I have two hobby/rc shops near me. The first one, which was located a few miles out in a smaller town but has since moved to my city, didn't carry Arrma AT ALL a mere two years ago. They mainly had Redcat vehicles at the time and had like two or three Traxxas vehicles(even then they didn't care for Traxxas). My brother and I told THEM about Arrma after we had purchased our Arrma vehicles. Fast forward to now, and they carry Arrma's entire lineup. They're doing very well and all is right in the world. And they still have those same Traxxas vehicles in the discolored boxes that they had in their other location. Lol.

The other store which is much larger and stocks d*mn near everything, is heavy on Traxxas vehicles and had Arrma vehicles two years ago but they were mainly relegated to the back of the store. They are now displayed at the front and the chatter has changed amongst customers. Traxxas is still very popular in there but WAY more people know about Arrma now and comparing lineups across the board, Traxxas does not compare.

One main 1/8 scale basher vehicle on 6s (E Revo 2.0) versus the diverse lineup of the Kraton, Talion, Outcast/Notorious, and Typhon? Laughable. And with Traxxas being so slow to update when Arrma updates every year or so it's not even close if we're being objective.

I own a somewhat varied group of vehicles (Team Redcat, HPI, Arrma, Traxxas, Force RC) but Traxxas has been the most stale to me. I DO appreciate the availability of parts though. But luckily, both of my local shops tend to keep a great stock of the parts I need for all my current vehicles, with the understandable exception of the Force brand.

With all that said, I just don't currently see another Traxxas in my future until they 'step up' their offerings.
 
It's not the fact that they wouldn't provide me with a manual, it's that they told me to go to a business that at that point had been closed for nearly a decade. When people call up my work and ask for appliances I don't tell them to check Sears.
Oh lol i thought the rep was joking with you
 
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