Kremzeek

iTrader: (8)

I've tried that a number of times over the last few years. I've never gotten a response from TD directly. Not a lot of conversation period. They just post pictures of people's cars.

WallyRC

I heard back from Travis. He basically said he doesn't know what is going on?!?!?

Cain

iTrader: (294)

*sigh*

wyd

iTrader: (51)

Pretty sad if he don't know.

wyd

iTrader: (51)

I have plenty of parts for mine so I don't need to panic. I'm good for the winter season and probably way more for the amount I break in a season. I can stick around and wait as long as my Durango is working good although I do have an offer to run a different brand car for the indoor season.

WallyRC

I think we all need to just hang in there and see what happens. I don't think they would dump the whole line. Especially with the strong running they have in other parts of the world. These Durango cars are so good they just need to hang in there.

fredswain

iTrader: (1)

I got a hold of Chris Doughty. He said that parts availability is the responsibility of the region distributors due to agreements. It sounded like manufacturing isn't the issue. Keep hounding those distributors. He did say they are very busy working on several projects but wouldn't divulge anything else.

WallyRC

That's great Fred. I just sent him a message on Facebook about an hour ago. Thanks for the update.

Cain

iTrader: (294)

So let me get this straight, the distributors are responsible for parts availability, would a distributor in this case be like hobbico or am I thinking of that wrong?

And if so, if the place making the parts is having issues for whatever reason getting parts out, how can the distributor fix that problem?

Sorry trying to better understand since I got down time till the season starts up again lol.

fredswain

iTrader: (1)

Parts manufacturing doesn't seem to be the issue. The distributors aren't ordering enough. If Hobbico is the US distributor who orders everything from Durango then I guess it lies with them to order more.

Situations like this are difficult for companies. They don't have the resources to self distribute around the world so they go through outside distributors. They are then dependent on those distributors to get those products into retail outlets and keep the supply up. If they do a poor job of getting retailers, the demand for everything falls. Unfortunately, they are going to be under contract with the manufacturer so it can really hurt the manufacturer. I'm working on opening a Brewery and the distributor issue is the same. You don't want to be completely dependent on someone else outside or your organization doing their job or not. It can help you grow or kill you entirely.

Cain

iTrader: (294)

gotcha.

Just seems strange that we are talking months on months of not available, etc. issues when its the distributor not ordering enough but not my area of expertise.

fredswain

iTrader: (1)

It's probably a catch 22 for Durango. The distributors don't push Durango into retailers so there aren't many out there. Since there aren't many out there, demand is low. Since demand is low, the distributors don't order much or very often. That further reduces demand as people get frustrated and don't buy them or leave for another company.

wyd

iTrader: (51)

Interesting. Nice scoop.

fredswain

iTrader: (1)

Chris does look keep an eye on the Durango threads so he knows what complaints people have in regards to parts availability and even design issues. Some he can address. Others he can't. Hopefully the steering geometry fix is one that he can tackle!

Kremzeek

iTrader: (8)

I dunno. Hobbico is more than just the distributor. They own the Durango brand as well as their main distributor, Great Planes. You'd think that they could at least get the kits and parts to Tower, which is also part of the Hobbico corporation.

I agree about the low demand impacting availability. Durango's sister brand ARRMA is sold all over and they don't have the same issues.