New brand question
 

Just curious as to what it is that makes a person want to buy a new brand.

Why do you buy Caster? Why not?

Why do you buy Team Durango, Losi, Agama, Hot Bodies? Why not?

etc....

I have a bet going with 2 other guys who are well known in the industry and are at 2 other companies. I want to see honest answers.

We were comparing customer service vs car quality vs reputation vs advertising vs having a real team driver vs winning races vs sponsoring races vs being reviewed in magazines vs being in local hobby stores.

Prove me wrong and tell me what you honestly think of Caster Racing, especially if you are not a customer. This can also go towards people who are employed in the industry.

What would you want to see to buy a Caster for 2012?

What is important to you for your buying decision?

Ding...Ding...Ding...And on this corner...:lol:

I was thinking the same thing.

Why wouldn't I buy caster? Parts support, poor history and lack of 1/10th.

The only caster car I'd consider running is the 1/10th 4x4 and it seemed to have tons of issues, plus I'd need to order parts online. I have no one to ask questions, borrow parts or share setups and such with.

Why did I buy Durango? The quality and engineering amazed me. The lack of customer support almost lost me, there's a reason or two why I'm not running a desc410. I love the DEX, That's the only reason I kept it. There is only one other guy running one at my track, and he works for HRP. All the other guys sold theirs due to issues and lack of support.

As for parts, I'm local to HRP so I can get parts same or next day locally.

Why don't I have a TLR22 yet? I'm waiting for parts supply. I'll probably keep my b4 though. I own tons of Horzon branded stuff, Helis and planes and such, they've taken super good care of me and I'm a customer for life.

Why do I currently run associated? Parts supply and most folks run them so help, setup and parts aren't an issue. I've never had an issue with anything associated, so I've never needed customer support

I can tell you that I bought durango because it looks cool and no one has/had them at our track. Just because the LHS dont stock the parts dosent scare me away. Now that I own two of them I really like how easy they are to work on and make quick changes and such.

I honestly compare everything, when Im considering buying anything.
Im looking for quality, function, brand, customer service. I have never brought anything Caster mainly because I dont know anyone with one, and that tells me to stay away. The product that Caster carries look good but I think you have to get the product into the hands of more people. Mainly get the product onto well known websites because the site that do carry Caster I have never heard of it or will never buy from. A little marketing goes a long way.

Having a couple of top drivers wouldnt hurt, image is everything. This also helps when someone is looking for set-up help or any other helpful info. Caster could get a couple guys in these forums, make there presence known.
Thats my .02

There are two reasons I would never run Caster Cars. First off two years ago a friend of mine drove there 1/8 scale buggy and had bags and bags of spare parts "Enough to build two or three cars easy". After two race weekends he had to order more parts due to the crazy amount of breakage he went through. Also he went with there motor and clutch setup, after going through 3-4 bags of clutch shoes on one race day with the recommended Mugen springs, I let him borrow a set of my used Dynamite Max Life clutch shoes which made it multiple race days. My Friend had to build the car by guessing how the car should be put together due to no manual for the kit at the time he got it. We also had a Full Factory Team Caster driver in the area, who's car was mostly custom parts "shock towers and chassis" and Mugen modified parts "front arm conversion" to get the car to work half way decent. I myself lost all credibility with them at this point. The other part was they would sign anyone to drive for them. It was not a bad thing, but it was hard watching new RC people sign up with them and struggle from the get go with there car's. I do believe that a company can improve, but for me when I see people struggle that hard with something I just can't trust them.

Now why I run Team Associated equipment, when they bring out there Factory Team versions of there vehicles the base setup is always close and they upgrade there weak areas with the correct fixes. Also I have drove Associated since I started with the RC10T years ago. I have drove quite a few cars over the years Kyosho, Losi, Jammin, Traxxas, Mugen have all done me well over the last 18 years of RC racing.

Hopefully that helps,

it always spare parts, service and friends around you

I would never buy caster unless some big names started getting top three results with there cars in major events.

Also parts support/stock.

And also Quality and price need to be good also.

Local parts support doesnt matter to me as i buy online, but its good to know that the local hobbie shop can get parts in if needed.


I personally run Hot Bodies eight scale,

1. Hara has proven the car

2. Price is excellent on kit & parts are easy to get and priced great also.

3. Quality is Good (not always perfect but good)

4. Durability is excellent

Virtually no one runs Hot bodies at my local tracks and there's heaps of members and racers too. This does not bother me at all as the above key points are there. :)

Most peeps at my track locally do just follow the crowd, for setup help etc i think..

I know This is in the electric thread but its all the same

There is no "in this corner" so far. I appreciate the honest answers and it tells me where we need to work in the US as a market.

There is no right or wrong answer and so far it is exactly what I expected.

1.) Caster people tend to be silent or hang out at our forums.

2.) Caster used to have a really bad reputation and it has improved because I have focused on getting the cars to where they need to be more than trying to market them.

3.) We shouldn't have released the 1/10 when we did due to our size. There is a difference between AE or HPI sending out a car with issues vs us. I know another brand who is battling something similar.

So far, it is a toss up for the bet. Keep them coming. I was leaning towards a top notch driver doing well and finishing races as being a necessity where the others said it wasn't important.

Get me a reasonably priced, top quality, competitive electric 1/10th scale vehicle that isn't fragile.
Also, I need parts availability (local or online). Again at a reasonable price.
Finally, I do not care who drives them... Mitch, Ruona, Kinwald, etc. etc. can drive anything into first place.

As long as it works as well as my B4/T4/B44, yet cost me less $$$, I'm all in.

There/Their/They're. Sound the same, way different meanings...

There: Put the car there on the grid. It describes placement.

Their: It's their freakin car. Let them drive it.

They're: It's the contraction of they and are. "They're going to make improvements to the car as they find better ways to do it"

I'm pretty much an Associated guy. Always have been. Owned one Losi, One Traxxas a couple of Entry level Tamiyas and currently have a Hyper 10 TT that is a lot of fun to run.

I think the offerings from folks like Durango, JQ, Agama, Caster....the small guys driven enough by their passion to put it on the line for the most part are pretty, but unless I can go in my local LHS/track and point to a new part to replace one I just broke, it's just a pretty car.

Reason i wouldnt buy a durango is because they take ages after they tease people with pictures of cars (DEX408) to release them. They have not won any MAJOR races yet or championships with there DNX408 which im not here to talk about there SC or 1/10th cars. I brought my car because of the different look, its not just a normal old metal chassis.

Also once you have your car, it should be yourself who deals with it, its ok to ask people for help but at the end of the day you cant run back to the company to cry about it.

If you don't have an established reputation in the industry then you need to "wow" us with something to spark our interest. Durango did this for me with their outside the box designs and apparent focus on quality. Now there are 2 dex410s and 2 desc410s in my brother and I's racing stable. "Wow" can also be accomplished by winning major races, price (assuming the quality is there...), or a bunch of other ways that I am sure you're already aware of.

Parts availability is crucial too. If the local store/track doesn't stock parts for the vehicle when you break then you have to sit around and wait for the UPS man. I was all set to buy a TQ buggy for my bro since they looked really good at the local track but guys were having major issues getting parts. Even if the issues are now solved and parts are available the company lost my interest at the time and I went a different direction.

I don't think I need to mention the quality aspect. You seem to have been around long enough to know how important that is. Customer service/product support are
also a concern, but many will deal with problems there if the product is good. Price is also a factor, but the slew of $700 Durangos running around pretty much says that racers will pay for something if they feel it's worth it.