POLL: Thrustmaster T300RS/GTE Reliability Poll

  • Thread starter VBR
  • 504 comments
  • 112,622 views

Have you had any problems with your T300RS/GTE?

  • Total voters
    313
I have just had a second failure on a wheel that was replaced only a week ago, same failure, no red light, nothing at all

Sadly I bought a second wheel last week at the same time as I collected my replacement

Shall I take them back to the shop, ask for a refund on both of them and buy a Fanatec?

I would have thought that a wheel that fails twice in eight weeks is hardly fit for purpose!
 
Already going for the fourth replacement in a month.
First one lasted 5 days, but had issues from out of the box and the other two were broken out of the box, with one with evidences of being used.
The last one I've posted today here about the first issue I have found.

So if I ask for a replacement unit, it will be the forth t300 in a month with only 5 days of using it.
It's great when it works but you need the win the lottery to have one that works more than a few weeks. So it's not worth it. Bad production quality.

I bought nine cause I got it for 270 dollars ( 220 euros ), but I don't understand why people buy the gt versions that are almost the price of a fanatec.
 
Last edited:
foxymop
Already going for the fourth replacement in a month.
First one lasted 5 days, but had issues from out of the box and the other two were broken out of the box, with one with evidences of being used.
The last one I've posted today here about the first issue I have found.

So if I ask for a replacement unit, it will be the forth t300 in a month with only 5 days of using it.
It's great when it works but you need the win the lottery to have one that works more than a few weeks. So it's not worth it. Bad production quality.

I bought nine cause I got it for 270 dollars ( 220 euros ), but I don't understand why people buy the gt versions that are almost the price of a fanatec.
Click to expand...

In the UK the T300RS GT is half the price of a Fanatec setup, I have given up with Thrustmaster and bought Fanatec through Amazon, delivery has been delayed due to the weather but Monday should be a good day!
 
rikcougar
And what percentage of sales end up as failures
Click to expand...

That's a good question. I was toying with the idea of asking them about that a while back, but decided that they probably wouldn't reveal that information, or that they might even "exaggerate" the numbers in their favor. I'd like to know how many failed inside the warranty period primarily.
 
VBR
That's a good question. I was toying with the idea of asking them about that a while back, but decided that they probably wouldn't reveal that information, or that they might even "exaggerate" the numbers in their favor. I'd like to know how many failed inside the warranty period primarily.
Click to expand...

As you say, you probably wouldn`t get a true answer from them!

The number of failures seems high but only the owners that experience problems complain!

It would be good to hear from those that have not had a problem to get an honest view of how bad the reliability is
 
rikcougar
It would be good to hear from those that have not had a problem to get an honest view of how bad the reliability is
Click to expand...

101 people voted in this poll that they haven't had any issues with their wheel, & some of them have posted their positive experiences in this thread as well.
 
True. But how many were newly buy users? How many of those 101 have problems now?

IT would be cool to know. Hehe.

But 53% had problems. More than 1/2 of the production is faulty. That's a lot.

A lot of people had 2, 3, 4, 5 replacements and all were faulty out of the box or got problematic after a few days.

That means that the 1/2 increases even more.

I only read 1 or 2 guys that stated that they didn't had any trouble in more than a year of usage.

But.... I loved the wheel and it's a shame that it's the only nice wheel in the market in that price range.
 
VBR
I just sent Thrustmaster the following message:


"I ran a poll on a very big internet forum regarding the reliability of the T300RS & GTE wheels, here are the results: https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/threads/poll-thrustmaster-t300rs-gte-reliability-poll.329969/

My question is this: would you be willing to reveal to us the true statistics of how many of these wheels failed during the warranty period vs how many that didn't?"


Let's see what they do!
Click to expand...

If you don`t ask you don`t get

Interesting to see what they come back with

Looking at the Logitech and Fanatec wheels, the power supply is external to the wheelbase, could this be part of the problem?
 
foxymop
True. But how many were newly buy users? How many of those 101 have problems now?

IT would be cool to know. Hehe.

But 53% had problems. More than 1/2 of the production is faulty. That's a lot.

A lot of people had 2, 3, 4, 5 replacements and all were faulty out of the box or got problematic after a few days.

That means that the 1/2 increases even more.

I only read 1 or 2 guys that stated that they didn't had any trouble in more than a year of usage.

But.... I loved the wheel and it's a shame that it's the only nice wheel in the market in that price range.
Click to expand...

This is the point, it is a nice wheel but quality control lets it down badly, taking the psu outside of the unit would add to cost but might help longevity
 
rikcougar
If you don`t ask you don`t get

Interesting to see what they come back with

Looking at the Logitech and Fanatec wheels, the power supply is external to the wheelbase, could this be part of the problem?
Click to expand...
Im pretty sure the internal PSU is the main problem. Most problems are because of overheated motors and/or PSU. Never understood why they never fixed it with an external powersupply.
 
I had more problems with the default pedals. Huge break dead zone in one set and the other replacement had the break pedal dead. Both out of the box, wish sacred me even more.

The other one developed the typical clunky noise after 5 days without any abuse or too high FFB.

I treated it like a glass wheel cause I though the issues were related to over heat, and I didn't needed more than 50% so I thought I was safe.

I was wrong. Lol

Now I got back to controller, cause A - g29 has dead zone in the middle and B - t150 is thrustmaster... so I don't know if has the same "good" quality of the t300.

I'm going for a CSL in the end of the year and till there I need a wheel, but.... there are not many options... maybe I'll risk it and go to the t150 that it's almost 100 bucks cheaper than the g29, and I can "mod" the crappy pedals
 
VBR
I just sent Thrustmaster the following message:


"I ran a poll on a very big internet forum regarding the reliability of the T300RS & GTE wheels, here are the results: https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/threads/poll-thrustmaster-t300rs-gte-reliability-poll.329969/

My question is this: would you be willing to reveal to us the true statistics of how many of these wheels failed during the warranty period vs how many that didn't?"


Let's see what they do!
Click to expand...

They replied that the information is not available (to customer service agents I assume). When I enquired further & asked to be passed on to someone who would have that information, they simply ignored me & haven't even bothered to reply.
 
VBR
They replied that the information is not available (to customer service agents I assume). When I enquired further & asked to be passed on to someone who would have that information, they simply ignored me & haven't even bothered to reply.
Click to expand...
I have written a few e-mails to Thrusmaster as well asking for info about new products in development and their lack of aftersales. Just reposting pics with thrusmaster gear is not my definition of PR. It would be great if they would build more anticipation for new products, company philosophy and the direction they are taking. Fanatec does that a little better... but then again, there are also things thrustmaster does better then Fanatec.

From a business pov I dont think the failure rate is no way at 50%. If it was you could try to sue them in a class-action for selling a faulty product knowingly to the public. It also is way more costly to replace/repair every faulty product then to update the QC or a revision of the wheel.

That said, I have rarely seen any complaints about their latest Ts-pc/xw line of wheels.
 
They only do Marketing better than Fanatec.

I believe its more than 50%. With all the people i talk that have or had the T300, only 1 or 2 had zero problems with more then a year of use.
The one that say "oh i never had a problem, i only had to open the pedals and..." shh shh shh thats a problem.

a few days ago i was playing and some other player said he had the T300. I had to ask him if he had problems. Guess what.... Do i have to finish the story?
 
My first T300RS worked great throughout the warranty period then many months later decided it only wanted to steer HARD to one side...and remain there. Very violent, and dangerous, in action should your hand get inside the spokes.

Not wanting to pay the shipping and diagnosis fees to Thrustmaster, and subsequent repair fees (IF repairable), I decided to buy a new servo base on Amazon along with a SquareTrade 3-Year Electronics Protection Plan ($200-250) covering the Amazon purchase. This will either repair or outright replace the unit should it die on me a third time.

With my replacement base, very fine steering inputs off center results in an electronic "feedback-like" audible noise from the base but otherwise the unit is functioning fine.
 
foxymop
They only do Marketing better than Fanatec.

I believe its more than 50%. With all the people i talk that have or had the T300, only 1 or 2 had zero problems with more then a year of use.
The one that say "oh i never had a problem, i only had to open the pedals and..." shh shh shh thats a problem.

a few days ago i was playing and some other player said he had the T300. I had to ask him if he had problems. Guess what.... Do i have to finish the story?
Click to expand...
Thrustmaster is a business. I get that your frustrated from your own experiences, but look at it from a business perspective. If a product has 50% failure rate... What would this do to your profitmargin? For a company it is all about the money! If you looked at the internet during apple antennagate you would have thought at least 50% had the problem, yet they crushed sales that year?
The thing is that people are way more vocal about failures then if they dont. But even if its at 10%, that already is way too high!
 
DUC748inMD
With my replacement base, very fine steering inputs off center results in an electronic "feedback-like" audible noise from the base but otherwise the unit is functioning fine.
Click to expand...
Mine is like this. When powered on but not in a game for example if I put a small amount of left or right movement / force onto the wheel I get a funny electronic sound.

But still going strong. I bought it a year ago, 2nd hand. No issues even if I'm playing for a few hours straight
 
Pocket, profit margin?
The t3pa pedals are plastic toys that probability won't take more than $0.5 to make, and they sell it for $100.

Have you seen the inside of the t300? It's a cheap toy sold for a lot of money. There's the profit. Sell low quality builds like it is high quality.

Did you see the useless t300 basic pedals, that cost $300? They are worthless. Pedals like that in a $300 wheel? It costs what? $0.1 to make? It's cheap plastic with nothing inside.

In a business respective, it's awesome. There's almost no competition ( only Logitech than probably with only two wheels, sell more than TM with 10 wheels), so let's make cheap products and sell for a high price. It will cover the RMA costs.

Do you see any one who had more than one Fanatec broken? I don't.
Do you see any one who had more than 3 t300 broken. I do. A lot.

And we didn't get together to conspire against TM.

The CSL is $500.
The t300 Alcântara is $450

Almost the same price.
It's like buying a Fiat for the price of a Lamborghini.

Their profit in every unit sold probability is huge and covers all the rma.

The problem with Fanatec is their marketing. Only people inside sim racing know Fanatec.

People around me that are gamers but are not inside sim racing, only know Logitech and Thrustmaster.

If Fanatec start to take space in the shelfs next to TM wheels, start to make themselves noticed and lowers a bit the price of CSL, sh*** would it the fan for TM.

But even so, I liked the wheel a lot. (The only one that worked from the 3 I got).
It works well. But it's badly and cheaply made. It's not made to last.
And I only bought it cause I got it on sale really cheap.
 
foxymop
Pocket, profit margin?
The t3pa pedals are plastic toys that probability won't take more than $0.5 to make, and they sell it for $100.

Have you seen the inside of the t300? It's a cheap toy sold for a lot of money. There's the profit. Sell low quality builds like it is high quality.

Did you see the useless t300 basic pedals, that cost $300? They are worthless. Pedals like that in a $300 wheel? It costs what? $0.1 to make? It's cheap plastic with nothing inside.

In a business respective, it's awesome. There's almost no competition ( only Logitech than probably with only two wheels, sell more than TM with 10 wheels), so let's make cheap products and sell for a high price. It will cover the RMA costs.

Do you see any one who had more than one Fanatec broken? I don't.
Do you see any one who had more than 3 t300 broken. I do. A lot.

And we didn't get together to conspire against TM.

The CSL is $500.
The t300 Alcântara is $450

Almost the same price.
It's like buying a Fiat for the price of a Lamborghini.

Their profit in every unit sold probability is huge and covers all the rma.

The problem with Fanatec is their marketing. Only people inside sim racing know Fanatec.

People around me that are gamers but are not inside sim racing, only know Logitech and Thrustmaster.

If Fanatec start to take space in the shelfs next to TM wheels, start to make themselves noticed and lowers a bit the price of CSL, sh*** would it the fan for TM.

But even so, I liked the wheel a lot. (The only one that worked from the 3 I got).
It works well. But it's badly and cheaply made. It's not made to last.
And I only bought it cause I got it on sale really cheap.
Click to expand...
Chill dude! Just dont buy TM stuff anymore! Never tried Fanatec so can not objectivelly comment. But from business perspective it’s just bad business to continue to sell a broken product if 50% fails. I only said it’s hard to believe their failure rate is that high and still keep selling it.
 
Hey, I'm chill. Did you see me using exclamation points? No. I'm just explaining my point.
Oh I see you're a Thrustmaster user.
Did you had to sent it back for replacement or rma.
Just out of curiosity.

It's not bad business. It's great business. If you don't like their broken wheels, go buy something else bellow the $500 price, and you're left with Logitech only with one wheel with 15 years old technology. You're trap. They know that.
I read all the horror stories before I bought it and I also though that couldn't be true, but I was trapped anyway. In the end, it was true.

But just look at the result of this poll. It's self explanatory.
 
foxymop
Hey, I'm chill. Did you see me using exclamation points? No. I'm just explaining my point.
Oh I see you're a Thrustmaster user.
Did you had to sent it back for replacement or rma.
Just out of curiosity.

It's not bad business. It's great business. If you don't like their broken wheels, go buy something else bellow the $500 price, and you're left with Logitech only with one wheel with 15 years old technology. You're trap. They know that.
I read all the horror stories before I bought it and I also though that couldn't be true, but I was trapped anyway. In the end, it was true.

But just look at the result of this poll. It's self explanatory.
Click to expand...
Guess you need an outlet for your experience. I do hear Fanatec has amazing stuff.
Did not have to send it back *knock on wood*. Had a DFGT and G29 before and wanted to upgrade to an ecosystem. I see your frustration with the brand. A good thing at least Fanatec is out there, though I do hope Logitech will bring something new to the table, with esports catching on.
 
super_gt
Me too,something like single belt drive or direct drive with 4Nm torque for about 400€.
Click to expand...
Logitech still seems to be a large sponsor. I never really minded the gears in the Logitech. I only upgraded for the better shifter and ability to change steering wheels, without modding. Maybe they could use a brushless motor with metal helical gears. That already would be much smoother then plastic ones and probably as reliable as direct gear. Im no engineer though, so i could be talking horse**** now.

It wasnt long ago Logitech wheels were the absolute standard in esports simracing.But at the moment the TS-PC racer seems to be the defacto standard in all these live events. So i guess Thrusmaster have fixed their reliability issues with this new generation.
 
Could have a potential problem. Recently the cooling fan has not turned on, nor will it turn on in the ‘forced’ mode. The wheel itself seems to work fine, however it feels like it’s running with less strength than before. Meanwhile I e-mailed TM support and they adivised to send them some test results.

Here’s the dilemma:

I’ve got a 2 year warrant from my retailer, so thinking about continuing to use it and possibly letting it die to simply exchange it for another.

OR:

Go through the TM process and send them the information and see what they recommend. The TM process seems to be an ordeal dismantling it only to have them tell me to take it back to the store.

All I know is I want to keep using it, so what does the community think?
 

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