Taurus Buyer Be Warned

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MCgunner said:
I own three, I'll buy more. If you're scared, say your scared. Are you scared?

Seriously, folks, you think Taurus is any different than Smith for QC? Get a life.

http://www.chuckhawks.com/smith-wesson_dark.htm
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I honestly can't believe you said that. I've never seen a Smith with the sights installed backwards...

Everyone has their problems. But Taurus is lightyears worse than anyone at QC. You've put up a few examples from Smith & Wesson which is outnumbered 100 to 1 by the Taurus problems this board alone has seen.
 
If your gun store will not stand behind any gun they sell...then get a different gun store.

There are now two gun stores in my area that have 100% guarantees. If a manufacturer is difficult to deal with, they tend not to carry their products.

This does mean that certain guns are not on their shelves. This includes most Taurus models (they do carry several Taurus revolvers). I also see few Colts, though that's changed as Colt improved its QC. Even the used guns are guaranteed.

I have returned guns to these stores up to a year after purchase because the product did not function well. It was a process that involved the store at every step. They knew the gun I had was junk and worked on getting it fixed. They paid for shipping back to the factory. Their own gunsmith looked at it and confirmed the problems. I ended up getting a full refund for the gun and accessories. I just turned that money around in the store, but they did do right.

As a result of all this, their business is booming, while other stores in the area are having a more difficult time.
 
So if my factory warrantied Chevy blows a head gasket @ 1,000 miles, and I take it to the shop down the street that is not an authorized dealer, should I expect to be reimbursed by GM?
 
Yes, my father's new Chevrolet Suburban (back in the mid-80's) had the head gasket go at about 50K miles, it was clearly OFF warranty. A "local" shop ripped the engine down and VIDEOTAPED the problem. There was a faulty head gasket that was not cut right and it was not allowing engine coolant down one of the cylinder housings. The bill was about eight thousand dollars to remove the entire engine, find the problem, rebuild the engine and document EVERYTHING.

GM (Chevrolet) paid my father the Bill - IN FULL, no questions asked!
My father went on to drive that thing until last year when he finally sold it for $25. as it had about 280,000 miles on it and everything was starting to go, not to mention everything was massively RUSTED TOGETHER!
 
my father's new Chevrolet Suburban (back in the mid-80's) had the head gasket go at about 50K miles, it was clearly OFF warranty.
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If he bought it new from the dealer,GM warranteed the powertrain for 100,000 miles in the '80s. Without the VIDEO EVIDENCE your father may still have been denied warranty because of an unauthorized shop doing the work.
 
Wow!? I didn't think they would do that!? I don't think they would do that now, or if they did - relent that easily.


Friendly, Don't Fire!


Yes, my father's new Chevrolet Suburban (back in the mid-80's) had the head gasket go at about 50K miles, it was clearly OFF warranty. A "local" shop ripped the engine down and VIDEOTAPED the problem. There was a faulty head gasket that was not cut right and it was not allowing engine coolant down one of the cylinder housings. The bill was about eight thousand dollars to remove the entire engine, find the problem, rebuild the engine and document EVERYTHING.

GM (Chevrolet) paid my father the Bill - IN FULL, no questions asked!
My father went on to drive that thing until last year when he finally sold it for $25. as it had about 280,000 miles on it and everything was starting to go, not to mention everything was massively RUSTED TOGETHER!
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Are you serious???



Getting a gunsmith to repair it and send them a bill maybe, but for adjusting a sight?

Still that might be considered somewhat of a reasonable expectation.



But paying you for doing your own repairs???

That's just plain nuts!

No company anywhere that makes anything is gonna pay some yahoo who sends them a bill for fixing it himself.


Just how exactly is it they are going to verify anything was actually wrong with it in the first place or that you actually repaired it and did so correctly???


Personally I've had bad experiences with their junk guns but even so I don't expect Taurus or any company to reimburse somebody for fixing their own gun.


My advice is buy something else besides a lousy Taurus in the first place but if you do get suckered in by the Bull don't expect them to reimburse you for fixing their clunker.

No company will do that.
 
Please, tell me how to contact you.... I want $50 worth of stuff for free with out verification that it was your companys fault.

Wouldnt you want to evaluate your product to at least 1) make sure its your fault and 2) to see if you need to take corrective action?
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I was thinking the same myself.

Around 10 years ago I walked into the local Toyota dealer to pick up some parts. Near the service bay entrance was parked a near new at the time Sienna minivan with the engine pulled. I thought this was a little odd, seeing a such a new car with an apparently cooked engine.

Come to find out from the tech standing nearby that the owner, who bought the van new a year + and 18,000 miles earlier, NEVER changed the oil :what: :eek: . He admitted such when the van was brought in on a hauler. Not surprisingly, the vehicle's warranty did not cover customer abuse.

So what if the same guy had taken is fried van to his buddy down at the local garage who wrote up the cooked engine as resulting from a manufacturing or material defect. Then said owner submitted the local shop's invoice for a new engine to Toyota. Would you expect Toyota to pay it, no questions asked?

I am by no means accusing you of trying to shake down Taurus. But as others have stated, you have to look at from Tauri's perspective.
 
lest we not forget, the resale value on the taurus is enough reason to go with another manufacturer.
 
Taurus quality seems to be hit or miss. They're the poster child for the old "you get what you pay for" adage. Two of my three Taurii revolvers had mechanical issues (cylinder binding) right out of the box. I won't be buying another one.

If enough former and prospective customers turn their backs Taurus will either get the message and improve their QC or they will go out of business.
 
the Taurus 1911 I used recently shot well, with one feed issue in 100 rounds.

I'd have no qualms about victimizing a used one by converting it to 10mm.

My old man picked up a 9 shot .22 tracker 2 months ago, after it's 5th range session, it's lost it's timing and is dropping the hammer between the rounds.

My friend with a .357 taurus has worn it while playing Basketball, jogging, and just about everywhere else without a proper holster. (I'm taking him out to find a proper IWB and a gun that won't dissolve in his sweat this year)

Pitted, coated with orange rust and cologne scum, screws nearly falling out, not cleaned in 5 years, I offered to clean it back up. Bit of elbow grease with a green scrubby and a toothbrush, a soak in oil.

It no longer looks like it's contracted Leprosy. It's timing is dead on. It needs to have it's shine made into even Matte scratches. But it's a Tank otherwise.

You get what you pay for, but if you can't afford $1000+, Taurus is happy to take your $400. (give or take)
 
My friend has a Taurus 809 that's been perfect, so far, and I kind of want one, but I've seen, and owned (one) so many of them with issues over the last 30 years, that I have not been able to actually pull the trigger to buy one. I offered to buy my friend's 809, since I know it works, but he overpaid for it, and wants what a new one goes for on GB or AA. I don't want to buy a dud, and have to wait months for it to come back, and then have it not be fixed, like my Taurus 83 was years ago.
 
OK, let's play a game. If I owned a company that makes a basically good and well designed product, but has serious quality control problems, I would

1) Spend a lot of bucks (or reais) and hire some hard-nosed line inspectors. Every part would be inspected and gauged, with spot checking by whatever testing I might think necessary, incluing destructive testing. Inspectors would monitor assemblers every minute. And every assembler and inspector would sign off on every gun they pass. If it comes back, costs of repair come out of their pay checks. Any production worker who turns out bad parts takes a hike - now, not if. Then,

2) I put in a full warranty repair and enough people to make it work in a reasonable time. After a while, I can reduce the CS and warranty repair staff because step 1) will have reduced the CS complaints and warranty work to some small, irreducible minimum.

After everyone gets on board with the idea that QC is THEIR problem, NOW, not some repair station's problem in six months, I could reduce the inspection staff some, but still keep pressure on the production guys. If I have problems with the local labor unions, I just tell them I will move the company somewhere else, like the U.S.A.

Jim
 
Taurus may be enjoying a sellers market. However, markets have a way of changing. Taurus may find that their poor business practices today will result in real financial problems in the future.
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So you define poor business practice as not sending you reimbursment for repair that may or may not have REALLY been done??? WOW!!!! You have proven yourself to NOT be a business man in any sense of the word.

You honestly think that if they sent a check to every Joe Blow who sent them a reciept, they would be better off?? They would have to file for bankrupcy and be out of business in a year.

GREAT business plan you have.
 
Long story, short. I owned a 24/7 OSS 9mm. The gun would not fire in double action mode. The screw holding the recoil spring on the rod was also walking off. After wasting a ton of time talking to Taurus, they finally sent me some parts to try and fix the gun. I was able to fix it. I saved Taurus at least $100, in shipping, admin and labor costs by fixing it myself and not sending it back.

I replaced the OSS with a brand new PT809.
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Let me get this right....

Instead of just boxing the pistol up and shipping it to Taurus, you wasted Taurus's time trying to get them to send you some free parts.
So you've already tied up a customer service rep who could have been helping other folks, thus costing Taurus both time and money.
And then, after they sent you the parts (at their shipping cost) and after you "fixed" the problem (I sure hope so for the next owner's sake) you turned around and replaced it.

Now some other guy is going to get the OSS, not realizing that a "backyard gunsmith" has already been monkeying around with it, and that the original warranty has been voided. :uhoh:

The 809 had two major problems. First, the front sight was visibly off center. Second, the trigger would stick and not reset. I paid a gunsmith to move the sight. I fixed the trigger. There were also some other small issues. I sent Taurus emails and letters simply asking to be made whole with respect to my costs. Again, I saved Taurus at least $100 in costs.
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If it was new, then why didn't you just send it back to Taurus instead of voiding the warranty on a second handgun?

The way I see it, you owe Taurus!
 
If he bought it new from the dealer,GM warranteed the powertrain for 100,000 miles in the '80s. Without the VIDEO EVIDENCE your father may still have been denied warranty because of an unauthorized shop doing the work.
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I've worked on a lot of GMs, for a few years in a GM dealership, thats the first I have ever heard of GM giving a 100k warranty on powertrain in the 1980's.
 
Seriously, folks, you think Taurus is any different than Smith for QC? Get a life.
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Having owned several examples of Both, YES, a $700 S&W is of noticeably superior quality to a $300 Taurus.

I have owned 4 smiths manufactured over several decades, and 5 Taurus Products. Any of the smiths operated more smoothly than ANY of the Taurus Products. All of the Taurus Products I have owned have broken or had major Reliability issues; all of the Smiths have stood the test of time and still operate smoothly and reliably today.

The 5 Taurus products are GONE, because they didn't work... You may occasionally hear of someone who had A (singular) Bad Smith/Ruger/Glock, but you don't see people who have owned MULTIPLE of any other major brand say they were all junk; that's EXACTLY what you have with Taurus over and over again.

But i probably just need to "Get a life" :rolleyes:
 
I bought a used Taurus PT 92 9mm in the mid 80s. 15 ? shot mags so I held on to it though Brady ban. I took my ccw class with that pistol but I sold it off about 2004.

The thing ran like a sewing machine and although I have moved on to other makes and models now I really wish I had not sold it.
 
Seriously, folks, you think Taurus is any different than Smith for QC?
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You beat me to it. Not just Smith though, the initial post describes the major players in the gun industry pretty well. They could all adopt the motto, "Pedicari te." Ive seen quite a few taurus revolvers and semi-autos that work very well. I have also heard many stories about their inability or unwillingness to attend to customer service and repairs.
 
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