Fanatec; Down the rabbit hole.

Everything I read seems to show that the product, when it  works is great, but the quality control, IE dependability, life of product testing, customer service communication, parts availability all seems lacking.

My guess is it started as an engineer building a great product with little business/customer service/quality experience/knowledge and because the initial units held such great promise compared to what was out in the market at the time, it grew at what appears to be an unmanaged rate. Emphasis on management.

You can build a great hamburger and lose your ass in the restaurant business. Happens all the time.

I really hope, for the fan bases sake they get ahold of this tiger and tame it. Never have I seen such loyalty to a mismanaged effort. Probably a testament to how well it is when it's right.

Agreed - I think the Clubsport pedal range has been the hidden jewel amongst all the Fanatec products for their price.  I got the V1 and the only problem I've had with them was replacement of one of the Hall effect sensor PCB's.  It was stil under warranty at the time so I ordered a loadcell and asked them to include it in the package and got it for zero shipping.  Their Hall effect replacement package include both the clutch and throttle boards (only difference I can see is the lenght of the wires back to the main PCB, so I now have spares for all the parts I consider could fail.  Looked at the V2 and V3 variants but can't justify to myself the cost of a new set as an upgrade as I've been totally happy with the build of the V1's and my friends who have come over and tried them love the look and feel

If I didn't already have Clubsport pedals, the V3 would be a non-brainer IMO; you will enjoy them once they arrive

All electronics have failure rates, but the Fanatec stuff seems to be more prone to malfunction.

well my V1 clubsports are still going strong after around 5/6 years, i did have 3 GT2 wheels in that time all under warranty and no problems with customer service but i might have been the exception

You are an exception Gizzie but not in the context of quality Fanatec support.

Parcells been racing exclusivley with Fanatec gear for 5-6 years now. Customer support was never an issue, had my original Turbo S wheel replaced when it broke and my Elite and V2 clubsport pedals are still going strong 2.5 years later. Have some replacement parts now to try to fix my V1 pedals for backup purposes which should work fine as every other part(s) are solid metal. 

Both sets of V1 Clubsport pedals that I previously owned worked great with no significant problems.  Similarly, my GT2 and CSR wheels also had no problems.  I had to RMA my CSR Elite wheel three times for burnt out motors.  My V1 Clubsport wheel worked fine for me, but the person I sold it to had to RMA it shortly after I sold it to him due to burnt out motors.  

My Thrustmaster gear has been more reliable, but not perfect.  My T500RS is still going strong after 3+ years of regular use, but I did have to replace one of the paddle switches.  I also had USB connection issues that were ultimately resolved by switching motherboards on my computer.  My first TX had problems out of the box and I ultimately had to RMA it.  The replacement has worked fine, as has my T300RS.  My THR8S shifters and my TH8A shifter have all worked perfectly, no issues.

My Logitech Driving Force GT wheel worked fine for the several months I used it.

My Microsoft Wireless racing wheel worked great for the 1 year or so that I used it.

My point is that the Fanatec stuff seems to have a higher failure rate in my personal experience compared to my Thrustmaster, Logitech or Microsoft sim racing gear, but that is not a significant factor in why I primarily use Thrustmaster gear.  I just generally have found that the Thrustmaster gear gives me better bang for my buck.

I have had my ups and downs with Fanatec products.

My first Fanatec wheel was the Speedster 3 Forceshock wheel for the original Xbox.  It worked fine until I stopped using it when I upgraded to the Xbox 360.

I pre-ordered the Turbo-S wheel for the Xbox-360 and waited a long time to get it.  It worked great for a while, then quit working.  It was under warranty and Fanatec replaced it and let me keep the old one.  The second one worked until I stopped using it when I got the CSR Elite wheel.

At the same time I ordered the Turbo-S, I also ordered the original Porsche pedals.  They worked fine until I stopped using them when I got CSP V1s.  I later gave them away and the person used them for about 2 years before they finally quit working.

My CSP V1 pedals had many problems.  I went through several hall sensors and load cells.  Fanatec did give me the hall sensors and a load cell and I bought more load cells because I kept breaking them.

I bought a set of CSP V2 pedals second hand from a friend who got them through the testing program Fanatec had.  I had nothing but problems with them.  Replaced multiple hall sensors and load cells.

I finally got fed up with Fanatec pedals and ordered ECCI pedals almost 2 years ago.  They are the last pedals I will ever need.  Built like a tank and work great.

I pre-ordered the CSR Elite wheel the first day it was available.  Never had any problems with it.  I still have it as my backup in case my CSW stops working.

I ordered the CSW V1 a little over 2 years ago.  It has worked great, never any problems.

I just got a CSW V2 a couple of weeks ago.  Had problems since day 1.  First of all, it was extremely difficult to get my BMW GT rim on because the tolerance is too tight.  Then I keep getting wheel disconnects after I use it for about 1/2 hour when it warms up.  I have went back to using my CSW V1.  Tonight I am finally going to be able to get the GT rim off the V2 so I can find out what is causing the disconnects.  I'm hoping it is the V2 base because that is still under warranty.

Fanatec products are great when they work.  The best advice I have for anyone that uses them is to always have a backup ready.