Why is the Durango so expensive?
 

Hi!
I have though about it for a while if I should buy a Durango or not, but recently I have started to wonder why its so expensive. A B44 is $320, DEX410 is $750. How come the Durango is more than twice as expensive as the DEX410? It doesnt really have more expensive components than the B44, and it should be really less expensive to produce the DEX410 than a RC8B, but no,no the RC8B is $499. This freaks me out. How can a 1/10th be more expensive than a 1/8th? What will Durangos 1/8th cost if the 1/10th is this expensive? Like $1000?

I have to admit that the Durango is cool and probably a great car, but dont you think its way to expensive? Do anyone know it the car will be sold at rcmushroom.com or other cheap sites soon? Or is there any other shop that sells the DEX410 cheaper than directly from the Durango site? Because this is redicilous.

I doubt it'll turn up at RC Mushroom for a while as Durango don't want to devalue their product.

The amount I've spent on my Cat SX getting the various option parts I've probably spent near Durango price..

Last season I raced a BMAX4 with champ pack for $250 and it works great. I wonder if the additional $500 dollars will even make me a second faster on 5 minutes. I mean, the Durango is 3 times more expensive than my Yokomo.. Thats just sick.

It has much - much higher quality components and costs a lot more to produce. If the B44 was built to the same specs it would cost the same - there's no arguing about that.

Why does the RC8 cost less than the DEX410 when it has a similar quality (debateable - I don't know) or components? Because its an 8th buggy - which naturally sells in higher volumes because of the size and popularity of that class of racing.

The b44 is a great car - but it's in no way comparable to a Durango in terms of materials or design time or what's included in the kit. If you want something comparable, wait for the Durango DEX410R - which should be much more on par with the B44 pricing and use less of the expensive alloy parts that come with the DEX410 and therefore be similar in spec to the B44.

Got to agree with Jimmy, the DEX410 is definately a Botique car, and the B44 more supermarket. Not saying that the Durango would be faster than the B44, but you got to look at the extra expenses of the car, quality and what not.

The Durango must be worth it, as there has been lots sold, and a car is only worth as much as someone is willing to pay for it.

hmm i look at it this way a Aston martin is big big bucks, but it has 4 wheels and a engine so does a skoda both do the same job why the big price difference, as already stated i guess quality of machined parts and production costs, you gets what you pay for,wana spend less buy a tomy or tonka,

Plus Associated are a big company when compared the Durango... (least i think so?)

You have to think though, why would Durango reduce the prics of their car when people are buying it at the price it is?

Its like when the lipo regulations came out... the pack has to cost less than £100 (something like that anyway)... So most companies that were selling theres for less bumped the price up to £90 ish, just because they could!

The DEX410 is US$650 not US$750.

Until
 

Until you have built one :confused:
Until you have driven one :confused:
Until you have maintained one :confused:

you will not understand ! The power of the Dark Side :bored: that is the

"DURANGO" :thumbsup:

I have had them all Cat/Yoko/Kyosho etc nothing compares !

Bondy
You said it in one post:thumbsup:

Yesterday the price was 749.99 on Durangos site. I thought they bumped the price another 100 bucks. Guess it was a typo then since its back to 650 now. Thats a more reasonable price. Ill order one as fast as they are back in stock :)

You wont be disapponted. Ive had 3 race's with mine and have not broke anything. The guys I race with are using, B44, Losi, Kyosho and every time they break one or two things. Our track is a clay/dirt, rough with big jumps and the durango takes all the abuse without stopping.

Like the other posts said, once you build you will undestand. It is a high quality car.

Just one last question! If I order it from durangos site, do they write the actual value on the package so I have to pay taxes etc or do they write that its worth like 50 bucks as when you order from HK?

Durango is starting from scratch and had to make lots of moulds to produce the Dex 410.
On the other hand AE uses TC3 gears and housings, B4 rear arms, cheap CF for the chassis and sells way more kits and products.

Quality of parts is one thing, volume of sales is another massive factor...

The same component will cost you more to make and sell the less you make of them...and that cost is passed on to the customer. Setup and tooling is amortised across the volume you produce

A rough example...not accurate in any way, but just to give you an idea...

A kit costs £200K in tooling and setup, £50k in development, marketing, etc.

Durango sell 1000 kits say...that £250k setup is split across those 1000 kits...so before you've actually bought the materials, or made any kits they've already cost you £250 per car! You then make the parts, and package them, send them to your distributors...the price of that needs adding as well....

Associated sell 10,000 kits say...so straight away they have a big advantage...each of their kits only have say £25 of setup cost to recover...they've already got a £225 advantage on the likes of durango.

It's a very rough, and nowhere near that simple in reality...but gives you an idea! :)

Ok, don't want to cause trouble here in a section in a car I don't own, but I also think it's only fair for people to be given a rounded impression:

First of all, the comments about Durango being startup, the volumes issue and AE using parts from other cars are all good reasons for extra cost.

Secondly, it is a gorgeous car and I assume metal gears/metal chassis etc are high cost items.

Thirdly, it's bloody tough, I've seen them take big hits without breaking, and the shock towers/gearbox cases seem from an outsiders view to be especially impressive.

Fourthly, it does seem a bloody quick car!


However....I keep gearing about "higher quality parts". This may be true, and I assume people will say so on here, but I have also been told by multiple owners of issues with the turnbuckles/slop appearing very quickly/faster than expected wearing of parts/cvds wearing out etc, more so than on other cars. If I'm wrong on that then please do correct me, but I wouldn't expect those issues on a car if I keep getting told about "higher quality parts" and paying extra!

I'm not slagging the car off here, I'm just saying that the fact it's quick, great looking, uses expensive materials, is tougher in accidents and a unique design philosophy are enough to justify the extra cost without also claiming higher quality if that's not the case!

If it really is higher quality then as I say, please put me right on here, and hopefully such responses will stop this being seen as negative, and convince even more people about it!

Best spent penny's ever. I wont look at other cars no more. There is no equal out there. Just have to wait until the 2wd arrives also.
http://www.qtl.co.il/img/copy.pnghttp://www.google.com/favicon.icohttp://www.babylon.com/favicon.ico

What about market forces?
As I understand it, one rule of business is you can only charge what the market with withstand. Clearly people are prepared to pay the price for this piece of engineering, so the manufacturer can charge this.

I beat a few Durango's at the Players with my Tamiya Durga :woot:, altho to be fair its probably got Durango money in it.

http://www.team-durango.com/ All i can see is out of stock? Is there antwhaer that you can get them from at the moment? I was told by Adam himself that it would be December 9th??:confused:

Bump! :D

there a legal ligit company i guess they do things correctly

Any tip on UK shops that ship overseas that do it the "illegal" way? Whats the price on the durango in england?

Yes I know where there is one... its in my Mates shop.

Told him to put it on Ebay and tell them you'll ship world wide :lol:

not quite true, serpent did the tooling when it was going to be the s500, but as bondy said till you have driven and used one, its not till then you apreciate what it is.
as for wear, i supose we wont have to keep rebuilding diffs with plates thrust races and good balls at around £20 to £30 a diff!

we dont have to pay taxes to ship stuff out, you may have to to recieve it tho
where are you?

Okay maybe, but someone must pay that tooling. I don't think Serpent gave the molds for free to Gerd when they gave up on the S500...

I just dont get it.. Now the price is back at $747.50 at durangos site.... They changed the price trice today?

Could the changes be due to exchange rate fluctuations between the £ and $ ?

Of course the single most important reason the Durango is so expensive is:

People will pay for it

In reality its that simple. Its also why TRF cars are pricy too, people are willing to stump up the cash.
If they weren't, the production Durango would have a host of cost saving features to bring its price down in line with what people were willing to pay.


Personally I don't mind how much the Durango costs, just as long as you can buy a B44 for a faction of the cost and still be competitive. If folks with spare cash want a no expense spared car thats cool with me, just as long as it doesn't drive up the costs for everyone else too.

The Tamiya is less than 300 bucks..

Its back at $650 now. I think they are doing some work on the website.

The car is so easy to work on and drives so good the price is justifiable. I wish it were closer to $550 shipped. If it were Id buy 1 or 2 more.

I doubt it since the price droped 100 bucks in a few hours, then highered 100 bucks again.. And the pound to us dollars shouldnt matter since its a dutch based company.

It still says 747.50 >.<

I don't see what the problem is, when people are happy to buy a B4FT, then an X6sq conversion, Losi Shocks, driveshafts, hangers etc... thats got to be up to the £350 mark.... or the X5sq, and sourcing either a used XX4 and new parts, plus conversion, etc.

So people are willing to pay through the nose, for an expected performance.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but $650 is a small price to pay
for a newly produced car that can do this in only a few months:

French National 4wd Champ
Italian National 4wd Champ
German National 4wd Champ
Japanese National 4wd Champ
World 4wd Champ

That also produces another question, who owns the tool or the rights for the parts? Is it possible that serpant could produce a durango car themselves?

You just have the look at the situation when MG Rover when under, one chinese company owned the tooling while another owned the rights. So the tooling was worth nothing. (it was something like that anyway).

It won in Japan, thought it was 3rd, not first?

The actual hardest to win championships in 2009 at a guess would be Japan, US, Euro and UK. It wasn't in UK in time, don't think any major driver ran it at US did they thus year(?), never looked like winning the Euro's but was in the A final so a good run, and if it really did win in Japan then that's very impressive! Next year will be the proof of the pudding though!

Out of interest mate, where?

I can't find it for under $450?

*shakes head at dave for Durango bashing - again!*

:lol:

You should just get one Dave - I know you want one! If it makes it any easier - you can always put Tamiya stickers on it and pretend?:p