Thule Euroclassic G6 3bike Failure
Mendikotar
Posts: 10
hello all, just to like to share a problem I've had with my Thule bike carrier. The carriers' design I find is excellent and ease of use second to none, however having purchased the carrier in December 2014 i did not expect the near catastrophic failure i experienced after seven months of trouble free use.
I was returning from Holiday with my family, carrier and bikes mounted as per usual, after aproximately 40km of mountain roads we joined the autoroute. I guess around 30kms later, having been driving around 110 - 120km/h ( i live in France by the way) the clamping mechanism fails and the whole rack, with i might add about 7000 euros worth of bikes, which did not exceed the weight limits of the carrier slips on the tow ball and drags the back edge of the carrier along the autoroute. Luckily there was very little traffic and no one close behind. I manage to pull safely onto the hard shoulder. On inspection part of the lever which secures the clamping system to the tow ball had fractured, releasing the grip on the ball. So impossible to put the carrier back in place. I called the recovery company to tow us off the autoroute. I informed the supplier of the carrier by email with photos of the incident, who told me to return it for inspection, which i duly did, carriage paid for by the supplier. They would take the matter up with Thule. The supplier respond on reception that Thule have not agreed on a warranty claim as for this to happen it must be user error! I believe they said this without any form of inspection of the carrier and no explanation of how they come to their conclusion. I have insisted that the supplier of the carrier return it to Thule for them to inspect it thoroughly. I await their response. IF it is truly user error, which i struggle to believe but could accept if given evidence and a valid explanation, fair enough, but to dismiss out of hand as user error without proper investigation i cannot accept.
In essence i love this carrier, its user friendliness and design, and would like to think i have been unlucky with this failure, but the after sales leaves a hell of a lot to be desired. To be clear I am looking for the replacement of the carrier, not compensation of any sort for other damages, cost of recovery etc. Watch this space. If anyone else has had any similar expériences i would like to know how they were resolved.
I was returning from Holiday with my family, carrier and bikes mounted as per usual, after aproximately 40km of mountain roads we joined the autoroute. I guess around 30kms later, having been driving around 110 - 120km/h ( i live in France by the way) the clamping mechanism fails and the whole rack, with i might add about 7000 euros worth of bikes, which did not exceed the weight limits of the carrier slips on the tow ball and drags the back edge of the carrier along the autoroute. Luckily there was very little traffic and no one close behind. I manage to pull safely onto the hard shoulder. On inspection part of the lever which secures the clamping system to the tow ball had fractured, releasing the grip on the ball. So impossible to put the carrier back in place. I called the recovery company to tow us off the autoroute. I informed the supplier of the carrier by email with photos of the incident, who told me to return it for inspection, which i duly did, carriage paid for by the supplier. They would take the matter up with Thule. The supplier respond on reception that Thule have not agreed on a warranty claim as for this to happen it must be user error! I believe they said this without any form of inspection of the carrier and no explanation of how they come to their conclusion. I have insisted that the supplier of the carrier return it to Thule for them to inspect it thoroughly. I await their response. IF it is truly user error, which i struggle to believe but could accept if given evidence and a valid explanation, fair enough, but to dismiss out of hand as user error without proper investigation i cannot accept.
In essence i love this carrier, its user friendliness and design, and would like to think i have been unlucky with this failure, but the after sales leaves a hell of a lot to be desired. To be clear I am looking for the replacement of the carrier, not compensation of any sort for other damages, cost of recovery etc. Watch this space. If anyone else has had any similar expériences i would like to know how they were resolved.
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Comments
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pictures?GIANT XTC 2.5
BOARDMAN TEAM FS - NOW GONE
NUKEPROOF MEGA TR 275 COMP
YT INDUSTRIES CAPRA0 -
Thule G6 929 failure0
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Thule G6 929 failure 20
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Not a lot to say apart from I'd be doing the same in your shoes. Thule products are normally pretty solid but I'd be wanting a lot more explanation than user error.0
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Posted photo 2 on Thule's Facebook page with a bit of a rant, got a response this morning, a bit more positive. They are going to contact their Belgian office who are supposed to be dealing with the distributor, who they said they would also contact. We'll see what happens now.0
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A quick update; well the phrase "wishfull thinking" springs to mind. Both Thule and AS Adventures (the company I purchased the carrier from have basically been sat on their hands for two months! Nothing has moved and to add insult to injury AS Adventures tell me Thule have the carrier at the same tome as Thule claim to have not yet received it! Do these companies care about their reputations? Do they have an aftersales service worth the name? I have given AS Adventures 10 days to get me a replacement carrier, after this delay I launch legal action against them and they can sort the rest out with Thule. Frankly the way I and the problem have been treated is a joke. To all owners and prospective owners of Thule products be very wary of their aftersales service. I am not alone here.0
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Well good news, when Thule got around to inspecting the rack they agreed this was not user error and that an element of the rack had failed. They have agreed to replace the rack with a new one. As for why and what exactly happenned/failed I cannot enlighten you, I'm just happy to be getting a replacement rack and happy that Thule have eventually backed up their guarantee.
Now just have to be patient for delivery!
JW0 -
Mendikoter.
Have just joined the forum and read your post with interest as I was about to buy the two bike version of the G6 carrier.
I've always thought that too much depended on too little when it comes to the clamping of the whole lot to a 50mm tow ball and you have confirmed my suspicions.
I also didn't like the treatment that Thule and your supplier gave you when you complained initially and on these grounds I have not purchased a Thule tow ball mount carrier.
Some time has passed since your original post and I wondered if you had any further info that would help myself and others?
Thanks.
Chummy.0 -
Awesome thread ressurection, but he hasn't posted since his rant, or logged in for a long time.
Plenty of people use towbar mounted carriers without issues. Even more use Thule stuff without problems. Sometimes bad stuff happens.I don't do smileys.
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Parktools0 -
as stated above they sorted it in the end.Mendikotar wrote:Well good news, when Thule got around to inspecting the rack they agreed this was not user error and that an element of the rack had failed. They have agreed to replace the rack with a new one. As for why and what exactly happenned/failed I cannot enlighten you, I'm just happy to be getting a replacement rack and happy that Thule have eventually backed up their guarantee.
Now just have to be patient for delivery!
JWGIANT XTC 2.5
BOARDMAN TEAM FS - NOW GONE
NUKEPROOF MEGA TR 275 COMP
YT INDUSTRIES CAPRA0 -
Cheers guys,
Given the date of the original post and the absence of any other issues since, regarding these tow ball mounted bike carriers, I'm wondering if the author tightened up the tensioning adjuster too much and then 'murdered' the lever down to clamp the carrier to the tow ball thereby causing the metal fatigue. He got a replacement carrier and hasn't reported any issues since.
I'll go ahead and buy the evocompact two bike version because it will fit in the boot if I need to stow it after use, whereas the G6 is much longer and more difficult to do so.
The G6 drops down lower with bikes on it by using the release foot pedal, to enable you to gain access to the rear of the vehicle via the tailgate door, but the trade off is the carrier's overall length and ability to be stowed in the boot of the car, which is where the evocompact wins but which doesn't drop down so far!
Oh well, still brilliant buy design and very capable and Thule's unquestionable build quality. Shame it has such a high price tag!
Great forum.
Chummy.0
