Maxtrax

[FlyNdrive Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close FlyNdrive]

Re: Maxtrax

Of course not, but the Mk II model is now available on the Maxtrax site for about $20 more plus postage. I will try to ring Discount Car Accessories when I get time to see if they have the new ones or when they expect to get them. Will report back.

The new MAXTRAX MK 2 will be available at Supercheap or BCF.

The new model can also be linked together to create a chain of MAXTRAX to avoid getting stuck in the first place.

[kevinbloomfield Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close kevinbloomfield]

Re: Maxtrax

Of course not, but the Mk II model is now available on the Maxtrax site for about $20 more plus postage. I will try to ring Discount Car Accessories when I get time to see if they have the new ones or when they expect to get them. Will report back.

Why $20 more? do they contain more plastic?
These Maxtrax are a total ripoff, $300 for a few KG of hard plastic! I get that when you are stuck on the beach they are invaluable but the resellers are taking advantage of this.
I'm surprised though that ARB don't have their own version with the ARB logo on for $599 (and some mugs would still buy them because of the logo)

[ntp Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close ntp]

Re: Maxtrax

Why $20 more? do they contain more plastic?

$20 more because they are new, for the new design 'intellectual propertty, for a new strap that now comes with them and because nothing ever gets cheaper.

They are only a rip-off if you don't like the price. Clearly there is a market for them and I see them as excellent value for money even though I hope I never really need them (a bit like insurance).

If you don't like the price, don't buy them. Simple.

[Schaffer Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Schaffer]

Re: Maxtrax

These Maxtrax are a total ripoff, $300 for a few KG of hard plastic! I get that when you are stuck on the beach they are invaluable but the resellers are taking advantage of this.
I'm surprised though that ARB don't have their own version with the ARB logo on for $599 (and some mugs would still buy them because of the logo)

If you need to do a self recovery then MaxTraxs are great. If you can't recover yourself and you need to pay then you would pay more. Bushranger, owned by ARB, have something similar but is a flexible rubber track and no it dfosn't cost $600.

So you don't want a set. Big deal. Get over it.

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

Re: Maxtrax

Kevinbloomfield wrote
These Maxtrax are a total ripoff, $300 for a few KG of hard plastic! I get that when you are stuck on the beach they are invaluable but the resellers are taking advantage of this.

I reckon they are excellent value for money. I don't mind paying when something works as well as these do. The Maxtrax obviously are priced to include all the original design and R&D that would have gone into them, the rip offs are exactly that, taken a good idea ripped it off, changed it slightly; and then sell it for less because no R&D needs to be factored.

There are plenty of other cheaper alternatives like floor mats or shade cloth, even old milk crates cut up. Many of the people on this forum would be punting around in rigs that could be valued up to 100k plus; especially if you add a camper trailer into the equation. $300 is dirt cheap insurance from my point of view.

never leave home without em

Cheers Andrew

[ntp Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close ntp]

Re: Maxtrax

$300 is dirt cheap insurance

That's funny - I reckon they should use that as their slogan. Because they are exactly that "dirt cheap insurance". :wink:

[longdog Member Find all posts View Profile Close longdog]

Re: Maxtrax

When I said $20 more plus postage I was referring to the fact that Maxtrax actually direct sell from their website. Their price is $299 plus postage (I guess that's full retail). This is for the Mk II version.

There was mention above of a good discount deal at discountcaraccessories.com.au - when I checked their website it is $274 including postage (so it's actually a $25 difference plus postage) - however the product pictured is the old model. They may sell the new model for the same price, maybe they just haven't updated the photo. I'll need to check when I get a chance to call them during business hours. This is a saving of well over $50 if you buy 2 sets so it's worth checking.

As for value for money - well I've seen them in action and I consider them to be very good value for money for what you can achieve with them, and I'll probably get a lot more use out of them than my $1600 winch, so I'm going to buy a set or two. I hear some Pajero and Nissan owners don't consider Prados to be value for money either... :wink:

[kevinbloomfield Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close kevinbloomfield]

Re: Maxtrax

The point was that $300 is far too much for what they are. Here in Australia we get ripped off with practically everything we buy. I believe the Maxtrax are excellent but if anyone thinks $300 is good value then I wish I had your bank account rather than mine.
I suppose whilst people continue to accept the rip off prices the retailers will continue to charge the prices they do.

This is not a criticism of Maxtrax or any other product, it's a criticism of the retailers like ARB, TJM etc who are making a fortune out of us.

I'd like to know what they buy these for from Maxtrax, I'd be betting on $150 - $170 max

Back to Maxtrax, I just looked at the copies on Ebay, has anyone bought any of these for $199 and how do they compare to Maxtrax?

I get that Maxtrax, ARB, TJM are good at marketing but that doesn't make them the best products does it?

[longdog Member Find all posts View Profile Close longdog]

Re: Maxtrax

Agree with you there. Just look at the prices in the USA compared with here on just about anything (including Toyotas)...

[kevinbloomfield Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close kevinbloomfield]

Re: Maxtrax

Agree with you there. Just look at the prices in the USA compared with here on just about anything (including Toyotas)...

Yep, can you believe that ARB (an Australian company) charges less in the US than what we pay here.
The Maxtrax are the same price (actually $295 US$) and they have to be shipped from here.

Anyway, I'm going to the 4WD show in Brissy soon so maybe pick up some bargain Maxtrax's. Of course, they think knocking $10 off is a massive bargain ;-)

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

Re: Maxtrax

$300 is dirt cheap insurance

That's funny - I reckon they should use that as their slogan. Because they are exactly that "dirt cheap insurance". :wink:

Maybe i could patent the slogan and sell it to maxtrax. They should be able to afford to pay a decent price as they are ripping us off for thier product :wink:

Kevinbloomfield wrote
The point was that $300 is far too much for what they are. Here in Australia we get ripped off with practically everything we buy. I believe the Maxtrax are excellent but if anyone thinks $300 is good value then I wish I had your bank account rather than mine.
I suppose whilst people continue to accept the rip off prices the retailers will continue to charge the prices they do.

I once read a sign in a store that said
We offer the best products
we offer the best prices
we offer the best aftersales service
customers may choose whichever two they like.

just a thought :wink:

Cheers Andrew

[kevinbloomfield Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close kevinbloomfield]

Re: Maxtrax

$300 is dirt cheap insurance

That's funny - I reckon they should use that as their slogan. Because they are exactly that "dirt cheap insurance". :wink:

Maybe i could patent the slogan and sell it to maxtrax. They should be able to afford to pay a decent price as they are ripping us off for thier product :wink:

Kevinbloomfield wrote
The point was that $300 is far too much for what they are. Here in Australia we get ripped off with practically everything we buy. I believe the Maxtrax are excellent but if anyone thinks $300 is good value then I wish I had your bank account rather than mine.
I suppose whilst people continue to accept the rip off prices the retailers will continue to charge the prices they do.

I once read a sign in a store that said
We offer the best products
we offer the best prices
we offer the best aftersales service
customers may choose whichever two they like.

just a thought :wink:

Cheers Andrew

So which 2 do you reckon it is Andrew?
Best product? is it better than the chinese copies? (if so, how?)

Best prices? There seems to be some price fixing going on with these. I see on the 4WD Action forum there was a few people getting together to do a group buy. For some strange reason they were stopped from doing the group buy. Now I wonder what the wholesale price is for these? any 4WD shop owners care to divulge (20% markup would seem fair)?

Best aftersales? I can't imagine the Maxtrax going wrong much due to what they are (a piece of plastic) so aftersales probably isn't a key thing.

[Snaga Wishing I was lost Find all posts View Profile Close Snaga]

Re: Maxtrax

I saw the new version on the shelf at a Super Cheap Auto on the Gold Coast over the weekend. $295.00 was the price.

Also, most people know that I shoot a lot of the images now for Maxtrax but I had been using them for a few years before that... well before I started shooting for Brad.
A while back I organised a Group Purchase of the Maxtrax (was it here or on Overlander :?) but talking directly with a good friend and retailer of the product I couldn't get the Group Buy price lower that $275 (or $279... can't remember). There's not much margin in the product back then and I'm sure there's not a lot now.

While I wouldn't have a clue what Brad spends on R&D or even how much the maxtrax wholesale for I do know that they're not just planks of plastic... they are highly engineered to do the job they are designed for and they do it well.
Brad makes a point of using Australian products/manufactures where ever he can and could probably make them cheaper by going off shore with some of the production line... but he doesn't.

I would be interested to see if the eBay set can withstand the punishment the Maxtrax get. I've always been pretty gentle with mine until I saw how Brad treated two sets on a dune at the back of Stockton beach at 9 at night. Got his D-Max off a precarious slope and up the dune. The new ones doubled up can now act as a short bridge I believe... can't see the eBay ones doing that.

Anyway... I agree with Andrew's sign.
I used to work in Pro Camera sales a while back and went by the same mantra.

If you wanted me to match a box price from another camera retailer then you paid for the after sales service that would have come with the non-discounted price.. not an inflated price, just not discounted.

my 2c (+GST)

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

Re: Maxtrax

Keveinbloomfield wrote
So which 2 do you reckon it is Andrew?
Best product? is it better than the chinese copies? (if so, how?)

Best prices? There seems to be some price fixing going on with these. I see on the 4WD Action forum there was a few people getting together to do a group buy. For some strange reason they were stopped from doing the group buy. Now I wonder what the wholesale price is for these? any 4WD shop owners care to divulge (20% markup would seem fair)?

Best aftersales? I can't imagine the Maxtrax going wrong much due to what they are (a piece of plastic) so aftersales probably isn't a key thing.

Well obviously you pay top dollar for them, so it is product and aftersales service. As for them being better than the chinese ones, well i have no idea. I do know however that the originals are brilliant and the knock offs are untested to this stage.

As for after sales service, i imagine they don't have much call as their product is so good. I do like to think that if i had a problem I would get good service. I wouldn't be that confident of similar service with cheap Ebay knock offs, they either skimp on material quality (so might fail or break) or have such fine margins that they couldn't possibly offer good aftersales service.

Another of my favourite sayings that applies here comes from that Honda add a few years ago "Don't you love it when things just work", don't let me stop you from buying the knock offs, just don't complain if they tear to pieces or break and they don't replace them.

Cheers Andrew

[ntp Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close ntp]

Re: Maxtrax

Another saying is, "Tried and tested". These things are well and truly proven.

My two sets are cheap insurance, which, in the outback or an isolated spot, is just priceless (no pun intended :wink: ).

There are plenty examples of where these things have stood the test and performed as expected in harsh circumstances. And best of all, they are so simple to operate. No moving parts, easy to clean, light to move, etc.

Value for money - well each to their own. But I have 2x sets. Considering the cost of your vehicle and perhaps everything else - not that much extra really in the scheme of things. Less than 1 x tank of fuel.