Taylormade Driver Cracking!?

Graylyn LoomisProduct Reviews20 Comments

Have you ever had a poor experience at a restaurant that was so bad you never wanted to eat there again? Apply that same idea to what has recently happened to my Taylormade R9 460 driver. During a normal round of golf, the clubhead cracked upon contact with the ball. What has followed the incident during past few weeks has led to an abandonment of my love for Taylormade woods and the purchase of a new Titleist driver.

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Here is some background to my story: I used to love Taylormade woods. I have played the Taylormade R580, the Taylormade Burner, the Taylormade Superfast, and the Taylormade R9 460. I have loved each driver and was giving thought to purchasing a new R11 before this debacle.

Before heading home to North Carolina before Christmas, I was playing one of my final rounds here in St Andrews. I was out on the New Course on a cold December morning. My first driver of the day came on hole number two. Immediately upon contact with the ball, something didn’t feel right, and the sound produced upon contact was terrible. I looked down to realize that the head of my R9 460 had cracked right down the top of the driver. I was shocked to say the least! I finished up the remaining sixteen holes teeing off with my 3 wood.

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My disappointment with Taylormade didn’t emerge from the failure of the driver, but how they have since handled the issue. Post-round, I took the driver up to Auchterlonies, a golf store off the 18th green of the Old Course. They are an authorized Taylormade dealer and recognized that I had also flattened out the face of the driver! They called Taylormade to ask about the issue. Their answer was along the lines of, “Driver heads crack on occasion with heavy use. This driver is outside of its 2-year warranty, and therefore we can’t do anything for the customer.”

IMG_7740Is it acceptable that a well-kept, non-abused driver should crack after a mere two years of use? If it does crack, isn’t it reasonable to think that the company would replace the driver even if outside of the coverage? Taylormade’s warranty states: “This warranty does not cover normal wear and tear. All cosmetic and other repairs not covered under this warranty may be made for a fee.” Is the driver head cracking during a round “normal wear and tear”? I may be off the mark, but I don’t believe it is.

Unfortunately, Taylormade has lost a loyal customer from these interactions. Has anyone else experienced a driver head cracking? How did the company handle it?

20 Comments on “Taylormade Driver Cracking!?”

  1. Sorry to hear about your experience with TaylorMade Customer Service. I also have an R9 460 and was playing golf on Monday, July 9, 2012. I hit a normal drive on a par 4 hole and heard a funny noise as the driver hit the ball. I looked down at the club and had a crack across the top. I called TM and to make a long story short they directed me to Dick’s Sporting Goods where everything was taken care of and they supposedly are supposed to be sendign me a brand new club within the next 7 to 10 days. I guess we will see!

  2. I have had this problem with my taylormade club, however it is not the driver but the 3 wood, i asked my pro at my golf club and he said he cant do anything for me, but i will not accept his answer! i think a club that costs a lot of money shouldnt crack and when it does it should be replaced with no problem or hassell at all !

    1. I completely agree that Taylormade should replace the clubs without question. With the first comment, it sounds as though it is Dick’s solving the problem instead of TM. I hope the new club comes and lasts longer than the first!

  3. Same exact thing happened to my TM burner that was bought brand new in spring 2011. This is total BS. What a POS company. I’m going with a complete overhaul. Hanging up all TM irons and woods.

  4. I have just read this with interest as my young son has just had the same experience with the R11, Personally I’m a Titleist man through and through and have never seen anything like this before. To say that I was shocked to see it on a 11 month old club being used by a very good 12yr old is an understatement. I’m going to take it back to retailer this week, I will update post when I get news. BTW have you played Lundin Links? beautiful course just down the road from StAndrews well worth a visit. Richard

  5. It’s disappointing to hear that this has happened to so many people with Taylormade drivers… For now, my Titleist driver is hitting it long and is still in one piece. Richard, I am yet to make it down to Lundin Links, but have heard great things. It’s on the to-do list for this spring!

  6. My TM R11s driver has cracked on the trailing edge of the head around the top rim. I took it out to practice one day and noticed it cracked so I have no idea how this happened. There is no impact damage and it certainly cannot be attributed to ball impact being on the opposite side of the club head. It has to be a serious flaw in the manufacturing or bad design.

    1. Same thing happened to my rbz tour driver. no impact point same spot on driver, hairline crack. its outside of the 2 year warranty period. Should I even bother trying to get a new one? seems like TM has a horrible return policy.

      1. Hi Dan, When I contacted TaylorMade about replacing the head on my driver they said I was out of luck. There was nothing I could do since it was outside of the 2 year warranty period… I went on to buy a Titleist driver that is still intact and working years later! If you end up reaching out to TaylorMade and have any luck, comment back and let us know what came of the experience!

  7. I had the same issue with a Callaway driver. My Razr Hawk caved in where the metal face meets the composite body. I swung clean connecting to the ball and the ball only. At impact I heard a terrible thud and knew right away that something had gone wrong. I called customer service to receive the same answer (past warranty, nothing we can do for you). As a result I wound up getting a Taylor Made Driver as Callaway had left a bad taste in my mouth. I think that with a lot of manufacturers they push performance on these “woods” to the point of durability taking a back seat. Anyways, I now have a driver from the same manufacturer as my old tour preferred spoon.

    1. JD, thank you for the comment. It is a shame that quality and durability have taken a back seat to performance and pushing the newest product! The Titleist driver that replaced the cracked Taylormade is still perfect years later… Titleist gained a new customer!

  8. I just had a crack like yours show up in my TaylorMade R9 driver yesterday. The Golf Galaxy store I bought it from is returning it to TaylorMade today (.4/27/2015) so we’ll have to wait and see what they say.

    1. Thanks for the comment, Jeff. I hope that you have more luck with TaylorMade than I did. I loved that R9 while I had it… If you have any news to report, shoot over another comment!

  9. I had that happen today. Location of mine was on top along the hitting face. I kept the driver well and it still looks new. I called the TaylorMade and they are not going to do anything about it. They just said it is too old.

    1. Michael, That sounds like exactly what happened to me… It’s frustrating! I haven’t purchased another TaylorMade product since then. You would hope a company would stand by their product, especially with such a catastrophic failure as a face cracking.

  10. I had a TM r11 with the exact same story and it was replaced. However, within 6 months the new club spit across the top as well. As far as I am concerned, for the money, there are alot higher quality clubs to spend my hard earned money on. Taylormade has lost a loyal customer and I’m sure after reading the endless horror stories on line many others will change what’s in their bags too. How long before M1 and M2 drivers start spitting like cheap crap. Now using my original $50 driver from 15 years ago (that is still holding up)until I figure out what to switch to. Back your products with warranties that reflect the price you charge. Goodbye and good riddins!

    1. TM should give you a replacement driver. Product should hold their integrity and the manufacturer should stay behind their product quality. The driver fails without being abused. There is definitely is a problem there. I have wrote a lengthy e-mail explaining why they should replace the driver and they are not even recognizing the fact they received my e-mail. I am being ignored. Taylor made is not a reputable company, in my opinion. I am thing of taking the issue to other consumer medium.

      I have also pulled out my old driver and using the driver until I find an alternate driver.

  11. I agree that Taylormade’s customer service is terrible. Purchased an R11 driver last year and caved the head at the range. I took it into Golftown and it was replaced with a new one. A month ago while golfing in Florida the exact same issue happened, this time both Golftown and Taylormade wiped their hands of it, saying that it was a non warranty issue. I’m still in the process of fighting with them as it is still under a year old, but it will be the last driver I purchase from them.

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