# Kuat NV cable lock failure



## michaelscott (May 23, 2011)

Hey guys- I've had my Kuat NV lock for 6 months now. I really loved the thing up until today... When the cable lock failed and is currently preventing me from removing my bike from the rack.

I've tried everything I could possibly think of to get it unlocked short of calling a lock smith. Oil, all the different keys, lightly tapping with a hammer, twisting it back and froth. It won't move past an 8th of the turn and the male end of the lock won't come out. :madman:

I'm extremely dissapointed that I paid $475 for a rack that I am going to have to cut the integrated cable lock on to free my bike. 

I've sent them an email. They are known for having great customer service but I've wasted a TON of time today and if they send me a new cable I'll waste more time installing it. 

Not happy.


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## pimpbot (Dec 31, 2003)

michaelscott said:


> Hey guys- I've had my Kuat NV lock for 6 months now. I really loved the thing up until today... When the cable lock failed and is currently preventing me from removing my bike from the rack.
> 
> I've tried everything I could possibly think of to get it unlocked short of calling a lock smith. Oil, all the different keys, lightly tapping with a hammer, twisting it back and froth. It won't move past an 8th of the turn and the male end of the lock won't come out. :madman:
> 
> ...


Bike lock master key:


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## XJaredX (Apr 17, 2006)

Sometimes things are defective. It happens. Even with nicer quality products. How they take care of it is all that should matter- to assume that everything you buy ever isn't going to break isn't realistic.


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## michaelscott (May 23, 2011)

XJaredX said:


> Sometimes things are defective. It happens. Even with nicer quality products. How they take care of it is all that should matter- to assume that everything you buy ever isn't going to break isn't realistic.


I'm not making that assumption. My complaint is that it broke after 6 months of almost no use.

Maybe I have a higher expectation for product quality, especially when I spend almost $500. That is a lot of money for a bike rack that has a part break after 3-4 uses.

They did send me a new part, along with an email reminding me to keep the rubber cover on and not leave it outside (neither of which I did). I still have to take the lock off and re-install the new one.

Could they have handled it better? I think so.


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## 7daysaweek (May 7, 2008)

I'm just curious... After it had already broken, how would you have wanted them to handle it better?

Looks like they responded within a week along with actually taking some time to tell you how to possibly prevent further issues in the future... Granted you hadn't left it out and shouldn't have had the issue anyway but it sounds like they tried to make you as happy as possible short of a refund which I would think would be worse as that would leave you without a working rack.


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## Buster1971 (May 11, 2009)

Seems like a reasonable response to me. I think this is the only complaint I have read on a Kuat product. Unfortunately this happened to you.


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## pumaking (Apr 10, 2009)

michaelscott said:


> They did send me a new part, along with an email reminding me to keep the rubber cover on and not leave it outside *(neither of which I did)*. I still have to take the lock off and re-install the new one.


I went ahead and bolded the part, so everyone can see. Kuat asks that you leave the rubber piece on to protect the inner workings of the lock. When that cover is off, it allows for weather conditions to damage the insides not letting it work properly.

You are the problem with the industry. You dont follow instructions and when something fails its the manufactures fault. Why dont you man up and admit fault, I'll give you a hint since I work in the industry. You tell us the truth from the start and accept responsibility and guess what? We'll respect you for it and hook you up.

And look at that, Kuat took care of you and you're still complaining, typical mindset.


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## michaelscott (May 23, 2011)

pumaking said:


> I went ahead and bolded the part, so everyone can see. Kuat asks that you leave the rubber piece on to protect the inner workings of the lock. When that cover is off, it allows for weather conditions to damage the insides not letting it work properly.
> 
> You are the problem with the industry. You dont follow instructions and when something fails its the manufactures fault. Why dont you man up and admit fault, I'll give you a hint since I work in the industry. You tell us the truth from the start and accept responsibility and guess what? We'll respect you for it and hook you up.
> 
> And look at that, Kuat took care of you and you're still complaining, typical mindset.


Woah woah. Maybe I wrote it wrong or maybe your reading comprehension is bad- but I had the unit for 6 months. Kept it in the garage, never took the rubber cover off, except when when I used the lock (and I used it 3-4 times). There was no reason for it to break- other than it is a terribly poorly made lock.

As far as what they could have done better. I could tell you a story about my car. When I bought my car the fuel pump went bad at like 5,000 miles. The car stalled, wouldn't start, and I was stranded between my home and work. I called the dealership's road side assistance line and this was what happened:
1) They apologized and had a car come pick me up and take me to work.
2) They towed my car to the dealership.
3) They called me later that day to apologize again and tell me that the fuel pump was on back order and it was going to take a week.
4) They got me a rental car and picked me up from work.
5) They updated me with a phone call as soon as they got the part in. Apologizing again.
6) They called me when the work was done and offered to drive my car to my work or home and exchange it for the rental car, or I could swing by the dealership- which ever I preferred.
7) A few weeks after someone called me to make sure the car was running good.

I don't have some expensive luxury car- I have a $21,000 Volkswagon. The Kuat NV is the "expensive luxury car" of the bike rack world.

So maybe I was expecting at least a phone call saying "Sorry our product failed you and you had to waste a bunch of time." Yeah, it's nice they sent me a replacement part and a back handed email reminding me leave the cover on (I hope everyone is clear now that I left the cover on, hardly used the lock, and kept the unit in my mild temperatured So Cal garage for 99% of it's life). But I've still wasted a bunch of time cutting the lock off and now fixing it.

It really shouldn't have broken.


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## Live2rideUtah (Jan 3, 2012)

Holy Shiz you wanted a phone call from the manufacturer? Maybe you should have used the product more and then it wouldn't have seized up? Was it rusted? Since you failed to provide picks I would assume you put it away with moisture being present then put the boot over it? A $21,000 dollar purchase is not apples to apples with a 500.00 dollar rack and if you think you didn't really pay for that service in your purchase price your crazy. Plus if your car was under warrantee they were reimbursed from the manufacturer as well so they didn't do that for free. 
Your expectations were un-realistic and you have given us all a great example of some good customer service. If your air conditioner goes out at your home do you expect a call from the manufacturer? A free stay at a hotel?


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## michaelscott (May 23, 2011)

Live2rideUtah said:


> Holy Shiz you wanted a phone call from the manufacturer? Maybe you should have used the product more and then it wouldn't have seized up? Was it rusted? Since you failed to provide picks I would assume you put it away with moisture being present then put the boot over it? A $21,000 dollar purchase is not apples to apples with a 500.00 dollar rack and if you think you didn't really pay for that service in your purchase price your crazy. Plus if your car was under warrantee they were reimbursed from the manufacturer as well so they didn't do that for free.
> Your expectations were un-realistic and you have given us all a great example of some good customer service. If your air conditioner goes out at your home do you expect a call from the manufacturer? A free stay at a hotel?


You are a pretty hate filled little man aren't you?

I don't think I deserve to be attacked for voicing my disappointment that an expensive, top of the line, product failed with in the first 6 months. I believe I made it very clear in the previous posts that I did not mistreat any part of the rack.

Hope you get some sunshine in your life soon


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## Live2rideUtah (Jan 3, 2012)

Making wrong assumptions again..... No hate in my post, never did I say you we're stupid or a jerk etc. just valid questions and being straight up but obviously you cannot handle anything other than what you want to hear.


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## pumaking (Apr 10, 2009)

Ahhh my apologies, I misunderstood what you said. You worded it like you didn't keep the cover on etc etc.

Live2ride has a point, this is not a car. 

But remember, when it comes to parts especially in outdoors and metal involved **** happens. 

Your car is sort of an example, you bought a car and doesn't have that many miles and the fuel pump failed. **** happens, if the manufacture takes care of it awesome, whether they go above and beyond is entirely up to them. Dealership is a nasty business, they want you to be a repeat customer so they can keep raping you financially. The funny part is, the fuel pump most likely isn't made by volkswagen, its an outsourced part, same goes with the lock system on the kuat. 

But heres the thing though, your product didn't fail. Your rack still works fine as it was intended, a feature on the rack failed and was replaced.


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## Live2rideUtah (Jan 3, 2012)

I could see a huge complaint if your rack failed and your bike flew off on the freeway. I get it your lock failed and it was a PITA; however, it seems as little questions were asked and they sent you a replacement free of charge. If every business acted this way consumers would be king and we would have no worries whatsoever. You paid a premium and in return you received the Kuat no worries warrantee, no question asked and they replace. Not to bad of deal if you ask me. Out of curiosity did they ask you to send the defective part back?


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## RTM (Sep 17, 2005)

This thread is following the script of every post in which someone complains or challenges a company/product that people love.

Of course you have a right to be annoyed when a $500 product fails. Heck, I'd be confused if that wasn't your first reaction when ANY product failed. But hey, stuff happens. And as always the gentlemanly thing to do is give Kuat a fair chance to make it right. Report back afterward and let us know how well or poorly you think they handled it. The real time, running accounts of customer/company interactions generally cause nothing but needless arguments.


- Rob


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## pumaking (Apr 10, 2009)

RTM said:


> This thread is following the script of every post in which someone complains or challenges a company/product that people love.
> 
> Of course you have a right to be annoyed when a $500 product fails. Heck, I'd be confused if that wasn't your first reaction when ANY product failed. But hey, stuff happens. And as always the gentlemanly thing to do is give Kuat a fair chance to make it right. Report back afterward and let us know how well or poorly you think they handled it. The real time, running accounts of customer/company interactions generally cause nothing but needless arguments.
> 
> - Rob


He did report back. After he contacted them, Kuat sent him a replacement and gave him some tips on proper upkeep.

They didn't question anything, ask for information. Pretty much asked "What broke?" replacement is on the way. This was within a weeks time.


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## RTM (Sep 17, 2005)

Right, I actually wasn't saying I had a problem with any of this. My response kind of drifted off into a recommendation for handling this type of general situation. 


- Rob


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## carverboy (Sep 5, 2009)

Ive owned my NV for a few years now. It's a great rack with a few substandard parts considering the price. The cable lock is not really long enough for two bikes IMO
Also mine broke shortly after purchase due to a faulty swage on one of the cable ends.
The other weak point is the springs that lock the Arms. they are undersized and with time rust and fail. If you are the least mechanical do yourself a favor. Disassemble the arms and apply some grease to those springs. Otherwise one day you may be in a hurry to ride and find you can't use your rack!
All in all I am very happy with my NV. But like most things it's not perfect.


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## Neumonic (Aug 19, 2013)

I am looking at this rack and the 1up so I appreciate your feedback carverboy!


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## Knight511 (Nov 26, 2010)

michaelscott said:


> As far as what they could have done better. I could tell you a story about my car. When I bought my car the fuel pump went bad at like 5,000 miles. The car stalled, wouldn't start, and I was stranded between my home and work. I called the dealership's road side assistance line and this was what happened:
> 1) They apologized and had a car come pick me up and take me to work.
> 2) They towed my car to the dealership.
> 3) They called me later that day to apologize again and tell me that the fuel pump was on back order and it was going to take a week.
> ...


So I have to ask, did you call the bike store that sold you the rack? Your comparison is a bit short sighted to say the least.

1. VW did not apologize, pick you up for work, tow your car, call you again... yeah... let's cut it short. VW did not do anything you listed. Your VW *dealership* did those things. Had you tried to contact VW of America (or whatever country you are in) directly and expect them to directly repair your car, you would have been laughed at. 
2. VW of America paid the dealership to repair your car. Again, VW of America did nothing to your car. Your dealership did.
3. Kuat performed the same service that VW of America did. They supplied you the part without question and without cost.

If you are mad about them not calling you to apologize, you should be mad at your bike shop that sold you the rack, not Kuat. Kuat gave you the same service as the manufacturer of the rack that the manufacturer of your car did. What you are so pissed about is the lack of service which comes from the dealership, not the manufacturer.

4. if your car breaks on a day you dealership is closed (Sunday for example), you are screwed by them too. You will have to wait until they reopen for them to deliver service.
5. There was no reason for your VW to break except that it is a " terribly poorly made" car but service from your dealership makes you happy.

I am not trying to be a dick, but being mad at the manufacturer for lack of service based off of a warranty claim for a car is silly. The issue you have with service should be directed at the dealer (or local bike store), not the manufacturer.


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## michaelscott (May 23, 2011)

I ordered it from Kuat directly.


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## XJaredX (Apr 17, 2006)

Everything you described about VW would be typical due to a combination of VW's roadside assistance, VW's new car warranty, and your dealer's service program, involving rental, pickup from work, etc.

The Kuat situation is not the same. You had a product that is made partially of steel, it sat outside, it was not protected, locks are fragile little mechanisms, and it broke. Kuat did everything they could after you notified them, short of fellating you.

You cannot expect a product to perform flawless when it is made of fragile parts that are able to rust and is left outside in the elements. 

Based on your posts, your frustration seems to stem from your thinking that this never should have happened in the first place. Frequency of product failures do not correlate with cost of purchase. Your VW points this out.

Like, I have a 1UP that will be arriving Wednesday or Thursday- I am excited, and I expect it to hold up well, but not be infallible. If it fails, how 1UP handles it after the fact is all I will be concerned about. Assuming it isn't something caused by my improper use or care.

Beyond all that, seriously, all these little integrated locks on bike racks are garbage. I could probably defeat the Thule lock cylinders with a flathead screwdriver.


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## Knight511 (Nov 26, 2010)

michaelscott said:


> I ordered it from Kuat directly.


$475 for a rack Kuat sells for $549 directly? $475 barely buys a Sherpa from them directly.


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## Gromov (Sep 11, 2013)

Just get Thule. Their locks don't have to be covered with rubber thingies and work just fine 

Also a thing I've noticed about supposedly Premium products is that their quality is rarely up to the price. It's usually more eye-candy like design, being part of the exclusive club etc etc, but not quality/workmanship.

A friend of mine just bought a Gwagen 120K+ car. Paint off the front license plate holder started coming off and his sunroof has completely failed, and guess what, they've been making this car for 30 years, ok maybe sunroofs have been around for the last 15 years but that is still long enough to come up with the bombproof design...which clearly never happened.


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## pimpbot (Dec 31, 2003)

Yeah, I was gonna say... If they are strongly saying that you need to cover the locks, don't leave them outside, etc.... it sounds like they didn't design the lock very well. 

IMO, built-in rack locks are pretty lame anyway, so I don't miss it on my 1Up rack. I just chain the bike to the tow hook on the car with a heavy duty U-Lock and motorcycle chain. It's been left in the winter weather for months at a time, and it still works as new.

BTW, Thule locks are ridiculously easy to defeat, but the way Thule designs their racks you don't need to defeat the locks to get a bike out, anyway. You just need an electric screwdriver and/or an allen wrench  LOL... rack 'security'


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## Davidhazel (Oct 16, 2017)

It's not just the Thule that are easy.

I got a used Kuat NV 2.0 of CL, didn't come with keys, so I ordered new cores/keys, and picked the old ones in a minute or two with my lock pick set.

you don't even need to bump it that much.



pimpbot said:


> Yeah, I was gonna say... If they are strongly saying that you need to cover the locks, don't leave them outside, etc.... it sounds like they didn't design the lock very well.
> 
> IMO, built-in rack locks are pretty lame anyway, so I don't miss it on my 1Up rack. I just chain the bike to the tow hook on the car with a heavy duty U-Lock and motorcycle chain. It's been left in the winter weather for months at a time, and it still works as new.
> 
> BTW, Thule locks are ridiculously easy to defeat, but the way Thule designs their racks you don't need to defeat the locks to get a bike out, anyway. You just need an electric screwdriver and/or an allen wrench  LOL... rack 'security'


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## dustedone (Oct 4, 2017)

The answer that has been four years in the making...

Well done.


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## @[email protected] (Aug 25, 2017)

pimpbot said:


> Bike lock master key:
> 
> View attachment 828146


Needs a cutting wheel in all reality. 4x faster than grinding.


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## reig3 (Apr 24, 2012)

Consider the environment that the locks are exposed to. Not everyone drives in sunny dry areas. Covers are a great idea to extend the life of the lock. I had the NV and used it as much as I could including during the winter. The lock on the hitch pin froze up from the salt and being under the car, I didnt use the covers. My bad.

I also had an issue with the locking arms when I went to load up, didnt work. Discovered as mentioned above that the springs rusted up. For $15 each I replaced both just to make sure the other didnt go bad(I greased up the new ones). I emailed KUAT to make mention of the issue incase there were future improvements. They responded that night asking me about it and INSISTED on refunding my purchase and shipping. My rack was over 5 years old. Email and texts are what most companies use anymore. Usually the phone call is to upsell you<g>

Bob


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## BlackPenquinn (Nov 7, 2014)

Bringing this back from the grave. I just got a new Kuat NV Base. I used it for the first time and the cable locks came loose while driving, meaning one of them was left draging behind my truck at hiway speeds. Now its all worn through.

Needles to say I’m not happy. Sure things break, even new things, but so far I’m not sold on the hidden locks. They are too short and the locks feel very cheap. 

It is possible I didn’t lock them properly, but I’m 50 years old, I have ben riding bikes for 30+ years, I have been racing cars for years, I have been connecting trailers and locks to my truck fro a long time. Connecting a lock should be a simple and straight forward thing. Plus I did tug them to be sure they were locked.

I’m sure they will replace it, but honestly, I would rather they not fail in the first place. I’m likely going to just cut them off anyway as they are too short to be useful and the lock mechanism feels very cheap.


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## alexdi (Jun 25, 2016)

BlackPenquinn said:


> I'm likely going to just cut them off anyway as they are too short to be useful and the lock mechanism feels very cheap.


So much the better. It's a cable, the protection was illusory anyway. Just buy a chain and leave it in the trunk.


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## HawkGX (May 24, 2012)

BlackPenquinn said:


> Bringing this back from the grave. I just got a new Kuat NV Base. I used it for the first time and the cable locks came loose while driving, meaning one of them was left draging behind my truck at hiway speeds. Now its all worn through.
> 
> Needles to say I'm not happy. Sure things break, even new things, but so far I'm not sold on the hidden locks. They are too short and the locks feel very cheap.
> 
> ...


This happened to me just a few weeks ago. My rack is about a year old. I'm pretty compulsive about checking/tugging on the locks every time I use them. I also generally take the rack off my Jeep when not using it.

I emailed Kuat within a day or so and they shipped out a new part and took for replacement the next day. Also had a similar issue a few months prior to the cable lock. The hitch pin lock came off sometime during a 30-minute drive back from the trail. Fortunately the cam system kept the rack from sliding out of the receiver. Again, within a day of contacting Kuat they shipped out a replacement part.

Can't say I'm thrilled with both parts having issues within a few months but I am very impressed with how well Kuat handled the issues.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## arashi (Jan 15, 2009)

I'm curious why anyone would go with this Kuat rack for $475 when the 1Up USA rack is $529 with free shipping for the Heavy Duty Double? That's not much price difference and it seems the build quality of the 1up rack is far superior. I also like the fact that the 1up rack doesn't make contact with the frame or fork. 

I'm about to pull the trigger on the 1up so I've been reading as much about as many bike racks as possible and it doesn't seem like you save much buying a Thule, Kuat, Yakama premium rack and these racks all come with cheap plastic parts that don't seem like they will last very long with exposure to sun and weather.


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