Just a heads up for anyone with an Elite controller experiencing stick drift and other issues… I noticed the other day my left stick was acting wonky. Randomly pulling left and making it hard to lay down clean laps. So I opened a support case with Microsoft and found out that while the standard warranty for any controller is 3 months, Elite controller owners are given a one time free replacement if it has a legit defect that is not the result of abuse. With talk of a new version coming out soon it might not be a bad idea to get yours repaired sooner than later. Also if you do plan to contact them you’ll need your controller and console serial numbers.
1 Like
Ive been though 4 of them with the same problem. They work great but are built like sh###t and the warranty is a joke…….3 months for a 150$ controller.
Agree. Main reason for posting this was that out of everyone I spoke to about the issue, no one knew about the one time replacement. 2 different GameStop’s said I was outta luck and offered me a $140 used replacement… So I was surprised when Microsoft offered to send me a new one. I got 7 months out of my 1st Elite. Maybe by the time this 2nd one fails someone will have a fix for the stick drift issue. I like the elite enough that I’d open it up twice a year and repair it if I had to.
If you have a local MS Store and they have them in stock you can exchange it there. They don’t even look at the receipt the last few times. My last elite was over 6 mths old when I exchanged it. Handed a brand new one right off the shelf. About 2 weeks ago. I’m on #7 lol and I’ve always exchanged them at my local MS Store but they have less and less in stock. The left stick as well. I had to wait 2 weeks to exchange the last one until they got them back in stock. I was about to mail it back to MS for replacement too but the store got them in stock that day. They will send you a refurb not a new one most likely through the mail in exchange. The MS Store will give you a brand new one in the box. Since they have become hard to replace now I will no longer use it with Forza and have already gone back to a standard controller. I see zero difference in how I do anyway. YMMV however in how strict your MS Store is. Best is not to use it with racing games if you are like me and push really hard since it’s rough on the stick. The longer the stick you use the faster you will break it in my experience. The stick mechanism on the Elite is no stronger than those on a standard controller. Same problem with both.
One of the reasons I haven’t bought an Elite controller yet.
It’s my understanding the internals are the same as the junk regular controllers. Too many plastic pieces to hold up to regular use. I have used 5 different controllers since my X1 Day 1 Edition and all (including my Forza blue and Lunar white) have had left stick drift issues which have made it an issue for racing. My current controller was the included controller for my X1X and it’s okay so far. I purchased replacement parts for the sticks, but haven’t sat down with the soldering iron to replace them and have another 4 as backups. It’s really a shame that they are asking $150 for that and it’s still not working right. This is why I won’t be buying one.
I guess I’ve had good luck with all my previous controllers because the Elite is the first one I’ve ever had an issue with. I’ve had some that have lasted years and never had an issue with the left stick. I’m going to look into the stick replacement for when this happens again. Have any of you successfully repaired an elite controller with replacement parts?
This is one of the reasons why I didn’t buy the elite controller and never will.
God bless the internet.