Haas questions on equipment and support

I have been looking at adding some machinery including a lathe and mill. I currently have a Milltronics which I really like but have been looking at Haas. It looks like I can get a similar Haas cheaper than I can get a Milltronics or Hurco. I have been looking at Milltronics, Hurco, Fadal and Haas.

Curious how their support is, reliability, accuracy and parts availability are?

I have mainly been looking at older machines early to mid 2000's
I like conversational controls and I usually Program in Inventor HSM CAM.

Haas is not conversational, but about the friendliest Control to use.

If your using CAM, the point is kinda moot as the software gets to deal with the idiosyncrasies of each machine.

I cannot speak to Haas Support in your area, but around me they are Top Notch, its the reason I have a floor full of them.

Reliability-My machine go from New to 1991, they run 50-60 hours a week machining everything from plastics, aluminum to tougher steel alloys and 316SS. Pocket size parts to those needing two guys to place in machine.

Accuracy- Machines are not robust, roughing takes a couple extra passes and you may need to take a spring pass to hit tighter tolerances because of that...but from the machines you are comparing to they are all in that range of if you need to hold a couple tenths your going to be baby sitting machine, holding a .0005 and up on a lathe is fine. A thou and up on mill is not a problem to let machine run.

If your working on tighter often...consider jumping up a notch.


Parts availability- Most items are stocked at HFO, service vans more often then not come with all items needed...even some for other problems that pop up. Once in a blue moon we need to Red label from CA factory. I have heard the Processors on some older machines are no longer available, but there is a 10K upgrade...YIKES! But have also been told they can be repaired or swapped...I have not experienced that problem yet...hopefully never will, only one bad processor I have had with 12 years of Haas machines.
Parts prices are pricey for sure...at least till you compare with other machine makers.

I'll add my 2cents. Brand new to Haas. My Son and I went from Hobby/CNC maker stuff to full blown. A 1998 VF/4 we just bought is going thru the service and maintenance that was NEVER done.
What I can say about Haas is:
Extremely easy to work on. Manuals, drawings, forums, users galore!
Parts: HFO to CA.... established internal processes and delivery chain from order to door. Overnight means overnight. HFO's very dependable!
Parts2- Seems I can find every single part so far from a drawing, from the parts online portal, or HFO calls.
Tech Support- Called CA-Haas support a few times. Engineer on the phone were well versed. Knew where to look for answers. etc.
Pricing- I am willing to pay a bit more for the level of Service Haas is committed to for their users. Even on a used clunker VF/4 that we'll make near new again.
Proven Field Service and local HFO programs. Nationwide. and that

I am going to chime in one more time....

In my area, HFO is top notch. I have heard some other areas have HFO's that have not been stellar. All machines will at some point need service, verify the quality of service and stocked parts in "your" area.

When I was getting real close to purchasing my 2nd machine I had it narrowed down to 3 machines. I learned from my 1st real one service and parts very important, I'll explain later.
I called each machines service department. Haas was the only tech I was able to speak with, I told him what I was doing, asked about how long it took to get service, what went wrong with machines in general, from what went wrong, what was delivery time for parts...cost to have installed. Overall he was very informative, info he gave was right on. The other companies took my info telling me service tech was busy and would call me back, one did several hours later, he was a bit annoyed when I told him why I was calling, didn't offer up much info. The third I called back a day later thinking my message was lost...nope, I was still on the list and would be getting a call soon...been close to 20 years and still have yet to receive that call back.

Just saying, buying machine is one issue, keeping it running is another.

To my 1st real CNC...On an 8 year old machine I had to wait almost 8 weeks for a Tach Generator to come in from Austria. Money lost with machine down, money lost to tech coming to diagnose and not being able to fix as part was no longer available. Customers ticked as they were not getting product. Money lost have tech come in to install (electronics are non returnable unless tech installs).
Tech drove in, 4hr drive each way when he was available. If I needed sooner I'd have to fly another tech in, then put him up in hotel. They come with very few if any parts...so its a brief call to try and figure out issue, then come in, diagnose. Wait for part to come in next day air (if available) Tech come back install...hopefully it was the correct diagnosis or it started all over again.