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A word of caution about Garmin's...a 2014 thread with 2018 update

gear1

Well Known Member
A word of caution for those of you considering the equipment needed for your instrument panel.

My GNS 430W was just returned from Garmin. It was sent in for the repair of an intermittent VHF receiver and transmitter. The unit was returned with the note: ?Unit meets operational performance specifications.? They did replace the display lens and updated some software. So it appears that the unit really did not have anything wrong, even though the ?Comm Needs Service? warning was displayed. The bill for this ?work? was $1116.48, including $116.48 shipping!

Don?t get me wrong ? I really like the GNS 430W. However, when you consider the charts subscription price of $460.00 per year, and the potential for an over $1000 bill every time it needs service, it is a very expensive unit.

I would recommend not having a total reliance on Garmin because of the expense of maintaining Garmin equipment. Yes, buy a GNS430/530W if you are flying IFR, but use other vendors for your #2 radio, Transponder, audio panel, and EFIS. There are much more reasonable-cost quality alternatives in the marketplace. If you really want Garmin for everything, beware of the cost, in literal terms.

I am intentionally not mentioning other manufacturers by name, so as not to make it appear that I am shilling for anyone. This note is simply to make everyone aware of the costs of ownership of Garmin equipment.

Fly on!
 
Well my AERA 510 took a dump last month, called Garmin and was told $300 for an exchange for a refurbed unit. Yesterday my SL30 took a dump. I can only imagine what that's going to cost me.:eek:
 
Thanks Brian. $550 for the SL30. Thats not too bad. $300 for the 510. I think I had a string of bad luck. Also my strobes stopped working and one of my landing lights burnt out. When my SL30 quit, I was transitioning St Augustines class D telling them that for some reason their airport was not showing up in mySkyview database.

Time for my RV9 HMV! (Heavy maintenance visit)
 
Comm Service Indicator

Gill,

The "Comm requires Service" warning was intermittent also. I reinstalled the unit today, and the service warning is out. Will it stay out? Who knows....:(
 
The flat rate repair by Garmin should come with some kind of warranty. Make sure you make the most of it if there are any other problems during that warranty period.
 
Garmin 510's dying

Well my AERA 510 took a dump last month, called Garmin and was told $300 for an exchange for a refurbed unit. Yesterday my SL30 took a dump. I can only imagine what that's going to cost me.:eek:

My 510 has started acting up. It does not always shut down when ship power is turned off any more and sometimes it does not want to go past the Garmin title screen when it is turned on, taking the battery out usually makes it work.

I guess I'll be shelling out $300 soon :-(
 
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Ridiculous service prices

I had my GPS portion go out under warranty. No problem, they took care of it. A year later (now 2 years old), I was having a comm issue. $750 base fee, shipping was $50. I asked and they said it was $750 no matter what the problem or how long it took to fix it. That is more than 10% of what I paid for it.

I find that completely ridiculous. Most avionics shop have a shop rate. I doubt it would come anywhere close to $750 base.

A neighbor of mine accidentally hit the volume (squelch) and didn't realize it. Sent it in to Garmin. $750 plus shipping. You'd think that something like that Garmin could have sent a note back and no bill. They didn't have to do anything.

I've got a 750 for my new 7. Praying it never goes out!!!
 
My 510 has started acting up. It does not always shut down when ship power is turned off any more and sometimes it does not want to go past the Garmin title screen when it is turned on, taking the battery out usually makes it work.

I guess I'll be shelling out $300 soon :-(

That sounds exactly like what mine is doing. I bought a new battery thinking that could be an issue. It didn't make a difference.
 
I bet

I bet it's something simple, like the internal battery issue with the 296,396, only now when can't fix it.
 
Garmin!!!

:(That is exactly why I don't want and Big G products in my aircraft. Unfortunately, Van's has chosen a Garmin radio for the RV-12 to go with my Dynon big screen equipment. Would much prefer a Dynon radio.

Would appreciate some flexibility from Van's in this regard. Dynon makes a great radio.

And I think that if Big G succeeds in putting Dynon, MGL, and others out of business, then the sky is the limit as to acquisition and service equipment prices for our experimental panels. My opinion.
 
Ditto

:(That is exactly why I don't want and Big G products in my aircraft. Unfortunately, Van's has chosen a Garmin radio for the RV-12 to go with my Dynon big screen equipment. Would much prefer a Dynon radio.

Would appreciate some flexibility from Van's in this regard. Dynon makes a great radio.

And I think that if Big G succeeds in putting Dynon, MGL, and others out of business, then the sky is the limit as to acquisition and service equipment prices for our experimental panels. My opinion.

Which is why I chose GRT 10.4" HXr's. Panel wiring ongoing.
 
I too chose Dynon, to stay away from the big G. Unfortunately I needed an IFR solution for approaches that didn't completely brake the bank. The SL30 fit the bill. I am however not going to reinstall it after repairs. I am going to add the Skyview comm and intercom. Not sure what I will do for approaches. Guess I will just be stuck with "the visual".
 
Gill,

The "Comm requires Service" warning was intermittent also. I reinstalled the unit today, and the service warning is out. Will it stay out? Who knows....:(

I have recently paid the $900 service on a G430W I bought on VAF in "perfect like new condition" :\ yeah, that's right, everything but the NAV/VOR worked....which is exactly what i needed it to do (IFR), i was certainly not happy

So, $900 + shipping later, and it works

the part you are leaving out, is that now the unit is warrantied, if it isn't right, they'll fix it, I believe you have 90 days- so go fly the wings off that airplane and make sure it works right

to me, i think it's rather impressive that they will even honor this 90 day period in an experimental, some people really monkey up their wiring good and that can't be garmin's fault
 
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No one likes the "establishment" or being "forced" to use a certain company's products to achieve their desired result. Regarding the Big G as Garmin is being called, I've got to say that I've had great experiences with them when it counts.

For me, "When it counts" is when I need support and when I need equipment that works as advertised. Will I pay a little more for a solution that I can trust and don't have to fight with? Absolutely!

A great example from this summer: Two of us on the field just installed new radios. I went with the Garmin GTR-200 and the other builder went with another brand. Mine is the most user friendly, effective way I could have spent $1,199.00 and his still doesn't work the way it's supposed to. He's on his second until from this company and is fit to be tied. He saved about $400. Worth it? Not to me. Will he ever trust that other radio? Maybe the third one will be better.
 
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Good Experience

Just my two cents worth. Garmin just finished taking care of my GDU-375 for me under warranty even though strictly speaking they didn't have to based on time since purchase. See HERE. Very responsive communications as well. I'm happy, YMMV.
 
I couldn't be happier with my 'Big G' panel or their customer service. I smile every time I fly behind it. Amazing, industry leading tech very well supported by a stable company....I can't ask for more.

People will complain no matter what you do. If Garmin charged actual repair costs plus the admin time it takes to account for all of that, people would complain when their $9k box costs $4k to replace the main board etc instead of the $750 flat rate. But charging as they do, people complain when their install is faulty and Garmin services a unit that only needs a smarter installer. Either way, they lose. I'm happy they decided to deal with amateur installers at all and a flat rate is a generous way for them to handle it in my mind.
 
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I need to take a step back and say that I too have been VERY happy with my Garmin products. Re-reading my post I think I came off a bit negative. I currently have 2 dead Garmin Products. An Aera 510 and an SL30. My SL30 is going to cost me $550 for repair. I actually think that is very reasonable. Turns out that they repair it in Salem, OR and I just happen to be going there on Wednesday so I don't even have to ship it to them. Hopefully I can pick up my unit before I leave there.:)bTalking to the tech guy today, he indicated it sounds like my unit is basically fried. I can imagine that it could be a $3800 boat anchor rather than a $550 repair or exchange. I am happy with that! The Aera 510 will cost $300 for repair or exchange. I am not sure if it's worth fixing. I really don't use it much anymore. Not sure of the re-sale value of a refurbished AERA.
 
As a point of reference I took my 2 year old iPad mini into the Apple Store when it died last week. Out of warranty exchange for refurb unit was $200. This on unit that costs less than $400 new.

So Garmin's repair pricing seems in line to me.
 
I too chose Dynon, to stay away from the big G. Unfortunately I needed an IFR solution for approaches that didn't completely brake the bank. The SL30 fit the bill. I am however not going to reinstall it after repairs. I am going to add the Skyview comm and intercom. Not sure what I will do for approaches. Guess I will just be stuck with "the visual".

How about the DYNON Comm radio and a VAL Avionics INS-429 for ILS/LOC/VOR/MB receiver? Unfortunately it doesn't display on the SkyView but other than that a fairly good combo.

:cool:
 
Look on the bright side, i have Chelton units, and they tried to charge me $4400 (2 units at $2200 each) to fix dimming knobs that did not work from day one. Despite admitting it was a known production defect, it was more than a year after purchase, so they would not honor the warranty. Ended up negotiating a 1/2 price "deal".

Now that is one company you really want to stay away from.

Aaron
 
Look on the bright side, i have Chelton units, and they tried to charge me $4400 (2 units at $2200 each) to fix dimming knobs that did not work from day one. Despite admitting it was a known production defect, it was more than a year after purchase, so they would not honor the warranty. Ended up negotiating a 1/2 price "deal".

Now that is one company you really want to stay away from.

Aaron

when I was shopping for a lancair, most of them have cheltons from the mortgage boom/free money craze that a lot of them were finished off in

when you try to tell the seller that the panel is garbage and needs to be replaced, they get really offended and protective, but then when you call chelton and they want $5000 a screen to convert/upgrade them to WAAS capable.....yeah, you steer clear

i bought one with an all garmin panel, haven't looked back since
 
I only have one Garmin product and some years ago I was told that they no longer support it. That ended my desire to own their products so this may be a dumb question but here goes anyway.
Can you not take them to an avionics shop to get them fixed? Is the Garmin company the only place that fixes them?
 
Garmin Turn Around Time

What was the turn around time to get your GPS (GNS430) back from Garmin with the flat rate repair? Mine was sent in by our Avionics shop a couple weeks ago. Shouldn't it be back by now? I hope it works. The dysfunction was that the GNS430 no long moved the needles on the CDI and the flags showed off. Local avionics guy said, we gotta send it in for the $1200 refurb. I hope it isn't bad CDIs.

Anyway, how long till it comes back?

thanks
 
I bet it's something simple, like the internal battery issue with the 296,396, only now when can't fix it.

Find one of your HAM radio friends than knows how to solder. It is an easy fix to unsolder the old battery and solder in a new one. IIRC, I paid more for for shipping of the battery than I did for the battery.
 
GNS-430W

This past Sun n Fun I exchanged plus some cash my 430W with Sarasota Avionics for an Avidyne IDF440 plug n play. I did this because the time will come, soon I guess, when they will no longer support the 430W no matter the shop cost.


They gave me a great price on the 430W, 20% more than going direct with Avidyne.
 
I'll never forgive garmin for buying out Apollo/Upsat and killing it off. I had a used SL60 that was bullet proof.
 
Dynon rocks

Contrast this with my recent Dynon SykView out-of-warranty repair. It came back with an invoice marked "Paid". No charge! Dynon never even asked for my credit card number and the return shipping was on Dynon.

This is a 6-year old device and I was quoted a flat-rate repair charge of $425 so this leaves me flabbergasted.


EDIT 13 Dec 2018:

Boy, did I have this wrong! While checking my on-line credit card account for an unrelated matter I spotted a charge by "DYNON DEVELOPMENT" for $465.80. Apparently Dynon retained my credit card info from a previous equipment purchase and charged it a flat-rate repair fee plus shipping. There wasn't any monetary figure anywhere on the invoice so I can see why I was fooled.

All in all, this incident cost me nearly $500 :-(
 
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I currently have 2 dead Garmin Products.

Turns out that they repair it in Salem, OR and I just happen to be going there on Wednesday so I don't even have to ship it to them.

Just this month, I had my Garmin 430 go bad with a radio squelch issue. I tried to go direct to Garmin, but they said they only deal with dealers. So, the absurd thing was I had to pay to ship it to a dealer, they then sent it direct to Garmin, back to the dealer, then back to me. The dealer did nothing but re-label the shipping box. I paid for all the shipping plus the $1200 flat rate.

Question:
Does anyone know how to bypass the dealer issue? Is there a better way? How did you find that Garmin repair is in Salem Or?

Thanks
 
What Dad use to say

"You get what you pay for, so buy the best that you can afford. "

I know Garmin is more expensive than others but in my opinion, they are the best. You don't drive a Porsche or a Ferrari and expect to pay the same hourly rate as less expensive car brands? If you do, you'll be in for a rude awakening when its time for maintenance. My point is you should consider that you aren't just buying an electronic equipment that is mostly made of silicon and is constantly under temperature changes (cold, then hot, then maybe really hot, then cold) and expect that it will last forever. You know it will break and when it does you should consider that if you buying the best, it will cost more to fix it.

Maybe the expectations need to be reset... not sure but count me in for being one of Garmin's loyal customers. I've used them for the past 20 years and hope to for the next 20 (crossing my fingers);)
 
"You get what you pay for, so buy the best that you can afford. "

SNIP...
Maybe the expectations need to be reset... not sure but count me in for being one of Garmin's loyal customers. I've used them for the past 20 years and hope to for the next 20 (crossing my fingers);)

Good for you but I have been burned by the TSO side of Garmin on my orginal GTN-650 purchase. I had to fix what I was told where ?known problems? on my dime.

I just purchased another GTN-650 for the new RV-8 project only because the alternatives were even less attractive. Fingers crossed the revisions have addressed the problems previously encountered. Other than the this TSO IFR navigator I would never consider any Garmin product over the SkyView.

Carl
 
Oh I'm not saying I like it :), I'm just saying it's to be expected. I mean it's not we have too many other choices... Don't get me wrong, I would love for them to charge less or maybe even sell an extended warranty. I would go for that but I'm just saying you buy the best you should expect it's going to come with a price. I've been in the computer/network/network security for 30 years and to this day I have not seen hardware that will last a very long time, especially the sort of stress that we put our avionics through. They will break....:( not if, but when.
 
I find this idea of ?brand loyalty? somewhat strange.My panel has products from Dynon, GRT, Garmin, Trig, home-built, ... Each chosen because in my opinion it was the best value to do the job reliably. Just because a company makes a good GPS is no guarantee that it makes a great audio panel.

Note to Flyfish: Factory repair of SL30?s is in Oregon, because that is where the factory is. After Garmin acquired Apollo/UPS they kept the factory there. Other Garmin products go to Kansas.
 
This past Sun n Fun I exchanged plus some cash my 430W with Sarasota Avionics for an Avidyne IDF440 plug n play. I did this because the time will come, soon I guess, when they will no longer support the 430W no matter the shop cost.


They gave me a great price on the 430W, 20% more than going direct with Avidyne.

Steve - does the Avidyne IDF440 use the existing 430W tray and connectors?
 
Bought a 430W from a very generous person here on VAF beginning of this year. It was upgraded in mid-2017 from non-WAAS to WAAS with a note about working some unrelated keyboard issue. Turns out a couple keys are intermittent, just need to remove the face and clean the contacts. Asked Garmin and was told WAAS upgrade warranty is 1 year but only 6 months on anything else so a $1,200 service charge needed to clean contacts (2 months out of warranty at the time). Thanks Garmin, I'll do it myself...
 
Unfortunately, in creating many new products and having so many customers, people have had some bad experiences. If you have had a bad experience with Garmin, I am truly sorry. This is never our intent and we strive to offer an excellent customer experience.

This thread has been resurrected from 2014. As I was thinking over the past few years, I thought this may be a good time to talk about some changes that have happened to try to better serve you, our EAB customers.

We have updated our policies such that you can contact the G3Xpert team directly regarding repairing units. While we must go through our dealers on certified aircraft, with experimental aircraft we can often repair products without going through a dealer.

Speaking of G3Xpert, we trained a great group of folks to provide product support focused on the EAB market. You can email or call them directly without going through the other product support channels.

Garmin created Team X to help better serve the EAB market. We are a passionate group of engineers who want to build better products for our own aircraft and we do our very best to bring new safety enhancing features and capabilities to your aircraft.

We revisited our flat rate repair fees and tried to make them as competitive as possible. On our non-TSO'd products, we have been able to keep the costs very low. For example, the flat rate repair for an out of warranty GSA 28 servo is currently $100 dollars. I know that the flat rate repair model can be frustrating for small repairs, but it allows us to keep our repair facility lean and keep the overall prices lower.

Sometimes the business decisions made are questioned by our customers and that is understandable. No one outside of Garmin sees all the pieces of the puzzle that we have to fit together to continue to be a successful business. If there is one thing I can tell you, it is that we work very hard to support our ever growing customer base and we are focused on making better products which bring even more safety and fun to aviation.
I would encourage anyone interested in our products to give them a try.

Please don?t let someone else?s comments based on old history keep you from owning the best avionics on the market.

If you have questions, please shoot us an email at [email protected]. We are happy to help.

Thanks,
Levi

Team X Project Manager
 
Unfortunately, in creating many new products and having so many customers, people have had some bad experiences. If you have had a bad experience with Garmin, I am truly sorry. This is never our intent and we strive to offer an excellent customer experience.

This thread has been resurrected from 2014. As I was thinking over the past few years, I thought this may be a good time to talk about some changes that have happened to try to better serve you, our EAB customers.

We have updated our policies such that you can contact the G3Xpert team directly regarding repairing units. While we must go through our dealers on certified aircraft, with experimental aircraft we can often repair products without going through a dealer.

Speaking of G3Xpert, we trained a great group of folks to provide product support focused on the EAB market. You can email or call them directly without going through the other product support channels.

Garmin created Team X to help better serve the EAB market. We are a passionate group of engineers who want to build better products for our own aircraft and we do our very best to bring new safety enhancing features and capabilities to your aircraft.

We revisited our flat rate repair fees and tried to make them as competitive as possible. On our non-TSO'd products, we have been able to keep the costs very low. For example, the flat rate repair for an out of warranty GSA 28 servo is currently $100 dollars. I know that the flat rate repair model can be frustrating for small repairs, but it allows us to keep our repair facility lean and keep the overall prices lower.

Sometimes the business decisions made are questioned by our customers and that is understandable. No one outside of Garmin sees all the pieces of the puzzle that we have to fit together to continue to be a successful business. If there is one thing I can tell you, it is that we work very hard to support our ever growing customer base and we are focused on making better products which bring even more safety and fun to aviation.
I would encourage anyone interested in our products to give them a try.

Please don?t let someone else?s comments based on old history keep you from owning the best avionics on the market.

If you have questions, please shoot us an email at [email protected]. We are happy to help.

Thanks,
Levi

Team X Project Manager

Thank you!
 
Garmin Support

My AERA 500 developed numerous problems after four years of use. My call to Garmin for technical support resulted in being told to send it in for repair at a charge of $250. I took it to the Garmin booth at Oshkosh in 2017 where upon seeing the AERA's problems the rep arranged a no charge exchange for a reconditioned AERA. It came looking good as new and has been flawless in operation.
 
After contacting G3Xpert directly they'll be covering the button servicing under warranty. It's worth it to reach out and ask via contact info on this thread.

Thanks Garmin!
 
My AERA 500 developed numerous problems after four years of use. My call to Garmin for technical support resulted in being told to send it in for repair at a charge of $250. I took it to the Garmin booth at Oshkosh in 2017 where upon seeing the AERA's problems the rep arranged a no charge exchange for a reconditioned AERA. It came looking good as new and has been flawless in operation.
Well that's annoying. My Aera 500 developed numerous problems as well (wouldn't turn on, would reboot in flight, wouldn't hold a charge consistently, etcl) and not only did I have to pay the $250 (US!) I had to pay for shipping to send it back to Garmin as well.

That said, for $250 I did get a "new" Aera 500 in exchange... That I sold to a Cessna pilot friend because he'll at least be able to read it in the cockpit.
 
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