Garmin factory refurbishment - good as new?

[tigers2007]

As I continue my search for a "cheap" GNS430W/530W, I have picked up anecdotes and other small pieces of advice such as "Beware of units from wrecked aircraft", etc. So lets say find one via eBay or barnstormers, if I send this to Garmin (or if they already sent it to Garmin) for the $900 refurbishment, should I expect it to be good-to-go?

[cnoe]

As I continue my search for a "cheap" GNS430W/530W, I have picked up anecdotes and other small pieces of advice such as "Beware of units from wrecked aircraft", etc. So lets say find one via eBay or barnstormers, if I send this to Garmin (or if they already sent it to Garmin) for the $900 refurbishment, should I expect it to be good-to-go?

Note that Garmin requires these to be returned through an authorized dealer who must request an RMA from Garmin prior to its return. The dealer will specify what issues there are when requesting the RMA. So be sure to tell them EVERYTHING that needs attention such as sticky buttons, bad dials, scratched screen, any error messages etc. so that you get a like-new unit back. Any used unit without a fresh 8130 tag FROM GARMIN should be instantly discounted by ~$1,000 'cause you have no idea what you're buying until you've used it for a year IMO.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Aerodon]

I have experience of a Garmin radio sent back for repair, only to come back as 'beyond economic repair'.  I believe this was because of mechanical damage (not crash damage), to the retaining clip, and it was just too much work to change the box out.  So, I would be extra cautious of 'crash damaged' goods and expecting a flat rate repair.  Aerodon

[Yetti]

I was helping the professional mechanic with a plane that had a new 530W installed 5 years ago and then did not fly.   The mechanic was wondering why things did not work.  We had to do the press the buttons many times to get them to work.  Then had to do the same thing with the audio panel. Same thing with the 430 that had been upgraded to 430W. Lots of clicking to make things work.

Edited January 22, 2017 by Yetti

[seaero]

In my experience, Garmin will repair about anything for the flat-rate as long as it is not obvious that the unit was dropped, incident related, mistreated, etc. That includes broken knobs and scratched lenses.  When shopping for a used 430W/530W, also check the SN against any of the theft databases. Garmin checks this and will confiscate the unit if it comes up that way for them. There's a lot of questionable units out there. Might be better to just go through a regular avionics vendor or a trusted shop who has already done all this vetting for you. Sometimes it's not best to look for the bottom dollar because you can create other problems for yourself.

[StevenL757]

On 1/19/2017 at 10:09 PM, tigers2007 said:

As I continue my search for a "cheap" GNS430W/530W, I have picked up anecdotes and other small pieces of advice such as "Beware of units from wrecked aircraft", etc. So lets say find one via eBay or barnstormers, if I send this to Garmin (or if they already sent it to Garmin) for the $900 refurbishment, should I expect it to be good-to-go?

Honestly?  I've experienced as good, if not better, providing the hardware you're returning for a fix is economically-viable.  As cnoe indicated, you'd be wise to tell them everything that is deficient so they can factor it into an accurate quote, else, you'll be in for an unwelcome surprise.  As long as the economic viability is there, they will do a first-class job.