Thumbs Up for Sarasota Avionics

[Pinecone]

I was just at Sarasota Avionics at their Sarasota location.  Great service, nice people.

I went to have my GTN650 upgraded to a GTN650Xi.  They did this for the difference in price/value, so I did not have to float the 13 AMU cost of a new 650Xi and then have to try to sell the 650.

I arrived on Thursday evening.  They put the plane in their hangar overnight to work on first thing in the morning

They quoted 3 hours, but were done in 1.5.  They even contacted Garmin to switch the unit info for my data subscription to the new 650Xi. 

When I arrived, I asked about a couple of small squawks with my KAP-150/KAS-297B autopilot.  The light for the ALT function had burned out, and the KAS-297B was permanently in Dim mode.   I had been quoted about 1 AMU for the ALT light and 0.4 AMU for the KAS photocell. Plus remove, ship, ship back reinstall.

Sarasota did the work for just over 0.5 AMU, including the remove and reinstall.  And did it same day (quote for other shop was for 7 - 10 days).  Larry at that location worked for King in the 70s and 80s. 

As for the personal service, one of the guys gave me a ride to my hotel (not that far).  And the next day, they lent me a car to go grab some lunch.

The other fun thing was, there were 3 other Mooneys in for work.  All Js.

[donkaye]

45 minutes ago, Pinecone said:

When I arrived, I asked about a couple of small squawks with my KAP-150/KAS-297B autopilot.  The light for the ALT function had burned out, and the KAS-297B was permanently in Dim mode.   I had been quoted about 1 AMU for the ALT light and 0.4 AMU for the KAS photocell. Plus remove, ship, ship back reinstall.

Sarasota did the work for just over 0.5 AMU, including the remove and reinstall.  And did it same day (quote for other shop was for 7 - 10 days).  Larry at that location worked for King in the 70s and 80s. 

The bulbs cost about $6 a piece if I remember correctly, but the AP computer does have to be removed and replaced.  It was probably a fair price, but since it was out, If you planned on keeping the KAP 150, it would have been a good time to replace all the bulbs preemptively.  It was not an accident that the ALT light went out, since it is on most of the time.  The AP light is on all the time and went out on me along with the ALT light, so that one might be next.

[aviatoreb]

54 minutes ago, Pinecone said:

I was just at Sarasota Avionics at their Sarasota location.  Great service, nice people.

I went to have my GTN650 upgraded to a GTN650Xi.  They did this for the difference in price/value, so I did not have to float the 13 AMU cost of a new 650Xi and then have to try to sell the 650.

I arrived on Thursday evening.  They put the plane in their hangar overnight to work on first thing in the morning

They quoted 3 hours, but were done in 1.5.  They even contacted Garmin to switch the unit info for my data subscription to the new 650Xi. 

When I arrived, I asked about a couple of small squawks with my KAP-150/KAS-297B autopilot.  The light for the ALT function had burned out, and the KAS-297B was permanently in Dim mode.   I had been quoted about 1 AMU for the ALT light and 0.4 AMU for the KAS photocell. Plus remove, ship, ship back reinstall.

Sarasota did the work for just over 0.5 AMU, including the remove and reinstall.  And did it same day (quote for other shop was for 7 - 10 days).  Larry at that location worked for King in the 70s and 80s. 

As for the personal service, one of the guys gave me a ride to my hotel (not that far).  And the next day, they lent me a car to go grab some lunch.

The other fun thing was, there were 3 other Mooneys in for work.  All Js.

I've been thinking of doing this same upgrade.  Do you feel comfortable of sharing what the cost of the upgrade was?

[Pinecone]

The 650 - 650Xi is listed on their site with the price.

I placed my deposit in August and it was just under 3.5 AMU for the swap.

Do NOT plan a hard IFR flight right after the swap, there are a lot of differences.  It does the same stuff, but things work differently.   One major thing is the 650 the Home page scrolls up and down.  The Xi scrolls left/right.  And the Xi knobs default to changing pages, you have to push to use them to set a frequency.

BTW, if you haven't gotten one, the Flight Stream 510 is also SWEET.

I left the place overnight. I showed up about 10:30 and the Xi swap and 510 "install" was done.  And most of the paperwork.  Even with the autopilot work, I was out of there around 2 - 2:30.

[Pinecone]

1 hour ago, donkaye said:

The bulbs cost about $6 a piece if I remember correctly, but the AP computer does have to be removed and replaced.  It was probably a fair price, but since it was out, If you planned on keeping the KAP 150, it would have been a good time to replace all the bulbs preemptively.  It was not an accident that the ALT light went out, since it is on most of the time.  The AP light is on all the time and went out on me along with the ALT light, so that one might be next.

I agree.  But I am hoping to go to a GFC-500 before more bulbs burn out.

 

[Fly Boomer]

17 hours ago, Pinecone said:

Sarasota did the work for just over 0.5 AMU, including the remove and reinstall.  And did it same day (quote for other shop was for 7 - 10 days).  Larry at that location worked for King in the 70s and 80s. 

Thanks for the report.  Good vendor interactions are getting harder to find.

[Pinecone]

Also leading up to the appointment, they were response on the phone and called back when they said they would and were prompt on the quotes.