Garmin Warranty

Tell me if I'm wrong. It is my understanding that we can purchase a new Garmin say....GTN650 from a dealer, install it ourselves in our RV's, but there would be no warranty because it's not installed by an authorized dealer. Ditto Avidyne. Then if We need to update the software (not data) We would have to return it to a dealer and pay for the update installation (although maybe a years worth of software updates is included in the sales price).

Do I have this right?

Just trying to understand before making decisions.

Jim
RV9A

Garmin has made provisions to update the GNT navigator firmware without going through the dealer for Expermintal installations. Not sure about Avidine.

jimbo said:

Tell me if I'm wrong. It is my understanding that we can purchase a new Garmin say....GTN650 from a dealer, install it ourselves in our RV's, but there would be no warranty because it's not installed by an authorized dealer. Ditto Avidyne. Then if We need to update the software (not data) We would have to return it to a dealer and pay for the update installation (although maybe a years worth of software updates is included in the sales price).

Do I have this right?

Just trying to understand before making decisions.

Jim
RV9A

Click to expand...

Nope,

Not correct. The GTN can now be updated by us experimental guys.
Never heard of them refusing warranty when working with a dealer as long as you don't do something crazy to the box to cause harm to it.

Don't expect them to fix it if you wire/install it incorrectly or abuse it.

jimbo said:

Tell me if I'm wrong. It is my understanding that we can purchase a new Garmin say....GTN650 from a dealer, install it ourselves in our RV's, but there would be no warranty because it's not installed by an authorized dealer. Ditto Avidyne. Then if We need to update the software (not data) We would have to return it to a dealer and pay for the update installation (although maybe a years worth of software updates is included in the sales price).

Do I have this right?

Just trying to understand before making decisions.

Jim
RV9A

Click to expand...

Hello Jim,

Our aviation products warranty does not exclude EAB customers from enjoying a 2 year warranty on a product like a GTN 650 even if you install it yourself.

As Brian mentions, any damage resulting from rookie installation errors may not be covered, but we sell lots of certified navigators to EAB customers who install them and problems of this type are very rare. After all, Garmin dealers and their installers are people too, and the installation guidance and methods needs to be relatively easy for almost anyone to follow.

We also allow EAB customers to perform their own software updates on GTN 6XX/7XX units using free software we provide on our website. Earlier this year we created a special service bulletin to allow EAB customers to install their own GTN V6.11 software, and the program was a resounding success with almost no issues reported.

Let us know if you have additional questions.

Thanks,
Steve

Garmin covered me

I bought all Garmin avionics through an authorized dealer (SteinAir). Installed everything myself. At approx. 16 months, one adhars unit was continuously having a hard failure. I called Stein, they called Garmin. Garmin sent a new unit directly to me. I returned the old unit in the same shipping box directly to Garmin.
No questions asked.
Excellent customer service.

Tom Hanaway

Installed my GTN650 in my RV-9A about this time last year (bought from Stein).

After flying it for a couple months I started to develop some weird intermittent comm issues on the 650. Garmin was great about helping me troubleshoot the problem, and ultimately replace the 650.

If I remember correctly they did have my go through Stein for the replacement, but even that wasn't a big deal. Stein shipped me a new unit (first) and I shipped the defective unit either to him or directly back to Garmin I don't remember now.

-Dan