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G3X Purchase Options

2-Blade

Member
I'm about to purchase several thousand dollars' worth of Garmin equipment to completely update the panel and other avionics in my RV-8. Anyone have any advice to keep my costs down? Right now I'm leaning toward purchasing everything from Aircraft Spruce, with a modest military discount. Thanks! -2B
 
I think what is more important than a small price difference is technical support after the sale. You can?t go wrong going with Steinair, and a tech with answers is a phone call away. They have competitive pricing and you may be surprised at a ?package? price when your buying a lot of goodies.
 
An example

Two G5's stacked vertically with an Aera 660, a Gtr200, and autopilot 507 with servos may be as cheap and (but very functional) simple vfr machine as you can get.

From there, if you want to add a few k extra swap out the Aera for the 10" G3X panel.

If you want it to be IFR, add a GTN 650 or 625 and GAD 29......and the the audio GMA 245.

Search RV8 panels and you'll get some nice ones
 
Can?t go wrong with SteinAir. They are price competitive and support after the sale is outstanding!
 
SteinAir. The service and advice after the sale are invaluable..... and you'll be glad for it.
 
I had great experience with both Steinair and with Tim at Approach Fast Stack - give him a try, too. Both are super helpful and responsive.
 
Can?t go wrong with SteinAir. They are price competitive and support after the sale is outstanding!

Beyond outstanding support, so good you feel bad calling them. SteinAir++
 
Steinair

Steinair holds a big chunk of the market for good reason. They're competitive in price and their service is outstanding. I consider myself a true skinflint (Irish for cheap) and had no qualms doing business with Stein.
 
Steinair

2B,
I would definitely recommend Stein! I just recently updated my GTN and somehow messed up things talking to each other. One call and Chris had me fully ops capable again. Candidly, they were super competitive with the G3x touch suite I installed. To me... Amazing capability and SA in all flying conditions. Just truly outstanding service and for a non "real" builder like me it has kept me in the game.
 
SteinAir.... +1

ACS = Little to no after sales support. They may be great for the majority of what they do but avionics knowledge and support is lacking.
Stark = Some history here in the archives. Good luck if you have any issues.
 
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I purchased my Garmin avionics from Aerotronics (advertised on the left of this page). Received great service and a very good price, with expert advice and after sale service.

Stein also has a very good reputation. So you may want to ask for a quote from both.
 
Do stein or aerotronics match ACS on discounts for military or A&P?s? I?ve been using ACS for years and ordered hundreds of thousands from them, but would switch ina heartbeat for someone who would provide customer service for the rare time I need it. Instead with ACS I get treated like I caused the manufacturers defect and there is zero communication. It gets old real fast. That and every wiring harness that they HAVE to provide with certain items is always wired wrong.
 
Do stein or aerotronics match ACS on discounts for military or A&P’s? I’ve been using ACS for years and ordered hundreds of thousands from them, but would switch ina heartbeat for someone who would provide customer service for the rare time I need it. Instead with ACS I get treated like I caused the manufacturers defect and there is zero communication. It gets old real fast. That and every wiring harness that they HAVE to provide with certain items is always wired wrong.

You can't have your cake and eat it too, if you want good service and after sales support you're gonna have to pay a little more (ACS is the wallyworld of aviation supplies).
 
Can?t go wrong with SteinAir. They are price competitive and support after the sale is outstanding!

... But, they do have those shirts that they wear at their Oshkosh boot that say (approximately) "We're not happy until you're broke" ... that's serious chutzpah!
 
Thanks for the advice, everyone! Still shopping around. Looking forward to some "real" avionics, instead of the handheld bandaid fixes I've been using for years.

2B
 
I don't have much to add other than to say the reputable shops mentioned here I consider colleagues are fine folks (Aerotronics, Approach, Walt, etc..). With the aforementioned folks specifically, we all actually do business back and forth with each other so I know what you can trust from whom. The "cheapest" vendors are not on that list.

Most people don't realize that with Avionics (and many things aviation) and unlike furniture, jewelry, or even cars - there isn't much margin to start with. Anyone hoping to find a 25% discount or difference in price between different dealers is in for a huge awakening. The reality is that most avionics and electronics now start out with a gross margin to the dealers of high single or low double digit percent numbers at best. That is why you see some folks charging you extra to even use a CC, etc.. I've had/have people call me assuming there are huge margins to begin with and insist on a 30% discount. I have to tell them that when they find that let me know, and I'll start buying supplies from them!

There are folks that will sell somewhat cheaper than others, but you'll never find anyone that is 25 or 30% less than someone else, because it's just not there to begin with. That means that on an entire purchase of avionics you're looking at very small differences (percentage wise) and why we try to add value in other areas. The business model where the only value you add is being the low bidder isn't what we're all about. :)

As an aside, we do a fair bit of regular business re-wiring items / harnesses that folks already purchased once somewhere else...

Just my 2 cents as usual.

Cheers,
Stein
 
I am in the business of electronics for large ships. It is funny that we sometimes see the same from our customers when we are trying to hold a 7% margin on many sales. I have often shown a customer what our cost is and they hang their head and just write a purchase order without trying to further negotiate.

Most people don't realize that with Avionics (and many things aviation) and unlike furniture, jewelry, or even cars - there isn't much margin to start with. Anyone hoping to find a 25% discount or difference in price between different dealers is in for a huge awakening. The reality is that most avionics and electronics now start out with a gross margin to the dealers of high single or low double digit percent numbers at best. That is why you see some folks charging you extra to even use a CC, etc.. I've had/have people call me assuming there are huge margins to begin with and insist on a 30% discount. I have to tell them that when they find that let me know, and I'll start buying supplies from them!

There are folks that will sell somewhat cheaper than others, but you'll never find anyone that is 25 or 30% less than someone else, because it's just not there to begin with. That means that on an entire purchase of avionics you're looking at very small differences (percentage wise) and why we try to add value in other areas. The business model where the only value you add is being the low bidder isn't what we're all about. :)

As an aside, we do a fair bit of regular business re-wiring items / harnesses that folks already purchased once somewhere else...

Just my 2 cents as usual.

Cheers,
Stein
 
Everyone knows if you want to get into an Aviation business, you can easily end up with a million dollars in no time !!! .... just start with ten million. :rolleyes: :p :eek:

:eek:
 
g3x

Just purchased a G3x complete kit w remote radio and ads-b in/out transponder +++++ all other usual needs for a complete instalation. Purchased from Kirk at Sarasota Avionics and happy to announce I got a great deal. I shopped around for prices as well. It pays out to make a call and talk to a real person.
 
Just purchased a G3x complete kit w remote radio and ads-b in/out transponder +++++ all other usual needs for a complete instalation. Purchased from Kirk at Sarasota Avionics and happy to announce I got a great deal. I shopped around for prices as well. It pays out to make a call and talk to a real person.

You beat me to it. My advice is that if you are going to do all yourself and just want a quick delivery with the lowest price, go with Sarasota. If you want help with your design, harness and/or installation support - Steinair.

My most recent build, I got great package deal through Sarasota, but I’ve long liked Stein, his website and just general great support of experimental avionics; there’s plenty of room in the market for more than one great vendor and I don’t think you’re going wrong with either of these or ACS.
 
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