What's the real deal on the 300XL?

[Jamie]

Ok, so what's really the status of the Garmin 300XL? Here's an exchange I had with Garmin regarding the continued availability of these units.

Garmin is still manufacturing these units, why some dealers are not
selling them I do not have that answer.

George Koelsch
Garmin International
Field Service Engineer
george.koelsch@garmin.com
913-397-8200


-----Original Message-----
From: Jamie Painter [mailto:jamie@jpainter.org]
Sent: Wednesday, January 04, 2006 11:37 AM
To: Koelsch, George
Subject: Re: Sales support request for GNC 300XL


Thanks for the timely response, George.

Do you know of any reason why this unit is no longer being sold by some
vendors? By saying that there are no plans to discontinue the unit, do
you mean that Garmin is still manufacturing them? Some vendors are
telling me that GNC-300XLs are no longer being manufacturered and only
refurbished units are available. Is this information incorrect?

Thanks,
Jamie D. Painter

Koelsch, George wrote:


>> There is no plans to discontinue the GNC300XL at this time.
>>
>>George Koelsch
>>Garmin International
>>Field Service Engineer
>>george.koelsch@garmin.com
>>913-397-8200
>>
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: Jamie Painter [mailto:jamie@jpainter.org]
>>Sent: Wednesday, January 04, 2006 8:58 AM
>>To: Garmin Sales Support
>>Subject: Sales support request for GNC 300XL
>>
>>
>>Contact Information:
>>First Name: Jamie
>>Last Name: Painter
>>Address:
>>City, State, Zip: , ,
>>Country: United States
>>Phone:
>>E-Mail: jamie@jpainter.org
>>Product: GNC 300XL
>>Serial Number: null
>>Software Version: null
>>
>>Inquiry:
>>Some vendors are saying that the 300XL has been discontinued and are no
>>longer selling it (Aircraft Spruce for example), however it does not appear
>>on the discontinued products section of the website. What's the real

story?

>>I searched the FAQs but couldn't find anything.
>>
>>Request emailed to avionics@garmin.com
>>
>>-------------------------
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>>Thank you for your cooperation
>>
>>

Van's web store mentions that Garmin doesn't make them anymore. Aircraft Spruce lists the item as N/A.

I have an inquiry in to Stark and others but I thought I would ask around to see what the real deal is. Obviously Garmin has incentive to be deceptive about this if they are trying to flush out their remaining inventory (I'm not saying that they ARE being deceptive, only that they have motive). Anyone have a more conclusive answer?

[Davepar]

I've been wondering as well, although lately I've been leaning toward getting the 430. Let us know what you find out.

[Jamie]

I just got a response by from John Stark, and he says that Garmin is telling him the same thing -- the units are still being manufactured (he can sell you a new one) and there are no plans to discontinue them.

[Highflight]

You might check directly with Vans and see why they are saying it's a discontinued unit. Maybe they know something, or maybe they misunderstand something.

I wonder if some of the confusion is that the GNC300 most certainly has been discontinued, and perhaps it gets confused with the GNC300XL because of the similarity of model number?