Garmin refuses to service GIA63W LRUs

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Sandy
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Garmin refuses to service GIA63W LRUs

Post by Sandy »

I have been on the “lookout” for a pair of GIA63W LRUs for some time. I finally located, and purchased, a pair. I took them to a Garmin dealer and asked that they be sent to Garmin to be overhauled and recertified, as required, for which I was willing to pay, of course. Garmin flat out refused to take them in for overhaul.

Sandy
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Re: The G1000 project - "The next step"

Post by TwinStarScott »

Yikes!
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Re: The G1000 project - "The next step"

Post by CFIDave »

Sandy wrote: Wed Jan 22, 2020 2:31 am...they be sent to Garmin to be overhauled and recertified, as required...
Garmin's standard practice is to swap G1000 Line Replaceable Units (LRUs) only if yours needs repair: They will overnight ship you one of their spare LRUs that likely came out of someone else's aircraft, and then they expect to receive your removed LRU shipped back to them for repair -- so they can give that unit after repair to someone else.

I'm not sure that Garmin does "overhaul and recertification" of any G1000 LRUs, including GIA63Ws.
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Re: The G1000 project - "The next step"

Post by Boatguy »

Given the need for the GIA63Ws in legacy aircraft, and Garmin's inability to provide them, it seems like a reasonable request for which Sandy was willing to pay a fair price. Certainly Garmin must put repaired units through a QA process before shipping them out as an exchange for the next customer who needs a repair; I think that is the service Sandy was requesting.

But apparently Garmin prefers that a pair of GIA63Ws which could be making Sandy's airplane more IFR airworthy be dumped into a recycling bin or landfill. This makes no sense, makes nobody happy and doesn't even lead to the purchase of some other product by which Garmin could profit.

The lifecycle of a Garmin product is 10-15yrs. If you own a Diamond with G1000, the clock is ticking. We will all be Sandy at some point in time as Garmin abandons the products which are baked into the certification of our airplanes.
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Re: The G1000 project - "The next step"

Post by pietromarx »

Sandy wrote: Wed Jan 22, 2020 2:31 am I have been on the “lookout” for a pair of GIA63W LRUs for some time. I finally located, and purchased, a pair. I took them to a Garmin dealer and asked that they be sent to Garmin to be overhauled and recertified, as required, for which I was willing to pay, of course. Garmin flat out refused to take them in for overhaul.

Sandy
Hi Sandy - could you provide a little more background on this (alarming) piece of information? Did Garmin give you a reason why they wouldn't overhaul your GIA63W's? If I could ask, where did these units from from? Was the issue overhauling (did they need a repair?) or recertifying? Finally, as a newbie, what exactly is re-certifying?

Thanks much


Peter
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Re: The G1000 project - "The next step"

Post by TJS »

Sandy wrote: Wed Jan 22, 2020 2:31 am I have been on the “lookout” for a pair of GIA63W LRUs for some time. I finally located, and purchased, a pair. I took them to a Garmin dealer and asked that they be sent to Garmin to be overhauled and recertified, as required, for which I was willing to pay, of course. Garmin flat out refused to take them in for overhaul.

Sandy
Does't sound right. I did exactly that and had mine done April 2019 for $1300 each.
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Sandy
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Re: The G1000 project - "The next step"

Post by Sandy »

Hi Sandy - could you provide a little more background on this (alarming) piece of information? Did Garmin give you a reason why they wouldn't overhaul your GIA63W's? If I could ask, where did these units from from? Was the issue overhauling (did they need a repair?) or recertifying? Finally, as a newbie, what exactly is re-certifying?

Thanks much

Peter
Does't sound right. I did exactly that and had mine done April 2019 for $1300 each.
While I do not wish to fully identify either the party from whom I purchased the LRUs, the Garmin dealer involved, or the Garmin "field engineer" who advised both the dealer and me that Garmin would not touch the units, I can add the following information.

I have been flying for almost 50 years, and I have owned a number of planes, including my current non-WAAS 2005 DA40. I practice Aviation Law, and I have attended all of the major airshows (Airventure, Sun N Fun, etc.), flown Angel Flights, Hurricane relief, and Young Eagles for a long time, whereby I know many, many people in the aviation community. Unlike other attorneys, I do not give out business cards, but, instead, give out very nice metal pens that have a stylus at one end of their caps, and an LED light surrounding the tip, whereby they are ideal for use with your iPad as well as for taking clearances, etc. at night. If you're Involved in aviation, and I've ever met you, you have one. In short, when I said that I have been looking for a pair of GIA63Ws for my plane, I assure you that my "tentacles" have been "out there", whereby I was quite pleased to have been able to purchase a pair from a reputable supplier of "previously owned" aviation equipment.

Having purchased the two GIA63Ws, my next step was to take them to a reputable Garmin dealer, who was quite willing to install them in my plane. Prior to having them installed, however, I requested that they be sent to Garmin to be checked and repaired, as needed if any repairs were needed. I was quoted a price of about $2,500 for both based on Garmin's "flat rate" repair policy. I did not request, nor require, a one-day turnaround, and I was quite willing to pay the charge, even if the units worked perfectly when received by Garmin. Note, that neither I, nor the Garmin dealer, nor Garmin have any reason to believe that the units were not 100% operational. Nevertheless, I was dumbfounded to learn from my dealer that when he sought an RMA number to send the units to Garmin for such service, if any, that may have been required, he was told by a Garmin "field engineer" that it was Garmin's "policy" to not perform service, nor replace, the LRUs unless they came out of my own plane. As I could not believe that Garmin wanted to have me trash the units, that Garmin would not even accept them back for testing, and that Garmin was firm on that "policy", I requested, and obtained the name of the Garmin field engineer. I then spoke directly with him, and he confirmed that Garmin would not touch the units, as they did not know (nor did I) their entire history, although I was told that Garmin had sold them, as new, to an aircraft company other than Diamond. Nevertheless, these units had the appropriate Model Nos. for installation in my plane.

As one who has held an Instrument rating for 35 years, I have flown my share of ADF and VOR non-precision approaches, and despite having had an autopilot in my planes for at least 40 years, I only recall having flown one coupled approach, and that was just to see how the plane flew it, so I am comfortable with LNAV approaches, although I would prefer to have the WAAS capability.

Basically, aside from the names that I have omitted, that is the story.

Sandy
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Re: The G1000 project - "The next step"

Post by ememic99 »

That's really odd story but it reflects today's situation and bad sides of monopoly position. Being pilot myself for 35+ years I can only confirm that such things didn't happen in the past. Since a meeting will be held in near future between DAI, Garmin and few participants of this forum, this issue can be raised under the topic of legacy G1000 hardware upgrade/repair.
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Re: The G1000 project - "The next step"

Post by Colin »

If the company cannot confirm the chain of possession, they are picking up an unknown liability. Sounds like lawyers got to the engineers.

Can you put them in your plane, fly for two years, and then send them in for "repair?"
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Sandy
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Re: The G1000 project - "The next step"

Post by Sandy »

That's really odd story but it reflects today's situation and bad sides of monopoly position. Being pilot myself for 35+ years I can only confirm that such things didn't happen in the past. Since a meeting will be held in near future between DAI, Garmin and few participants of this forum, this issue can be raised under the topic of legacy G1000 hardware upgrade/repair.
I would be very interested in, possibly, attending such a meeting.

Sandy
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