Avionics by subscription

During a routine inspection of my Bonanza's Garmin GNS430 back in July
2004, a reputable avionics shop informed me that the unit's localizer and
glideslope reception were below Garmin's specifications. Since the unit
was a few years out of warranty, the only option I had was to return the
unit to Garmin. In return, Garmin would charge me a flat fee of US$600 to
completely overhaul the unit, addressing the initial problem and any others
they might uncover.

Three weeks later, Garmin returned the unit in "as good as new" condition,
having fixed the initial problem, updating the firmware, and replacing a
knob that had become sticky.

I later learned that there was a two week delay in returning my unit
because Garmin'd techs could not acceptably address the localizer and
glideslope reception problems during their first two attempts. Fortunately
their quality control group caught the problem and sent it back to the
bench twice before it finally passed QA.

I paid the $600 and was again happy. Over the next year I customized the
unit to my needs by changing displayed fields on various screens, adding
frequently-used IFR flight plans, and adding user waypoints.

Exactly 14 months later, or two months after its renewed warranty expired,
the glideslope receiver of the GNS430 again has failed. Initial
discussions with Garmin have revealed that they want another $600 to repair
the problem. Needless to say, this is unacceptable and negotiations are
ongoing.

The name of this game is avionics by subscription.

--
Peter
Not looking forward to having to again customize the unit to my liking.























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