Guys, I'm going to also post this to the Ercoupe list. I hope you find it helpful.
Al DeMarzo Visit the Ercoupe Swap Page Free, Easy and No Membership Required http://www.ercoupeowners.com/swap/swapbook.htm To: Beechboys Sent: Friday, January 02, 2009 6:32 PM Subject: Looking For A Used 496? Beware! For the past few months I've been having trouble with my Garmin 496 not wanting to receive satellites. I've learned the hard way that at the first sign of trouble with a Garmin product you NEED to IMMEDIATELY get to tech support for their comments. When I called first, it was explained as normal because the unit wasn't powered up for a while, unit was turned on in a different location from where it was powered down, bad location for reception, the moon was in the second phase of the month, my airplane was painted white, I was imagining it, etc., etc. Okay, I was able to get hold of Caban on the cell and get the autolocate mode procedure so it worked okay. As weeks went by, I became more and more irritated at this way overpriced unit not doing what it was supposed to do, especially when these guys just introduced another, even more expensive unit. Another call to tech support was made. This time they said that the internal battery needed to be recharged and that I could do this by charging the unit while it was on. It didn't charge the internal battery when it was powered down. Okay, I let it charge for 24 hours, seemed fine but that's a rouse. After about a week, same problem. Power the unit up, clock was wrong, wouldn't find any satellites. Okay, charged it for another 24 hour period, but this time I started to Google the problem to see if it was isolated or another one of those secret Garmin things. NEW PROCEDURE: When you have a problem with a Garmin product, Google it first, then call tech support knowing the ground rules. It seems that there is a problem with internal batteries. They are basically little watch-type 3 Ma lithium batteries that are soldered onto the board. They are not considered field replaceable! The oldest article I read (remember the product is only 2 years old) was from a fellow who inquired and was told by Garmin that the battery replacement was $250.00. That's Two-Hundred Fifty and zero cents Dollars! His unit was a year old. The next I read it had gone up to $350.00. Now mind you, they don't replace the battery, they change the board. So this meant to me that my $2700 hand held Garmin GPS was built to last about 1.5 years with a 1 year warranty. In both of these articles, the gents spelled out, as best they could, exactly how to change that battery. Real PITA, but $7.00 for the battery as opposed to $350.00. Looking at the engineering, I'm not sure if replacing it with a larger capacity battery (as some people are doing) would be a solution as the board may not be able to fully charge it. The internal battery should be field replaceable by a qualified shop - DUH! Now since my unit was way out of warranty, I figured I'd try to replace the battery myself and if I screw it up, so what! Before undertaking the task, I decided to call Garmin and see what they would say. Well, I am saddened to report that the repair is now $400.00. As I explained to the support person, in addition to the $2700 I forked over for this unit not two years ago it cost me another $200 a year to own it. At that point I explained I was not at all interested in spending $400 to repair a design or manufacturing deficiency. She cut the cost down to $200. I explained that I fully appreciated her intent, but I fell victim to much the same scam with my 295 (pressure valve) and then with my panel mount GPS300XL (display shot), 2 months out of warranty. I told her that Garmin needed to take care of this problem on their nickel. She gave me an RMA and I sent it in. The unit was just returned and they actually gave me another, marked "Newly Overhauled". I will say that the cosmetics of the case I sent to them was better than I got back. But this is aviation, so I am fortunate and consider myself lucky that they're selling to me. The unit works fine. Mike Caban will shortly post the method for changing the battery on the CSOB site. We've been working it for a couple of weeks. I didn't want to report it to the list until I was satisfied with my situation. What you guys need to think about if you're going for a used 496 is that in a very short time, it may just cost you another $400 to repair it. It's nothing the seller or previous owner could possibly know. Hell, my unit was pristine and didn't have even 80 hours on it! My strong recommendation is that if you must buy used, to only buy one with a warranty, perhaps only attainable through Garmin or a legitimate dealer selling recons. Avoid cleaned up trade-ins and Ebay offerings! If you're thinking about trading yours on the 696 and you go for the $1800 allowance, you may be surprised when they hit your card for another $400 because your trade-in was needing repair. This is a problem that Garmin should wrap their arms around and fix, not on an individual basis, but as a whole. ALL of them. Instead they whisper in your ear and wrap their arms around the consumer's hips! Yes, I am as satisfied as one can expect, but if in three weeks this goes tits up, well, I'll not get a warranty again. As far as upgrading to the 696 goes, it's just another reason to encourage competition even if you do have money to burn. One would think that maybe Garmin would finally learn a lesson and try to recoup that 80% loss in their stock price. Then again, if my $200 NUVI goes bad, it hits the recycle bin and maybe that's their design.
