Short Warranty Periods

[Furbz]

My Garmin 520 packed up at just over 2 years old a few years back.

At the time i replaced it with the newer 530 which is a great piece of kit. i love it.

Low and behold at 1 year and 11 months old the 530 also packed up. not a ding, mark or scratch on it. just a solid blank screen that appeared mid ride. Which has left me scratching my head regarding my next move.

Garmin's warranty period is 1 year - i did take it in and got quoted roughly half price to get a new replacement unit. R2418. not bad, and all around good PR from Garmin. i have accepted this quote as i need a GPS. but it still leaves me wondering.

at R5k initial purchase price + the replacement cost i am now at R7418 in less than two years. expensive stuff.

It bugs me that such expensive tech can only have a single year of warranty. especially as they appear not to last any significant time past this period.

i have been very tempted to upgrade to a 830, but now i am uncertain its a good idea. if it goes pop in the same manner as my previous garmins have and i get the same deal each year, i'd be shelling out R4k every 1-2 years just to stay in the garmin ecosystem.

I am fairly heavily invested in the garmin ecosystem with a radar on the back and varia light up front - i am not sure if any other competitor head units are compatible with the radar unit? - it is certainly something i am going to investigate.

the next issue that is not as important is if Discovery accepts workouts in the same manner as they do with garmin.

the radar is a proper game changer when it comes to on the bike safety.

 

Thoughts on other units worth looking at? and their respective longevity/warranties? 

 

 

 

Edited August 26, 2021 by Furbz

[Jbr]

For me Garmin products are a bit overrated, I had a Fenix 5 replaced under warranty, the next one that came had pretty much the same chargin issue as the old one, except after a few minutes of trying to put the cable in with a angle I always manage to eventually getting it charged, so I didn't bother asking for another replacement.

After that I got a 530, that randomly turns off and that I can't turn back on, I must plug it for it to restart even on a full battery. Luckily I have the watch to finish recording my rides when it happens. I contacted the support, they said send it in but then as it happens very rarely I ended up never sending it back....until one of the bits on the back side mount broke, for no reason (at least not the result of a crash) and that when I asked them again and realised the warranty only runs for 1 year... It still kind of holds with only one of the bits, but I always make sure to tie it to my bars just in case.

The support seems helpful and replaced my watch with no questions asked, but the 1 year limit blew my mind, these products are also sold in europe where legally they have to give a 2 yr warranty, the fact that it's only 1 yr here kind of tells a lot about how much they trust their own products

So now I have a watch and a computer that as a pair never betray me, but it's a lot of money just to make sure I can record all my data for each ride I do. Next time I'll try one of those wahoo as a cycling computer and probably revert back to a good old normal watch. Main downside with the wahoo is apparently you can't use laps for data analysis on strava/intervals.icu...

Edited August 26, 2021 by Jbr

[Trashy]

I've had 4 Garmin watches, and every single one of them has given up within 2 years.

When I sent the first in they lost it and replaced it with a new model.

Another was replaced without issue, but was handled by takealot so that might explain the great service.

The most recent stopped working after 18 months and it was the last Garmin product I will buy.

They make great products that work really well, when they work.

 

I've also found dealing with Garmin to be a painstaking and frustrating process.

No thanks.

[DieselnDust]

I replace my edge 1030 every year for the last 6 years under warranty. Most of the it had failed within warranty but twice it was a month out of warranty but since the blue screen is well known they replaced it . 

my road bike has a paint defect. The manufacturer says I sweat on the bike so it’s not their defect …. Right so don’t sweat on a racing bike, especially when the only race it’s seen is the DC. Warranties are worthless unless the manufacturer is aware of a far reaching and well known issue. 
oh yes the will repaint the frame but I just send it back to France at my cost and pay for shipping back to SA. Super ???? 

[Jbr]

29 minutes ago, DieselnDust said:

my road bike has a paint defect. The manufacturer says I sweat on the bike so it’s not their defect …. 

Funny idea buying a french bike though. We don't sweat, we evaporate

[DieselnDust]

8 minutes ago, Jbr said:

Funny idea buying a french bike though. We don't sweat, we evaporate

exactly what I told them. lol. its too hot in CT for the swat to be a factor as it evaporates before it hits the frame.

Itd just really irritating how difficult manufacturers make it for their customers to get get an equitable result. I may as well buy Chinese and have it painted to my liking at BMC. They're back this week from their holidays so hopefully they've indulged in the pleasures of France and are in a better mood

[Skubarra]

1 hour ago, Furbz said:

My Garmin 520 packed up at just over 2 years old a few years back.

At the time i replaced it with the newer 530 which is a great piece of kit. i love it.

Low and behold at 1 year and 11 months old the 530 also packed up. not a ding, mark or scratch on it. just a solid blank screen that appeared mid ride. Which has left me scratching my head regarding my next move.

Garmin's warranty period is 1 year - i did take it in and got quoted roughly half price to get a new replacement unit. R2418. not bad, and all around good PR from Garmin. i have accepted this quote as i need a GPS. but it still leaves me wondering.

at R5k initial purchase price + the replacement cost i am now at R7418 in less than two years. expensive stuff.

It bugs me that such expensive tech can only have a single year of warranty. especially as they appear not to last any significant time past this period.

i have been very tempted to upgrade to a 830, but now i am uncertain its a good idea. if it goes pop in the same manner as my previous garmins have and i get the same deal each year, i'd be shelling out R4k every 1-2 years just to stay in the garmin ecosystem.

I am fairly heavily invested in the garmin ecosystem with a radar on the back and varia light up front - i am not sure if any other competitor head units are compatible with the radar unit? - it is certainly something i am going to investigate.

the next issue that is not as important is if Discovery accepts workouts in the same manner as they do with garmin.

the radar is a proper game changer when it comes to on the bike safety.

 

Thoughts on other units worth looking at? and their respective longevity/warranties? 

 

 

 

I'm on my 3rd Garmin 520 now - first 2 didn't last a year, 3rd one now going close to 2 years and still going ok. First one was replaced under warranty, second one I had to pay for the replacement unit because apparently the warranty on the 1st replacement unit was only 3 months or something like that.

I am asking myself the exact same question, I like the functionality of the 520 but do I really want to go Garmin again when it inevitably breaks within the next year? Will definitely be doing my homework first before I drop money on another Garmin unit.

[no calves]

oh FFS.. Just bought a 130 plus for the missus and a 530 for myself.

 

Then again i'm on my 3rd fenix and my brother also on his 3rd. funny how they kept failing just out of warranty and then we had to pay "half" for a new one. eventually told the guy its BS iff they expect me to almost yearly pay half of a new unit.

 

on the other hand... Leatherman used to replace your unit iff you sent it in for a service. now you have to pay R150 just to get a blade sharpened. something to do with a business model that they cant sustain anymore and that we as saffas got to be knows as abusers of our leathermans..... BLAH BLAH BLAH

Edited August 26, 2021 by no calves

[madmarc]

1 hour ago, copperhead said:

My friend has a Trek. Also terrible paint issue around the stem area on the frame. They said it was not their problem. Corrosion was their answer. I strongly advise anyone buying a bike not to buy a Trek. Heard it is a common issue. They quite obviously know about it and simply don't care. Bike is less than 2 years old. In my eyes horrific service. 

That's a strange response from TREK - I wonder it it was a TREK decision or the local importer/LBS decision

I bought a TREK SUPERFLY back in 2012 from a non-TREK dealer. In 2019 i cracked the frame and tried for a warranty replacement under their lifetime warranty policy through the same dealer i bought it from. a week later my brand new 2019 TOP FUEL 9.9 replacement frame was in my workshop.

I was really impressed and obviously now a big TREK fan  - Obviously of course second to COLNAGO that will always be my 1st calling.

[dasilvarsa]

For every Garmin that Fails out of Warranty there are a Million Running Perfectly.

They Don't Like the Battery to run Dead Flat.

They Don't Like Water Too Much.

[Cheabb78]

Not Garmin, but had the short warranty issue with my daughters Beats headphones. 18 months old, 12 month warranty, and Apple shrug their shoulders and offer a new pair for slightly more than what I paid originally. Now she wants an upgrade ????

[Furbz]

So wahoo is compatible with the radar unit.

But it appears not accepted by discovery 

[Frosty]

I’m on my 4th Forerunner since 2008. The 735XT has been on my arm, since August 2016, for just about every workout. Before that my 310XT (converted it to a stem mounted device) lasted 7 years before I replaced it with a Lezyne last year.

maybe I’ve been one of the fortunate ones.

[Furbz]

My polar RS800CX from 2009 is still alive... 

[DIPSLICK]

Hold on, bike garmin 

let’s assume a rider puts in 10 hours per week through summer and winter and uses it on their IDT 

1 year is actually shocking to even start thinking of failure

many riders don’t do 10 hours a week ????????

watches 24/7/365 still other than batteries these things should last loooong, and people say buying a 100-200k watch that lasts 30 years and still has value after 30 years is madness????????

saying the above my current 820 still new no issues

the previous 510or 520 died 2 years in (very little use) they replaced no cost, gave it to a fellow Hubber when I stopped riding it died at some point if I remember it was minimal costs and he got an upgrade 

forgot my point ,,,oh ja if u take actual working time it’s insane how short these expensive gadgets “last”

[Titleist]

Trek replaced my frame within 10 days of handing in the cracked frame early 2020. And I got an upgrade.
My Garmin 820 lasted 4 years and I sold it a few weeks ago due to the battery life getting shorter. The odometer read almost 20000km….