kayakdiver

mine was purchased years ago now.... it was a refurb from Garmin. Don't know if that changes anything though.

darb85

I should note that if you buy referb from the garmin Ebay store or new from them, then you are fine. see link i posted:

https://support.garmin.com/support/s...00000000000%7D

Taipei325

On the warranty/Ebay issue....

I am Canadian, but I have lived in Taiwan for 12 years and know a little about warranties here. Many vendors in Taiwan will sell new goods that, in Mandarin, are called "Shuei Huo". I suppose we could call this grey market. The goods are 100% legit, but they were purchased through a distributor, not the original manufacturer. The OEM sells these items to the distributor, but in exchange for the lower price, limits the product liability warranty on these items. Thus, if you purchase goods such as these, you do not have a global warranty. Garmin would honor the warranty in Taiwan, and only Taiwan. This allows them to segment the market and charge higher prices elsewhere (assuming consumers value a warranty). Taiwan's electronic prices are generally very good with very small margins for distributors. For example, my LBS in Taipei sells the Edge 500 brand new for $150 dollars and adds only $25 more for the heart rate monitor. I doubt he can make much/any money on that price. And before anyone asks me to buy one for them...that is "shuei huo!"

How to tell if is shuei huo? 1. Taiwan vendor. 2. Mandarin Manual 3. Low price from a reputable, but not name brand vendor.

StanSeven

That's good to know but there's a difference between auctions and ebay selllers

unionmade

Got mine from Nashbar when they had 15% off gps plus free shipping. They have 20% off often. Fully legit.

Jasper Storm

+1

I decided to take the "big" risk, knowing Garmin's position on warranty work & auction purchases.

My first Garmin 500 ride was 3/10/2010. Never had any problems, save for maybe four corrupt files out of 100's of rides.

I've got my $$$ worth.

Stomper

Rats! The coupon doesn't cover Garmin computers, but it does cover trainers. I guess I'll wait for holiday cash to buy it.

Psimet2001 

Garmin has been stepping up enforcement of their distribution controls. US shops cna no longer buy from distribution (QBP, Hawley, etc) like they used to - they actually have to set up an account direct with Garmin. They order is actually placed with Garmin but "through" that distributor. This still credits that distributor with the sale, but allows Garmin to know exactly which serial numbers were sold to who.

Garmin is now also actively purchasing units from ebay sellers. If they seller is selling outside of their agreements with regards to pricing programs then they will lose their account. If the seller doesn't have an account with Garmin then Garmin uses the serial number on the units to trace it back to the original purchaser and pulls their account.

As a Garmin dealer - I can say that I don't exactly "hate" this action. It does theoretically make it possible for me to make more deals than before. There is no price elasticity in this market - even though Garmin is a brand it has sort of made itself a commodity.

When signing up for an account I had to sign my life away in terms of a few things. Department of Homeland Security statements, etc - promises that I would never ship a GPS unit over the border without further account authorization/paperwork with the government, etc.

Sure...these are bike computers, but if you're buying units from outside the US - they are Grey market. They were never meant for sale in the US. Even if bought from dealers that are legitimate in their own country. Garmin can and will react any way that they want with regards to any warranty issue that may or may not arise with one of those units. In general though - I would say that Garmin is much more interested in shutting down those that are devaluing their product instead of "punishing" end customers.

Garmin sales are taken very seriously and are tracked. I can say this as a dealer. Because of this and the fact that there are still so many other sources for grey market product, I kind of just choose not to play the game. Sure I am a dealer, sure I can sell them, but I don't advertise them, stock a large number, or otherwise put myself in jeopardy. I usually sell them as add ons for power meter sales. In that case I can usually strike a great deal for everyone involved, and not violate anyone's policies but still get the customer a good deal.

Gjc985

The deals are just so much better on ebay but the lack of warranty scares the hell out of me

dwatson

I have had 2 500 in the last few months, both have failed in a short period of time, I am now on my third. I got mine though a dealer and all was good as for the warranty. But the build quality doesn't seem to be there for this price point.