What is your garmin worth to you?

It's a transition week, so we have no tempo today which is good because my Garmin has officially bit the dust. I have the Garmin 310 XT and it has been "touchy" on and off since about 9 months after I bought it. This following trying the Garmin 410, the first of which the wrist band broke (the band wasn't really designed for freaky small wrists like mine), and the second of which I killed with a few too many sweaty workouts. The 310XT has definitely outlived my previous 410s by a long shot and for the most part it has been awesome. I got it because I didn't want to worry about the sweat factor and it is supposedly a more triathlon oriented watch aka waterproof. But at some point it got "glitchy." Every three months or so the screen gets scrambled and starts scrolling randomly, the GPS still works but the read out is crazy. Hard resets have always fixed it, but the glitchy moments are coming more often now, and lately it has seemed awfully generous with the paces, it was time to put it out to pasture.

Having had it for two years it is not under warranty anymore. It cost me $350 and to replace it Garmin requests $99. My husband thinks this is absolutely nuts, and is shocked I am not more upset about it. But when I consider that I have used this watch pretty much every day for the past two years for an hour+ a day, I think I have gotten my money's worth out of it.

Do I agree that I would prefer for something I paid $350 for to work like a charm indefinitely, yes of course, but given how much I personally use it, I think the watch performed pretty well.

Anyways just wondering what everyone's experience with their garmin has been and if you think the price and replacement prices are reasonable?

8 comments:

Mnowac said...

I am shocked that you don't have to pay full price. I think that is awesome. I also think when mine dies it will have been worth every penny. Plus as runners we totally beat the thing up and get it more wet than we probably should.

Kim said...

i bought my garmin forerunner 305 back in like 2007, and i can no longer download my data, and it sometimes shuts off periodically. it's way too old i think to replace, so i would need to upgrade, but i really dont want to shell out $350!

E-Speed said...

Kim I would send them an email! I think they might replace it for you for under $99! There was no time limit on replacing, just the return fee.

Shevaun said...

I've had my 305 since 2006 and it still works great after 5 marathons and 3 IM's. When it fails, if can replace it for $99, I'll have gotten a bargain.

Anonymous said...

knock on wood, my 305 works like a charm after 4.5 years. and they're down to ~ $130 now. DEFINITELY worth it! i'm hoping the 310xt comes down to $250 or so by the time I need a replacement.

Justin Monast said...

My 310 is doing exactly the same as yours, the screen has been scrambled and I had corrupted data too. I'm only 18 months in on it, it looks like their latest firmware release was bad.

https://forums.garmin.com/forumdisplay.php?f=31

Robin said...

You've mastered how to use this model, so to replace it with the same one means not having to read directions (pro!). I think $99 is good considering how a lesser model would still cost more than that. Go for it!

jillieb2 said...

I love my 410 and it killed me to spend to 300.00! Considering I'm a teacher and haven't had a raise in 3 years, that's besides the point..(LOL). I agree with your husband, but I do think you should CALL the company and speak with someone in the sales dept. Also, send an email. In my experiences, most people in sports companies will be
helpful. I don't think it's fair to have to spend another 100; maybe half. It truly should be NOTHING! It doesn't hurt to ask:)