[Scurvy]

Well, for once there is good news on the well known “ghosting” problem with the Nav VI. I just contacted Garmin about my faulty unit and easily ordered a replacement unit. I chose to use the “buy the replacement with my credit card, and once we receive the old unit back, well refund your card” option because I’ll get the replacement faster this way.

Takeaways from the conversation:

1. Garmin recognizes the problem and are making it right when people warrant their units.
2. Garmin attributed the trouble to a defective screen issue (the screen mfr will presumably be paying for the replacements) and have corrected the flaw in new screens going forward.
3. Garmin sends a recertified unit, which is new old stock (for now) that they verify as having the updated screen and that it works as spec’d. These are off-the-shelf units from warehouse and dealer stocks, they are not used items, but the sealed packages are unsealed when Garmin recertifies them. The CSR stated that my replacement unit will have the updated screen. I expect that to mean I won’t have the problem again, unlike all the good peeps here who have had to go through this process multiple times.
4. I was asked for the unit’s ID number, but the original purchase date wasn’t mentioned, and that was when the CSR noted that Garmin is standing behind their product. I was concerned because others here noted the 5-year warranty period and I haven’t been riding much in the last year to put much wear on the unit, old or new.

 

[ADV Wanderer]

Hopefully what they are telling you is correct! Garmin have been saying the same thing for years now. I think the last replacement units were hardware V8. My unit still has a year left on warranty and I've only experienced the ghosting issue once so far (just recently). So I am waiting as long as I can unless it gets worse/unusable.

 

[JoeFishNC]

Been on my 3rd unit for a few months. I also noticed some people get their NAV VI back with Version 5.3 and some with 10.0
As long as they keep sending me free replacements I am good with it.

 

[Scurvy]

Hopefully what they are telling you is correct! Garmin have been saying the same thing for years now. I think the last replacement units were hardware V8. My unit still has a year left on warranty and I've only experienced the ghosting issue once so far (just recently). So I am waiting as long as I can unless it gets worse/unusable.

I thought about your approach and decided to quickly return any faulty unit because they are honoring that at least, and I want to get as much burn-in time as possible on what becomes my final unit when the warranty period ends so that any latent problems have the longest possible time to surface.

They acknowledged that it is a hardware issue, so hopefully they will be able to rectify it via replacement and eventually the faulty screens will go away, along with our ghosting issues.

 

[DucRider]

My experience was identical, and it was clear Garmin wasn’t concerned about whether or not I had any time remaining on my warranty (I didn’t). Moreover, they didn’t care that my screen was scratched. While I understand frustration with the unit issues, the customer service has been stellar.

 

[Scurvy]

Oh yeah, no doubt they will mention this: For safe shipping reasons , they ask that we remove the LiOn battery from the return unit, and we get to keep that as a spare since the replacement unit comes with a battery.