Register
Avionics

Extended Warranties: Worth it for Avionics?

Several of the major avionics manufacturers are offering extended warranty coverage for their high-end products. What may initially seem like a hard sell could ultimately save you a ton of dough. Its no secret that modern avionics are far from cheap, but out-of-warranty repairs and associated troubleshooting can be shockingly expensive. Even a basic factory repair on a modern navcomm radio can top $1000. Many consumers are skeptical of buying into warranty coverage. The sad fact is that extended warranties for radios, like nearly any other product, are a crap shoot. But before you tell Jos, "no way," you need to consider the potential for savings plus the perceived value it might add to the aircraft if you try to sell it. To make the correct decision in buying warranty coverage, you need to understand the potential costs for both minor and major repairs. For example, the display replacement for a Bendix/King KX155A navcomm radio will usually cost upwards of $500, even for a field repair. A meter failure in a KI209 navigational indicator essentially reduces the unit to throw-away status (this indicator is worth $2000 in factory-new condition). Repairs to an Avidyne EX5000 MFD thats out of warranty will yield a repair cost of $2250, and the turn-around time could be two weeks.

Larry Anglisano
Verified

Several of the major avionics manufacturers are offering extended warranty coverage for their high-end products. What may initially seem like a hard sell could ultimately save you a ton of dough.

Its no secret that modern avionics are far from cheap, but out-of-warranty repairs and associated troubleshooting can be shockingly expensive. Even a basic factory repair on a modern navcomm radio can top $1000.

Many consumers are skeptical of buying into warranty coverage. The sad fact is

Extended Warranties on Avionics

that extended warranties for radios, like nearly any other product, are a crap shoot. But before you tell Jos, “no way,” you need to consider the potential for savings plus the perceived value it might add to the aircraft if you try to sell it.

Its the Hidden Costs

To make the correct decision in buying warranty coverage, you need to understand the potential costs for both minor and major repairs. For example, the display replacement for a Bendix/King KX155A navcomm radio will usually cost upwards of $500, even for a field repair. A meter failure in a KI209 navigational indicator essentially reduces the unit to throw-away status (this indicator is worth $2000 in factory-new condition). Repairs to an Avidyne EX5000 MFD thats out of warranty will yield a repair cost of $2250, and the turn-around time could be two weeks.

Freight costs are a large overhead in most avionics shops, and customers pay the freight for shipping boxes to and from the factory. Its a difficult problem for both aircraft owner and shop. The owner wants a rapid turn-around when ordering replacement components, but is often shocked at the freight charges that are passed along.

When it comes down to it, its not the responsibility of the shop to absorb overnight freight costs. Before you suggest overnight or other air freight options, ask the shop what the estimated costs of such will run so there are no surprises.

System troubleshooting, whether its on the test bench or in the aircraft, is pricey for several reasons. Shops need to maintain current calibration on nearly all equipment used for repair and diagnosis. Second, modern systems are rich with integration, which ups the troubleshoot time and effort. Its not always as easy as pulling a box for a quick bench-test and diagnosis. Many extended warranties pick up freight, diagnostic, and removal and reinstallation costs. This can be a huge savings on even the most basic repairs.

Garmin FliteLevel

Garmin only offers extended coverage for the components of the G1000 integrated avionics suite, and coverage for aftermarket retrofit products is not available. This warranty isn’t available for fractional or charter operations, aircraft outside of the United States or Canada, or for non-individual ownership such as flight training schools. It cant be added for aircraft that are out of their original warranty end date by more than one year. G1000 suites are initially covered for two years after delivery. FliteLevel extends coverage out for an additional three years (there is also a two-year option).

The Garmin extended warranty is transferable with the sale of the aircraft. Some owners told us that having the coverage in place helped close the deal when they went to the bargaining table.

FliteLevel covers nearly all components within the G1000 suite, called Line Replaceable Units or LRUs. These include remote transponders, audio systems, heading sensors and those big displays, to name a few. You can purchase coverage on equipment only, or equipment and labor. On average, the price Delta between covering the labor or not is $2000. We would opt to buy the labor coverage given the intense troubleshooting and disassembly effort thats often required in G1000 repair.

For G1000 full coverage in basic airplanes like a Diamond DA40, a full warranty package costs $5995 and includes the GFC700 autopilot system. In the more substantial Socata TBM850, a full package is $21,995. That includes coverage for the mighty GWX86 radar system.

Garmin has an extensive LRU exchange program in place, and our experience has proven that there’s always a generous supply of exchange units on hand. The coverage includes paid air freight outbound and call-tag service for return of the failed unit to the Garmin factory in Olathe, Kansas . you’ll need to have this warranty work accomplished at an authorized Garmin service center, of course, but youre bound to find one in nearly every region you fly. There’s even AOG emergency service available 24/7.

Whats not covered? The usual caveats of misuse, accidents, improper modifications, natural disasters and failures caused by other equipment that might be installed on the aircraft apply. Optional Garmin service bulletins for product improvement (of which there are plenty) arent included in the coverage, nor are regular maintenance-interval items, data and update cards, or data programmers.

Honeywell HAPP

Honeywell Avionics Protection Plan (HAPP) includes the Confidence Plan extended warranty for general aviation equipment. Commonly, this is the Silver Crown and Silver Crown Plus line of avionics. All contracts are based on complete coverage of all the avionics in the aircraft. If you have a newer Cessna with a complete stack of Silver Crown Plus gear, all of the units are included in the coverage. Picking and choosing specific boxes isn’t an option.

Larry Anglisano

Editor in Chief Larry Anglisano has been a staple at Aviation Consumer since 1995. An active land, sea and glider pilot, Larry has over 30 years’ experience as an avionics repairman and flight test pilot. He’s the editorial director overseeing sister publications Aviation Safety magazine, IFR magazine and is a regular contributor to KITPLANES magazine with his Avionics Bootcamp column.