i bought this gps in 2009 and I love it.

It stopped allowing itself to be charged from the cradle recently. You can charge it off it's USB connector once it's out of the cradle but it won't accept power from the cradle and I tried another new cradle still no good.
Turns out to be the unit and not the cradle.

Garmin said I can send it in but I won't get that one back. I'll get some other refurb back. I told them I take care of my stuff and I don't want another unit back, I want this one fixed.

They said sorry but it don't work like that.

Does anyone know a place that repairs these units that I can count on getting the one I send them back?

 

STOP... WAIT... YOU ARE MAKING A MISTAKE... I had a similar issue and accepted a refurbished... Like getting a brand new Zumo AND they up-dated/graded all the maps... The 550 is now 'outdated' by the new 660... If Garmin will service you with a refurbished unit DO IT...!!!

My refurb w/ updated maps was practically FREE...

 

Ya think?

What did they charge you for the refurb?

 

yes, do it. Itll be like new and new maps!!

 

Ok.....I'll do it.

I like the shape of this unit. I can't understand why they discontinued it.

 

The ZUMO 550 is one of THE BEST GPS UNITS... YOU are going to get what amounts to a NEW one... It may in fact be a brand new/unsold unit... You MAY end up paying for s/h and perhaps a small fee but IT IS WELL WORTH IT... My original unit gave ~5 years of flawless service under extreme conditions... Prolly saved my life... And Garmin's service has been EXCELLENT... Before they change their mind, GIT UR DUN ASAP... YOU won't regret it...

FYI... IF YOU want to upgrade to the 660 now would be the time... Just tell Garmin and they will charge you a minimal amount to make the swap... I chose to stay with the 550...

Why they discontinued the 550... http://www.prades.net/zumo660/ The 660 has its unique problems... Most of the changes were 'cosmetic' IMO... NOTE: You will see that 2-3 of the issues were with the electrical connections and they can be overcome by using copious amounts of dielectric grease... My 550 provides ALL the services of the 660 and is still serving me VERY well... When it finally poops-out I will go with the commensurate up-date/grade...

The ONLY issue I've had with my 550 was the touch-screen after nearly 5 years of abuse... Was expected... NOTE: Be careful what you clean them with (best to use JUST water/NO chemicals including NO WAXES)...

 

My 660 was acting up....not playing MP3......powering off after an hour, differant things.
I backed up all my maps/info using MAPSOURCE...called Garmin....and send them my 'sick' GPS. Cost me 176 bucks and a week and a half......got a brand new GPS (looked new anyhow). Hooked it up, downloaded info from mapsource.
I had my old unit for about 5 years, a new 660 (if you can find one) is about 650 bucks.
Works for me.

 

I just sent my 550 back to Garmin on Wednesday and the refurb will be here Monday or Tuesday. My touch screen has been on the fritz for about a year and it got to the point where I could not make it do anything. I think I pushed a little hard on the screen(the screen got to the point of past annoying) and when I tried to power it back on it was all together dead. They told me 150.00 to repair or replace which I am more then happy to pay. This is a great unit and has been trouble free since I bought it in 2008. Everything I have read is the touch screen has about a four year life and it was true in my case. I would rather pay 150 for a like new refurb then paying 500+ for a used unit off ebay.

 

I have had my Zumo 550 for years.I love it but it has had it's share of problems.It has gone through 2 cradles that mount on the bike,one touch screen,one on and off button.and once it just died..No telling how much I have in to this but when it is working it is great as I have XM radio with it..

 

I had the same problem on my garmin. Called Garmin and was instructed to reboot and it fixed this problem. To reboot, with GPS off, press the bottom right corner of the screne and the power button at the same time. It will then go into reboot mode and when finished it will be ready to use in a few minutes.