I bought my Zumo 550 a few years ago and the first one chit the bed in 9 months. Have had the current one(refurb) for about 2 years and now this one has chit the bed. Great quality! First one I had to spend ~$40 to send it back to Garmin(under warranty no less) and now they'll want $150 to swap this one out for another refurb unit plus another shipping charge. These things aren't cheap and you'd think there would be a little quality to them. I've read a bunch of GPS forums and this isn't uncommon.

I've used Garmin GPS's for over 12 years in aviation and have NEVER had a single problem. Guess they decided to skip the quality assurance part of the job on the Zumo's. What a piece of crap these things are.

 

The only problem I've had with it was when I upgraded software last year. It hung up and wouldn't boot up. I played email tag with a tech and was told that I would have to return the "defective unit" back to them for repair. I kept saying it was a software issue due to the upgrade, but they wouldn't budge. Finally, a day later I get an email from a Garmin tech that must have been reviewing the trouble calls and told me how to fix it by deleting the weather maps off of the unit. (I have XM/weather/traffic feature)

I've not had any problems with the unit since. I did have an earlier version of a Garmin and it would die on me periodically and I would have to do a hard reset. Sucks when you have an entire trip to Wyoming disappear in the middle of the trip.

Sorry to hear of your problems. I hope you can get a unit up and running soon.

 

I've had my 550 for 4 years at least and the only problem I've had with it has been my fault.

 

I have had mine for four years and basically, it works great and lasts long time.

Did have a minor problem where it essentially locked up, none of the controls worked, couldn't even turn it off. I pulled power by removing the battery and when reinserted it was back to normal. Couldn't be happier.

Bwana

 

I've had a Garmin with no problems for 5 years but if it went on the fritz I'd just buy a new gps. They cost a lot less than when I bought this one.

 

I've been using a Garmin Nuvi for three years now and it always works perfectly. It was 90 bucks shipped to my door.

 

I've had to turn in a Nuvi 855w twice for issues related to it freezing for no reason. Only way to unlock it is to unplug it from the mount and pull the battery. Not fun to do going down the highway on the bike.

I just sent it in yesterday in fact. They're sending me a newer model since this one is discontinued. Last time they just sent me a refurb of the same model.

It's frustrating. I'm glad I don't have over $500 wrapped up in a Zumo model. I'd never throw down that kind of change for these products when they're so hit or miss.

 

Ya I agree with basscatcher. I just bought a magnetic tank bag for my scoot, and use the nuvi that the cages use. Charge it up, and take off. Last about 5 hours. But on the touring models you have the power source, so not even an issue. Just saying instead of spending all that money on a zumo, just cause its small and has the mount. You could the way I went and save some cash. Just my 2cents.

 

Maybe you've got some bad gps carma going on I've got two of the 550's and both have worked flawlessly.

Where did have to send the unit that it cost $40.00?

Cheers,
Paul in Colorado

 

ahh the days of separate devices.
phone, gps, mp3 player, point and shoot camera.

iphone/tomtom app - done.

although having a separate gps allows you to leave it all hooked up and ready.. i get that part. but i'd be afraid of theft.
I'm looking for a good mount for the iphone. doesn't look like much out there.. idk.