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Why are old Garmin GNS boxes holding their prices so well?

Airborne_Again wrote:

The price difference between a used GTN650 (with paperwork) and a new GTN650Xi (in both cases including installation, kit, antenna, databases…) is only about $1000.

Really? Where does one get this?

If I could upgrade my existing 650/750 to the Xi versions for just 1k each, I would immediately do it …

Germany

Malibuflyer wrote:

Really? Where does one get this?

https://sarasotaavionics.com

If I could upgrade my existing 650/750 to the Xi versions for just 1k each, I would immediately do it …

That you can buy a used GTN650 with an FAA 8130-3 for $1000 less than a new GTN650Xi doesn’t mean that you can sell your existing GTN650 for that price, of course…

ESKC (Uppsala/Sundbro), Sweden

Airborne_Again wrote:

https://sarasotaavionics.com

My experience with used avionics in these shops is that they publish more like “asking prices”. Looking at EBAY and other platforms the market price for used 650 look more like in the ballpark of 8k (and therefore 4.5k below Xi new).

Germany

I would never purchase used avionics for more than say 20% of new price.No warranty support or history of the item makes it a really risky purchase.Some of the prices asked are ridiculous I find it hard to believe anyone would consider paying such figures.Regards Stampe

United Kingdom

Malibuflyer wrote:

(and therefore 4.5k below Xi new)

A new GTN650Xi doesn’t actually cost 12.5k. That’s the Garmin list price. Bought through an installer it is about $2k less.

ESKC (Uppsala/Sundbro), Sweden

https://sarasotaavionics.com/avionics/gtn650xi

These people say it is 10.5K

EGTR

StampeSV4 wrote:

I would never purchase used avionics for more than say 20% of new price.

Depends: If you just need a 1:1 replacement for a broken box which is no longer in production and you need it fast, you might end up with little alternatives…

Germany

A lot of people use US Ebay for that one

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

If I thought I could buy used 650, 345, G5, Aspen’s etc for 20% of their new price, I would stop everything and buy all I could. It’s wishful thinking. The market for relevant used avionics is like dropping into pond of piranha fish. Hundreds are ready to bite.

Buying, Selling, Flying
EISG, Ireland

One can easily get “obsolete” avionics for 1/5 or 1/10 of the list price – even if they are still in production. I’ve just bought a KN63 DME for $900, against a list price of $13k. Actually I got a KDI572 chucked in for free; that lists at a few k. Same with ADFs, RMIs, CDIs, you name it. Someone offered me a KN63 with an EASA-1 form for, IIRC, €1200. This is all stuff which is getting chucked out as “glass” goes in. Well, not sure that applies to the remotely mounted DME, but few US pilots are putting in DMEs anyway. A lot of this stuff is so cheap you can buy several and see if any work.

And this method of sourcing is legal even for an EASA-reg due to this little-known concession.

The GNS boxes seem to fetch good prices, however. Presumably because no “glass” contains a “navigator” – other than e.g. the G1000 and you can’t retrofit that anyway (in most “GA” contexts).

Or it could be because there are still large numbers of GA planes which don’t have a GPS of any sort, or they have a really old one with no more database updates, or they have a GNS430 which has blown up and is too old for Garmin to fix.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom
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