Close to offer on a nice G2, so thought I would ask the COPA experts out there…
Should I have any concerns with:
Service/support/turnaround times/other post-COVID BS excuses in the case the Entegra PFD/MFD makes me AOG?
How long will I wait? Will I get ripped off? What run around will I get? or worse will I get the 430 Garmin “we out” 2024 email and “kindly see our upgrade page and go pound sand” e-mail.
Thank you very much all for your decades of experience and time responding.
Mike, I have a G2 and with you with fingers crossed.
I’m not the official spokesperson for Avidyne and didn’t stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night. I think all answers related to time now are answered with an *. And some are just excuses.
Below is a link to Avidyne’s warranty options for the Entegra’s. They also have the flat repair costs for the non-warranty repairs.
Hopefully, if, when, ever, the Vantages come out, it will result in more Entegra’s being available for parts thus extended useful life of the Entegra
It doesn’t seem likely, particularly before the Vantage is released. My guess is that because people who upgrade to Vantage will be required to turn in their Entegra gear, that will be used going forward to further extend the life of this 25 year old hardware.
That said, anything of this vintage, including the original G1000s, is going to become financially non viable in the not too distant future. How many computers do you interact with that are still running an intel 386 and Windows NT?
Remember too the advantage of having avionics that are not part of the Type Certificate. They can be upgraded by the owner on the owner’s timetable, not purchased when or if Cirrus decides to offer them.
I just had my Entegra 5000 MFD pulled and shipped to Avidyne for repair. I was told 20 - 30 working days to complete. Keeping my fingers crossed!
Frankly I would not worry about the Avidyne in terms of availability - first because we have not seen/heard a lot of reports here of unserviceable PFD/MFDs and secondly because, as stated below, in the absolute worst case (or perhaps years from now), you can always replace with a different system or vendor. Cost is a different issue - Avidyne warranty/protection plan is very expensive, but replacement or repair outside of warranty is even more expensive.
However, I would definitely take a close look through the forum here (particularly the member’s side). Many reports of long lead times (“long” meaning pushing a year in some cases) to get Cirrus parts for the older planes. I have a G1 and am just crossing my fingers I don’t run into the issues some people have.
IMHO Cirrus does not support the older planes well, so if you are looking at buying one, I would definitely make sure you are up for the challenge of calling around looking for parts (from wrecked planes mostly but also just from alternative non-Cirrus suppliers when they exist), or be willing to wait a long time and pay a high price for (eventual) Cirrus parts.
I have had my G-2 20 yrs. I am on Avidynes warranty program. Last time I needed service
We just swapped out my units with no downtime. Not sure of the current situation if i need service. Currently we have Garmin GTNs to allow retrofit of PFD and MFD to Garmin when support for these Avidynes go away. In the meantime I am happy with the Avidynes. Biggest issue today is AOG time for the 10 year chute and rocket repack which all G-2s will need over the next 3-4 years. If you’re serious about a Cirrus join COPA at least 2-3 months before purchase to see all you are getting into. Good news is that this is not like buying a 20 yr old Porsche. Performance is on par with new aircraft costing three times as much. Good luck.
re: older SR’s… I own a G1 and had a very near miss last year trying to find a #2 induction tube. After calling Cirrus, Continental, and everyone else under the sun, I finally found the only available unit on the planet …in the UK. By available I mean that Cirrus (and Continental) confirmed stock on hand, but all Cirrus inventory was reserved for “Mx customers”. Very grateful to have found one, but it was a harsh wakeup call as far as how cirrus views support for older planes vs newer. Kinda sucks TBH; they ought to be supporting all of their customers since every G1 or G2 owner is a prospective G7 owner down the road.