A while back, we bought a Garmin Streetpilot c330 before a long car trip. We’ve been reasonably happy with the maps in the unit, though my ideal navigation product would include live updates to maps and points of interest when I plugged the unit in to my computer to charge it.
However, the vehicle mount adapter has been nothing but trouble since we bought the unit. The original windshield suction cup mount that came in the box was flaky; the contacts between the cradle and the unit were flaky, so the unit wouldn’t receive power from the vehicle mount cable. The sent me a new one without any trouble but a phone call, so again, Garmin support comes through.
Now the replacement cable they sent has started to fray at the mount end of the cable. It still powers the unit, but won’t charge it. Replacements cost between $30 and $50, depending on where you buy. I wonder if these windshield mounts are a flawed design, since this is the 2nd failure I’ve had in that part in a year and a half. I wonder if the power cable portion of the dashboard friction mount is better-designed?
Updated: Garmin’s Product Support Specialists come through again — N.P. sent me a replacement windshield mount that features a plug from the cord in to the mount, so the part that frayed doesn’t even exist in this version.
Garmin has top-notch product support and in my experience they always do the right thing in the end.