Avionics shops in Oregon

[arnoha]

So...it's time for a panel upgrade in the 172 SP. The semi-busted KMD550 and the upcoming ADS-B, plus the desire to kill the vacuum system are all coming to a head. Bite the bullet and do it. I'm already discovering that the local avionics shops in the Bay Area are swamped with work. Scheduling is four to six months out. Prices are high and sales tax is high. I was considering flying to Oregon to get the work done.

The big players that I'm aware of are Chief and Pacific Coast. Chief is a 3.5 hour flight. PCA is closer to 5 and needs a fuel stop. Does anyone have any experience with them? Recommendations maybe for a different shop?

Here's the plan: Goodbye to the AI, DG, KLN 94, KT 76C, KMD 550, KX 155A and indicator, vacuum system. Hello to a GTN (650 or 750...haven't decided), GTX 345, dual G5. Keep the KMA 28 and KAP 140. Keep the KX 155A with GS. This is going to be...pricey.

 

[Minshall]

I had Pacific Coast install my GTN-750. Their work is always good, but can't compare to others (based at KUAO and haven't used anyone else yet). I love the GTN, just didn't like paying for it so much.

 

[Qotile]

Pacific Coast had best pricing of the shops I got quotes from. I used Executive Autopilots at KSAC for my panel. They worked to match PCA pricing when they could and got close enough where I thought a nearby shop would be better. The result came out very nice and I’m glad it was close since I went back for some additional work. My original gtx-345 was faulty and Garmin replaced it under warranty. Then a few months later my legacy turn coordinator failed. I was happy to go to the same shop in case I needed warranty work on anything else.

 

[arnoha]

Pacific Coast had best pricing of the shops I got quotes from. I used Executive Autopilots at KSAC for my panel. They worked to match PCA pricing when they could and got close enough where I thought a nearby shop would be better. The result came out very nice and I’m glad it was close since I went back for some additional work. My original gtx-345 was faulty and Garmin replaced it under warranty. Then a few months later my legacy turn coordinator failed. I was happy to go to the same shop in case I needed warranty work on anything else.

Any dealer should be able to do warranty work, right? My usual shop, which is backed up like crazy and making me consider this, is a registered Garmin dealer.

 

[Qotile]

Any dealer should be able to do warranty work, right? My usual shop, which is backed up like crazy and making me consider this, is a registered Garmin dealer.

Yes, I think any shop can perform the warranty work. I am sure you’ll pay for labor. And if the issue is in the wiring, that would be PCA’s warranty, not Garmin. Probably not a big deal since you’ll save enough in Oregon to cover small fixes if anything goes wrong. Worst case, you just go back to Oregon.

 

[arnoha]

Yes, I think any shop can perform the warranty work. I am sure you’ll pay for labor. And if the issue is in the wiring, that would be PCA’s warranty, not Garmin. Probably not a big deal since you’ll save enough in Oregon to cover small fixes if anything goes wrong. Worst case, you just go back to Oregon.

Heh, it's a bit of a big deal. The trip to PCA from where I am is about $1000 round trip. I estimate I'll save about $3000-4000. A thousand and a half get burned in the first trip (the extra half for the commercial flights home and back while it's being worked on.) So, short of a truly obscene wiring mistake, it makes more sense to just spend 2-3 hours of my local avionics guy's time to get it fixed at home. The math says I should take the risk.