Price Check On A Garmin GTX 335 Install

Sinistar

Sinistar

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Brad
We probably won't put in a Navigator any time soon and we're happy with our ADSB In solution. So we are considering the GTX 335. Plus its on sale right now. I was just quoted $7100 installed.

We will be removing a KT76 transponder and putting the 335 in its place. Basically removing a KT76 and putting the 335 in its place. This quote includes a new pulse antennae and a new encoder as well. We will mount it up top where the old ADF(??) antennae post is still located.

Does this quote seem about right / high / low / anyone ?

Also, does anyone have recommendations on shops in the ND,SD,MN,WI,IA area that might be able to do this and beat this price by enough to justify the trip there and back?
 
We had a 335 installed in our 172 for $5K. Very satisfied.
 
That seems high..I had my stratus ESG installed for $4300 and that included moving my intercom panel as well.
 
It really depends on how much wiring/antenna need to be installed/removed/whatever. Hourly rates vary around the country.
 
It seems high. I paid less for a GTX345 + installation in 2016. But, it was part of a larger job, and I did a lot of wheeling and dealing, including walking away for a month before the shop called me back.

Nowadays with 2020 compliance being a real challenge shops aren't too inclined to make any deals. I'm on the schedule for August of next year with my avionics shop, for a G5 HSI installation. They are doing one or two ADS-B installations every week until that date.
 
Why in the world is this so expensive?

GTX345 is $2995. Have your A&P do the physical install which should take about 5 hours max. Have the Avionics shop certify the install - $500 or so. With the FAA rebate you are in it for less than $4000.
 
k9medic said:
Why in the world is this so expensive?

GTX345 is $2995. Have your A&P do the physical install which should take about 5 hours max. Have the Avionics shop certify the install - $500 or so. With the FAA rebate you are in it for less than $4000.
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I'm no fan of avionic shops, but none of them will do an initial transponder installation, ADSB out or not, for 5 hours labor. The rewiring alone for the dedicated antenna would eat up half that. Sure, anyone with access to free labor can do it cheaper, but xponder installations are running 10-15 depending on the need for the WAAS antenna labor or not.

To be clear I agree with ya, because even with my assumptions that puts that job at 5 AMUs installed max, which is why the OPs quote is high by double the labor hours, if one uses 100/hr as the national benchmark for avionics labor rate.
 
Yeah, you're just not going to get a transponder installed in 5 hours. My hangar neighbor had a 335 installed and the ARC ADF removed for $5,100 in his 172. I think that the belly antenna is still there though, so they wouldn't have to do the patch on the belly.
 
Maybe I'm just looking at things through rose colored glasses but on my Cherokee 6 you can access the back side of the panel from the cargo compartment. My A&P did the install of a "new" GPS in less than 5 hours which included installing an antenna.
 
Spruce is selling the GPS transponder kit for $2995, I believe includes the $300 GPS antenna. At the most another $100 for miscellaneous supplies, ~$130 for a new transponder antenna (if applicable) and maybe $300 for a new altitude encoder.

$3200 in labor seems a bit steep unless they are planning on finding a bunch of crazy pitot/static leaks.
 
You hear these stories from time to time - the extremely low-time, low-cost installation. I've never seen it in person.

Over two years ago, as part of a much larger installation, I negotiated a $5200 price for installing a GTX345. The WAAS source was a GTN650 and associated antenna - also being installed under a different part of the quote - and I "sold back" my worthless KT-76 for a few hundred bucks off.

I wouldn't be able to get that same deal from the same shop, today. They're overrun with ADS-B Out work now that we're coming up on the one year window for compliance.

There are always exceptions. Maybe the person paying for the work "knows someone," or the shop wants to do a trial install at a discount to learn the process, or whatever. Also, no two installations are created equal. Sometimes it's possible to to a slide-in replacement for certain types of avionics, and those types of installations are much faster than soup-to-nuts.

But are you going to go from zero (meaning non-WAAS) to an all-in-one ADS-B Out transponder in 5 hours? No way. It's just not feasible. I've watched the shops do the work. There's no Speedy Gonzalez on earth who can work that fast.

You have a lot of associated work. Tearing out the interior, usually. Headliner. Possibly installing antennae. Research. The paperwork. Wiring harnesses. Connections to the audio panel. Connections to the GPS. On and on...

Anyway, unless you have a brother in the business, are owed a favor, or have some other kind of exceptional circumstance, forget about it.
 
Agree... won't happen in 5 hours but 10-15 is a fair estimate.
 
Seems about right, my ESGi installed was $5K. I sure would like to see where you can find a GTX345 w/GPS for less than $5K...
 
I had the 345 installed about a year ago and it cost me $7500 in a pa-28
 
Come here Brad, I got 5700 quote for 345, I will talk to him for your install, ballpark 5k is what I got now, should be cheaper
 
If you don’t have a WAAS position source, you’ll need one. That is one source of variation on the installed cost of a 335. I don’t think the quote you got is outrageous. But it is high enough to shop around. Bismarck Aero Center did my 76-to-335 swap and I am happy with the final invoice, timeliness, customer service, and work. I had a 430W so my cost isn’t relevant to your situation.

Edit to add: In your shoes, I really would be looking at WAAS navigators. I know it’s expensive but (1) there will never be a cheaper time than at the same time as you are doing the ADS-B transponder and (2) your plane will be capable of IFR flight throughout the upper Midwest where you are based, something that is in doubt if you don’t have an IFR GPS.
 
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what is the labor cost delta between installing a dedicated waas antenna and associated cutting and wires, versus feeding the xponder from an existing qualifying WAAS GPS? 10 hours?
 
I just had an NGT-9000 installed for $7000 total. The quote I got for a GTX-345 was higher, go figure. Seems like a 335 could be done for less, but you are adding a lot of extras, like encoder and antennas.
 
I didn't read all of the responses but that number seems high to me. I just had a transponder check and was quoted $5AMU for a new 335 installed. That was at Spencer Avionics in Spencer Iowa (KSPW). It seems like everyone I talk to in this area use them and I was satisfied. My old transponder was still working so no reason to change yet.
 
So, all of this discussion has me moving forward now rather than later with my ADSB/ GTX335 install. Tomorrow I will pick up my GTX335 from the avionics shop for $3000. MY A&P will do the install (he used to work with the shop) so I'm looking at between 5-10 hours of labor there. The avionics shop will do the certification and the IFR cert as well for $500. Match that with the FAA rebate and I'm still in under $4000.
 
k9medic said:
So, all of this discussion has me moving forward now rather than later with my ADSB/ GTX335 install. Tomorrow I will pick up my GTX335 from the avionics shop for $3000. MY A&P will do the install (he used to work with the shop) so I'm looking at between 5-10 hours of labor there. The avionics shop will do the certification and the IFR cert as well for $500. Match that with the FAA rebate and I'm still in under $4000.
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Experimental installation? I thought you had to go with dealer installation only for certified airplanes.
 
I think thats pretty high for a 335. I got my 345 installed for less than that. I did have a waas source already (gtn 650). I also got a little bit back from trading in my old king 76a transponder.
 
hindsight2020 said:
Experimental installation? I thought you had to go with dealer installation only for certified airplanes.
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There are work arounds, its happening every day, even for the "dealer install only" boxes.

Garmin knows that policy kinda sucks hence why there are select kits being sold OTC too.
 
I got a gtx335 installed for $4200 in a pa-28. They removed old transponder and installed new gtx with wass gps antenna. I don’t know exactly how much time they took them to do the install, since i left the plane for two weeks in the shop.
 
Sinistar said:
We probably won't put in a Navigator any time soon and we're happy with our ADSB In solution. So we are considering the GTX 335. Plus its on sale right now. I was just quoted $7100 installed.

We will be removing a KT76 transponder and putting the 335 in its place. Basically removing a KT76 and putting the 335 in its place. This quote includes a new pulse antennae and a new encoder as well. We will mount it up top where the old ADF(??) antennae post is still located.

Does this quote seem about right / high / low / anyone ?

Also, does anyone have recommendations on shops in the ND,SD,MN,WI,IA area that might be able to do this and beat this price by enough to justify the trip there and back?
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Wrong part of the country (eastern PA), but we had a 327 replaced with a 345 (not a slide-in replacement) in our PA-28 for $6500 just before Christmas last year. WAAS is coming from our old GNS (saved a few bucks there), but had the old DME and CD player removed while we were in there. Sold the old parts on ebay to defray the cost a bit further.
 
Depending on what your connecting to the Garmin 335 the price may vary. However if it's just a simple ADSB Compliance (ADSB Transponder, blind encoder, gps antenna and wiring), then the cost shouldn't be extreme.

The spruce had a package on the 335 for $3k, included the mentioned above. However avionic shops don't want you to purchase it on your own. They sell this setup for 4.5k, after all they want to make money on the product + your install.

Here's what I did, purchase the 335 on the promotional and find a mechanic that has the FAA approval to install a transponder. You'll find the price for installation very well affordable (under $1000) compared to the brick and motor avionic stores. If you near Michigan, PM me and i'll give you the person's name. Or alternatively you can wait until spring time, I'll have my A (just not the P, yet) and i'll install it. :)
 
Any mechanic with an IA can install the 335. It should cost no more than $4,000 including installation. I just installed a 345 for $4,900 out the door.
 
Jesse Saint said:
Any mechanic with an IA can install the 335. It should cost no more than $4,000 including installation. I just installed a 345 for $4,900 out the door.
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Where are you located? OP is in MN
 
Thats a hell of a deal
anumerick said:
Depending on what your connecting to the Garmin 335 the price may vary. However if it's just a simple ADSB Compliance (ADSB Transponder, blind encoder, gps antenna and wiring), then the cost shouldn't be extreme.

The spruce had a package on the 335 for $3k, included the mentioned above. However avionic shops don't want you to purchase it on your own. They sell this setup for 4.5k, after all they want to make money on the product + your install.

Here's what I did, purchase the 335 on the promotional and find a mechanic that has the FAA approval to install a transponder. You'll find the price for installation very well affordable (under $1000) compared to the brick and motor avionic stores. If you near Michigan, PM me and i'll give you the person's name. Or alternatively you can wait until spring time, I'll have my A (just not the P, yet) and i'll install it. :)
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Shoot me your guys info im curious on some other avionics stuff
 
Jesse Saint said:
Any mechanic with an IA can install the 335. It should cost no more than $4,000 including installation. I just installed a 345 for $4,900 out the door.
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Do you mean that YOU installed it or someone else installed a 345 for that price. Heck, the 345 cost almost that much just for the unit. So I'd be interested in that shop's info too!
 
Sinistar said:
Do you mean that YOU installed it or someone else installed a 345 for that price. Heck, the 345 cost almost that much just for the unit. So I'd be interested in that shop's info too!
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that 4900 price is MSRP, dealers get a good chunk from that. some pass on to the owner, most dont
 
Yeah, at this point I am willing to fly it somewhere to get it done if there is a nearly $3k price difference.
 
I’m at X35 in north central FL. The GTX345 didn’t need a GPS because there was a 430W, and I took his GTX327 in on trade. Feel free to call me at 352-427-0285 or email jesse at saintaviation dot com.

The Stratus ES(G) is a great unit. Very simple to install and use, and qualifies for the rebate as well. I’ve installed a couple dozen of those.
 
Jesse Saint said:
I’m at X35 in north central FL. The GTX345 didn’t need a GPS because there was a 430W, and I took his GTX327 in on trade. Feel free to call me at 352-427-0285 or email jesse at saintaviation dot com.

The Stratus ES(G) is a great unit. Very simple to install and use, and qualifies for the rebate as well. I’ve installed a couple dozen of those.
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That’s a very long flight for OP and even longer for me
 
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