Would you buy a refurbished GPS?

[Sweety_tweety]

I am thinking of buying a GPS and hope not to spend more than $150. Is it worth it to buy a refurbished GPS to get a better model, but pay less or should I steer clear of refurbished models? I just don't want to buy a refurbished GPS and have a ton of problems with it. Thank you for any opinions!

 

[Disneysun]

I would proabably say no. A basic GPS unit usually does what most people want it to. The upgraded models have other features, but the majority of folks probably don't use those features, IMO. If you have a costco membership buy it there, they usually have a few to choose from online or at the store and they can be returned if you have a problem with no questions asked (and the GPS doesn't fall in the 90 day window like other electronics at Costco).

Good Luck

 

[ncmickeyluvr]

My Dad has a refurbished Magellan. He's happy with it. We borrowed it once for a trip to St. Louis....no problems except when driving home it got a little confuzzled when encountering a detour around a rockslide in the NC mountains AND road construction in Asheville.....in led us in a circle 3 times before DH noticed We also borrowed my nephews basic model Garmin when driving to WDW last Fall. We preferred the features of the Garmin so we bought a Garmin 255W on black friday from Sam's Club for $120. It's been great so far.

 

[jench]

I have bought two Garmins (a nuvi 200 and a nuvi 255W) refurbished on amazon and have had no problems at all. side note - I have also bought a refurbished Panasonic cordless phone set from amazon, and again, no problems. You can get some great bargains if you're not risk averse!

 

[ssawka]

I also would say no. You can get a pretty decent unit for $150 or less. We bought a Magellan at Costco with a 4.7" screen and lifetime traffic updates for $150. I wanted a Magellan because they have all the AAA data, and as a AAA member I get a 2 year warranty on the unit.

 

[safetymom]

I bought a refurbished one and it has been great. No problems what so ever. I love refurbished items. It means to me that someone has gone over the item before it got put in the box. Never had a problem with them.

 

[2binak]

2 family members have bought refurbed units and they've had no issues whatsoever with them in the last year that they have had them. They were Tom Toms and they paid 60 for them when they retailed for $180.

 

[dgthree]

For the most part, I'd have no qualms in buying a refurb unit. Most of the time, refurbished electronics are open box items which have been gone over with a fine toothed comb and are as good as new. I bought my iPod Touch from Apple as a refurb, and (knock wood) haven't had any problems with it.

 

[smphbear]

We bought our "Mrs Garmin" refurbished. She and I just returned from a business trip today. No problems after over 3 years. The only thing you may need to be sure of is that the maps have been updated. Otherwise, you will have to pay to update your maps.

 

[southcarolinagirl]

We have had a refurb Garmin for about 13 months now, we love it! Best thing was it still came with manf warranty.

 

[Sweety_tweety]

Thanks for all of your help. I took the plunge and ordered a refurbished Garmin Nuvi 255w from Amazon for $119. Best Buy has it listed for $179 (new).