10 months ago I posted about the quarter-turn tabs on my Explore tearing. This is my second Garmin GPS, the 1st (a smaller Edge 800) being faultless for 8 years of on and occasional off-road use.
Garmin deny this is a design issue associated with the 33% weightier/larger GPS units being at the limit of the tabs durability.
Blogs and the profusion of after-market tab fixes contradict this. The mount the Garmin sits in appears to rarely fail.
I had my original Explore tabs show signs of failure (tearing) at around 1 year. The retailer was unhelpful. When I purchased the Explore Garmin gave me their own 2nd year warranty extension for registering it with them - free. So I contacted Garmin directly. The tabs on the1st replacement Garmin supplied failed similarly in less than a month! The 2nd replacement Garmin supplied departed company from me on a ride yesterday, leaving the remains of a tab in the mount! I stopped trusting the Explore for use on the minimal off-road I did after the tabs of my original item started failing.
When you approach Garmin for help they are very obliging which appears commendable. However, in conducting their repairs you get a refurbished item in replacement - not your own. The 1st replacement I received appeared similarly aged according to the serial number but its reduced battery life suggested very regular use/recharging compared to mine. The 2nd item had similarly reduced battery life, perhaps simply due to age as it appeared an older item than my original.
More importantly though if you bought in the UK.. You purchase from a retailer which is who your contract for faults lays with - no one else, not even the manufacturer. If the item is over 6 months old when failures appear then the retailer can insist YOU prove it was a fault with the item - not so easy when the manufacturer is denying an issue and locking any chats after a short period to prevent further comment. That relationship with the retailer can last years - forget stated warranties or manufacturer extensions - it is down to a reasonable expectation and use in relation to the cost and quality of the purchase. And Garmin have a reputation for quality products. Once you accept a refurbished item from Garmin directly you can never go back to the retailer as you no longer have the original item you purchased. And as my experience has demonstrated, you can not even be sure about what you are getting back from Garmin because they are not actually returning your original item in a repaired state to you.
Garmin do not routinely give free 2nd year warranties for their products - support.garmin.com/.../ - You therefore have to ask why they chose to with the Explore?