GFC 500 install quote is outrageous

Does anyone have any more recent purchase/install experiences with a GFC500, and order wait times?


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I have 3 quotes currently for install of a GFC500 and removal of Cent 3c, all between 71-80 hrs of labor, all incl
 
Unit74 said:
Gulf Coast Avionics gave me a go-away quote at Sun N Fun last year. I went away. I’m sure they’d take the work f you were dumb enough to accept the quote. I’m in the shop now for a G3X and GFC 500 at half the GCA quoted price.

****ing morons have no idea who has money or who is just day dreaming.
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Okay im glad someone else had this experience, I just received a mind blowing 64,000 quote with 204 labor hours, thats 40 eight hour working days. I am definitely looking elsewhere!
 
Gary Ward said:
Your plane is not a 172 like mine, so I am sure there are differences. here's my experience...
Fall of 2018 my plane was in the shop getting a 650, GTX345 GMA345, magnetometer and 2- G5s. At the start of that asked how much and what would it take to also install the GFC?
They said no way, won't even quote it and are too busy to add it on.(busy with ADS-B installs) So after I paid them and flew for a month or so they did send me a quote. It was right at 15K for everything out the door. Remember I already had 2 G5 at that point. I committed and they installed it March the next spring 2019. One guy, Ryan worked on it mostly by himself for 9 work days and it was done. It was only their 3rd GFC 172 install.

They are local to me so I went over there about 4 times in those 9 days to check it out after my work. I would get there at about 4:30 at the end of their days and not so much in there way. They were very friendly and showed me the progress. I took a hundred pictures of my plane apart. They earned that 15K. Everything was included and no extras or surprises. This was March 2019.

The first time my plane was there for the GPS they only had it for 8 work days and the same tech installed it. I also stopped by multiple times to take pictures.
He told he worked on my plane every hour it was there except for 2 hours during that 9 days. That is what I like about them, they get the job done and my plane the heck out of their shop, 4 times so far. No sitting around.
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Do you mind letting me know what shop?
 
FWIW I am still flying that 172 today, just landed.
The install has been flawless with no trouble with the original install. and the support for the updates, firmware and garmin service bulletin work has been great and free for all updates and firmware updates. They do the updates and perform the service bulllen work while I wait and watched.
I did have servo trouble and eventually I got new -21 servos at no cost.
My transponder did die after about 900 hours and it was replaced in a couple days because I paid for overnight shipping with a 1498.00 exchange from garmin. Cincinnati avionics never charged me for labor.
I now have 1460 hours on the panel and it is still going strong.
 
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Gary Ward said:
FWIW I am still flying that 172 today, just landed.
The install has been flawless with no trouble with the original install. and the support for the updates,firmware and garmin service bullintin work has been great and free for all updates and firmware updates. They do the updates and perform the service bulllen work while I wait and watched.
I did have servo trouble and eventually I got new -21 servos at no cost to me a few years ago.
My transponder did die after about 900 hours and it was replaced in a couple days with a 1498.00 exchange from garmin. Cincinnati avoinics never charged me for labor, Scott says they get paid from garmin.
I now have 1460 hours on the panel and it is still going strong.
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That’s great to hear! I’m located in central FL but I will most definitely be reaching out for a quote. Good work and honest people are worth the trip! Thank you!
 
My quote on the G500 was over 52K. And I've already removed my high voltage strobes, and prepped the AC for the install.
When your stuff quits, you "install what they are installing". PA 34. i set that up in September 2023, and the install is in August.

My attitude: at least you can get it done.
 
The rule of thumb is to take the cost of the hardware and double that, and that is your total price with labor.
 
182-S GFC-500, GMU, 3 servos (auto trim), two GI-275’s; remove vacuum system, ADF, unnecessary 6 pack instruments and blank openings, AeroLED wingtip position lights/strobes, LED tail beacon for $32,500.
KIYA Abbeville, LA.
 
I finally got mine installed (1 year wait on parts), G3X(without EIS) , GDL50 and GFC 3 servo install for $30K, but this was a pre-covid price, shop and Garmin honored their original quotes.
 
Salty said:
Lol I’d recommend against auto trim. I got use damper instead and think that is far more valuable depending on the type of plane. In 20 hours of flying with the AP I had to manually adjust the trim 2 times when I was doing a crazy steep climb / ascent. Not a big deal.
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The problem is, if you are not manually trimming, the elevator servo is holding a control force.

And if the autopilot kicks off, you are not trimmed. That could get exciting in IMC.
 
Pinecone said:
The problem is, if you are not manually trimming, the elevator servo is holding a control force.

And if the autopilot kicks off, you are not trimmed. That could get exciting in IMC.
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:yeahthat:
 
Pinecone said:
The problem is, if you are not manually trimming, the elevator servo is holding a control force.

And if the autopilot kicks off, you are not trimmed. That could get exciting in IMC.
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:yeahthat:

It also can cause a servo to overwork/over heat in some cases according to my very experienced pilot friend?

My AP in my 172 was quoted with electric trim. I didn't know it was option on a 172. May be not? It's a 2 axis AP with 3 servos.
Happy I have electric trim and I see the AP moving the wheel frequently, glad I don't have to do it.
 
jd21476 said:
So I was jot quite prepared for the quote I just got for a GFC500 install. I have a PA24 with a GNC355 and a G5 HSI already. I would like to add an autopilot and have been looking at the GFC 500. I had my plane in getting some avionics updates done and I figured Id get a quote on a GFC500 install.

Here is my quote from a local SoCal shop.


GFC500 3 Servo Kit: $11295.00
Coil Cord for Yoke: $408.00
G5 - ADI: $2595.00
140 Hr @ 120/hr: $16,800.00
Total: $31,098.00

I was thinking $15-18k….but wow!
Now I know its only a quote but I doubt they are off by more than $10k
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I had a Aerocruze 100 (TruTrak) installed for about $10k, including hardware. It's a very capable autopilot. Great bang-for-the-buck.
 
Pinecone said:
The problem is, if you are not manually trimming, the elevator servo is holding a control force.

And if the autopilot kicks off, you are not trimmed. That could get exciting in IMC.
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I have the exact opposite opinion. I have a manual electric trim on my Stec autopilot because I don't want to have a trim system that can get a mind of its own. A runaway trim is a much more serious event than a trim error on turning off the autopilot. My system shows an up/down trim annunciation when it needs to be trimmed and I understand that the GFC 500 has a similar out of trim indication, so the pilot can fix the issue before they disconnect the autopilot. I know my trim differences that a change in attitude requires, so I input the trim change automatically and don't see the miss trim indication in most situations and when I see the trim alert, I just trim until the annunciation goes out. No big deal.
 
I’m with the above. Runaway trim scares me much more than having to retrim when cancelling the AP
 
Salty said:
I’m with the above. Runaway trim scares me much more than having to retrim when cancelling the AP
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I have a trim kill switch prominently located to stop a runaway.
 
The GFC AP disconnect button should stop runaway trim, I don’t see why this should be a big deal.
Your first instinct if AP is doing something should be to disconnect it, stabilize the plane, and check for any annunciations and if flying VFR at high altitudes, only then engage the AP.
 
I've had a GFC 500 in a Piper Arrow since early 2020. 2 axis, no pitch trim servo. My technique to avoid having the pitch servo holding a lot of force throughout the flight. After takeoff, I manually pitch and trim for my climb airspeed, then engage the autopilot to climb at that airspeed (vs rate of climb). If I need to decrease that airspeed to maintain a decent rate of climb, I do it in 5 knot increments. I know exactly how much manual nose up trim that requires. I do have electric trim, but prefer manual. I let the autopilot level me off and adjust trim manually even before any annunciations to trim down (the annunciation to trim up or down show on the G5 right in the middle of my scan). Then I turn off the autopilot, make any necessary small trim adjustments manually and reengage the autopilot. For descents, I select a rate of descent, make a slight power reduction and again turn off the autopilot, retrim, and reengage the autopilot.

I spent more time typing this than I do performing it in flight. Yes the trim servo would be nice, but I really don't miss it and spend very little time trimming. I primarily use my airplane for 1 to 4 hour cross countries, so there is a lot of time where the pitch trim servo wouldn't provide me any usefulness.

As far as turbulence and up and down drafts associated with it placing stress on the pitch servo, I disengage the autopilot in anything but light turbulence, so the lack of a pitch trim servo wouldn't matter anyway
 
John Collins said:
I have the exact opposite opinion. I have a manual electric trim on my Stec autopilot because I don't want to have a trim system that can get a mind of its own. A runaway trim is a much more serious event than a trim error on turning off the autopilot. My system shows an up/down trim annunciation when it needs to be trimmed and I understand that the GFC 500 has a similar out of trim indication, so the pilot can fix the issue before they disconnect the autopilot. I know my trim differences that a change in attitude requires, so I input the trim change automatically and don't see the miss trim indication in most situations and when I see the trim alert, I just trim until the annunciation goes out. No big deal.
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And misunderstanding of that trim indicator and how things works had caused issues.

Fixing the trim before disconnecting the autopilot is just one more task at a time when someone may be task saturated.

When was the last time a modern autopilot had runway trim?
 
Pinecone said:
And misunderstanding of that trim indicator and how things works had caused issues.

Fixing the trim before disconnecting the autopilot is just one more task at a time when someone may be task saturated.

When was the last time a modern autopilot had runway trim?
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Or the 737Max twice?
 
Got a question about all this... I'm pretty good with installing things with wiring and stuff. Had anyone ever installed their own avionics and just had the A&P inspect your work? To me that sounds doable to save on labor costs. But with the FAA being anal about everything I guess i don't know.
 
dp342b said:
Got a question about all this... I'm pretty good with installing things with wiring and stuff. Had anyone ever installed their own avionics and just had the A&P inspect your work?
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If you can obtain the approved data for the installation, anything is doable within the specific abilities of your A&P. But your mechanic will do more than just inspect it; he'll sign off your work and any additional documents like the 337. While I never installed an autopilot, nor would I with the limited facilities/equipment I had at the time, the hardest part was getting the approved data for these types of installs and especially from Garmin. Regardless, in my experience, autopilots and FMS systems are at the top when attempting an install outside a shop environment on various levels.
 
Doesn’t too far out of line for 3-axis GFC500, but this is why 3 quotes from reputable shops is good advice. Call @Jesse Saint.
 
pfarber said:
$120 an hour for a shop in Southern California?

That's obscenely low. They could jack the up to $160 and still have a waitlist.
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From what I saw with three labor quotes on the work we're doing now was that one shop quoted lower hourly rates and more hours, one quoted higher hourly rates and less hours, and one was in the middle. The three quotes were were within about 3% of each other, which surprised me given the rather large scope - G3X, G5, GTN750xi, GFC500, new EIS on the G3X, and complete new upper and lower panels. At least I felt better about the large number with all three quotes being within spitting distance of each other.
 
dp342b said:
Got a question about all this... I'm pretty good with installing things with wiring and stuff. Had anyone ever installed their own avionics and just had the A&P inspect your work? To me that sounds doable to save on labor costs. But with the FAA being anal about everything I guess i don't know.
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I went this route for most of my avionics upgrades. I worked with my A&P to install pretty much my whole panel, and ultimately up into a GFC500 system. Like Bell said you need to get the engineering data from the companies, which isn't easy, or near impossible (i.e. Garmin). It is possible though. Building the wiring harness is pretty straightforward if you've done wiring before. Hell, a G5 ADI is dead simple to wire up if you want basic functionality. That being said, you're going to find a LOT of old wiring, and need to not just know how to build the wiring harness but troubleshoot and trace wiring.

One more word of advice, just because you can find a G5 or G3X install manual online doesn't mean its the correct revision, and software and pinout support will change over time too. If you run into issues, a shop probably is not going to want to work on a half finished avionics install, and if they are, you're probably going to lose any financial savings with an inflated shop price since they need to also troubleshoot the issue.
 
Josh Mac said:
One more word of advice, just because you can find a G5 or G3X install manual online doesn't mean its the correct revision,
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Which is why I tell people to consider alternatives to Garmin products. It's their choice to force you to go to a dealer to install their equipment, but it's our choice to tell them no.
 
See my April 16, 2024 post .
I'm pretty sure my shop lost money on my G500. There we at least 400 + hours after they discovered they had to remove the empennage to get access to the back side of the elevator trim servo platform to properly buck the rivets.....it's way high up in the tail.

So Choose carefully.
 
Pinecone said:
And misunderstanding of that trim indicator and how things works had caused issues.

Fixing the trim before disconnecting the autopilot is just one more task at a time when someone may be task saturated.

When was the last time a modern autopilot had runway trim?
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Why does nearly every transport cat aircraft have runaway trim as a memory item?


To the OP I’d also rig the thing for a TOGA button if you’re spending this kind of money

If you have a trim wheel, I have found adjusting the wheel manually smoother and faster than using a china hat type deal
 
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