This question has come up quite a few times in conversation recently and I suppose the obvious answer would be that it depends on the price. But, one should also try and find out why the GPS model was discontinued and who discontinued it. In other words, did the manufacturers stop making the unit because they have replaced it with something else or did the local distributors simply stop importing them because they weren’t selling well?

Very often it is simply the local distributor who decides to stop importing a specific GPS model, or even a whole range, due to a variety of factors. For example, a particular GPS model may well be popular in another country but it just does not seem to sell well to the market in your country. Sometimes, and this is also the reason why some models are never imported into South Africa at all, the infrastructure of a particular country might also limit the usage of certain features that are available on a specific model and although model “x” may have more features than model “y“, the only features of both model that are actually usable in that country would be the same ones (i.e. there would be no practical difference between the two GPS models capabilities). It then makes sense to only import/keep importing the GPS model with the cheapest pricing point.

Of course it must also be remembered that we are dealing with a product where new technology seems to be released on an almost monthly basis and often the rate at which new GPS models are brought onto the market outstrips the rate at which older models are being discontinued. This can cause great confusion amongst customers when there are so many different models on the market that all seem to be doing exactly the same thing (and when sometimes the only difference between two models might be a newer GPS chipset or a slightly updated operating system with a faster screen refresh rate).

In cases where the local distributor stops importing a particular model into their country, they would also stop importing the accessories for that model. Given the levels of stock that they usually carry, this would mean that within about 4-6 months those accessories would no longer be available in that country either. Since most models within the same range/series use the same accessories (i.e. the GPS 60 series includes the GPSMAP 60Cx and GPSMAP 60CSx and the Nuvi 2xx series includes the Nuvi 200, Nuvi 200W, Nuvi 205, Nuvi 205W and the Nuvi 250) this is generally not a problem if only one model out of the whole range/series has been discontinued. However, in cases where the whole range has been discontinued - Beware, some of the accessories (particularly the mounts) are not compatible between ranges/series.

Purchasing a discontinued model will have no effect on your 1 year warranty period for the unit (as long as the unit is purchased from an authorised dealer) as the distributors do tend to keep some stock one side specifically for warranty replacements and repairs of these units.

In summary, I would recommend doing a bit of homework before you purchase a discontinued model (and especially if you come across a dealer that is selling a particular model at a “bargain price” - they may simply have excess stock of a discontinued or even a “soon to be discontinued” model). Find out if there are any other models in the same range that are also being discontinued and why.

I would really like to get some feedback on this and I would value any opinions you may have. Please leave your comments in the box below.

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