Garmin DriveLuxe 51 LMT-S Won't Power Up

 

Yesterday I noticed that my Garmin DriveLuxe 51 LMT-S will no longer power up. What works bertter for Garmin Support these days, an email or a telephone call? (Does it matter?) It is no longer under warranty. Am I wasting my time and their time?

Well

First, I'd give it a good charge or if you're content that it is fully charged press and hold the power button, give it at least a minute and see if it switches on.

If still no luck it's definitely worth contacting Garmin, and a call is better than email. Often you'll get some help even if it's only a discount off a new one.

--
Where there's a will ... there's a way ... DriveSmart51LMT-S, DriveSmart50LMT-D, Nuvi 2508LMT-D, 1490LMT, 1310, Montana 650T, Etrex 20

driving less

We are driving less today than ever and our GPS doesn't have enough time on the car battery to stay charged. It is entirely possible that there is nothing wrong except the need for a charge.

The GPS USB cable connected to a computer gives a slow charge and might take several hours. Make sure the computer does not go to sleep because USB power will go off. The wall charger is best.

dobs108 smile

As others have noted

It probably needs a good charge...an hour os so to pull it out of a shutdown state due to a low battery. If you have an outlet in your car that is always on, leave it plugged in over night. Sometimes care are wired so the rear seat accessory outlet is always on.

You should also review your manual. Many Garmins today only go to sleep if you do a quick push on the power button. Consequently the power is on and the device is in standby. On many of the devices you push and hold in the power button for about 5 seconds and then you are prompted about turning OFF as opposed to standby.

--
John from PA

Agreed.

Because of less frequent driving and only short trips, I have had my DriveLuxe 51 go completely dead a couple of times. So far it has recovered by letting it charge over night. Lately, I have been trying to remember to use the full power shutoff instead of just letting it power down into sleep mode when I shut the car off. This has kept it from going completely dead again. The full power shutoff is done by holding the power button for about 10 or 15 seconds until you get the shut down prompt.

--
Alan - Android Auto, DriveLuxe 51LMT-S, DriveLuxe 50LMTHD, Nuvi 3597LMTHD, Oregon 550T, Nuvi 855, Nuvi 755T, Lowrance Endura Sierra, Bosch Nyon

Garmin DriveLuxe 51 LMT-S Won't Power Up

I did call and I am glad that I did. They offered me the often for an automated call-back. It did call me back even soon than predicted. I had a very nice gentleman to deal with. I actually had left the DriveLuxe 51 connected to power in the house overnight. The CSR had me hold the power button down for 30 seconds and I got nothing.

They offered to swap it out, so I shipped the old one earlier this afternoon. They may have it in a few days. Then, they will ship the replacement.

I have to hand it to Garmin. I think they do a great job supporting their products. I don't find myself saying that very often about other companies.

Thanks for the follow-up.

I had read some reports in different forums that Garmin's support has declined from what it used to be. It is good to hear a report of a successful support call.

--
Alan - Android Auto, DriveLuxe 51LMT-S, DriveLuxe 50LMTHD, Nuvi 3597LMTHD, Oregon 550T, Nuvi 855, Nuvi 755T, Lowrance Endura Sierra, Bosch Nyon

too early for plaudits

Jim1348 wrote:

...

I have to hand it to Garmin. I think they do a great job supporting their products. I don't find myself saying that very often about other companies.

You don't have a working GPS yet. Likely you will soon but I think it is too early for plaudits.

I have to ask ...

Jim1348 wrote:

I did call and I am glad that I did. They offered me the often for an automated call-back. It did call me back even soon than predicted. I had a very nice gentleman to deal with. I actually had left the DriveLuxe 51 connected to power in the house overnight. The CSR had me hold the power button down for 30 seconds and I got nothing.

They offered to swap it out, so I shipped the old one earlier this afternoon. They may have it in a few days. Then, they will ship the replacement.

I have to hand it to Garmin. I think they do a great job supporting their products. I don't find myself saying that very often about other companies.

I have to ask, did you go through the typical steps of checking the cable and the charger that was used while "plugged in overnight"? When you tried to power up the device, was it still plugged in or removed from the power?

--
John from PA

Driveluxe 51 ?

Jim1348 wrote:

I did call and I am glad that I did. They offered me the often for an automated call-back. It did call me back even soon than predicted. I had a very nice gentleman to deal with. I actually had left the DriveLuxe 51 connected to power in the house overnight. The CSR had me hold the power button down for 30 seconds and I got nothing.

They offered to swap it out, so I shipped the old one earlier this afternoon. They may have it in a few days. Then, they will ship the replacement.

I have to hand it to Garmin. I think they do a great job supporting their products. I don't find myself saying that very often about other companies.

It's unusual that Garmin would offer a direct replacement for a unit that has been out of production for 2 years. It is possible they have old stock but you may get a newer unit and not a Driveluxe 51.

Either way, it's decent of Garmin to offer a no fee replacement for an out of warranty unit.

Garmin DriveLuxe 51 LMT-S Won't Power Up

John from PA wrote:

I have to ask, did you go through the typical steps of checking the cable and the charger that was used while "plugged in overnight"? When you tried to power up the device, was it still plugged in or removed from the power?

Yes, I sure did. The one that I returned, was actually a refurbished unit to replace my original one.

Not long after I had the refurbished unit, I noticed it would have a "hiccup" from time to time. By that, I mean it would occasionally do a power cycle right during the middle of routing. This would happen while connected to 12 volt power, etc.

I even contacted Garmin this winter and they had some log information they got from it. Essentially, I was waiting for it to die.

I would note, too, that while speaking with the CSR I gave one of my secondary e-mail addresses that contains my amateur radio call sign. (My call sign @amsat.org.) I suppose I could suggest to you that there is a certain camaraderie among amateur radio operators. The CSR told me his call sign, so there can be certain assumptions in the ham community. While I am NOT going to suggest that he did anything inappropriate, because he absolutely did NOT, I would also not be surprised if other CSR's stay more "on script" with other customers than my experience.

Garmin DriveLuxe 51 LMT-S Won't Power Up

minke wrote:

You don't have a working GPS yet. Likely you will soon but I think it is too early for plaudits.

Good point. USPS shows that they delivered it today. I don't ahve the obligatory Garmin e-mail yet saying "...We have received your device(s) and are processing your service request. You will receive an additional email when we ship the item(s), along with the tracking number and a link to check the status. Sub-Assy,DriveLuxe51,SMNG,16GB,NFM
For reference, your return material authorization (RMA) number is..."

I am expecting that email tomorrow, but I might be too optimistic.

bdhsfz6 wrote:

It's unusual that Garmin would offer a direct replacement for a unit that has been out of production for 2 years. It is possible they have old stock but you may get a newer unit and not a Driveluxe 51.

Either way, it's decent of Garmin to offer a no fee replacement for an out of warranty unit.

Also, a good point. I really hadn't given that much thought until now when I e-read your post. I wonder what would be a comparable device these days?

I agree, that it is very decent of Garmin to offer a no fee replacement. I do have a whole bunch of Garmins that are registered to me. Is it possible they are being nicer to me because of that?

In the meantime, my Garmin Nuvi 3597 is working just fine in my pickup truck. I had considered selling it some time back, but I just figured that it is probably worth it to me to keep as a back up, at least for now.

Garmin DriveLuxe 51 LMT-S Won't Power Up

I did receive my replacement Garmin DriveLuxe 51 LMT-S this afternoon. I should also mention that for anybody shipping their Garmin to the "mother ship", they are backed up a bit.

The USPS tracking showed that is was Delivered June 15, 02:09PM to Olathe, KS. A day later, I still had not received an e-mail from Garmin that they had received it, yet! So, I called, and I was reassured that that Monday is their busiest day and to give them some additional time.

It was nearly 10 AM on Wednesday when I receive an e-mail: YOUR DEVICE MADE IT TO US. The device you sent us has been checked in. We’ll let you know when your replacement ships.

Refurb or new?

Jim1348 wrote:

I did receive my replacement Garmin DriveLuxe 51 LMT-S this afternoon. I should also mention that for anybody shipping their Garmin to the "mother ship", they are backed up a bit.

Are you able to determine if it is a refurb or new?

--
John from PA

With Amazon

Jim1348 wrote:

I did receive my replacement Garmin DriveLuxe 51 LMT-S this afternoon. I should also mention that for anybody shipping their Garmin to the "mother ship", they are backed up a bit.

The USPS tracking showed that is was Delivered June 15, 02:09PM to Olathe, KS. A day later, I still had not received an e-mail from Garmin that they had received it, yet! So, I called, and I was reassured that that Monday is their busiest day and to give them some additional time.

It was nearly 10 AM on Wednesday when I receive an e-mail: YOUR DEVICE MADE IT TO US. The device you sent us has been checked in. We’ll let you know when your replacement ships.

At least with Amazon, as soon as the return package is received by UPS for return, they ship the replacement item. You can have your return in 2 days from the time the return shipping label it scanned.

--
Frank DriveSmart55 37.322760, -79.511267

Garmin DriveLuxe 51 LMT-S Won't Power Up

John from PA wrote:
Jim1348 wrote:

I did receive my replacement Garmin DriveLuxe 51 LMT-S this afternoon. I should also mention that for anybody shipping their Garmin to the "mother ship", they are backed up a bit.

Are you able to determine if it is a refurb or new?

Exchange Summary

Returning:

Garmin DriveLuxe 51 LMT-S

011-04212-xx

Qty: 1

Receiving:

GPS Unit

DriveLuxe 51 NA,LMT-S,Refurbished

S10-01683-xx

Qty: 1

Subtotal

$0.00 USD

Shipping

$0.00 USD

Estimated Tax

$0.00 USD

Total

$0.00 USD

Shipping To:

James

Nice service

Kudos to Garmin!

--
John from PA

No Power

I'm thinking about a similar problem I had. Turned out it was a blown fuse. Did you check the fuse? Just curious.

--
The Ogre

Garmin Changing the Fuse in the Vehicle PoweLMT-S Won't Power Up

theogre wrote:

I'm thinking about a similar problem I had. Turned out it was a blown fuse. Did you check the fuse? Just curious.

No, I ruled out hanging the fuse in the vehicle power cable because the
DriveLuxe 51 wouldn't even power up when connected directly to a computer.

Garmin DriveLuxe 51 LMT-S Display

It looks like it is time for my Garmin DriveLuxe 51 LMT-S to take a trip back to Kansas. Two days ago, when I started my pickup, the DriveLuxe 51 powered up, but the display looked transparent. I could read the screen that would normally display as well as another screen sort of beneath it.

Refurb?

Jim1348 wrote:

It looks like it is time for my Garmin DriveLuxe 51 LMT-S to take a trip back to Kansas. Two days ago, when I started my pickup, the DriveLuxe 51 powered up, but the display looked transparent. I could read the screen that would normally display as well as another screen sort of beneath it.

Was this the replacement 51 that Garmin sent you back in June? If so, it doesn't bode well for the longevity of these units.

After returning both the defective 51 refurbs's I bought last year, their replacements have been working fine. (knock wood with fingers crossed!)

Fingers crossed also!

So far my replacement DriveLuxe 51 has been working fine. One thing I have been trying to remember to do is do a full power shutdown instead of just letting the DriveLuxe power down to the default sleep mode. Since I am not driving very much in these COVID times, my car sometimes sits in the garage for several days, and I have had a couple of occasions where I forgot to do the full power down and the battery went completely flat. It did power up when I eventually started the car, but I did get a spontaneous reboot after a few minutes. I think the power supply has a hard time keeping up with simultaneous charging and operating the unit when the battery has gone completely flat and this could potentially make it more vulnerable to failure.

So far, so good though!

--
Alan - Android Auto, DriveLuxe 51LMT-S, DriveLuxe 50LMTHD, Nuvi 3597LMTHD, Oregon 550T, Nuvi 855, Nuvi 755T, Lowrance Endura Sierra, Bosch Nyon

Same issue with my nuvi 2689

alandb wrote:

So far my replacement DriveLuxe 51 has been working fine. One thing I have been trying to remember to do is do a full power shutdown instead of just letting the DriveLuxe power down to the default sleep mode.

Draining the battery completely is definitely not a good situation.

Personally I wish the native nuvi software, on pushing the power button, simply presented you with the message "Standby" or "Fully Off", then allowed the selection to be made on screen.

--
John from PA

^^This is garmin we're

^^This is garmin we're talking about. Clearly standby is better!

The symptom I got when it spent too much time in "standby"

The symptom I got when it spent too much time in "standby" was a low power message during shutdown. I can't remember if the shutdown was complete or not.

Garmin DriveLuxe 51 LMT-S Won't Power Up

bdhsfz6 wrote:

...Was this the replacement 51 that Garmin sent you back in June? If so, it doesn't bode well for the longevity of these units.

After returning both the defective 51 refurbs's I bought last year, their replacements have been working fine. (knock wood with fingers crossed!)

Yes. The Garmin representative referred to what I was describing as "ghosting". I do like how support works at Garmin. They emailed me a UPS shipping label, I placed the Garmin DriveLuxe 51 (minus accessories) in a padded shipping envelope and I dropped it off at a UPS store near me.

I just checked on-line and the expected Scheduled Delivery is Monday 09/21/2020 Estimated Time by 9:00 P.M. I may have my replacement DriveLuxe 51 by the end of next week. In the meantime, my Nuvi 3597 is working well in my pickup truck.

Garmin DriveLuxe 51 LMT-S Won't Power Up

I thought I would post an update. I was not expecting my Garmin DriveLuxe 51 until Monday, but when I returned home last night, it was waiting for me.

This morning I deleted the unwanted voices, keyboards and tests. I also configured the Custom Dashboard to my liking. Hopefully, this DriveLuxe 51 lasts longer than the old one!

Agreed !!

Jim1348 wrote:

Hopefully, this DriveLuxe 51 lasts longer than the old one!

I hope so too!

It's easy to see why Garmin pulled this unit from production so quickly. Hopefully, they have all the bugs worked out now.