Community Forums

depchief · 11-06-2019, 02:50 PM

My GPS rubber cover has become very sticky to the touch. Handling the unit leaves your fingers very sticky. Not much fun to handle it.
I wrote to Rand McNally concerning the issue and they responded if the unit is within warranty to send it back. It is not in warranty and they said $99.00 is the service fee.
My feeling is it is a product deficiency and should be covered, regardless of the warranty period.
The suggestions by them in a return e mail was to wipe it with a wipe, does not work.
I used some powder on the case and most of the stickiness was covered up but it now looks terrible.
Anybody had any luck with them replacing the cover?

Just another Rand poor customer service issue.

HJLowell · 11-06-2019, 03:04 PM

Just spend the $99.00 and go on with your life.

robertkathy · 11-06-2019, 03:13 PM

rand and good sam both suck

coupevilleDF · 11-06-2019, 04:38 PM

Those rubber covers on various items seem to deteriorate after a while. I had a pair of FRS/GRMS radios that did the same thing. I ended up getting rid of them because I couldn't stand to use them.

Maybe there is some kind of sealer that can correct the ugliness.

stang37 · 11-06-2019, 08:27 PM

That cover must be made of the same rubber/plastic that is on the steering wheel horn covers and dash boards of older vehicles. Over time it becomes a sticky mess. What I found that brought my steering wheel cover back to life was Mothers Back-to-Black Trim and Plastic Restorer. It's the stuff you renew the black trim on your car. I tried all kinds of stuff and just happen to give this a try and it worked. Hope it helps you.

depchief · 11-11-2019, 10:06 AM

Stang37
Tried the Mothers back to black and it worked better than expected. I can now handle the unit with out getting sticky fingers

Saved the $99.00 and getting on with life

stang37 · 11-12-2019, 06:15 AM

Glad it work for you. I apply a coating every few months just in case. So far no sticky mess.

WOODYDEL · 02-22-2020, 10:16 AM

Will try out the mothers but after several attempts to remove this impossibly thick goo I tried this. Plain old isopropyl rubbing alcohol scrubbed in with plain scotch Brite pad without attached sponge. My thinking was if the alcohol could loosen the goo the pad could capture it instead of smearing it. To give you an idea how thick this adhesive like goo was, I first ran my pocket knife sideways along the plastic surface. Coils and globs came up and looked like rubber cement. I cut the scotch Brite pad in narrow strips to present a clean surface for goo capture. Maybe another alcohol type will work better like denatured alcohol.

I can pick up the GPS without that nasty sticky feeling for now. Will not leave it in the jeep with hot sun here in Florida again.

Good luck. Will try Mothers.

Be careful of the screen. I did not use the alcohol on that surface. Besides I couldn't even imagine a sticky screen.

Kimosabi · 11-01-2020, 11:38 AM

I tried the back to blue. Some results but not acceptable to me.
“GOO GONE” is the product to clean the sticky off the GPS case. Lowe’s or Home Depot or Amazon should have it.

W4CLM · 06-04-2022, 10:17 AM

Our Rand McNally RVND 7725 GPS did the same exact thing and it is a mess, tried to use it last week and could hardly get the keyboard to work as the whole thing is an entire sticky mess.

I don't mind paying 99.00 for another case from the manufacturer, however I agree with the original posting by depchief. This should not havehappened and RAND McNally should replace these for nothing as it's obviously a manufactures defect. I will try and clean the thing with Mothers back to back first before putting any more money into this thing. Thanks for your posting.