Alternative Options If You Didn’t Activate DJI Care Refresh on Your Drone
A little back story... I was flying over the water and got some sweet shots of everyone skiing on the lake. I also used a mixture of ActiveTrack and manual flight.
Sometimes, when someone is gearing up, I will land my drone, but I had a lot of leftover battery so I decided to hover near the boat, but as soon as our water skier was ready to go and I started pressing the throttle of the Mavic 2 Pro, the battery immediately went flat and required landing.
In hindsight, if I hadn't been in panic mode, I could have landed the drone anywhere, on a neighbor's pier or simply returned home. Even if the return home failed, it would have been much shallower water and easier to recover.
Now I've tried to get the drone out of the lake, but the water is too muddy/dense to see anything underwater. I even bought a waterproof high-power flashlight and it can't cut through the grime. I hope a diver can salvage the drone when it clears up but is the drone worth anything at this point?
I reached out to DJI Support and was given part prices but it's hard to know what a total repair would look like if the aircraft can be retrieved.
Mavic 2 Pro Aircraft (Excludes Remote Controller and Battery Charger)
USD $1,449 (out of stock)
Checking eBay's Sellers
Look out for eBay listings that include a brand new Mavic drone aircraft body but do not include a Hasselblad camera, controller, batteries etc. for $525.00 USD.
Sellers probably bought a drone for their camera parts, gimbal, etc. and sell the rest of the hull at a discount. I've even seen drones without the main control board for $395.00 USD.
Just be extra careful when you are considering placing a bid on an auction if the price seems too good to be true as it may not contain crucial parts. Be sure to check the listing with a computer monitor, as you may miss slight wear and tear when viewing the listing images on a phone.
DJI Mavic 2 Pro
DJI Mavic 2 Pro Drone Aircraft Camera Gimbal replacement Unit For Crash / Lost
eBay listing for a replacement Mavic 2 Pro Aircraft with bidding at $576.00. It appears to be fairly clean but it's hard to tell if much of the spots on the drone are cleanable?
NEW DJI Mavic 2 Pro Drone - Gray (CP.MA.00000019.01)
eBay listing for a replacement Mavic 2 Pro Aircraft with bidding at $670. Open box item in excellent, new condition with no wear.
DJI Mini 2
It may be wise to just buy this drone new with prices ranging from $376.99 and up for a replacement drone (no controller, cables, etc).
You would end up with another controllers, 1-3 batteries, extra cables and what not.
Could always recoup a little by selling the additional controller, as it is compatible with the Mavic Air 2 and DJI Air 2S (more potential buyers).
Going with a Different Model
Buying at $1000? Might as well buy brand new Mavic Air 2 (less) or DJI Air 2S drones (more). If you have a bunch of accessories for your DJI Mavic Drone you could always sell them as a bundle for current owners.
The only reason I would be hesitant to upgrade to the new new Air 2S would be because of the lack of autonomous flight support for apps like DroneDeploy, Dronelink or Measure.
It's too bad replacement drones are so expensive for older drones like the DJI Mavic 2 Pro. I was surprised to see the DJI FPV replacement drone as low as $699 brand new.
Final Thoughts
I wanted to share my research while looking for a suitable replacement for the DJI Mavic 2 Pro drone. Have you ever sunk a drone in a lake or been unable to retrieve the aircraft?
To the best of our ability, these things can happen even with the best obstacle avoidance or autonomous flight mode.
DJI Care Refresh may be something to consider when the cost of replacing the drone is too high and you end up paying full-price to get back into the air.
