It reminds me of a story with Subaru engines burning oil like crazy...Talked to 3 different authorized Subaru service dealers, and all of them said that Subaru doesn't have any issues with that...Now we have second class-action suit against Subaru about oil consumption.
2 different models of Subaru I own 2011 Forester and 2014 Outback have this issue. Consider yourself a lucky Garmin 800 user. Your good luck doesn't mean that the rest of 800 are free of issues. Several of my buddies own one, talked to tens of more 800 users in the last few years, talked to the salesman in a few stores, and I know how to use Google. The reason I bought cheap Garmin was way better reviews/feedback than the one about 800.
And it's also hard to believe your Garmin never play possum on you. It seems that every unit - cheap or expensive one - have that possum charm from time to time.

I like your signature... "Don't believe everything you think."