I bought the iDrive because it offered a quick and simple approach to mounting a garage door opener. The design seemed ingenious...and it really is...but their implementation of the motor/gearbox is less than robust.

In just under a year, I've burned up two motors (under warranty) and 3 months ago they sent me a whole new unit under warranty and just today it burned up again. I'm lifting a standard 16' wide x 8' high insulated steel door...and it is properly balanced - so the opener isn't working harder than it has to.

The biggest issue is mostly just the electric motor. They allegedly came up with a new design for the electric motor...but when the going gets tough (cold weather) - this thing tucks its tail between its legs and runs away - even with the new motors.

Their customer support is only open from 8AM-5PM during the week (when you're at work...) and limited hours on Saturday - when you call them, you're put in a queue and you have to be standing at the garage door to give them numbers and then do some troubleshooting with them on the line.

Getting replacement parts requires you to go through a troubleshooting session (ensuring door is balanced by manually lifting to various heights and ensuring it doesn't lift/fall on its own...) with their CS folks...rightfully so - they want to be sure what the problem is. The problem is that every time the motor fails...you're without a garage door opener for a few weeks until the new motor arrives.

I'm estimating that over the last year, this unit has been down for a total of 3 months.

I had hoped this would work out, but now I want a refund - we'll see if they come through on this. It wasn't a cheap opener...