Re: Confused...Why all the OMC bashing??
Pm's work the best.... it keeps the flaming to a minimum.
But to answer your questions. First I would not own either. That was kind of a silly question... Limiting my choices between like that!!
Yes I have worked on Cobra's and Kings.... in the past. I don't bother anymore. For a couple of reasons.
First is parts. Sometimes you don't know what you need until your halfway into a job. Its pretty hard to tell a customer that, while you have his boat apart, he needs a do-hickey valve and the only place that has one is New Zealand... and its 900 bucks.... and its gonna take 6 weeks to get it....and your boat wont run without it.
2nd is special tools and manuals. They are getting few and far between, they often come used, and buying a used manual off of ebay can come shipped to you with the 2 pages you need torn out of the damm book. I'm in independent. I have a gazillion bucks in tools. I bought and personally own all the tools for alphas, most of the larger merc ob gearcases, optipop gauges, carb balancers... etc the list goes on and on.
3rd is support. Where can I get parts or ask a question? (this is kind of like point 1 really)Just like manuals and service tools. Getting a part is like going to a circus and jumping through hoops. Like a said i'm an independent, but I have good relations with various dealers in my area, and I have to. I need parts!!! And yes sometimes i have questions... If i need a part for an omc do I call a Bombardier dealer, a VP dealer, or both? The answer is both but usually either one has anything nor is willing to invest any time into looking. Replaceing cables is 1 thing.... needing a pulley or a manifold or some transom part is completely different.
4th is money. Like anybody else. I want to make the most amount of money with the least amount of investment. I'm not going to invest time, money in tools/manuals etc for something I can't make money at. I do mostly road work (suxxx, but whatever). And I don't expect you to understand all of this. But imagine your on the recieving end of a conversation with me. You have an OMC that doesn't start. and for the sake of it lets say its some ignition component thats bad.
I come down.. (and charge ya 60 for the trip)
It takes me an hour to troubleshoot it (70 an hour)
So far i'm into you for 130 bucks.....
Now i have to do research on the part for free, I cant charge you for looking up parts. I spend 2 hours looking for parts and a few bucks long distance to call Seaway in washington state to come up empty handed.
You still owe me 130 bucks.
You still have a boat that doesn't run and I can't get parts for.
I've completely wasted a day over 130 bucks minus expenses.... not worth it to me.
Some stuff you can still get parts for. Buy why even get involved in the game of "Ring around the parts tree" to start with.
coors said:
Look at it this way; there are more Mercs in the repair shop, than OMC's.
Thats a bit misleading Coors....
1. There's more Mercs than OMC's.... of course theres gonna be more in the shop
2. There's 2 shops that I know of in my state that will still service OMC, they are larger, established boatyards. The only reason they will service them is because they have 1 or 2 old timers (no offense Don) on staff that were trained on the product (they don't teach it anymore in schools) Once those old timers leave the shop do you think the shop will still service OMC? nope.
I look at it this way. I'm the big bad boat mechanic. You either love me coz i fix your boat or you hate me because I take your money and leave you with a still broken boat. I do whatever i can to not be the latter. and avoiding omc helps that. Heck, i'll fix J/rude motors all day long... but i won't touch a ficht.
Take it from a guys that knows just a bit about this stuff, sure some of you have had good luck over the years, just like some of you have had bad.... but if your looking to buy a boat, and it is a buyers market right now, Give me 1 good reason why you would buy and OMC today?
