Dealer & Marina repair costs

[acdc96]

I hate bringing my boat to my local marina for service. I swear every time I bring it their it cost me at least $1000 each time. B.O.A.T .
But about 7 years ago I stopped that nonsense and learned how to do everything myself. When my starter went on my engine. (350 V8 mercruiser) it cost me a grand. I know it's a pain to get at but it should take 30 minutes to take the old one out and put a new one in. I know I did it 5 years ago. Bilge pump decided to die and flooded my engine compartment.
FYI my boat was at the marina for a week!

What's your costliest repair at the dealer/marina?

 

[agallant80]

Re: Dealer & Marina repair costs

The local place charges $120 an hour and the clock starts as soon as the tech walks to your boat. There is no book time in boat repair.

 

[Starcraft5834]

Re: Dealer & Marina repair costs

Last year, dropped mine off for carb cleaning. adjustment... they tossed in a kit probably for my 3.0,, $500... $30.00 kit and 1 hr work likely.. wont be taking there again.. last fall my trim motor croaked.. was 25 years old......bought replacement and installed myself.. still took it up the can... these things never die in your driveway........ was at 1000 islands in marina slip... could not get the motor up, and was not going to disconnect the rams and use straps,,, $500 later, I had a new trim motor unit... the owner of that slip I nicknamed Capt Ahab.. he got me

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: Dealer & Marina repair costs

I havnt had a boat to a dealer in 20 years. It only took me once .

 

[crabby captain john]

Re: Dealer & Marina repair costs

My marina charges the same as everyone else in the area ~~ $85 HR. Not every minute is charged and minor adjustments and etc are at no charge. I own an indoor dry slip there and they see me every week at least once. I buy my gas there too. Only once did I question 1/2 hour and the on a 90 minute job. The marina owner spoke with the tech and wiped out the entire labor bill.

 

[greenbush future]

Re: Dealer & Marina repair costs

It really does pay to be mechanically inclined a bit, or you will pay. Same thing with home ownership. The biggest issue is "Knowing" which projects you can handle and which one's you cant. With You-tube, it's almost a no brainer to make these choices.

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Dealer & Marina repair costs

I haven't brought my boat to a dealer for service or repair. So, I have no bad experiences to report. I am thinking that my maintenance budget would be about 3 X of what it is now if I had the boat repaired at a dealer/marina.

With my current 'project' of fixing the bulkhead and fuel tank, I figure that a marina would be nearly into 5 figures.

 

[Grub54891]

Re: Dealer & Marina repair costs

Last year, dropped mine off for carb cleaning. adjustment... they tossed in a kit probably for my 3.0,, $500... $30.00 kit and 1 hr work likely.. wont be taking there again.. last fall my trim motor croaked.. was 25 years old......bought replacement and installed myself.. still took it up the can... these things never die in your driveway........ was at 1000 islands in marina slip... could not get the motor up, and was not going to disconnect the rams and use straps,,, $500 later, I had a new trim motor unit... the owner of that slip I nicknamed Capt Ahab.. he got me

Nice,if you can completly dissasemble and clean/rebuild a carb properly in one hour,including removal,replacing,starting the engine,tuning/tweaking the adjustments,and making shure the customer will be happy in ONE HOUR,have at it please!
Sometimes I wonder why the customer don't fix it themselves if they already know so much. Ok end of rant.....:facepalm:

 

[MarkSee]

Re: Dealer & Marina repair costs

My marina charges the same as everyone else in the area ~~ $85 HR. Not every minute is charged and minor adjustments and etc are at no charge. I own an indoor dry slip there and they see me every week at least once. I buy my gas there too. Only once did I question 1/2 hour and the on a 90 minute job. The marina owner spoke with the tech and wiped out the entire labor bill.

Now that's nice to know good repair shops are still out there at reasonable rates. $85 an hour is very fair in my book for good service.

Mark

 

[acdc96]

Re: Dealer & Marina repair costs

The last time I had my boat at the dealer they told me that my tire had popped and they had to replace it. $250 for the tire. The tires had some dry rot but overall not bad. Luckily the marina had security cameras and I asked to see when the tire popped and how. An hour goes by and when the mechanic was pulling the boat in the shop the tire ran over a metal edging sort of thing to keep the gravel from moving. I went outside and looked at it and their was that rusty edging. That was a $2000 job to have the engine worked on and ended up paying $500. They replaced all four of my tires for free! Last time I ever went to that marina.
I watched them put the new tires on to make sure they didn't do anything to make them fail prematurely.

 

[OllieC]

Re: Dealer & Marina repair costs

My marina charges the same as everyone else in the area ~~ $85 HR. Not every minute is charged and minor adjustments and etc are at no charge. I own an indoor dry slip there and they see me every week at least once. I buy my gas there too. Only once did I question 1/2 hour and the on a 90 minute job. The marina owner spoke with the tech and wiped out the entire labor bill.

I am in the same "boat" at my marina. I buy the Service Manager, techs, a case of beer every Christmas. I also stay in touch and say hello when I can. I think they treat me fair. I do a lot of work myself, however this year I decided to have them Winterize. Paying the extra hundred dollars and not having to deal with disposal, time etc. was well worth it to me. As finances get tighter, maybe that will be a different story.

Also, when I request work, (like my spark plugs-the Weekender is a PIA to access mid-motor toward aft) I ask for a quote and won't allow them to work on it until they can give me an idea on the cost. I don't pay time and materials.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Dealer & Marina repair costs

One thing I don't like about the shops is that they charge the same rate for everything. I'll accept paying the trained tech $100/hr to get in my engine but not the yard dog to paint my bottom. Supposedly it averages out; I doubt it. But it would get complicagted to have a range of rates.

Even though I enjoy working on stuff, and hate paying for something I can do myself, I often let them do some of the stuff I could do while it's in the shop on something out of my league--for my convenience and to establish a loyal relationship. I buy parts, oil, extras, etc from a local shop rather than a cheaper big box for the same reason. And when I get in a jam in the middle of the summer and really need my boat (I have to use a boat for transportation to my vacation place), they will fix it straight away despite the back-up. And when I am not in a hurry, I take the boat in and tell them they can have 3 weeks if they are busy with others.

Many a time with a difficult problem on an old motor they will go off the clock for me, partly because they know I let them do the tune-up or water pump instead of doing it myself.

Relationships are important to cultivate and can require spending.

 

[JimS123]

Re: Dealer & Marina repair costs

I do most of my own work. But about every 5 years I have a mobile mechanic come over to the house and do what's then needed. Two reasons - just to have a "guy" on the books to call if needed, and secondly to have an "expert" look the whole thing over.

Most expensive biill ever was about $600. That covered a tuneup, outdrive & u-joint service, water pump / impeller, replaced all of the bellows, upgraded to an electronic ignition (I provided the parts).

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Dealer & Marina repair costs

good approach, Jim

 

[Starcraft5834]

Re: Dealer & Marina repair costs

ok grub,, 2 hrs,, I still got boned.........I was honestly not expecting $500 bill for a $25 job..... a little bit of knowledge is a powerful thing... U Tube for me...........I would have expected a fair price,,,that did not happen,, I wont be going back there........ at least up my way,, Marina's and like shops have to make a years worth of profit in about a 4 month window........... kind of like a tackle shop I know of in upstate NY where a 100cnt bag of small split shot goes for $20/bag.. if the salmon did not run up that river, this town would not have a pot to **** in........

 

[Starcraft5834]

Re: Dealer & Marina repair costs

= Capitolism

 

[Trim]

Re: Dealer & Marina repair costs

I know ZERO when it comes to mechanical stuff. I bought my boat a couple years ago and when I went to have it winterized I started asking around and had a friend of a friend that does boat work on the side. Charges me $50 to have it winterized. Had to have the bilge blower and bilge hose replaced charge me $50 for that. So I've gotten lucky to find someone not at a marina that I trust to work on my boat. Has saved me alot of money to this point.