Marina Scam?

[bruceb58]

Re: Marina Scam?

To figure out if its a good price, you need to tells us what they are replacing. Are they replacing the input shaft? Any bearings? Any gears at all? Shift cable? Do you have an Alpha or a Bravo. Way too little info for us to give you any advice.

 

[redeye1962]

Re: Marina Scam?

To figure out if its a good price, you need to tells us what they are replacing. Are they replacing the input shaft? Any bearings? Any gears at all? Shift cable? Do you have an Alpha or a Bravo. Way too little info for us to give you any advice.

UUUHHHHHH
I am not sure what kind of unit it is. From what I know they are going to change the gimble, bellows, impeller, Shift Cable, anode and some seals as well as a couple of gears in between but no lower gears. I applogize for my ignorance but I am a novice in this area. Lord knows I am going to learn alot after this event.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Marina Scam?

If they are replacing the impeller, and that impeller is in the drive, you have an alpha. If the impeller is mounted near the front of the engine you have a Bravo.

$1800 seems fair. As Smoke on the water said, you can buy a new drive for $1200 but that does not include labor or the work on the gimbal bearing, bellows and shift cable.

 

[redeye1962]

Re: Marina Scam?

If they are replacing the impeller, and that impeller is in the drive, you have an alpha. If the impeller is mounted near the front of the engine you have a Bravo.

$1800 seems fair. As Smoke on the water said, you can buy a new drive for $1200 but that does not include labor or the work on the gimbal bearing, bellows and shift cable.

Amen to that. I was a bit wary about just an oil change to changing the whole unit out and being very suspicious about it all. After it is said and done I should not have to worry about it for a while. Just change the oil and Bellows out every few years when I get the bottom painted.

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: Marina Scam?

It is not in the least bit uncommon for a marina to restrict outside vendors or owner maintenance on their propety. They do it for competative reasons and liability reasons. I don't much like such policies, but they are pretty much the norm.

What your marina can't do, is to prevent you from taking your boat for service elsewhere. I would have them show me the water in the gearbox oil (if they can at this point) and the outdrive problem. If they seem to be telling the truth, get an estimate for repairs. Take that home and make a copy with the marina header/logo blacked out. You can then shop the work around to see what others would charge you.

If you remain of the opinion that you are being lied to, or other shops give you dramatically different and better pricing, take the trailer offer up and get the boat serviced elsewhere.

You can look at your survey report for info on the condition of the outdrive. If there isn't anything specific in the report that says the surveyor checked the gear oil and/or bellows, he probably didn't inspect them.



???

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Marina Scam?

change the oil at least every year... what is fair and what is common are two different things.... if the gimbal bearing is bad then it needs replaced... if not then it doesn't.... very simple.... pull up your sleeves and stick your fingers in there and fel it.... does it turn smooth or does it drag or ffeel rough? any slop in it..... did you have a noise or vibration before? survey should have caught that.... on the bellows.... I did my own for the first time at the age of 25. I did so against the advice of the local marina's service department who said they'd do it for $1500.... They claimed they were giving me a heck of a deal cause they felt sorry for me getting a bum deal on my boat.... I explained that I knew my way around a garage and had rebuilt my own engines and etc on cars.... They strongly suggested that I not even attempt the job because it was so hard to get it right and it would cost way more when I got it apart and then brought it to them.... I bought the bellows for the driveshaft, exhaust and shift cable... I also bought a tube of bellows adhesive and a tool to fit the pivot pins on the gimbal.... I sat down with a merc manual and did what that they said was a 6 hour job for an experienced marine tech in an hour and a half..... that was 12 years ago and the boat is was running strong last summer when I pulled the engine and drive out for another project.

an impeller and oil change takes less than an hour

there is no reason for this job to cost that much BUT it often does because boat owners as a general rule have no clue what is going on with their equipment and will pay whatever they are told to pay.

ask what the bill is if you take it as is... Find out what exactly you have for a drive and then call around and ask how much to.... tell them exactly what you want done to your drive.... ask them their hourly labor rate and ask them how many hours the job will take..... ask them if tthey are ase certified. Being well informed is the key to making good decisions.... Look at your survey to see if it at least notes the make and model of the engine and drive.... ask the previous owner what if anything he had done recently... heck maybe the drive is under warranty

after all is said and done you may decide (as many people do) that is is easier to just pay the bill than to do the legwork.

 

[stylesabu]

Re: Marina Scam?

as I said before, a good tech will explain the problem and demonstrate the failure. hard part is on electrical items, it is difficult to "see" a problem. But he can still show you something, either an ohm reading or maybe a burn spot, whatever. The point is tech should be able to show why he has concern for any part, some parts are replaced cause you're already there and its cost effective to do it now,while its apart.i quit turning wrenches(auto tech) 9 years ago, now I'm an auto warranty inspector,it like a surveyer.How much did you pay to have your boat inspected? and What did he say he would do for that price? I also do used car inspections, they don't get compression readings or brake inspections, they get an opion on the vehicle, my opion which may not be theirs.It means the car is worth looking at or stay away cause its junk.I don't recommend anybody buying anything sight unseen.But you would be amazed at how may people do.Redeye you are learning the in's and outs of boat ownership. stay with iboats it has helped me emmensly with boats,they're not doing much for my spelling. Call around and ask for esitmates on the work you have been quoted, don't tell anybody the price you were quoted, cause everybody will under bid it by a little. if they know what you were quoted they will say 1700.00, next guy might drop another $50.00. the time to negociate is when you're comforatble with the shop and price.Now try to get it a little lower, but its a fine line. i have told people to take there car and leave and don't come back, nobody likes a cheap bassterd. Getting a fair price is one thing, trying to get me to do it a little or no profit, go pound sand. One last thing, be ready to "eat some crow" if you take your boat out of there only to pay simalar price elsewhere. no honest person likes to be called a thief.

 

[cfrazier]

Re: Marina Scam?

our marina on Lake Mead only works on newer boats. We have a 1987 Fourwinns and its too old for them. They do allow venders to come out and repair your boat, but I'm sure they charge a good price also for coming out of their shop. When we have a problem that we can't fix, we trailer it and take it to our mechanic who trust. That gives us a chance to clean it up good, and do a good overall check on everything on the outside. Our boat is only 19 foot so its easier for us to do that.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Marina Scam?

Many mechanics won't work on old boats b/c the typical customer is never happy with all the extra work that is inevitably needed. This is especially true with salt water motors. My mechanics, old motors and I get along fine because we all three have realistic expectations.

 

[Tommyfmu]

Re: Marina Scam?

If they are replacing the impeller, and that impeller is in the drive, you have an alpha. If the impeller is mounted near the front of the engine you have a Bravo.

$1800 seems fair. As Smoke on the water said, you can buy a new drive for $1200 but that does not include labor or the work on the gimbal bearing, bellows and shift cable.

This new drive is also an aftermarket, not Mercruiser. A new Mercruiser Alpha drive can be had for more like $2200.

As I'm about to change manifolds and risers, my mechanic almost insists on using OEM parts because my engine is too damn expensive to replace, if the aftermarket R's & M's aren't machined exactly right. Not sure if the same holds true for outdrives, but just am throwing it out there.

About the original theme of the post, I agree with most that I don't think you're getting taken advantage of, it just sounds like you need a bunch of maintenance things done. I'm sure the marina owner doesn't want the fine and cost of cleanup of an oil spill if some hack who says he's a 'mechanic' does the wrong thing.