why are boat motors so expensive?

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capt sam

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Re: why are boat motors so expensive?

good question....I have no idea other than alot of R&D goes into them.
 

rtpassini

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Re: why are boat motors so expensive?

but couldnt that be said for all motors? i just picked up a used motor for my bike last summer for 600 shipped. it only had 8,000 miles on it.

ive bought motors for cars (tranny included) for 800...

yet a 30 year old boat motor goes for over 1500....lol.
 

mphy98

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Re: why are boat motors so expensive?

To put it bluntly, because they can!!! I watched a show called how its made on discovery channel and it doesn't look that labor intensive.
 

kamby

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Re: why are boat motors so expensive?

It is amazing how expensive these boat motors are, especially the parts. Mine as an aq125a in it. Spark plugs are 30$ wires are over 100$. A new carb if needed is about $900. 180$ for a rebuilt. The raw water impeler is about 30 bucks. But i will admit it is a great engine, been told its a very good quality setup, with very little hours around 500 or so, give or take if i leave the key on. The boat is 24 years old. Still looks good.
 

Bondo

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Re: why are boat motors so expensive?

Ayuh,.. We're Capitalists,... Anything is worth the amount the market will bear.....
 

kandil

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Re: why are boat motors so expensive?

To put it bluntly, because they can!!! I watched a show called how its made on discovery channel and it doesn't look that labor intensive.

If it is the same show I seen I think it was the Evinrude E-TEC man they are not careful installing the pistons in it looked like he scratch the Cly walls before it even started:eek: and yet they charge this much $ for it
 

45Auto

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Re: why are boat motors so expensive?

From rtpassini:

i just picked up a used motor for my bike last summer for 600 shipped.

Why didn't you just go to the dealer and buy a new one? Maybe cause it would have been real expensive?? Why not have your old one rebuilt? Again, very expensive. Or just buy a rebuilt one?? Probably might as well buy a new one!

Think about it. How many wrecked bikes do you think there are where the cost of repairing the plastic and bodywork and instruments, not to mention a bent frame or forks, exceeds the value of the bike? A WHOLE LOT of them out there like that. That's why you can get a used engine cheap. Same situation with used car engines.

How many wrecked boats have you seen where the engine is still usable??? Hmmm, they usually SINK!!!

The price for a rebuilt engine (basic longblock or powerhead - outboard, inboard, motorcycle, boat or car) is about the same. A basic motor will cost you a couple of thousand dollars. If you're into the hot-rod stuff then the sky's the limit.
 

beerfilter

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Re: why are boat motors so expensive?

Your average car or truck motor doesn't spend its day @ 5,000RPM , going uphill the whole trip .

Your car manufacturer offers 2 , maybe 3 engine options , that are common to many other vehicles in the same fleet .

Marine engine manufacturers build complete engine/transmission packages , for use on a wide range of boat sizes , hull designs , and , transom heights .
They also sell far fewer of each particular model than any major car manufacturer , so this also puts them at a disadvantage when you factor in the scale of economy .

They are pricy , but , you get what you pay for .
Usually you can save quite a bit buying used .
Most folks don't use them more than 50 hours a season .

Properly maintained most will live longer than you will .
Ignore the maintenance , or , abuse them , and they will die a horrible death , and cost a fortune to resurrect .
 

rtpassini

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Re: why are boat motors so expensive?

ok. onto the "new" topic

a brand new 2008 Yamaha 115 hp 25" shaft is $8,889.

You can get a brand new 1000cc Sportbike for that price. NOT just a motor.

thats why i said new and used. both prices are sky high.
Although, you didnt pose a good argument which makes since.

p.s. my bike motor spends its days anywhere from 5-10k constantly. lol
 

tashasdaddy

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Re: why are boat motors so expensive?

it is a specialty item, that people want and are willing to pay the price.
 

capt sam

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Re: why are boat motors so expensive?

yeah but the word "marine" itself adds 30% cost to everything, call it a "marine" motorcycle and see what it costs.
 

windsors03cobra

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Re: why are boat motors so expensive?

Those folks building the Evinrudes are right here where I live, 1 million sq. ft. building.
use to have like 700 folks and 2 powerhead lines, now down to like 300 folks and 1 line thats been shut down 75% of this year.
OMC/BRP and Mercury are really hurting, Mercury Marine in Fond Du Lac WI does a ton of aluminum casting for Harley Davidson in Milwaukee, both those companies are also hurting bigtime.

Buy some new outboards and stern drives folks, stimulate that economy. :D
 

rtpassini

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Re: why are boat motors so expensive?

i love going pass the mercury factories in Fond Du Lac and seeing their crazy boats outside. WITH THE GATES OPEN! i wanted to steal one of their cigarette boats....hahaha
 

Navy Jr.

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Re: why are boat motors so expensive?

Not sure, but I think a lot of it has to do with "economies of scale."

They make and sell enough car engines to cover the costs of development and manufacturing over the life of the model at the price they charge. They don't sell nearly as many marine motors, so the price is higher for each one.
 

mthieme

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Re: why are boat motors so expensive?

Everything is expensive.
One might think that the service or product you provide for a living is overpriced.
How come an inner tube for my grandson's 80cc motorbike is $12 and I can buy two car sized tubes for that?
How come a little box of Lego's is $80?
How come the electric company charges me separately for fuel and a line delivery charge? Shouldn't this be included as a cost of doing business to deliver the product?
To compare your bike against boats seem ludicrous to me. It's apples and oranges, like my picks.
If you pay $1500 for a 30 y.o for a marine motor - you deserve what you get. It ain't like you have to go far to find a 30 y.o. bike for $1500.
The last 30 y.o. marine motor I bought was $100.
 

nightstalker

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Re: why are boat motors so expensive?

Supply and demand baby, supply and demand.
Nightstalker
 

sportsmanphil

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Re: why are boat motors so expensive?

Ohh man. Not going to quote so much here just reply.

The best reply so far is "because we are capitalist"

As for 'your car doesnt spend the day at 5000rpm up hill.....umm I/O boats have automotive style engines that do just that.

As for 'an outboard is just like the engine and transmission' No its not. There are no multiple speed gear box in an outboard. Its more like an engine and rear axle gear combo.

Specialty item? not really, motor powered boats are older than motor powered cars. Like one said, a 30 friggin year old outboard for thousands? :rolleyes:

I ran a proshop for GM in S.C. I installed a 572 Crate from GM in a 67. That crate motor is VERY limited and produced around 730HP (the one he chose) is hand built and was a complete package including intake, Carb, driveset. He paid 13K. That gets you what, a 125 hp outboard?


So why are outboards so expensive? Easy, if you want to play, you gotta pay. Because people PAY for them. Right now, because people are broke (for the most part) and the rest of the general public that has money are afraid to part with it, you can buy an entire boat for the price of the motor.

My dad just got back into boating. He has a 22' center console. It came with a 75hp and he wanted to up it to a 150. He was shocked at how expensive the outboards were. We found a well weathered boat for sale with a 125 on the back, switched the motors and sold the well weather boat for only 1K less than he paid for it.. So he went from a 70 to a 125 for a thousand bucks....

So if you are looking for the *trick* to outboards ^^^ there it is.

One more.. my dad as a 6hp Johnson that he bought new for a few hundred bucks about 35 years ago. The motor has hardly been used but works AWESOME. Its worth more now twice as much as he paid for it then. I told him to sale it but instead he uses it as a kicker on his 22'er.
 

jay_merrill

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Re: why are boat motors so expensive?

One word. "Loans."

Up until the current credit crunch, banks were throwing boat loans around like confetti. Many outboards, particularly the larger ones, are sold in package deals along with a boat. When the amount loaned gets to a certain point, 20 year loans are not uncommon.

If people had to pay cash for outboard motors, you can be sure that prices would not be what they are now. Simply put, the manufacturers would sell very few of them at today's prices.
 

QC

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Mar 22, 2005
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22,783
Re: why are boat motors so expensive?

It's horsepower, technology, capitalism, warranty cost, development cost, risk, liability insurance, marketing, all of that over a relatively small number of units. If it was easy to break that combo at a lower cost then someone would . . . ;)
 
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