Choosing a shop to work on outboard

[Andy in NY]

Okay, I have decided that I am not ready yet to tackle any mechanical issues so I am going to have a shop do some stuff to my motor this winter (carb rebuild, link and sync and impellar). there is one shop down by the lake that is not a registered repair shop. They charge $65 an hour. Then there is a place right in town that is a motorcycle/atv/snowmobile dealer and is also an authorized sea doo dealer so they have a few boats on their lot. But their focus is on the other stuff. I stopped in yesterday, and they are a registered repair shop, their labor rate is $55 and they had 3-4 customer boats in their lot for repair. Their shop is nice and clean, everyone was very friendly. The only 2 downsides are that they do NOT do any marine work from september to march and that their main focus is not marine stuff.


Besides the 2 places that I listed, the nearest marine repair facilities are minimum of 1 hour away and are on major lakes, so their hourly rates seem to be in the $57 to $100 an hour range.


What do you guys think?

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Choosing a shop to work on outboard

well the seasonal repair business is a Northern thing, but i would expect them to work thru September. you are between a rock and a hard spot. being a sea doo dealer does not mean they know outboards, or carry parts. that is a complete other side of the BRP company. i would talk to the independent guy, and get a feel of his knowledge.

 

[arboldt]

Re: Choosing a shop to work on outboard

well the seasonal repair business is a Northern thing, but i would expect them to work thru September. you are between a rock and a hard spot. being a sea doo dealer does not mean they know outboards, or carry parts. that is a complete other side of the BRP company. i would talk to the independent guy, and get a feel of his knowledge.

TD's advice is very good.

Can you ask your friends / neighbors for comments on the independent? You say he's unregistered -- by the manufacturer? He should have a state business license at least.

What does his shop look like? Many times I've wished I'd gone with an independent mechanic who cares rather than an "authorized" dealership's mechanics. But that's only after several neighbors have recommended him very highly. Let's face it... ultimately it all boils down to the individual mechanic, and his skill and whether or not he cares.

 

[Andy in NY]

Re: Choosing a shop to work on outboard

TD's advice is very good.

Can you ask your friends / neighbors for comments on the independent? You say he's unregistered -- by the manufacturer? He should have a state business license at least.

What does his shop look like? Many times I've wished I'd gone with an independent mechanic who cares rather than an "authorized" dealership's mechanics. But that's only after several neighbors have recommended him very highly. Let's face it... ultimately it all boils down to the individual mechanic, and his skill and whether or not he cares.

The shop is not a NYS registered repair facility.

I have only heard 2 opinions about the guy, one from a person that is a friend of his and he says he does good work. The other the other shop that is the registered shop and they say the get people all the time who went with him and screwed something up or didnt fix it right. Now I know this opinion is coming from the competition. The problem is with using an unregistered repair shop if I have a problem, there's no one to handle it... where if the shop IS registered then I can go to the deptartment that handles the registering of repair shops.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Choosing a shop to work on outboard

Send Bondo a PM..... he lives close to that area and might know someone.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Choosing a shop to work on outboard

I have found the larger authorized shops don't like working on older motors. They love to use the phrase "it's not worth it" about various repairs they feel your motor needs. I hate it when any repair place tries to determine what is and is not worth repairing.

 

[NelsonQ]

Re: Choosing a shop to work on outboard

Where I've had success is with a local repair shop that a guy runs out of the garage at his home. He works 6 months of the year. He worked for many years as a marine mechanic and uses the business to subsidize his semi-retirement. In addition, he's quite reasonable at $45/hour. (Unfortunately he's up her near Ottawa, CANADA)

Best case is talk to the mechanic as others have mentioned. Does he seem knowledgeable. Does he do the 'sales' pitch of the things you should do that may not even be relevant to the work you require.

Other option is get the to quote a fixed price in labour and parts so you know going in what you'll pay (of course if other issues are detected these costs will go up)