replacement motor quote

[blay127]

thought i did everything right to winterize this year. guess not, block cracked. dont have time to replace it myself so i'm having a local shop do it, however what they quoted seems high (anyone surprised?). They quoted a Jasper 4.3 long block motor at ~2500 which includes the core charge since i dont have one and then 12 hours labor at ~1150, plus tax. boat is a 2002 fisher deckboat, 4.3 mercruiser, alpha 1gen2. going in today to talk to them about other motor vendor options, namely rapido marine at $1k less. anyone else think thats fair or high?

 

[Flysfloatsor]

Re: replacement motor quote

Call around, Mercury certified mechanics will quote 8 hours for that job.
Thats REALLY high for a 4.3. They are charging you a 40% mark up on parts. Buy the engine yourself and have it freighted to their shop. Look it up before you go, and dont act like you dont know what your talking about when you get there. No offense to any Marine mechanics out there, but its been my experience with ALL Ive come into contact with, that they WILL rip you off in a heartbeat.

Im not saying they shouldnt make a living. Im just saying honesty and fairness goes a long way. They especially need to realinze no one NEEDS a boat. Its recreational.
If they do a good job at a fair price, youll use them for everything, if your "back door" hurts when you leave, you likely wont be back...

 

[Brentathon]

Re: replacement motor quote

I chuckled at the common advice of "supplying the parts" to the mechanic/shop.........seems like a reasonable idea, but I've never been able to do that; they would miss-out on all that mark-up opportunity on the parts.

 

[QC]

Re: replacement motor quote

Flysfloatsor's response ^^^^ can cause a lot of fighting, so let's all remember these guys do need to earn a living, and words like ALL and WILL are inherently confrontational. Many of our best members are within ALL, so then they in fact WILL if we take your post at face value.

A "good" shop, that invests in the tools and people to do the type of quality work that SOME customers are willing to pay for, may turn the job down if they don't get the engine sale too. Many service departments budget for their existence based on both labor and parts sales for each guy they hire. It's just the way it works . . .

Another way to look at it . . . No matter what business you're in you should sell at the minimum margin necessary to stay afloat. Anything else is a ripoff and the fact that a minor hiccup could put you out of business is just part of the deal. That doesn't make much sense to me either . . .

Should you shop around for the best deal from reputable people? Of course.

 

[EMC 1810SS]

Re: replacement motor quote

Buy the engine yourself and have it freighted to their shop.

Do you bring your own steaks for the chef to cook when you go out to eat to?

 

[Flysfloatsor]

Re: replacement motor quote

I bring my own parts it all the time. You are the one with the money, remember? They just need to be reminded they are the service provider sometimes...

I agree, ALL and WILL are confrontational. But I was careful to point out that its only been my experience.

I think my words can come off harsh. In real life, I negotiate contracts all day with service providers for large scale IT implementations. Its been my experience that the service provider sometimes have to be reminded they are infact serving a client...

 

[QC]

Re: replacement motor quote

I'm really curious what you do for a living . . .

 

[Split Shot]

Re: replacement motor quote

I bought a V8 350 from Rapido last year for 1750 shipped. That was with $185 extra I paid for jack up to 300 h.p. (also no core charge) Since I only have 2hrs. on it so far, I can't say how good it is yet. Alot of guy's on here are satisifed with Rapido. I had mine shipped to the Boat shop. I can't say for sure but, I think it cost me around 900 labor for the engine swap. I had some other things done at the time, so I would have to break down the repair lists. I don't have it right now.

 

[Flysfloatsor]

Re: replacement motor quote

QC: My business card says Im a "Management Consultant." I work for a Medium Sized Firm, but specifically I Specialize in Project Management, and more specifically I specialize in running a PMO or Project Management Office.

Right now, I monitor a $96m Contract with IBM for consulting services to impliment SAP for a big healthcare company.

I bet your still laughing at the Mgmt consultant part...

 

[kewlkatdady]

Re: replacement motor quote

personally...I don't think $3650 to not lift a finger is a bad deal.

But I just bought a Rapido Longblock and did the work myself.

All in all...I bet we have $2200-$2300 in the build.

It's finally done and splashed last weekend.

I would have gladly paid an extra $1000 or so no to have to lift a wrench, but thats just not my style.

 

[QC]

Re: replacement motor quote

I have a project manager that manages me. I guess that makes me an ongoing project lol Margin is not something he comments on . . .

 

[Flysfloatsor]

Re: replacement motor quote

QC: I work more on the Program management side. More focused on delivering the solution on time and on budget etc. & blah blah blah. Funnctional Project managers are less concerned with the budget part because they are primarily concerned with enabeling their individual team to deliver their slated work products. I deal with margins alot. Every Consultant (their company) has a margin they are making off that specific consultant. I have a margin.

Thanks all for not freaking out, Im just sharing my experiences, as are all of you.

'dady: Id pay $1000 too! All day long. But thats not what they are charging him. They are charging him over $2500 plus tax. Rapido has a 4.3 Vortec long block listed for $1450, Jasper cant be that far off. And IMO-That is taking advantage of someone.

3 Things Ive learned from dealings with boats, that so far, have always held true:
1. Marine Mechanics over charge. And are, to me, only slightly more trustworthy than a construction contractor. (I have 3 best friends, one is a Marine Mechanic on Lake Erie, the other is a construction contractor, the other is something irrelivant, they dont even have to be drunk to admit to all this)
2. If someone your doing business with mentions church, God, or being any form of preacher/pastor etc., Your about to get ripped off.
3. Most people lie about how fast their boat goes.

Anyway, Im only 31. Im sure there will be exceptions along the way.

 

[QC]

Re: replacement motor quote

Well to make this hijack as complete as possible . . . For almost any business, stablishing margin is numero uno, maintaining it is a close second. And that's all I have to say about that.

 

[kewlkatdady]

Re: replacement motor quote

'dady: Id pay $1000 too! All day long. But thats not what they are charging him. They are charging him over $2500 plus tax. Rapido has a 4.3 Vortec long block listed for $1450, Jasper cant be that far off. And IMO-That is taking advantage of someone.

I'm not sure you are understanding what I'm saying... They quoted him $2500 for the motor...and $1150 labor. Thats $3650 total plus tax. I have well over $2000 in parts and realistically close to $2500 (including the longblock, specialty tools and ancillary parts and this thats and the others). I bought the longblock from Rapido... 4.3L vortec.

When I did my research $3650 would have been a good quote...as most were pushing upward of $5000.

 

[blay127]

Re: replacement motor quote

yeah, i'm not minding the labor charges. especially since i dont have the means to lift out the old engine and set in the new one. i'll gladly pay someone a grand to do a quality install of the motor. i'm finding out how valuable my time is now-a-days. now the motor, the price is about a grand higher than rapido, however if i do happen to have a problem with the motor i am not responsible for any extra labor to pull the motor or shipping the replacement. if i brought in my own motor from rapido i would be responsible for all of that should i have an issue.

thanks everyone for the responses. even the hijack ones

 

[kewlkatdady]

Re: replacement motor quote

it may worth the trouble to ask the mechanic if you can supply the motor...

 

[StevNimrod]

Re: replacement motor quote

To speak to your original question - make sure you are comparing apples to apples. For whatever reason, people know that they get what they pay for, then turn around and shop things on price. Find out what vendors are using in terms of parts and you'll be able to make a more informed decision. And you might be surprised how easy it is to tie up an extra grand in parts.

Also check local machine shops. If you're set on this shop doing the labor, if you have the engine put together by a local shop then you'll generally have an easier time getting resolution if there are any issues. A competent shop should be able to supply or source a core to use in the build.

There are dishonest people in every field. But for some shops - that have the customer base to pick and choose - a high quote may just be their way of saying they don't really want that type of work and if they're going to do it they'll cost you. Some customers you just don't want the hassle of dealing with and in a lot of cases the shop is sizing you up the same way you're sizing them up. In terms of price, I don't know that it's ripping you off - you still have the option to go elsewhere. Good work is seldom cheap, and cheap work is seldom good.

 

[Flysfloatsor]

Re: replacement motor quote

But for some shops - that have the customer base to pick and choose - a high quote may just be their way of saying they don't really want that type of work and if they're going to do it they'll cost you. Some customers you just don't want the hassle of dealing with and in a lot of cases the shop is sizing you up the same way you're sizing them up.

I disagree with this statment on many different levels. Alot of shops here in Ohio (especially northern Ohio) do a 4-5 month lay off of their employees. Due to the economic climate, leasure/luxury activities such as boating gets hit early and hard. This seems like a foolish business plan. You also dont open a Marine repair shop with the intent of just winterizing and changing imperllers. Lastly, remember when schools only took in certian clients? Seems like it caused a big snaf'oo.
IMO if you open your doors to be a service provider, its not really your luxury to decide who and how to serve anymore.

This is getting too heavy for a Boat forum. I thought long and hard about not responding. Then I thought, in a way, that would be agreeing, and if I agreed, We'd both be wrong.

 

[EMC 1810SS]

Re: replacement motor quote

nevermind.......