Did I get taken?? (nf)

[fishnguy]

So I just had my boat winterized for the first time. I'm officially in mourning until April. I bought the boat used this spring and it's my first boat, so was is my first time through the process. I brought it to a local marina to get the work done. I have a 2011 115hp Yamaha 4 stroke as the main motor and a small 6hp 4 stroke early 2000s Nissan outboard as the kicker. Plus I have two live wells.

 

My total bill was $650!!!!!!!! Holy crap!

 

I was floored. Is this par for course or did I get hosed here?

 

As a follow up question, anyone with recommendations for good marinas in the Owen Sound/Grey Bruce area???

 

Thanks

 

[DRIFTER_016]

OUCH!!!!!

And I complain when it costs me $100 for supplies to do mine.

Edited November 1, 2014 by DRIFTER_016

[irishfield]

$130/hr in the marine industry doesn't go far for the consumer + materials !

 

I do my 275 Verado and 9.9 kicker. An hour tops to do both upper and lower unit oils and while they're draining I do the water separator filter on the Verado and the fine fuel filter on both. Another 30 minutes or so has the antifreeze through the live wells and power washer.

 

Oil for Verado... $100 Oil filter $14.. Fuel filters about $50. Lower unit oil is $24.95/ qt now... so $50 there. = about $200 in materials.

 

Would leave you about 3.5 hours labour you paid for.

 

What all did they do for you??

Edited November 1, 2014 by irishfield

[Terry]

did they winterize all of it

shrink wrap it and store it

for that money

 

 

springmount automarine springmountmarine springmount marine

Edited November 1, 2014 by Terry

[fishnguy]

$95/hr for labour. All they did was service and winterize the two motors. No storage or shink wrap, unfortunately.

[fishnguy]

So I'm gathering $100 in parts/supplies plus a couple hours max at $95/hr. That's a heck of a lot less than $650. MAN!!!!!

[irishfield]

Okay, so they did 4.5 hours of work... what was included in the service? Did they do spark plugs? Did they check valve clearances, etc or simply change the oils and possibly fog the engines? Did they put antifreeze thru the livewells or at least vacuum / blow the lines and pumps out?

Edited November 1, 2014 by irishfield

[irishfield]

..Time for me to stop building and servicing aircraft for $65/hr....

[chris.brock]

Next fall, do it yourself, post a refresher question here on what to do, and the guys will chime in, piece of cake!

[strik]

Pm sent

 

I live in the same area as you ..

 

I would be asking what they did for the 650..

 

I do know of one person that was over charged from a place in the area. When we went in to ask what the charges were for they realized it was the wrong person they fixed everything. It was then my friend realized someone in the area had the same name as him .

[fishnguy]

Looking at the bill now. $456 for labor. $115 for parts and supplies. Plus taxes. Here's the full checklist of what was done:

-Put in gas stabilizer

-Run engine until warm

-Drain oil

-Replace filter and oil on 115hp motor

-Run engine, check oil level

-Fog engine

-Drain and fill lower unit

-Remove prop, check and lube

-Lube outdrive

-Put outdrive up

-Disconnect battery

-Clean up and put canvas back on

 

I'm not mechanically inclined, but that doesn't strike me as almost 5 hours of work.

[Pigeontroller]

Yup, you got taken...All easy stuff to do yourself.

[Terry]

wow

 

they saw you coming

[Fisherman]

Man they sent a taxi for you, that must have been an extra large hose they got you with. I don't believe for one second that the lubricants alone add up to more than $100. (4 litres of 4 stroke synthetic, 1 litre of gear oil, small can of startron fuel stab, oil filter about $15). Put outdrive up? What the heck, it's an outboard. Disconnect the battery, oh boy, that's real difficult. Lube the outdrive, hmmm, maybe 2-3 zerks, 2 shots in each one. I'd rather sit on a nest of red ants bare butt than get anything serviced there.

[fishnguy]

It immediately stuck me as very off and I certainly questioned them on it. I had small kids in the car and was already late and it has be stored tomorrow so I wasn't in the position to push too hard at the time. I'll be back there tomorrow. I'll let everyone know how it goes.

[irishfield]

Bring it over here next year and I'll give you a 30% OFC discount off what you paid this year... I'll even throw in the antifreeze and do your livewells! Doesn't sound like they touched those.... so you'd better have a good look for water in them! (btw I'm joking on the price!)

 

Next year run stabil through your gas when you think it might be your last trip out. That would skip that part and the engine running. Better it has sat before draining anyhow instead of running the oil through the motor one last time. My Verado has to have sat idle for over an hour before removing the oil filter...

Edited November 1, 2014 by irishfield

[misfish]

You could of paid for my fuel up there ,got the job done for 1/2 that.

 

LESSON LEARNED.

 

Next year you will do it yourself. Next time ask the family here. Thats what were here for.

[misfish]

Or go see Wayne.LOL

[Burtess]

Don't know anything about costs of winterizing a boat (since I don't have one) but I would let this thread fester a bit and then print them a copy and show it to them, and let them know that you will post where you had the service done...... see what they say to that lol... good luck.

 

Don't feel too bad about being taken advantage of though... probably has happened to most of us!

 

Burt

[captpierre]

I have same engine.

 

Do it for about $80 in supplies myself

 

What does "Lube Outdrive and put it up" mean?

[strik]

What some fine easy others find hard..

 

No issue in letting someone else do it.

 

The issues is getting screwed no way it should have cost that.

 

The sad thing is the place that did is under new owenership this year .. Sad to see this is were they are headed.. With fishnguy permission I know I will be calling and asking how much to winter my boat If they get enough complaints it might help or they will just take the money and run..

[bigbuck]

Go on iboats.com, you can download the manufacturers shop manuals that will outline exactly what you need to do for your outboards, both engine and lower. Everyone here can help you out on getting the rest of the work done, ie. winterizing the livewells. Too much for what they did. Def give them a piece of your mind. It should have been shrinkwrapped for that price. Winterizing an i/o which is a lot more involved than an outboard runs 350 or so. If they do not do anything for you, make sure you post the name of the place everywhere you can and warn people of their business practices.

[Terry]

most likely grease in 2 nipples

 

and trim engine to 45 deg angle

Edited November 1, 2014 by Terry

[fishnguy]

Yup. Like I said, I'll be back there tomorrow. I'll scan the whole bill and post it if nothing happens. Appreciate all the comments.

[wallyboss]

I am not mechanically inclined at all. But winterizing my boat I do that myself. It's not hard at all. Google it and I am sure there are videos for your motor. Get all your stuff ready before hand.