Outboard service cost

[smile0784]

$800 for a standard service?? what in the **** are they doing to it for that price?
surely a diagnostic scan, impeller, oil and filter change plus the usual anodes and gearbox oil shouldnt cost $500 let alone $800..
waterpump is not replaced every 100 hours, so thats not a std service anyway

makes me glad i bought the 2 stroke, horses for causes i know, but that ******* daylight robbery honestly!!!

What's a two stroke standard service these days?

Used to cost me about $350-400 at BL Marine, who were great btw, 10 odd years ago...

$280 or so from memory last service was, the impeller was changed. but not the housing. thats for a 50hp, dont think size matters anyway for the 2 strokes.
will find out how much this time when i take it soon, should have done it earlier

Your getting out of it cheap mate

[purple5ive]

Just did a rough costings (disclosure i work for a Mercury dealer)
100hr service (which includes water pump)

Parts and labor works out around $710
Thats:
oil and oil filter
Gearoil
Water pump kit
Drain washers
Sump washer
Fuel filter (in boat and EFI filter)
Thermostat gasket (not including thermostat if needed)
Spark plugs (would change every 300hrs)

This includes a check over of the boat, motor and trailer, then tell you if anything else needs fixing and additional costs come after that.

Every year this comes up. Dont like paying for a Factory backed technician to work on it, no worries. Fix it yourself. But do you look at engines every day and know what weird things to look for?
Do you have diagnostics to run engines on?

I understand that people dont like spending money...but only 1 person i know of has every walked on water...and hes long dead. So it pays to have someone look at it!

Hey man with all due respect, I wasn’t having a go at anyone in particular. But more so appalled by the price of a normal service.
Im quite familiar with a car engine and how service on them works, from what I understand the 4 strokes are basically small car engines. (size depending ofcourse)
Since you work in the industry, can you help us understand what’s involved in the service and why its so expensive. And why is the 2 stroke service a lot cheaper than a 4 stroke. (only difference i can see is oil and filter, plus the sump washers on a 4 stroke, everything else is almost identical)

$800 is a lot of money to spend on a service, and lot of people don’t factor that in when they buy a boat. So it would be great if you can give us a rundown of what’s involved and why dealer pricing is justified.
Ive always dealer serviced my cars (while under warranty, and also out of warranty for a lomg time) and my outboard, but if it was going to cost me this much to do my service, car or outboard, id be looking elsewhere.
Cheers

[purple5ive]

$800 for a standard service?? what in the **** are they doing to it for that price?
surely a diagnostic scan, impeller, oil and filter change plus the usual anodes and gearbox oil shouldnt cost $500 let alone $800..
waterpump is not replaced every 100 hours, so thats not a std service anyway

makes me glad i bought the 2 stroke, horses for causes i know, but that ******* daylight robbery honestly!!!

What's a two stroke standard service these days?

Used to cost me about $350-400 at BL Marine, who were great btw, 10 odd years ago...

$280 or so from memory last service was, the impeller was changed. but not the housing. thats for a 50hp, dont think size matters anyway for the 2 strokes.
will find out how much this time when i take it soon, should have done it earlier

Your getting out of it cheap mate

it could have been 380 im not 100% sure now, will check and report back

[repspec]

Hey man with all due respect, I wasn’t having a go at anyone in particular. But more so appalled by the price of a normal service.
Im quite familiar with a car engine and how service on them works, from what I understand the 4 strokes are basically small car engines. (size depending ofcourse)
Since you work in the industry, can you help us understand what’s involved in the service and why its so expensive. And why is the 2 stroke service a lot cheaper than a 4 stroke. (only difference i can see is oil and filter, plus the sump washers on a 4 stroke, everything else is almost identical)

$800 is a lot of money to spend on a service, and lot of people don’t factor that in when they buy a boat. So it would be great if you can give us a rundown of what’s involved and why dealer pricing is justified.
Ive always dealer serviced my cars (while under warranty, and also out of warranty for a lomg time) and my outboard, but if it was going to cost me this much to do my service, car or outboard, id be looking elsewhere.
Cheers

Just looked at our pricing, 60hp 2 stroke compared to 60hp 4 stroke is only $66 cheaper (not including parts)

That time includes draining oils and refilling, diagnostic costs, disposals of oils etc.

Service involves (4stk):
-Running motor before we service (which quite a few dont do)
- checking trailer (wheel bearings, oil winch, wheel and coupling, check brakes) and report back
- Drain engine oil and replace oil filter
- Remove gearbox, strip water pump and replace parts as needed, drain and refil gearoil
-refit gearbox
-Remove and replace spark plugs
- Inspect anodes
- check thermostat(s) and poppet valves
- replace fuel filters
- test batteries (charge if needed), clean terminals if needed. Always tighten terminals, because people think finger tight is enough
- check belts/electrical connections (visual inspection while working)
-check trim/tilt systems
- grease motor
-oil steering cables/ check hydraulic steering
-Remove and inspect propeller/hub/shaft
-check carby linkages/throttle links
-re run motor to check for leaks etc
-report any other issues.

Bigger places have to deal with bigger overheads as well, but even smaller dealers still have to meet certain requirements to maintain dealer status, and that costs money. Things like tools, workshop fitouts, Dealer schools, advertising programs all cost money.

The thing that annoys me, is trying to work on something that someone has "done themselves" and then missed things, wiring that makes Thailand look good, or people who buy their own parts because "the last guy ripped me off so i can to a better job" then ring everytime a bolt needs undoing...

I dont service my car, because i hate it and dont know what im doing, but will happily pay someone who does to do it.

Hopefully that answers a few questions for ya purple!

[purple5ive]

That answer a bit. Not just for me but also for anyone else scratching their head wondering why it's so expensive.

Didnt think the servicing costs between a 2 and 4 stroke would only be that different which is very marginal and makes perfect sense to go a 4 stroke than a 2 stroke when buying a new outboard

I still think it's a lot of money for a service. But that's just my opinion.

I would do it myself but for what I'm.paying to service my outboard I'm happy to get it done at the marine shop. Who is also a tohatsu dealer which is what I have..

[skronkman]

Dealership/service guy has to make a quid. If you happy with the price and the quality of the work then pay up and go fishing. I have personally serviced my own cars and outboards for the last 10 years because I was often unhappy with the quality of the workmanship, poor service, being lied to, charged top dollar for original parts, etc. I have found that I can trust myself to do a good job more than I can trust the “professionals”. I also don’t mind doing the work and I love the huge savings. I do my 2008 115hp mercury 4 stroke servicing for under $100 in parts and fluids and it takes about an hour. Sometimes 2 hours if I need to do the impeller. Not for everyone but it’s a hobby that saves me $1000s.

[smile0784]

$800 for a standard service?? what in the **** are they doing to it for that price?
surely a diagnostic scan, impeller, oil and filter change plus the usual anodes and gearbox oil shouldnt cost $500 let alone $800..
waterpump is not replaced every 100 hours, so thats not a std service anyway

makes me glad i bought the 2 stroke, horses for causes i know, but that ******* daylight robbery honestly!!!

What's a two stroke standard service these days?

Used to cost me about $350-400 at BL Marine, who were great btw, 10 odd years ago...

$280 or so from memory last service was, the impeller was changed. but not the housing. thats for a 50hp, dont think size matters anyway for the 2 strokes.
will find out how much this time when i take it soon, should have done it earlier

Your getting out of it cheap mate

it could have been 380 im not 100% sure now, will check and report back

380 is better that how much it cost for the Quintrex

[SteveoTheTiger]

My last service was around $700 for a 2002 Mariner 70hp 2 stroke. That also included a new thermostat.

This was at a large dealer that probably isnt the cheapest place around. Unfortunately my local small guy always seems to be heading out fishing in the afternoons and i struggle to get there in time to pick up my boat lol.

[fishnut]

Dealership/service guy has to make a quid. If you happy with the price and the quality of the work then pay up and go fishing. I have personally serviced my own cars and outboards for the last 10 years because I was often unhappy with the quality of the workmanship, poor service, being lied to, charged top dollar for original parts, etc. I have found that I can trust myself to do a good job more than I can trust the “professionals”. I also don’t mind doing the work and I love the huge savings. I do my 2008 115hp mercury 4 stroke servicing for under $100 in parts and fluids and it takes about an hour. Sometimes 2 hours if I need to do the impeller. Not for everyone but it’s a hobby that saves me $1000s.

Same here skronkman but not possible while under warranty -damm

[purple5ive]

Just got my 50hp 2 stroke serviced today at my local tohatsu dealer.
Heres the receipts of work done and how much it cost last service and also this current one.
It's nowhere near what some of the other prices quoted here..
Not having a go at any dealers or trying to start WW3, just stating what I paid with actual proof of receipt...

You can see what's been done in the receipt, only thing that hasn't been changed is thermostat and housing. It's in good nick and didnt need to be changed last year and this year too. Boat is used regularly and motor has 240 hours on it currently..