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20 hour service DIY or have Dealer do it?

JimmyC

JimmyC

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I'm coming up on my 20 hour service and was curious how many of you did your own and how many took it to the dealer to do it. 

What all does the 20 hour service consist of. 

The salesman said it was going to be around $400-$500. This seems ridiculously hi for an oil change and lower unit gear oil change. 

I'm more than capable of changing my own oil and gear oil. I was just curious if there were additional that need to be checked or changed.
 
Depending on motor I believe they also hook up to computer and check settings and make adjustments, but does seem salty. Look in your motor manual, it will tell you what the 20 hour consists of.
 
Mine was $225.00 last year .
 
I just paid $150 to have my

Oil change with filter

Lower unit oil

Fuel/Water separator

I had to use dealer cause they trailer my boat from their storage and it's just convenient.

I did my bosses cause he has a trailer, which made it easy to change pump impeller too, cause I was going to do that on the shore of the lake .... :)
 
With our 115 I did it myself. I'll do it again with the 200.
 
I had the dealer do it, as I am not very mechanical.  I am sure if I was shown how to simply change the oil and filter, I could do that myself.  Our cost was approx $200 for the service.
 
Normally this would be something I would do myself, but for the extra $100 to have a Mercury mechanic do it, I have peace of mind in the event I need warranty work. If you do it yourself, keep all you receipts.

They told me they hook it up to the computer to check codes, if there are any.
 
I drove the 20 hours at the dealers lake in 3 days so I could get it over with and then bring my boat to Sacandaga, an hour+ away.  Afterwards I asked him about the findings of the computer diagnostics and was told, we only do that if we think there was a problem.  If I had it to do over I would have brought it to my lake, enjoyed the boat leisurely during the 20 hour break in and then had my local marina to do the oil changes etc
 
It makes sense they would only look if they suspected something. Just like your car.
 
$400.00 to $500.00 seems wayyyy tooooo high.     :angry:   I can buy a lot of synthetic oil for that.
 
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I did our  20 hr change on a 2013 225 hp for around 85.$ didn't want to  mess with dealer for 2/3/4 days or the cost. Took to dealer this spring for some minor warranty work so what the heck ill have them do it well 250$ later and 4 weeks later and still not ready what the ****.   So I hit the road for the 85 mile ride on 5/2 gave them a call when I got about 20 min away    Good morning I am checking to see if my toon is ready yet.         Ok hold on for a minute- looks like its done gowing in for cleaning . Thats nice I was told that 2 days ago any way ill be ther in 20 min to get my toon I pulled in in time to watch them put it into the shop to clean it so they filled the gas tank for me o boy 10gal .   O I forgot that they called 2 weeks before and told me it was done I drove 170 mil and it was not done yet  that is Y we got it cleaned + gas. Have the dealer do it ya wright  
 
If I got that kind of service I'd certainly be doing it myself too.  I'm already right at the edge paying $100 for peace of mind.
 
Since I have some warranty work to get done, I think I'm going to take it into the dealer. I can drop it off on Monday and have it back by Friday. The dealer didn't have it detailed out very well when I picked it up so they said they would detail it again when I bring it in for service. I'm not sure if their detail is going to be any better than mine because I'm a little OCD about cleaning everything when I put the boat away. 

I'm not sure if I'm being paranoid but my current motor sounds louder than the motor I took on the test drive. I'm not sure if it's just because I've been able to drive it around by myself or if it's because I'm running at higher RPM or if it's actually louder.

I think I'll pay for the peace of mind and get a free wash at the same time. I'll let you know the final bill and all that was actually done on the inspection.
 
Hey JimmyC,

I was thinking the same thing as others, do it myself. Let us know what they do and what the cost is. You have a great looking boat.

Marc
 
Guess I lucked out. My dealer threw in the first service in the purchase. Their shop is great and with an appointment they will do the service while you wait, if you so choose.
 
If your paying $400-$500. That wash is not "free". I'd call around to other dealers of your motor. Does not have to be a Bennington dealer. I found a higher rated Yamaha dealer closer to me, after talking to him I'm more impressed. I'll use my Benny dealer for the warranty work. For maintenance items, I'll take it to another shop.
 
Thanks Marc! I'll definitely be doing all the follow on maintenance but I'll give the dealer a shot at the first one just to make sure I don't miss anything.

One of the dealers I was talking to when I was looking at the Sweetwater pontoons was going to throw in the first service and a coast guard kit and anchor. I thought about it, but I really wanted a Bennington. When the Bennington dealer and I finished haggling on the price, I asked about the first service and the coast guard kit and a tank of gas. The salesman said at the price I was getting the boat for they couldn't throw that stuff in. I had all of the required gear off of my previous boat that I traded in so it wasn't a big deal. I would've at least liked a full tank of fuel but I didn't work that into the deal either. At least I got the boat I wanted at a price I was happy with. 
 
I did 20 hour service myself for about $30.  It was a 1/2 hour, simple job.  Maintenance is the key to saving money, and performing minor oil changes on a freshwater Yamaha F150 is just not worth the prices dealers often want.

I'm due for another oil change and l/u grease change now--38.5 hours on the proofmeter.  I just hate doing such maintenance in 18.5 hours that is a 100 hour maintenance interval.  But I'm going to do it. 

I think that I'm going to switch over to Mobil 1 EP this time, a superior oil according to BobIsTheOilGuy.com.
 
I've always been a DIY person unless the complexity is too large and I could really mess up something.

I will use a qualified tech for timing belt, or serious engine work, but I prefer my own fluid changes.

Just nice to know it was done right and I can put in the expensive synthetics w/o a huge price markup.

Mercury is promoting the DIY maintenance now, which is another reason I chose the 150 four stroke

They put QR tags and service information stickers under the engine cover so you can actually watch a video real time for thinks like, plugs, oil, etc...

http://features.boats.com/boat-content/2011/09/new-mercury-150-fourstroke-outboard-debuts/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+BoatscomFeatures+%28Features%29

The fact we have out board engine with lots of space makes this chore even easier.

I'll save my money for the monthly payment. LoL
 
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Rockie69 said:
If your paying $400-$500. That wash is not "free". I'd call around to other dealers of your motor. Does not have to be a Bennington dealer. I found a higher rated Yamaha dealer closer to me, after talking to him I'm more impressed. I'll use my Benny dealer for the warranty work. For maintenance items, I'll take it to another shop.
Click to expand...

You are correct Rockie! The wash definitely wouldn't be free. I'm still blown away by the pricing. I can't believe that it's more than my monthly payment. I was thinning about changing the fluids myself and let the dealer take care of the rest of my maintenance and warranty needs. That should take a large chunk out of the cost of the 20 hour service.
 
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