Ran away from Golden Arrow Marine engine service..

[wipe_out]

Called Golden Arrow Marine in Poole the other day to book a service for our 2015 F175 Yamaha outboard since they are the closest official Yamaha dealer and we are required to have it serviced by a dealer for the warranty.. Spoke to someone who said it would cost about £450 plus VAT (so about £540 total).. I booked it in and said I didn't need anodes and the plugs wouldn't need changing so it was really an oil and impeller change.. He said he would have to work out actual price based on what was needed and would let me know before the service date so I knew what it would cost..

Had a call on Friday from someone there who said they had worked out the price for the service and it would be £780 ex VAT.. I just laughed and said they were crazy and asked them to cancel the booking.. I really don't need the engine lubricated with what must be liquid gold and an unobtanium impeller..

 

[Blue Sunray]

The one occasion that I dealt with Golden Arrow (purchase of a Torqueedo at Soton Boat Show) I was left distinctly underwhelmed, the motor was fine (well all they had to do was source and deliver it) but terrible service and tried to charge me for items they hadn't supplied.

 

[AllanG]

That's an absolute rip-off!! A full service, including plugs, impeller, oils changed, and tappets adjusted on my Honda 135 cost just over £500, incl VAT at the Honda dealer at Swanwick Marina.

I also think it's a rip-off that Yamaha will only honour their warranty if you have the engine serviced by a Yamaha dealer.......I'm sure you could contest this requirement, provided the engine is serviced in accordance with their schedule using genuine parts.......this is certainly the case in the car industry!

 

[[2068]]

I think I would have asked for a detailed breakdown of where the £780 plus VAT came from.

 

[jamie langstone]

All i hear is bad reports from golden arrow and they are clearly using people as cash cows.

 

[gjgm]

I think I would have asked for a detailed breakdown of where the £780 plus VAT came from.

Agreed..I imagine Yamaha stipulate what needs to be done and that is not discretionary..so that leaves labour and possibly travel charges.
Once out of warranty of course you can make your own decisions.

 

[volvopaul]

I am very surprised to hear this.
This year I have stopped using a well established Volvopenta dealer which I've used for over 15 years plus and moved to Golden Arrow as one of my main parts suppliers based on very poor service from the previous dealer after both their main parts staff left and moved to GA, all I wanted was hassle free parts buying and above all someone to answer the phone when I call them, GA do exactly this and give me the level of service I think the industry should deliver.
There service dept is always busy at Port Solent , I understand your view and that Other depts may give a different level of service. I be speaking to there head office at Salterns Marina , I'm sure you will get a satisfactory answer.

 

[[2068]]

All i hear is bad reports from golden arrow and they are clearly using people as cash cows.

I've used them a few times. Recent interactions have all been good.

 

[beejay190]

I used them in the past when I needed diagnostic work on my D3s and D4 - happy with the service provided. Albeit iirc the labour rate was £75 per hour + VAT. For routine servicing i always used a trusty Poole based / van based independent. Happy to recommend if required.

 

[Anders_P42]

I moved away from them, when two identical boat owners get significantly different quotes for the same engine combo, u start to ask questions. And I pulled them up twice for charging for extra engine oil that's not required, from memory they billed 22 or 23 litres for a D6 that takes 20l.

And they need to invest in an electric oil pump to drain the engine, it must have taken best part of an hour to drain the motor using a hand vacuum pump. Come on they do this every day invest in an electric one and charge 15 mins not an hour for an oil change.

Rant over.

 

[Jim@sea]

As my next boat may be new with a new outboard motor you have certainly opened my eyes as to how much a service is likely to cost. Spending £780 + vat is probably more than I would spend on petrol in the year. Certainly when buying the boat (and outboard) I will pay more attention to time between services and if I can get the first service free.

 

[beejay190]

Ditto, as my next boat will have an outboard motor. I am wondering whether the OP has asked Golden Arrow the reason why the second estimate was £300 higher than the first estimate. Was a mistake made in the first or second estimate?
There is a Yamaha dealer in Lymington; worth getting a quote ( in writing) from them ?

 

[longjohnsilver]

As my next boat may be new with a new outboard motor you have certainly opened my eyes as to how much a service is likely to cost. Spending £780 + vat is probably more than I would spend on petrol in the year. Certainly when buying the boat (and outboard) I will pay more attention to time between services and if I can get the first service free.

Ob servicing prices are imho a scam to make money for the servicing agents, usually the same organisation as sold it to you. Often much more expensive than having a new car serviced. So what do you get for your £500+, new spark plugs (even if previous ones have only done a few hours), gearbox oil and engine oil on a 4s. Just a few £s worth, a new impeller and then not much else and for most folks it's to keep the warranty valid. Theyve got you/us over a barrel, even if something does go wrong (unlikely with most modern engines, actually getting it repaired under warranty is near nigh impossible and would in most cases let less than a so called service. So what's the point? I'll save my cash having been stung in the past. Over 5 years £2500 - £3000 saved pays for a lot of repairs if needed. Or fuel, spark plugs, oil and impellers and labour.

 

[Dick Atcherley]

I rang them and asked them to quote for supplying two new engines when restoring my boat, replacing the knackered ford sabres. . Even after following up with two subsequent phone calls, no quote appeared. So I then went to see them at the SIBS, and was once again promised a quote. Needless to say, I never heard from them again. I bought my engines elsewhere. That kind of silliness is just incomprehensible, unless they have so much business that they don't know what to do with themselves.

 

[wipe_out]

I have booked the service for Tuesday (next week) with BHG in Lymington who have said worst case is £480+VAT but the guy I spoke to said they will inspect everything and will not replace anything that doesn't need replacing so the cost will likely be less than that.. Guess I will find out next week..

 

[[165042]]

BHG are good (Bucklers Hard not in Lymington) - I used them on my old HPDI 300 and twin F200s. The only issue I found with Yamaha is getting parts for some older engines - many are out of production and a daft price if you can find them.

 

[Jim@sea]

Ditto, as my next boat will have an outboard motor. I am wondering whether the OP has asked Golden Arrow the reason why the second estimate was £300 higher than the first estimate. Was a mistake made in the first or second estimate?
There is a Yamaha dealer in Lymington; worth getting a quote ( in writing) from them ?

Considering that PBO every year do an exhaustive list of every marina in the UK and how much per meter it is, could they not also do a survey on the costs of having a "first service" on a New Outboard and list the hours where the first service is required etc.

 

[Mr Googler]

Do Yamaha warranties fall under the same European law as car warranty?

I.e. You can get any vat registered firm to service as long as they use O.E or O.E Standard parts and follow the schedule?

You would use a marine based firm of course.

 

[Boat2016]

And they need to invest in an electric oil pump to drain the engine, it must have taken best part of an hour to drain the motor using a hand vacuum pump. Come on they do this every day invest in an electric one and charge 15 mins not an hour for an oil change.

Rant over.

All the engineers who I have used all had the hand vacuum type pumps but none stood watching it for an hour while they changed the oil, they let it drain while getting on with other parts of the service, I think you are living in dream land if you think an engineer is going to oil change you boat for 15mins money, all that matters to me is the cost of the service and how long they take is up to them, I would rather it done thoroughly than he's in hurry to get off boat because he's running out of time

 

[Hot Property]

On my brand new Honda I will service it myself barring doing the tappett adjustments.

Oil specified in honda is actually obselete so I use ASDA synthetic oil which is 2 ASI levels above that recommend.

Oil filter is an Accord one from Halfords, plugs fuel filters and impeller will be genuine Honda spares.

Oil and filter changes plus religious flushing with fresh water will cover 99% of the longevity of the engine.

Honda state that you have to be "competent" to service the engine. they will cover for 6 years on a non declining basis. I.e. if the ECU fails at 5 years and 364 days they will fix it!

The warranty was a key reason for selecting the engine, loads of online discussions on honouring of warranty claims. I deliberately avoided a certain Japanese brand as they appear to avoid any liability as a friend of mine has discovered.