What is a fair price for outboard motor repair? 

Part 1

I have seen many questions on the internet and have heard many in person asking what is a fair price for outboard motor repair. Shops can charge either by the job, commonly called flat rate, or by the hour. There are advantages to the consumer in either system but under different situations.

Lets first look at flat rate charges. The way this system works is that the marine shop records the amount of labor on each job they do, and charge the average amount to the customer. I have found no accurate national flat rate manual. The automotive industry has a good one, but the marine industry is not able to get an accurate flat rate manual. Part of the problem is that different parts of the country have different conditions that affect the time involved to do a specific repair. On the coasts, salt water corrosion is a big factor and the time to do any lower unit work on a motor used in salt water is often double or triple the time for a fresh water engine.

Here in the mid west we have the opposite problem. Without salt water to eat up motors after only a few years, we deal with outboard motors having a much longer life span. Working on old motors is more difficult and takes more time than working on a new one. Just locating the parts to do a water pump job for a 1956 Evinrude may take 2-3 hours, while it would take less than that to completely replace the water pump in a newer motor.

In this case the newer motor took 2 hours and the old motor took 4 hours so this dealer may set his flat rate at 3 hours for a water pump. As you can tell, one customer pays too much while another pays too little. The up side of this system is that the customer is told up front how much the job will cost so there are no surprises when he picks up the boat.

Charging by the hour is the other common method of determining the price of outboard motor repairs. This, in my opinion, is more fair to the customer, but many customers do not like to know what the labor rate of a shop is. "I only make $15 per hour at my job, why is your mechanic worth four times what I am"? This is the question asked when you tell your customer what your shop rates are. I will not go into the financial factors that must be considered when setting the hourly rate for a shop. If you are really interested in all the things that are involved, go to your local community college and take business 101; you can get a better idea of all the information needed to set accurate shop rates.

A majority of marine service dealers prefer charging by the hour, rather than by the job. Most of us can give a close estimate of how many hours are needed for a specific operation, but when charging by the hour you also charge for the extra time to take out broken bolts, etc. This may be a more fair system but it seems you have more upset customers when charging by the hour.

The hourly shop rate for your area can be estimated if you add together the shop rates of all franchised mechanics in your area and average them. Include auto, motorcycle, marine and tractor services. Remember to only compare authorized dealers to other authorized dealers to get an accurate comparison. Do not include “shade tree” shops or small engine shops. If you need to determine the labor rate of a non-authorized shop I usually figure it is about 60% of the franchised ones. The overhead of an authorized marine repair service is much higher than the guy working out of his garage, so he can charge less. You will also get much more at the authorized shop. They have all the tools, service manuals, and parts to do the job right the first time. They usually have sent their technicians to schools recently to keep up on new information about your type of motor.

The final idea I will give you is that the cost of service ultimately depends on the mechanic. An honest mechanic will treat you fairly by the hour or flat rate, and a dishonest man will cheat you by the hour or by the job. Know your mechanic and try to establish a good working relationship with him. The more you know him and the more time you spend with him, the better your chances are of knowing if he is honest or not. Remember the proverbial question, what will you remember longer, low price or low quality?

Call and get the details about these jobs or if you have any other boat motor repair questions contact The Outboard Doctor at 888-294-8957.

Good luck, Ben Minor
Professional Mechanic for Outboard Motor Repair Technician