Haven't gotten my boat back since August..

[walleyeking19]

Well reading the other thread about a Mercury motor got me thinking. My dad bought a brand new Lund with a 115 Mercury 4 stroke on the back in 2011. It's been a great boat and we've never had any issues with it until this summer. About halfway through this last summer, it began to start really rough, often times you'd have to put the throttle down a little ways to get it started. Than once it started, it'd just run really rough and the rpm's would be going up and down while it idle'd...just weird stuff for a pretty new boat with minimal hours on it.

Than in early August the on board battery charger went out, and we couldnt get it to work right so we brought it into the boat dealership to get that worked on. We also said to check out the motor and see what's going on there...but we were very clear and said dont do anything to the motor till you call us. They said it'd be about two weeks and we'd have it back.

After 2 weeks, they called and said the charger is working, but they can't figure out the motor, so if its okay with us, they'll have a Mercury technician come in and work on it. So about 2 weeks later, they call and say the Mercury tech couldn't figure out whats wrong, so his superior was going to come out to work on it. Again, they called and they dont know whats wrong. They at least said they'd winterize it and store it inside free of charge till they fix it.

So now I sit, in the middle of December, and we still don't know whats wrong with the motor. It's been there 3 months, and it sounds like Mercury doesnt even know whats going on with their motor. So what would you guys do at this point? Ask for a new motor? I believe it came with a 3 year warranty, but we might just be a little outside that 3 years. I just want my boat back and working correctly. And yes, it is a certified Mercury dealership. Thanks!

[delcecchi]

I would talk to Merc directly. I can't imagine that Mercury couldn't fix it, or wouldn't fix it. How much do you trust this dealer? Could he be trying to blow smoke up somewhere?

[walleyeking19]

The shop manager is our old neighbor, so I dont think they're yanking us around. He said he's in contact with Mercury, but I just don't know what they could still be talking about

[leech~~]

If they also handle snowmobiles or other winter toys they may have their guys working on that stuff right now. I guess as long as they were not going to charge me for storing it there all winter and it would be out of my way at home? Have at it, but make sure I'm the first out the door when the ice melts!!

[mr_jman]

I had to repair a Johnson 15 HP motor one fall after a "user error" caused me to back my boat into a piece of farm machinery completely cracking the casing of the lower unit. I brought it in to be repaired in October and didn't hear from them until March.

Bottom line is sometimes repairs and fixes take time and IMO when you can't use the boat or motor right now anyways, the repairer doesn't feel the need to get it back out to you anytime soon.

The old saying rings true: You can get something repaired FAST, CHEAP, and DONE WELL. But you can only pick 2. If you want it Fast and Done Well it Wont Be Cheap. If you want it Cheap and Done Well it wont be Fast, if you want it Fast and Cheap it wont be Done Well.

[CaptainMusky]

I'm sure they were caught not spending much time due to the timing of when you brought it in. That's about the beginning of when winterizations start and now that they winterized it they won't be doing anything for some time. I'm sure they will get it figured out but I'm sure its frustrating for you.

Regarding asking for a new motor that may be a bit much. I would say let them have at it into March, likely sit untouched until then anyway and if it isn't resolved push for more action and see if you can speek to merc directly. I would definitely look for warranty paperwork to determine when that expires or if it has already. Maybe they (merc) are jacking with ya since warranty will be up soon. But I doubt that.

[delcecchi]

If it was taken in for service while warranty was still in effect, should be covered. Not the user's fault it is taking a long time to fix.