seadoo challenger parts supplier - other than seadoo dealer

[wildlifeguy]

good evening all,

Im having my boat mechanic (of 3 months) do some maintenance etc and inspection on the boat while its in the warmth of his boat garage.

He calls me today and says he's done some pulling apart, and based on last time in water performance 3 weeks ago, check on a couple of items I mentioned to him
- sluggish in water at full throttle start off. got it up to high rpm and it wouldn't go past 20mph. turned it around and got it out of the water.

he said that I need about $1300.00 in parts to get it up to excellent condition.
- said the rave valves on starbord are both shot ( it started on trailer no problem 4 hours after i pulled it out of the water). said the "peices" all went out the exhaust and no damage to pistons or engines.
- then a bunch of small stuff as pevious owner put non-stainless nuts and bolts in place of stainless ones during various times of "maintenance"
- didn't mention anything major other than the rave valve as major part replacement, so I asked for a parts list. He said he would only get parts from seadoo dealer as they are guaranteed and it works best as a part replacement.
-Tried to talk his way around getting me a parts list. He also said I was lucky as the rave valve could have gone into engine and it would have cost me $3000.00 to replace one engine?

Need your help here guys and girls.
am I being shafted? I want to trust him, he's been honest with me so far.... but $1300.00 bucks!! for what??
I asked him not to order parts until I get parts sourced other places.

So, rave valves? what's going rate online or other for new guaranteed?
Stainless parts- nuts and bolts etc.
Actually, where can I get seadoo engine parts guaranteed that you have purchased from and trust? that makes it simpler.

thanks
m

 

[griz400]

hook it up to your truck and pull it to your garage, if rave valves are destroyed they hit the rings / pistons, he is bullshittin u , and im sugar coatin that, take it to a real mechanic or take some pics of the raves and post - i cant fix it on computer, but go get it man, ur a game officer too arent you ???

copy and paste this thread in boat section, ok ??? u will definitly get some answers -- ok ???

 

[wildlifeguy]

I kinda got suspicious when he was beatin around about giving me a parts list. I dont mind spending money on things I Like, but I despise wasting it!!
Anyone ever use 'seadoo warehouse' for parts.. they seem to be pretty resonable?
There is another seadoo mechanic in town, guess I'll have to try him out.
copied and pasted... thanks griz!

 

[RFoster130]

Wow, you are totally being shafted. Get it home and read up here. RAVE valves are very easy to fix yourself. All the info you need is on here with pics. SeaDoo warehouse is very reasonable and reliable. They are selling genuine oem parts. They are also the official parts link on this site.

 

[wildlifeguy]

So we have an update....
After another visit today, he decided to show me the issues at hand, and as he said over the phone, everything was as he described.

it just took a little squeeze and to remind him of who was paying his bills.
Anyway, need a bunch of stuff, but not lots
- rave valve and assembly x2
- shaft bearing housing x2
- impeller seals x2
- various stainless nuts and bolts
and a few other bits. double checking parts cost on SEADOOWAREHOUSE and I'll even give him his mark up and we'll still be cheaper.

Thanks everyone who provided me with feedback... glad you're there!! I'll keep you posted so you can keep me posted

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[RFoster130]

Your pics don't work.....That is still crazy prices. You could do it all yourself for well under $700. You can buy totally new RAVE valves for about $150 each. That is with all new parts from the housing, valve and the whole top cap and all the parts. Add $60 for each wear ring. As far as shaft bearing housing, what exactly is he talking about?

 

[wildlifeguy]

Still waiting for complete parts list.
I went onto the seadoo warehouse link at top of page, and priced out parts as he described to me today with tax and shipping its $854.00, and with his 20% its $1025.00. still better than $1300.00.

AGAIN, thanks seadooforum.com!!

 

[Seadoobuddy]

Most likely you can buy these parts from someone here on the forum for less than half of $854 and install them yourself. Some may be needed as new.

You mechanic price was $1300 just for parts right???? No Labor included....at about $60-$80 per hour on top of parts cost.

 

[wildlifeguy]

Ive read somewhere on your post that hourly rates for mechanics are $65.-80.00/hr. Not here in Burlington Ontario. Average mechanic (car or boat) is more like 85-100.00 / hour. But then again, I charge $110.00 / hr for our services (seadoo forum friends get huge discounts).
The boat mechanics rate is 95.00/hr, and ive considered putting it back together with help, but by the time i rent a garage, get the tools, by the beer, figure it out, etc etc. he will have seen other issues i wont recognize, like plainning the head and having the tools to do that at my disposal, its actually cheaper for me to have him do it while i make money doing what i do best... but im watching him, and learning from all of you really allows me to negotiate better - knowledge is power!

I,ll post the parts list for all to see and evaluate what kind of a difference there will be compared to seadoo warehouse, but remember, the boats is also a tool for our business, which cant break down in the middle of a job. Its registered in the company name so any costs associated with it are operating costs which reduce the taxable income for company ( yes we work on beautiful sunny weekends in our bathing suits- they have logo's on them too- bay watch type :thumbsup: ). did you know you can get paid for driving your seadoo along shorelines counting geese and waterfowl, and sometimes when they fly... you have to chase them at 55 mph. seriously!

so before i increase my competition, i should let you know the job really sucks!

by the way, is there a published 'rate book' that boat mechanics use, similar to the ' time required' publications that auto mechanics use?

m

 

[wildlifeguy]

So after almost 2 months, I have me boat back billie. paid stiffler 500.00 and change for diagnostic and dismantle ( 95.00/hr) and a little over 600.00 in oem parts that he ordered " a while back". Anyway, she is not put together and I still have to order parts from seadoo warehouse. looks like I'll be calling our good seadoo pal from Milton to test his knowledge on 787 repair. It's not a hard job, just have to find time.
I like sipping the grey goose but a case or two of sudz always works! think he'll see this post

 

[Biffitis]

It took me a while, but I did finally see this post.
Did you say Grey Goose?