"Boating is expensive!"

[localboy]

Meredith's favorite saying. She always says it half-jokingly, half-serious. Whether it's a lost crab pot, or a flat tire on the side of I-5 requiring an emergency Les Schwab call-out...

...so why am I posting this? Because today I went to a local Suzuki dealer to purchase supplies for the 200 hour oil change on the Suzuki 150. I figured why pay them for labor ($90/hr) when I have tools, knowledge and a maintenance book. So....

Two gallons of Suzuki 10W-40 synthetic blend oil; $65.00 Huh?
One small Suzuki oil filter; $19.83!!! What?!
One oil drain gasket; $1.15 and it was the WRONG ONE Jeezus...

Say what?! $86.00 in SUPPLIES plus tax? Are you kidding me? Now I believe in the free market and GOD BLESS AMERICA...but $32.50 for a gallon of oil and $20 for a filter. Come on!.....

I needed to vent.

[Stardust]

I don't see the problem. You got by getting something for your boat for under $100! I just paid $96 to have mine lifted out of the water and put back in.

[C-Pup16 in Los Angeles]

Okay Local Boy fuming over the banditry of boat mechanics... (They're all the same, draining you of your money faster than oil drains from a motor.)

How'd you get the 25 ft C-Dory from Washington to Hawaii? You didn't drive it there or pilot it there, so what was the shipping cost? More than your oil change I bet!

It must be paradise... Hawaii + C-Dory. Enjoy!

Keith
C-Pup16 in Los Angeles

[Sneaks]

Hmmm. You paid the same for Suzuki synthetic as Amazon sells Mobile 1 synthetic. $8/quart. Not much higher for the Suzuki filter than I paid for a high quality Duramax diesel filter though it is considerably bigger in size. Pretty much in line with miniature quality filters like those in Suzuki and Yamaha motorcycles and jet skis. Oh you could probably get a Walmart Fram generic for less but that would just boost toilet paper product sales.

No matter what our government brays, and no matter which side of the aisle, inflation is alive and well. It ain't just Suzuki, it's reality. Fuel prices hereabouts is $3.29/gallon. What is it up there?

Hey Keith - he's wishin it was HI getting rained on, in reality he and his C-25 are in WA getting rained on.

Don

[Jack in Alaska]

Fuel is $3.74 here.
$100 gets me 26 gals.; beach launch fee $55 round trip;
bait $7 for 5 lbs.
Boating is expensive but it is my enjoyment so I will do it until I am priced out.
Today I received an 8% raise in my pension....yeehaa

[T.R. Bauer]

Did somebody say rain.....We are day 40 something here in SC Alaska for consecutive days of rain....Nice summer....NOT!!!!

[jennykatz]

You Guys know what (B O A T) stands for Bring Out Another Thousand

Well here in Tennessee area Knoxville the Boating is terrific gas is 2.57 gal at the pumps . We put on 25 hours on the boat exploring the upper tennessee,tellico rivers

But boating is expensive coming up here we had a bad caliper $90 bucks to fix . We also bought a bigger tow vehicle to tow the boat but it sure beats a Phychiatrist If we all started to think about how much money we are spending we probably would stay home . It seems it's cheaper then Golf or a flying club . just my 2 cents

[El and Bill]

We think it's all about choices- what do we do with our money? For those who like to reflect on the subject, it might be interesting for you to peruse some of our thoughts - just to keep the wheels in our heads spinning.

http://cruisingamerica-halcyondays.com/invest.htm

This is written from the shores of Lake Superior on a beautiful sunny morning - yep we could save money and rock on the porch 'at home' -but we've made our choice.

[localboy]

[sawmilldon]

I just changed the oil in my Audi and it cost me $100 for the materials. 9 liters of synthetic at almost 10 bucks a pop and 12 dollars for a canister type filter. (not a spin on, just the filter element)

Still, nice car to drive.

I do not see boating as any different.

You pay to play.

[Captains Cat]

9 Liters of Oil in an Audi??? Are you sure you didn't fill up the gas tank??

Even my Dodge V-10 488 cubic inch 2500 truck only holds 8 quarts of oil....

And yes, boats are expensive but as someone's signature line says, "They're cheaper than psychiatrists!"

Charlie

[texasair]

After owning aircraft for over 20 years, I can say everything about boats and boating is very affordable.

[Adeline]

True Story...

My dad had a '78 SeaSwirl Runabout with a 140hp Mercruiser. We kept it at Sunriver, Oregon.

One year(early 80s) I picked it up from the Merc dealer after it's annual service and saw that we'd been charged $19.96 for an oil filter. I asked the Service Manager about it and was told that the price reflected the Mercruiser wholesale cost plus a customary dealer markup.

I drove down the road to NAPA(Bend Oregon) and priced the same filter(Purolator) for $3.19. Same exact filter for that engine(4 cylinder GM, as I recall).

The ONLY difference was the Black paint and Mercruiser Logo on the filter body.

[patrick and linda]

so, who was it that said boaters were smart? i don't recall that post.
i feel your pain! get your boat up and running asap and get back out on the water, you will feel much better there.
best regards
pat

[teflonmom]

I really enjoyed El and Bill's story about money and life. Pat and I spent a lot of money on bigger and bigger boats and then got our 22 ft C-Dory. What we found was that this boat was more fun than any we had owned and a lot less expensive.

Had we learned to know El and Bill sooner ---you can guess the rest. I just hope some young people read and study their post, a lot can be learned in a few minutes.