Winterizing costs?

Curious to see what others pay to have their boats winterized. Oil, Trans change. I just got mine done and feel like I got bent over.

whatever 4 qts of oil, a filter and some anti-freeze costs.... Usually skip the anti-freeze, she sleeps in the garage. $20 bucks maybe?

No, no. What you pay at a dealer.

One of our local dealers pricing.

http://www.mninboard.com/service/winterization_pricing.cfm

I always do it myself (dealer did it for free this year though). If it was not free, the dealer charges:

$149 winterization
$89 winterize ballast
$50 winterize heater
$99 oil change
$129 trans fluid change

Total = $516 with no tax.

When I do it myself, I spend about:

$12 for the oil filter
$20 oil
$10 trans fluid

Total = $42 and a few hours of time.

I also change my impeller every spring ($30) which the dealer does not include and I change my water seperating fuel filter at the same time ($8).

What did you pay Paul and what was included?

(Message edited by tre on November 06, 2009)

I called my dealer to see what it was going to cost, and the guy on the phone said around $350(including oil and tran). They called to tell me it was finished and I asked for the price and about hit the floor. It was $530. My twin engine cobalt is only $600(different dealer). I just think that is nuts. Thats the last time I pay to have it done. Thats for sure.

How can a dealer rip people off that bad? There is no way in hell it should take longer than 2 hours for a decent tech to winterize a boat. Not to mention I bet most dealerships have their newbie/crappy techs do the winterizations. If you are getting ripped off by the dealer for parts there still is no way they can charge you more than $100 in parts. $100 should easily cover impeller, oil, antifreeze, fogging spray, filter, trans fluid. They should be able to change the oil, oil filter, check the transmission fluid, clear out the heater lines, ballast lines, fog the motor, drain all water and change the impeller in under 2 hours. At the very most they shouldn't charge a dime more than $300 for a full winterization and checkup.

Actually looking at the Minnesota inboard pricing I suppose they aren't too bad if they actually do all the stuff they say they do.

Paul, for $530 did you get a reach around included with winterization?

Dealer charges $225 to include all fluids, filters, heater & ballast.

You have to take in to consideration that the dealer has to start the boat and run it for at least 5min to change the oil, then run it again after they change it to check pressure and level. Our shop is 110 an hr so a lot of the cost is time. I see tons of boats come through here with improper oil changes, where they suck the oil out cold and do not run it after to check level and pressure. It is a piece of mind that you are paying for as well.

I have to disagree, it's not piece of mind at $500+! That's robbery plain and simple. It doesn't take much more than 1 1/2 hours for a decent dealer to winterize a boat. I can do mine in 2 and that includes fluids and draining all water including heater and ballast. So where do they get the stones to charge that!

Bret, regardless of of warming the boat up a couple times it shouldn't take more than 2 hours. If it does your shop is horrible and should be charging less per hour.

The only thing that gives me piece of mind is to drain the 2 block drains, 2 manifold drains, trans cooler drain, remove raw water hose from pump and blow out the heater lines myself. No offense but good mechanics don't stay at boat dealers. They are way to often neglected and under appreciated.

My dealer charged me about 500 something last year to winterize, this year I did it myself. The only good thing is you know it was done right and if something happens its on them, but dealer pricing is out of control. The best part is they wanted to charge an additional $125 for spring start up.

No Brett, I sure didn't!

I was going to do it myself, but I really don't know crap about motors and figured for $350 it was worth the peace of mind. I asked what happened to the quote I recieved, and they basically said the guy didn't know what he was talking about. I was in a hurry when I picked it up over lunch so I didn't have time to complain to the manager. I am going to send him an email, but its too late now to really expect much.

I Charge $199 for a winterization and $189 for a de-winterization. The winterization includes and oil change and we take care of everything that the boat is equipped with (ballast, heaters, showers, etc at no extra charge). We do everything except fill with antifreeze. During the de-winterization we change the fuel filter. and do a full systems check and run it before we give it back to the customer.

We also have packages, one of which includes a winterization, de-winterization, basic cleaning, transhield shrinkwrap (can be used for 2 years) over the tower, and outdoor storage over the winter for $649.

From a dealers point of view, there is more than what you think that goes into pricing services like this. I have a fairly low overhead so I don't have to charge just absolutely rediculous prices. You do have to cover parts, labor, and overhead which includes your facilities, utilities, etc.

Our rates vary on the engine (Ford or Chevy and transmission 1:1, 1.5:1 or V-Drive) and include a run up, oil change, transmission fluid change, fog, stabil, corrosion prevtative, clean flame arrestor, charge and disconnet battery(s), clean tranny cooler, drain and flush with RV, drain RV and reconnect all hoses, replace plugs, check trailer tire psi. Most expensive set up is $360 bucks.

No need for spring start as long as you can put your drain plug in and reconnect your battery(s).

Most guys locally don't do a standard transmission fluid change. You would be shocked at how many boats come in with water in the transmission, if you are winterizing yourself I would really recommend checking the tranny fluid at least annually.

I never said our winterizes were 500 so why bash, you guys love to rip on dealers don't you. I was just justifying some of the cost that a dealer charges. you guys go way overboard on this stuff. You either pay it or you don't period. If you want to do it yourself, as I do with my boat thats great. However knowing that a dealer did it, and that they take responsability if something goes wrong has to play in to it. For the record we are $269.00 for winterize, oil, and tranny fluid.

Mine was like 640 after tax, parts/fluids, and supplies (whatever those were). Just winterization and an oil change. $100 for the heater winterization...I don't understand if they used antifreeze to run the engine, wouldn't that also winterize the heater??

Next year doing it myself. I can drain the engine then run 10+ gallons of antifreeze though it, plus oil change and still come out under $100.
Last year

You would use antifreeze to winterize the heater but just running it through the engine wouldnt push enough through to confidentely say its safe. You'll need to blow out the lines first, then run RV, then blow out the RV just to be safe.

I'm sorry but $100 to winterize the heater is a ripoff. It would take a rookie 20 or 30 minutes to do it with some instruction. A boat mechanic that knows what he's doing would take 5 or 10 minutes at most. If they used antifreeze on it, it was maybe $5 worth. So their charging $500 / hr to winterize the heater???
Ouch.

you guys that think if something happens that it will be taken care might be in for a surprise. I have no personal experience with this issue, but I have had many issues in the past that the dealer should have taken responsibility for, but nope, no dice. This covers 3 dealers in 3 cities, so it seems consistent. I KNOW when I winterize my boat, it nwas done right. Paying $500 to have a dealer do it, is absotelutely no guarentee it was done right, just a guarentee that you are out an extra $450. I find the high dealer prices justifiable when I have issues that are beyond my scope of knowlege or require tools I don't have. But if I can do it, I will (and do it right).

Winterizing a boat requires very little tools, time and knowledge, most people should save some money and do it themselves (that is the piece of mind)

I always winterize mine myself, but get this, my buddy just paid someone $1300 to winterize his 04 X-star. He thinks because they are "Mastercraft Certified" that they winterize it better and it is worth it. Crazy.

Our dealership charges $199.95 for winterization, oil change, and tranny change. And that includes winterizing heaters and ballast. We make it to where all they have to do in the spring is charge the batteries, throw in the plug and take it to the lake.

That is very reasonable.

Gotta hate dealership flatrate pricing. They price something for 3 hours of labor, get it done in 1.5hrs.

I believe anyone could do their own winterizing with the abundant information on the boat forums, guides that are posted and at least know the difference between US Standard crescent wrench and a Metric crescent wrench.

What? US Standard crescent wrench and a Metric crescent wrench.

Did you mean Mexican Socket Set?

850$ canadian, winterised storage, wash and wax at the spring with a carpet shampoo

a lil bit expensive but worth every penny

Wake, if they put the boat in storage for you that doesn't sound that bad. Storage is expensive.

Not all dealers are rip-offs. Some just give us a bad name. Support the dealers that support you. I hope we can do this again next year. Good luck to all!!!

I just paid 169 for winterization and 99 bucks for the oil change. Well worth it to me. No Wake Marine in Cincinnati is a great Malibu dealer and service center.

Here is a good link for tips on winterizing all boat and jet ski motors:

http://georgiawatersports.com/ProductCart/pc/viewcontent.asp?idpage=4

I'm near John in Ohio and have similar rates at a local dealer. I could do it myself, but like to keep a good dealer in business for the big stuff and hopefully I get bumped on the list if near a holiday.

I got bent once for $150 plus tax for in oil change. Live and learn. never again as that was my limit.

Brett yeah i know and when i get it at spring its like a brand new, washed, waxed and carpet cleaned ! i love that !

Since I'm new to wake boats I just called my dealer and service dept stated $130 including tax includes ballast system but no oil change of course.

Die thread. I am sick of being reminded how bad I got the shaft!

Good news is, I bought a vacation house in MO. I will be keeping the boat there. No more 1K a year in taxes for this damn county, and no more $530 winterizing!

its easy to do it your self the only problem is that u can mess up. wen u go to the dealer jus make shure theyre not chargin u for a 300 dollar winterizin make shure they check everything.

I just did mine and it cost me $0. It took all of 25 minutes.

Pulled the drain plugs, transmission cooler plug, emptied out any remaining water in the ballast pumps, and drained the heater hoses.

I change the oils at the beginning of the season.

If you plan to own a boat for as long as you live you save tons of coin. I have been doing this for years.

I do my own oil changes too. I get raped enough with the prices of the wakeboat/wakeboard industry, Im not all about spending more on stuff I can learn/do myself.