If that is the case, then I think you have to blame the consumer. How can the guy operate like that and still be in business. If the guy has a rep like that, you have to blame the person taking his boat there to be worked on. Find a guy shop and take care of them.

The reason people rip off boaters on performance work is because they can. To the boating enthusiast his boat is a passion. Look at the money we spend on these things! Would anyone in their right mind spend several hundred thousand on a boat and then spend tens of thousands on making it go faster only to spend tens of thousands more to make it live. Of course were not in our right minds.WE ARE IN LOVE. When it comes to our boats no expense is too much for the joy we receive when we nail the throttle. These con men are simply taking advantage of this.

The word is out. You can make a decent living rebuilding hot rod car motors but you can get rich building high performance marine engines. Think about it. A hot rod has one engine that will last a long time by marine standards. A motor considered hot and or expensive for a car might not even push a boat 60 mph. Most big performance boats have at least two big blocks. Then factor in the fact that they can charge what they want and give poor service because we are blinded by love. This attracts con men looking for a quick buck. All's fair in love and war they say.

If you can afford a several hundred thousand dollar boat then you must make pretty good money at work. These guys cant afford to take off to work on their boats. They would loose too much at work. So they have to trust somebody. There are reputable engine builders out there but the fact of the matter is not all of us with the boating habit can afford a $20K-$50K Sterlings, Pfaffs, Eikerd's or the like. So there is a market for middle price level providers. This seems to be the area where people are getting ripped off. Im not saying there are no good mid price level builders out there. I think some of the engine builders dont charge enough or save enough money to put away some money for warranty work. They get a few comebacks and they are in the hole. Once they are in the hole they just go farther down. Taking a new deposit and use it to finish work on someone elses motor that has been paid for for months. Cut a few corners on the next motor to stay afloat. This motor blows up and comes back too. Before they know it they have taken in tens of thousands of dollars in deposits with no means left to produce the engines. Seems to happen time and time again. Once again we put up with the delays and such because we are in love.

Ron