Gift card for the best answer!

[svlkid]

I would be happy to send a gift card to the person providing the best answer! Any service writers on here? I did a bunch of work on a friends boat and they want to pay me for it. I'm very meticulous when I work on a boat. We're trying to decide what it would have cost if the work was done at a shop or dealership. The friend paid for parts and machine shop service separately. Any intelligent answers, even "Ball-park" answers are welcome. Thanks!

2003 Super Air 210 (Gray motor cover, not serpentine belt)

Services I performed:
1) Diagnose overheating problem to loss of cooling water
2) Removed destroyed impeller, cleaned debris from hoses, check for issues that caused problem, installed new impeller, replaced raw water strainer gasket
3) Thermostat housing also leaking, r&r with new gasket
4) Moved gate valve and repositioned hose clamps that were rubbing on gas tank, replaced missing nut on gate valve with SS
5) Tried to test engine but muffler is blown up, may have motor damage
6) Research best price or options for used muffler, other parts
7) Compression check motor - low compression on adjacent cylinders each bank
8) R&R panels, seats etc. to get to engine
9) Remove accessories, all manifolds, distributor, plugs, wiring etc. to r&R heads for valve job
10) Prep block and manifold surfaces; reinstall all of the above with fresh cylinder heads
11) Oil and filter change, label filter with engine hours and date
12) Intermittent no start - diagnosed no power to solenoid wire, found trans cooler hose and battery cables rubbing on neutral safety switch, rerouted hoses and tied cables away, tightened terminal screws on switch
13) Broken front bilge pump, wires inaccessible without removing fuel tank, made access hole in center compartment, made bracket to better situate pump, installed new pump
14) Ballast tank pump not working, replaced blown fuse, blew again, found overheated pump is bad, replaced pump with used pump from my stock
15) Check fluids, add trans fluid
16) Trailer spare tire bulging, r&r wheel for customer to replace tire, add custom spare cover
17) Starboard hatch strut fasteners stripped, drilled larger holes, add larger SS screws and machine bolt with nut/washer
18) Installed new glove box lid strut
19) No trailer brake lock-out on reverse. Check wiring to recirculation solenoid. Check brake fluid, added fluid to correct problem.
20) Research size for missing Bearing Buddy; replace one Bearing Buddy and bra
21) Tighten loose wakeboard rack
22) Blower and horn not working, replaced blown fuses, repaired broken fuse block, lengthened hot wire, secured other loose wires
23) Secured loose wires under side console causing bad connections
24) No sound to drivers speaker, r&r kick panel, reconnect speaker

[d_nodixon]

A couple prime grade steaks, a 12 pack and a bottle of Bourbon?

Sent from my Pixel 2 using PLT Nautique mobile app

[Quinner]

If you think you work slow, take your hours x $50, if you are reasonably quick x $75 if same level as a marine tech x $100
add parts costs x 1.5 unless he bought them from Nautique then 1.25
That is about what the marina would charge however repairing things not so much, replacing parts, yes

[svlkid]

Thanks Quinner. It was a 7 month long project so I lost track of hours long ago but thanks for the suggestion. Dealers around here get $175/hour. That seems crazy to me but then I don't pay a fraction of their overhead.

[Paxdad]

Are there any specific tools you need or something that you would not buy yourself even though it would be nice to have? Like a gun or watch etc?


Sent from my iPhone using PLT Nautique

[functionoverfashion]

First of all, that sounds like a rat's nest of a boat with more issues to come. I do believe you have been meticulous, however, I can't imagine it will be long before something else needs attention - something you didn't touch yet, probably. So then it can get weird where they pay you some money, whatever amount that might be, and then have some other issue - what is your responsibility, then? How close are you to the owner(s)?

That said, I quickly looked through your list and wrote on paper rough times I thought might be the kind of "book time" for the things you did; I didn't count things like "tighten loose wakeboard rack," but counted 1 hr. for #7 - compression test, 1/2 hr for #8 - panel removal, 3 hrs. for #10 (reinstalling heads, etc.). I came up with 21 total hours and I'm SURE that's nowhere near the time you have into it. Again, this was a quick look for things that might have a reasonably accurate "book time" in a Spader flat-rate manual or something, which of course I don't have in front of me. So, if you're charging $50/hr which would be very, very fair, it's still over $1,000. You can imagine, this would probably be more like $3k at a shop, not counting parts (which you said the customer mostly paid for separately).

Context: when I worked at a marina, we'd sometimes have a boat with numerous issues like this, and it's hard to decide exactly what to charge when a tech spends time just tidying up sloppy work and other previously-unknown issues - or things that will BECOME issues, if not addressed now. The Spader manual would at least give us a reference point, so we could explain to a customer how long all these things might take, before getting 12 hours into a job that started as a "diagnose overheat."

That's my 5-minute look.

[Infinity]

Since he mentioned that part about other things going wrong on things you did not touch (and it could well happen)....the lawyer is coming out.
If I were you, I would write up a detailed account of exactly what you did....suggest that retail cost would be $X but you are charging them a discounted "friend price" of $X and it is specifically for work you completed and does not include potential issues that may still exist, known or unknown. (this also covers you if down the road something happens that they want you to be responsible for....the discounted price clearly shows how much money you saved them, so issues should go to your favor unless you were straight negligent on something (not saying you were, from your account I am sure you were not....just saying)

The quickest way to lose a friend is to have a misunderstanding. I write VERY detailed contracts with my clients and even more detailed contract for my friends (if I even do anything for them) cause it tends to cause issues and I do not have enough friends to lose any over something stupid. I learned a long time ago that you don't do things for family or friends unless there is a clear cut understanding and zero assumption. Having a detailed contract with a friend may sound stupid cause you should be able to shake hands, right... but I can tell you for sure that it has saved at least 1 relationship for me because there was no way to misunderstand it and after he re-read the contract, he realized I was perfectly correct and this "thing he wanted" was never part of the deal and was in black and white from the beginning if he had actually read it. If there is no way to misunderstand or mis-interpret.....then is should be simple. If that does not work, then probably not a friend you want or will have for long anyway.