North of Seattle Marine Mechanics

[NWBoater45]

I am a first time large outboard owner. I recently bought a boat with a 1990 Mercury 100. I am looking for a good Mercury mechanic North of Seattle and lets say South of Arlington. I just need a good tune up and servicing of the motor for now. When I had my inboard it took several tries (the hard way) before I found a good inboard mechanic.

[Mike10gs]

Bump

[Hunter757]

Give Master Marine a try. Great service and wonderful people willing to go the extra mile for you. Good luck!!

[The Quadfather]

http://www.lynnwoodmarine.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I have been using these guys for 4-5 years now. The work has always been excellent and timely.
the mechanic even came in on his day off to finish the job, and called me while I was out on the water, to talk about the issues. Very good customer service. Plenty of parking space. Easy in/out.

Fyi. Don't judge a book by it's cover. The older gentleman who usually does the service write-up, is extremely hard of hearing, and often you need to repeat things multiple times. Also, sometimes he tries to ring up and send me home with the wrong boat. Otherwise, the mechanical work is excellent.

[NWBoater45]

Quad....You know what I always forget about these guys. They are just not in an area you would expect a marine dealer. I will have to look them up. Performance Marine is hit or miss and they take forever to get anything done. I didn't have any luck with Bayside Marine with my other boat even though they claimed have the best mercruiser mechanic on the Westcoast. I am just about ready to take my boat in for a tune up and then have it sit all summer due to the coho shut down lol. Actually I am excited to check out the area lakes for Kokanee.

Anyone else have any input?

[Thor]

I have had good results with Cascade Marine in Everett. As with nearly all shops you need to get on their calendar, but these guys know their stuff, do good work and have even talked me through some motor issues when I was out on the water and motor wouldn't start.

[NWBoater45]

@Thor - Thanks I will check these guys out at well.

@Quad - My initial dealing with Lynwood Marine left a dirty taste in my mouth. I went there about a week ago just to ask a question. I talked to a guy probably in his thirties. I just ask him roughly how much is would cost to do a tune-up and adjust the idle. His first response was it depends on what is wrong with it. I was like what? He goes yeah you said it didn't idle right, it could be the CDI, carb may need to be rebuilt, and so on. Instead of just stating a simple tune up and adjustment cost he was already trying to figure out how he can get extras. This was not exactly the first impression I was looking for.

[The Quadfather]

NWBoater,
That is a bummer about how Lynnwood Marine chose to respond to your honest question.
To me, I read that as a lesson in how you give customer service.

He hears your question as that you need a tune-up and "minor adjustments" for idle. He is thinking that he can't give you a concrete quote until he sees the cause of bad idle. Which I completely agree with.
But he should have just told you the tune-up price, and then quoted the hourly shop rate beyond tune up, and just expressed that he is hesitant to give you a concrete quote when he is "Troubleshooting"
Good luck!

[NWBoater45]

Quad,
Yeah it was like asking how much for an oil change and the guy telling you your oil pump is bad and valves need replaced.

[Hunter757]

I think they way I understand it, you are trying to figure out a price point and the shop is trying to give you a price point to repair it but needed more information to better understand your motors issues. There are many causes for a bad idle not just replace this part and all is good. With all engines you have to have the motor in front of you to fix it otherwise there guessing, and the shop does not want to be held to a "price" told to you without seeing it in person or understanding the repair.

Best of luck and I hope you find a great shop to take care of what you need, but be open to suggestions as that is all anyone can recommend without having the mechanic diagnose the problem if there even is one.

[chantaclair]

If you don't mid traveling to Anacortes ,there is a mechanic that my fishing partner SWEARS by. And he charges far less than a shop. His name is Martin and his number is 360-420-1075.

[Sideburns]

I see this is a little old, but as an automotive mechanic, I tend to respond the same way to "tune up" requests. Most modern automotive engines have nothing to "tune". Spark plugs need to be changed at certain intervals, and the service is generally considered a tune up. 90% of the time though, when a customer inquires about a tune up it is because their engine isnt performing correctly. Rarely is the cause something that can simply be adjusted or tuned up,

Just my 2 cents.....

BTW though, honesty is about the single most important aspect of a good mechanic, and if your initial impression was bad, keep shopping.......

[chantaclair]

1072 is the ending for Martin's number ,sorry just noticed.