Purchase question

[resail]

I've decided to purchase a Tohatsu 6hp 4 stroke for my sailboat. I've done much price research in my area (NE Pennsylvania), and prices run from $1,450 to $1,900. However, I found one online from "onlineoutboards.com" for $1,269, with free shipping. They ship from Tennessee. Has anyone here had any experience with them? I'm somewhat hesitant to order one from an unknown source, but the price seems almost worth it. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

 

[TGuy]

Re: Purchase question

I can tell you that Elvin's (aka Tohatsu Guru in these forums) sells the motors just as inexpensively as onlineoutboards. You can compare prices by checking out his website at http://www.internetoutboards.com/product_list.asp?id=88

IMO, if you're going to buy a motor online you might as well buy from the guy that supports everyone in these forums.

But that being said, your best option is to buy from your local dealer as he is going to be the one to support you if you have a problem with your motor. Sure, any dealer will work on it, but you're not going to exactly be at the top of his list (ie: his customers will get preferential treatment). This can be important if you have a problem in the middle of the boating season and your dealer already has a 3 week backlog of service work. If you bought it online guess where you're going to fall in that backlog

And when you buy online you're getting a motor in a box. It's not checked out, test run, etc before you buy it. You get to do all of that and hope that everything is ok. At least when you buy from your local dealer they will usually test run it and make sure everything is 100% before you walk out the door. Yes you may pay a little more but keep in mind you're getting a lot more service as well.

So it comes down to save a little money upfront and buy online. Or save aggravation later and support your local dealer. If you buy online, you might as well support the dealer that supports this forum and buy from internetoutboards.com instead of some other online place.

Either way, the Tohatsu 6hp is a great choice for the money! Enjoy your time out on the water and hope you hook into some big 'uns

 

[TOHATSU GURU]

Re: Purchase question

"It's not checked out, test run, etc before you buy it. You get to do all of that and hope that everything is ok."

Used to be true, but now we PDI them before shipment. Out of the last 100 or so engines I think about five went out without us checking them first. Big waste of time for us though. We haven't found the first problem. The only benefit for the consumer is that we now include a bottle(s) of engine oil in with the engine since we have to unseal the box.

 

[pvanv]

Re: Purchase question

As a servicing dealer, we do PDI work for customers who choose to buy online. If you buy online, and the internet dealer did not do a PDI, your local dealer should be able to do it for you -- at little or no cost to you. Without a PDI, your warranty does not have to be honored by the factory.

The big benefit of buying from the local dealer is local support, and having a good relationship with the local shop. They can usually give you pre-sale advice regarding motor sizing and prop selection, as well as operational tips. We do winterizing, annual maintenance, spring setup, and give free off-season storage to our walk-in customers. If you buy online, you won't have that relationship with the local dealer.

The Tohatsu/Nissan owner's manuals are good, but we have discovered that many online customers just don't take the time to read and understand them. As a result, we have had a number of motors that have suffered "infant mortality" at the hands of uninformed owners. Conversely, none of our walk-in customers have had these problems.

If you choose to buy online, please be sure to fully read and understand the owner's manual. Keep in mind that if a motor has been damaged by owner misuse or abuse (even if it's because the owner was not properly familiar with correct operation) the repair may not be covered by the factory warranty.

 

[TOHATSU GURU]

Re: Purchase question

Paul,

PDI's are not required to activate a warranty and warranty cannot be denied if a PDI has not been performed. Having a PDI form filled out by a dealer is unnecessary in all cases except the following:

TLDI models
Four-stroke models 25 hp and higher
Remote control models

Since those engines cannot be shipped to a consumer there is no case where a PDI would require a consumer to take their engine into a local dealer to have one performed.

The ONLY reason we do it now is to avoid having OUR customers think they need to take their engines into a local dealer before they can use it....That and the fee that gets back billed to us by Tohatsu/Nissan if a consumer takes an engine in to a local dealer that has not had the PDI done by us. I just received a horror story from another dealer who sold and shipped a small engine to a guy up north. The man went into his local dealer to buy a bottle of oil for it and was told that he was REQUIRED to bring it in for a PDI to activate his warranty. They then charged a 80 year old $125.00 to do the unnecessary PDI. He did not question it(he is from a generation that wouldn't think a dealer would lie), paid the bill and then called the dealer he bought it from to complain that THEY should have told him that, before he ordered the engine from them, he would have to do that. Needless to say they told him his local crooked dealer ripped him off.

It's a huge waste of time and 100% pointless as the engines have a PDI performed in Japan prior to being boxed for shipment. I'm not in to duplicating someone else's effort without a good reason and doing a PDI twice on an engine is not cost effective procedure. As to the mortality of engines by uniformed consumers....I agree with you, but people buy lawnmowers, generators, etc. and somehow manage to operate them. Outboards are not any more complicated to de-box and start. Stupid people should only buy products from a local source that will hold their hand and baby step them through every aspect of ownership....Including outboards, cars, lawnmowers, blenders, etc. Okay, maybe not blenders

 

[resail]

Re: Purchase question

Thanks so much for all the input. You offer much to consider. I'm going to call a couple more dealers today, and if they can't come close to the online price, I'll buy from Elvin. Thanks again!

 

[TGuy]

Re: Purchase question

Thanks so much for all the input. You offer much to consider. I'm going to call a couple more dealers today, and if they can't come close to the online price, I'll buy from Elvin. Thanks again!

Just don't expect them to match the online price. Remember, your local dealer is going to spend some time with you going over all the features, explaining everything, etc. Their time, like your time, is worth something. And like Paul said above, you get a lot of extras by buying local. But if you go online, Elvin / internetoutboards.com would be the way to go. At least he supports the product through this forum and does the PDI (something I was unaware of until this thread).

 

[resail]

Re: Purchase question

Thanks to all your input, I was able to make an educated decision, and I bought a motor from a dealer today. However, I bought a different brand than I previously decided on! A reputable dealer nearby sells Mercury and Honda, and I went in to look at the Mercurys. I thought Honda was out of the reach of my wallet. However, they had a new previous year Honda 4 stroke 5 hp longshaft they were selling for $1,350. Since Honda is now giving a 5 year warranty, I couldn't pass it up. And you all were right about the perks with the dealer. They put it in the tank and ran it, demonstrated all the features, had me practice all the features, gave me tips and advice, etc. etc..

So, thanks again, all.

 

[pvanv]

Re: Purchase question

Elvin,

You are correct (as usual) on the small motor PDI's. My apologies if my post made it seem otherwise. Wow... I am amazed that a dealer would 1- claim that PDI was required, and then 2- charge that older customer. I guess there are all sorts.

FWIW, we PDI every motor, even the little 3.5's. We consider it one of the no-additional-charge services we do for our walk-in customers. That way, we know, without any doubt, that we are delivering a proper product, 100% of the time. I must admit that it usually seems a waste of tank time... But... then we have verified cc oil and LU lube levels. As a result, we have never had a customer who ran a new motor without cc oil.

We hand-hold many of our customers, especially the ones who are new to OB's as well as those who are used to the old carbed 2-strokes. For us, it pays off in customer satisfaction. As a full-service sail-and-power chandlery, rigging shop, and sail loft, we are pretty much into that approach, since we get into some fairly esoteric technologies from time to time.

OK, maybe not for a blender purchase... (But we might recommend a particular beverage recipe for it ;-)

Paul,

PDI's are not required to activate a warranty and warranty cannot be denied if a PDI has not been performed. Having a PDI form filled out by a dealer is unnecessary in all cases except the following:

TLDI models
Four-stroke models 25 hp and higher
Remote control models

Since those engines cannot be shipped to a consumer there is no case where a PDI would require a consumer to take their engine into a local dealer to have one performed.

The ONLY reason we do it now is to avoid having OUR customers think they need to take their engines into a local dealer before they can use it....That and the fee that gets back billed to us by Tohatsu/Nissan if a consumer takes an engine in to a local dealer that has not had the PDI done by us. I just received a horror story from another dealer who sold and shipped a small engine to a guy up north. The man went into his local dealer to buy a bottle of oil for it and was told that he was REQUIRED to bring it in for a PDI to activate his warranty. They then charged a 80 year old $125.00 to do the unnecessary PDI. He did not question it(he is from a generation that wouldn't think a dealer would lie), paid the bill and then called the dealer he bought it from to complain that THEY should have told him that, before he ordered the engine from them, he would have to do that. Needless to say they told him his local crooked dealer ripped him off.

It's a huge waste of time and 100% pointless as the engines have a PDI performed in Japan prior to being boxed for shipment. I'm not in to duplicating someone else's effort without a good reason and doing a PDI twice on an engine is not cost effective procedure. As to the mortality of engines by uniformed consumers....I agree with you, but people buy lawnmowers, generators, etc. and somehow manage to operate them. Outboards are not any more complicated to de-box and start. Stupid people should only buy products from a local source that will hold their hand and baby step them through every aspect of ownership....Including outboards, cars, lawnmowers, blenders, etc. Okay, maybe not blenders