Why Do Boaters Continue To Overpay For Stuff??

[Carl C]

I bit the bullet and paid almost $5,000 for headers. I priced billet engine covers and they are about $400 but today I went shopping for some tune-up parts. The 3 Mercruiser dealers I went to did not have my fuel filter or spark plugs but when the last one told me the prices it's just as well! $20 per spark plug and $46 for a paper fuel filter element (not a cannister). Now I've been boating for a lot of years and I know it isn't cheap but there comes a point when you ask yourself WTF. Why do we continue to pay through the ass for stuff? At $170 (w/tax) for a set of plugs I think mine are good for another year. I had to re-install the old fuel filter and will mail order one. It was not clogged. At least I got the oil change done.:mad:

[roadtrip se]

I just ordered two sets of NGK Racing long tips for the 500 and the Scorpion and it was about $30 for both sets and the shipping. I am not using the platinum tips, but who needs them any way, when you replace every season.

Standard water seperator is $7-$8. I know there are better, but they haven't failed me yet.

HP oil filters are $8-$9, which is pricey, but I pay it.

Heck, I even found a couple of five quart jugs of the Mobil One Synthetic 15-50 that the Scorpion needs for $20 per at Wally World.

All else fails, we have a couple of parts dealers here, who have always treated me right, including the infamous Madpoodle.
(By the way, I still owe you for a Merc service manual, dude.)

I'm not cheap, but I certainly can see the screws coming if somebody tries it on me.

[gcarter]

I agree w/you. That's why I love eBay so much. When I still had the Minx, I bought a set of Denso Irridium plugs for $9.50 each. I always buy bargains when I can. Everybody should know what the relative values of things are before they go shopping.

[Trueser]

Carl,
You crack me up.

Did you ever hear BOAT

BRING OUT ANOTHER THOUSAND

[f_inscreenname]

Oh hell no I'm not paying that kind of money. For almost anything in a boat there is a crossover (most boat companies do not have things built for them only they buy stuff off the shelf like the rest of us). And or the few things that are built for them only, like said, there is always eBay.

[Carl C]

Carl,
You crack me up.
Did you ever hear BOAT
BRING OUT ANOTHER THOUSAND Yeah, and "A boat is a hole in the water into which you pour money".

[need for speed]

I think Carl has the same funny fuel filter i have .. no one has the thing...

[osur866]

Yeah, I paid the 48 or whatever for the water/fuel filter about 3 weeks ago. If it's like mine it is not a canister spin type like a oil filter its a paper little thing that ought to be about 5 bucks but I could not find a crossover anyplace so I bent over and paid :confused: good old mercury!!

[mrfixxall]

well! $20 per spark plug

take the # with you to your local autoparts store or autozone and get the double platnum plug from them,,between 7 to 12 bucks..

[osur866]

Fixall that is what I did with the plugs whole set from o'reilly was 39 or 49 bucks for entire set, the same part# as merc calls for, Hm do ya think therre is a mark-up some where? Steve

[LKSD]

I dont get the merc $$$$$ on the plugs.. Its not like they give us any big deal off of them either.. They sure charge us quite a bit for them.. I know that. :yes:

The fuel filter for the new fuel cool module like on the later 496's is proprietary from what I have found. It is an insert, not a spin on.. I just sold 2 of them damn inserts & now I have to re-order.. :boggled: I wish they would have kept the old spin on style. This new fuel system kinda is a waste from them.. fewer connections doesnt always = better product or easier to maintain.. All of that integrated stuff on that is a big $hit storm waiting to happen in my opinion.. Dont get me wrong I am all for technology & fancy efi set ups, but that fuel cool module was just a waste of engineering dollars, the old one worked just fine on the 496's.. They could have put the $$ into upgrading a few of the other things that could have used it...

If you guys think that stuff is bad wait until you have to do an impeller on the 496 & find your housing is "F"ed up from the sand causing you to need a several hundred dollar pump... :( ..... WTF... Quick drain, nice idea,.... gen 3 fuel cool module & new style impeller pumps they wasted engineering money & time... I guess it was a lack of some common sense..

On a sllightly different note with the use of the whipple on my 496 I will now be using a different NGK plug for the blower application which cost less for me than the merc plugs.. Yippie.. It only costed a $hit load to get there.. Oh well...


BTW:
If you guys need any of the merc stuff or your local guys dont have it feel free to drop me a line.. If I dont have it in stock, it usually come in quickly to me from merc to our shop.. :) Jamie / Lakeside

.

[Carl C]

well! $20 per spark plug
take the # with you to your local autoparts store or autozone and get the double platnum plug from them,,between 7 to 12 bucks.. OK, that's what I'll do.:)


If you guys think that stuff is bad wait until you have to do an impeller on the 496 & find your housing is "F"ed up from the sand causing you to need a several hundred dollar pump... :(
If you guys need any of the merc stuff or your local guys dont have it feel free to drop me a line.. If I dont have it in stock, it usually come in quickly to me from merc to our shop.. :) Jamie / Lakeside
. Oh great! :boggled:The impeller will be done this winter, with the fuel filter. I may be in touch to order parts.:lookaroun:

[Sweet little 16]

buyers pay thru the nose
shoppers pay alot less
and there is nothing better than SHOPPING!!!

[LKSD]

OK, that's what I'll do.:)
Oh great! :boggled:The impeller will be done this winter, with the fuel filter. I may be in touch to order parts.:lookaroun:


Let me know if ya need me... :) J

.

[Rootsy]

If you think the end consumer price is outrageous you'd really be pissed if you knew what it cost to make... and what they sold to the OEM for....

[Carl C]

If you think the end consumer price is outrageous you'd really be pissed if you knew what it cost to make... and what they sold to the OEM for.... I guess that's why production is all going overseas. Greedy Americans demanding $20 an hour, health ins., etc for unskilled labor. You'd think that Mattel, after their China lead paint fiasco, could build a factory here and offer $10 per hour jobs for poorer people but it can't happen.:(

[roadtrip se]

I guess that's why production is all going overseas. Greedy Americans demanding $20 an hour, health ins., etc for unskilled labor. You'd think that Mattel, after their China lead paint fiasco, could build a factory here and offer $10 per hour jobs for poorer people but it can't happen.:(

Ain't capitalism great? You hit off-shoring, high wages, health insurance, labor practice, China, and the poor, all in two sentences. Each is an issue on its own. Being from Michigan, I think you should know that it just isn't that simple, so try making a little less of an ignorant statment next time, please.

As for the topic, I think we all agree, shop for the deal, realize you get what you pay for, we have dealers right here, and ebay can offer the occassional jewel. Didn't realize the 496 had the gold standard of integrated fuel filters, but I am glad Mercury Racing thought better of it.

[Sam]

well! $20 per spark plug
take the # with you to your local autoparts store or autozone and get the double platnum plug from them,,between 7 to 12 bucks..

Mrfixxall, what's the story behind the "double platnum" plug.

[Rootsy]

I guess that's why production is all going overseas. Greedy Americans demanding $20 an hour, health ins., etc for unskilled labor. You'd think that Mattel, after their China lead paint fiasco, could build a factory here and offer $10 per hour jobs for poorer people but it can't happen.:(

Carl,

I've been in the manufacturing arena for a decade now... down and dirty in the factories that manufacture all of these wonderful widgits... Lo and behold all of them on American soil, selling to higher tiers on, again American soil. I can tell you that price depends largely on volume, process and product complexity, material contents and supply chain management. If you have a low volume product then piece price will be higher... have to pay off that tooling, administration, engineering, and pay for the wages and all of the other overhead (EPA, OSHA, rest of the gubberment red tape, insurance, taxes, etc).

You and I get hosed at the retail end because there are about 3 middle men that have to make money on the product before we walk out the door with it... Have you ever wondered how a store can have a 75% off sale on a product? Assuming they are breaking even at that then there is a 300% mark-up on what they are paying. But you neglect to realize they have to have a store, employees, all of the stuff in parenthesis above, warehousing, transportation, etc to pay for also... Their distributor has to stock and take care of all of the stuff in the previous sentence more or less also...

This isn't to say that items targeted at a very captive audience in a generally elevated income bracket aren't elevated in price to bolster a profit margin.

I can tell you that you'd think that your cover would be cheap to make... the material isn't all that pricy... but if you have to do design that takes time... then you have to fixture it in a machine and program it to run the part... the machine has to run a certain amount of time with a certain $/hr figure to support the shop and then you have to post process the part.. whether that is polishing or what not, and I can tell you from vast experience... polishing to a mirror finish is a royal PITA from raw material... I had almost 30 hours into polishing the hydraulic steering i built for the 16... I had more time in polishing the stainless than i did in machining it, on a manual mill and lathe. Then there is shipping...

Now figure that if you had 50 of these parts to run... you spread the design and administration over 50 parts... you get better pricing on material. you don't have to do multiple setups on a machine to run each part... and for the most part, machine setup is half the battle. I can tell you for a fact that the time it takes to setup a machine to run one of the 16 / 18 / whatever, dash panels is almost twice what it takes to actually remove material. You still have a fixed time more or less to polish though you can speed it up because you are doing a single process over many parts and not changing processes continually.

basically.. the more widgits you can put in the shipping box / hr the less it costs / part... no matter what the direct labor, indirect labor and depreciation costs are. A lot of people like to talk the talk but they have absolutely no clue when it comes to walking the walk...

[Cuda]

Rootsy, quit confusing the issue with common sense. :eek!::wink:

Btw, I'm fairly sure that Merc doesn't own an oil refinery to make Merc oil, or a Merc foundry to make Merc exhaust manifolds, etc. Some stuff might be made to Merc specs, but the maker has to make a buck, and Merc has to make a buck, and if the part is Merc specific (no other uses), the maker has to make more bucks. Like I sometimes have to explain to my gc's sometimes, I'm not running a non profit organazation, contrary to popular belief.

[osur866]

I don't think the fuel filter is 496 exclusive, mine is 6.2 and has the same filter, it's the on all with the new bravo I do believe! Steve

[Carl C]

I don't think the fuel filter is 496 exclusive, mine is 6.2 and has the same filter, it's the on all with the new bravo I do believe! Steve Here is a pic of mine. I would have bought one if someone had it. You'd think they would stock fuel filters and spark plugs. My plugs looked good but the manual says to replace them after 3 years. I'll get another season out of them. They show no wear and are a perfect color.

[osur866]

yep, same as mine, I've got the mx 6.2 small block with bravo book shows the $9.95 oil filter style for the the small blocks with the alpha drive and the 6.2 with bravo get these $49.95 ones :confused:, My dad has a 2001 502mag and his is the oil filter style looking one I changed his when I did mine and was confused when they wanted so much more for mine at the parts counter :mad: Steve

[handfulz28]

I see lots of replacement filter elements at parts stores. Is the Merc piece truly that unique? Perhaps some element measurements and poking around performance websites may yield an alternative...
Scroll down for an example:
http://www.racerpartswholesale.com/canton2.htm