www.iFourWinns.com

Hello all, long time lurker first time poster.

Just had some major work done on my 2000 Vista 328 at a local shop and was wondering if I got ripped off. I feel I did .

Last year gimbal was making the grinding noise, shifting was not smooth and often was difficult to get into gear last couple years, and last fall I found water in the drives. Had shop take a look and this is what was done.

Pulled and vacuum tested both drives (Volvo DP). Replaced all seals in lower and upper units, replaced both shift mechanisms within drives (~$1000 parts), replaced both shift cables (cable from helm shifter to the drives), replaced both gimbal bearings, reassemble and fill drives with lube.

It was $4000, does this seem fair?

Thanks for listening to my rant.

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2000 Vista 328 Volvo DP 7.4Gi
2010 Avon 310 RIB Mercury 15hp 2-Stroke

Actually, that sounds about right (maybe just a tad high). Labor is what eats your $$$ on that big of a job, especially when you have dual drives to work on. The only thing I would question is why didn't they change out the drive bellows?? If ya found water in the drives and the gimbles were shot, that water had to get in there somehow.

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1996 205 Sundowner DLX
5.0FL Volvo SX Cobra
Tow Veh: 2012 Nissan Frontier Pro-4X

Thanks Chillin, feel a little better. Actually only one gimbal was replaced, been acting up last few years. No water in bellows, leaks where from drive seals. Can't wait to get her in the water, still on blocks.

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2000 Vista 328 Volvo DP 7.4Gi
2010 Avon 310 RIB Mercury 15hp 2-Stroke

One other thing, with that big of a job, your mechanic/shop SHOULD have provided a detailed receipt with a breakdown of parts and labor. If ya didn't get one, I would ask for it. Not only will that make you feel better about how much $$$ you had to lay out, but will help resolve any problems in the future if their repairs weren't the best, if ya know what I mean. Also helps with resale if you can show a prospective buyer exactly what you did, and how the boat was maintained.

Granted, most marina's/shops have a bit of a mark-up on parts, and labor is what it is. The best is when you can find a shop that doesn't mind if you buy the parts and they install them. Saves a lot O' $$$...

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1996 205 Sundowner DLX
5.0FL Volvo SX Cobra
Tow Veh: 2012 Nissan Frontier Pro-4X

$1500 in labor sounds a bit excessive. What is their rate???

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1981 Columbia 8.7
2015 Yamaha FZR - 87mph - sold
2006 Yamaha GP1300R - sold
2003 Chaparral 215 SSI - sold
2009 Stingray 195CS - sold
2000 Four Winns H180 - sold
1976 O'day Daysailer II - sold
Rick's Four Winns H180 Mods/Upgrade Thread

Here that would be maybe 15 hrs of labor. Its a fair amount of work and replacing certain seals requires special tools. I agree you should get an itemized bill. I/Os are complex machines and seeing has how they spend all their time in the water if the boat is in a slip it can be tough to get things apart sometimes. I recently had to split the upper and lower drive on my Cobra to clean barnacles out of the water passage and they were REALLY stuck together. I would up having to rig up 3 scissors jacks to apply enough force in a way that would not crack the aluminum housing. Not an easy job.

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II