Boat maintenance.

I bought my boat from bass pro in Grapevine last March and they have done nothing but bait and switch me since then. I took it in for a 100 hour service and was quoted $100. Went to pick it up and it was $300. Showed proof of the quote to the shop manager and still had to argue with him to get it back to $100.

I gave them a second chance a couple months later so I could get the fish finder I bought installed for "free" according to their add. I simply wanted my old one moved from the dash to the bow. I was once again quoted $100. Went to pick it up and the bill was now, once again $300. New manager, same story.

I need a boat place that will honor their original quote. I have a tracker 160 so a tracker dealer would be nice but not necessary. I live in Denton so something near by would be great!. Either way, I just want an honest mechanic. I am willing to travel if that's what it takes.

Thanks everyone!

That is a tough one to answer ! Most dealers charge from $150 to $300 to change the oil. What a rip. As a suggestion, broaden your search to include your query into the freshwater discussion section as well. I live in Weatherford and have the same problem. You might ask some guides that fish your home lake. There are some good tutorials on you tube that may cover your needs. Good Luck, I feel your frustration !

I will NEVER buy a boat from Bass Pro. A friend bought an expensive Pontoon and after calling , going there in person never got the title. A ton of excuses like it must be lost in the mail. .After waiting 2 years He had to go to TPW and do it himself and pay again. He bought a trailer for the boat and license plates took 13 months. Worst place for anything boat related. THis was at the Grapevine location.

Bought my boat from Bass Pro in Garland. Not that happy with them. They didn't tell me much about maintenance, I found out most things the hard way. I used a local marina at PK to do service and they lied about doing it. I almost bought a lower unit as my oil was not changed for 5 years! Only by switching to a guy who comes on site to do my maintenance did I discover this. I paid them for this and to change my impeller every year but it was not done.

Some business owners are not happy unless they screw you. I owned a business I retired from after selling it, so I know how this goes. You have to check EVERYTHING they said they did or just watch as I did when the guy came to my house.

PKfishin, I sent you a pm

I bought a boat from bass pro in March as well. Let me tell you about the process. First of all it took me calling almost daily for an update as to when the boat would arrive. Was told a certain time several times but when that time came still no boat. I finally went in and talked to them and was told 1-2 weeks as the boat was being shipped in from another location. The boat finally arrived but it arrived without the modifications I asked for when buying the boat. So I had to wait another week for them to make the modifications. When I was going through the walkthrough the guy was saying that they recommend bringing the boat in after 20 hours to get the oil changed because the oil in there is not meant to be in there for long and was quoted a 350$ price to change the oil and run a test which I thought was unnecessary. This whole thing seemed odd to me so I called Mercury directly and was told that that could not be further from the truth. The oil in there is the same oil as before as was told that the oil should be changed at 100 hours and not 20 hours as I was told. Bass pro just wanted some more of my money. If this wasn't bad enough when I was making upgrades and adding fish finders to the boat I spoke with the guy at the electronics area about eventually upgrading the trolling motor to an XI5 and was recommended a hook 7. Turns out this graph is not compatible for that and I now have to buy another graph since the guy had no clue what he was doing. Needless to say I will be doing oil changes on my outboard with the directions in the manual. Bass Pro will not touch or get any more money for my boat. I also had to call when my temp tags and registration almost expired and they had to overnight them to my house. If I had not called they wouldn't have been sent on time as I was told they were backed up because someone had quit on them.

Changing oil is really easy, do it yourself. When you do it yourself, you know its done and save money on the labor.

When I buy a boat, I go to several dealers and check them out. While there I look at the service department and get a feel for how they are. I buy from the dealer that I feel like I get the best balance of price and future service if needed for warranty. My last boat I bought in 2014, the dealer really wanted me to bring it back for the initial 25 hour service. They gave me another three years on top of Yamaha's warranty on the engine if I did this. I humored them and did, with the understanding I would be present while the work was done. I was charged $138.00 for the engine oil change, lower unit oil change, inspection, and printout of the history on the engine. I stood there and watched them do all of it.

However, later I had a somewhat bad deal with them. Their head mechanic that I visited with was on vacation when my boat came in, and another guy rigged it out. I normally rig them myself, but they made a good deal on the labor, and I definitely got what I paid for, the guy that did it was a moron. However, during all of this, they never did try to price gouge me or make me pay for anything that they shouldn't.

I would highly recommend McGill's Prop Shop.
894 N Mill St #1
Lewisville, TX 75057
Phone: (972) 436-7498

Hours:
Saturday 8AM–1PM
Sunday Closed
Monday 8AM–6PM
Tuesday 8AM–6PM
Wednesday 8AM–6PM
Thursday 8AM–6PM
Friday 8AM–5:30PM

FishnDenton

Carl Atkins
817-832-8637
He is just south of you in haslet. Best there is around here

Thanks guys I will look into both of those. Lewisville isn't far and Haslet is on my way to and from work every day.

Learn to do it urself. I never even change a car oil in my life. I am more a computer guy. But after feeling they charging so much to change oil and dragging ur boat for them to do it. I just youtube And it insanely easy. Now i do all kind maintaince myself. Thanks god for youtube.

I agree. It will save you a bunch of money and you will know it is done right.

I do mine every year. 200HP 4 stroke Yamaha takes about an hour if you take your time. It is easy.
I just buy the Yamaha kit on Amazon. Buy the Lower unit oil at Academy. Maybe $75 if I do it myself.
Youtube is your friend.

I've had good luck with Lake Park Marine in Valley View off Lone Oak Rd. They're on the service road just north of the gas station. If you're in Denton, it's about 10 miles.

Even better, my boat storage is like 5 minutes from there. Thanks aubreyfish and welcome to the forum!

Try Larry in Denton area Larry's gun and boat repair great guy and hes good 940-479-0309

Jerry Whittle boats. Best in the business. Vaughn and his crew are great.

I second Carl Or Fish & Ski Marine in Sanger.