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A $5400 oil change... Really?

Discussion in 'General Yachting Discussion' started by Pascal, Sep 7, 2016.

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  1. Pascal, Sep 7, 2016
    #1
    Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 29, 2008
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    Miami, FL
    What is the typical charge for an oil and filter changes you guys are paying for Cat 3412/c30/c32... I've always done them myself until this one.

    Since getting the boat ready for a first Bahamas trip and because the cat dealer was upgrading aftercoolers to the current version I figured I'd have them do it. While I had a written estimate for the aftercooler work, I only asked verbally about the oil change and was told just under $3000. High but in this case it was worth paying the extra.

    Well when I got th final invoice, I went into sticker shock... No details whatsoever on the oil changes but when asked the Cat dealer says he charged us the flat rate for a C32 oil change which is $2700 engine/gear. PER SIDE.

    Last oil change I did earlier this year, I bough the supplies from another cat dealer and that was pretty much 10 pails of cat oil at about $110 plus about $400 of filters. I didn't check part numbers but I don't think he 3412E filters are much different from C32... So that s $1500 in parts n supplies plus figure 8 hours of labor (being generous as I ve never spent that long on an oil change) ... $2700 total is a reasonable price... Not per side!

    I know BOAT stands for Bend Over And Takeit but this is absolutely ridiculous.
  2. bliss, Sep 7, 2016
    #2
    bliss

    bliss Senior Member

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    I am shocked but maybe not surprised. My wife says I am too skeptical and sometimes gets angry with me when I try to get value in return for MY MONEY.. I get it in writing, mostly. When I don't, stuff like this crops up. Thank goodness I enjoy doing a lot of routine stuff myself. May I assume this was a nearby Cat dealer?
  3. Capt J, Sep 7, 2016
    #3
    Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    That's high, but would expect that's what a dealer would charge.....They charge hourly from the time the truck leaves the shop and gets back. $115hr for 2 people, 16 hours guestimate, drive time, the oil, filters.....did they do fuel filters, zincs, (the entire service)or any of that also? 25 gallons a motor is about right. I bet if you argue about the price they'll drop it 10% right off the bat.
  4. Pascal, Sep 8, 2016
    #4
    Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    They only had one guy..

    I ve done 2 to 3 oil changes a year on nearly identical 3412s for the last 8 years, in a cramped engine room without full head room. Never spent more than 6 hour. And that was with a small slow reverso pump. This boat is a lot easier to work on with more space between engines, full head room, and they used their own fast gear pump.

    So a day of labor, oil, filters etc... don't add up to $5400 but what makes it worst is the fiscal to charge actual part and labor
  5. Sea Gull, Sep 8, 2016
    #5
    Sea Gull

    Sea Gull Member

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    Location:
    CT
    I just had oil and filter change on my C-18s, plus generator and all pencil zincs. Charge was $4,400 including a couple of hours of travel. Work was done in NY.