Purchased a new to me 2017 18trx with 200 opti (Sn\2B363124) which had 30 hours on it this May. Had no issues until mid Aug and the motor started having issues idling ie would stal out unless feathering the throttle, but once running WOT could feel no missing or any thing and still reach normal max RPM's of 5600, come off plane and it would run little rough but not to bad, fish for hour go to start motor up again and bad idle is back and rinse repeat all day every day.
Took it into a merc certified dealer (not where i purchased) and informed them of the issue and mentioned I had 4 years of warranty and needed it looked at - 10 days later got a call boat was ready and my bill was 650$ and fouled plugs was the issue and not covered under warranty. Bill was for 4 hrs labor and plugs - I asked if they touched bases with merc to see if it covered or possible underling cause , answer to both was no. I vocalized my disappointment for not hitting up merc on warranty so they called it in 5 days later and said for plug issues its first year or 100hrs ie sol for me. I contacted 3 random dealers stated the scenario and they all basically said a plug issue should have been found in under an hour then they would have contacted merc for support then updated me on to see how id like to move forward prior to sinking in more shop hours.
To further my frustrations i had it winterized (additional 130$) so I get it home from the 2hr drive and notice the half of the lower unit and back\bottom of the boat was covered in what i thought was oil, but after calling to ask wtf they said it was antifreeze and it should have been cleaned prior to pickup .. Also the rigging nylon braid that goes into the cowling was out about 3" so fray'd nylon was exposed and if I trim up more than 3/4 way the assembly binds on the boat causing alot of pressure on the inlet tube to cowling showing it wants to split open.
I contacted them with my list of discrepancies and there only answer is bring it back we'll fix it - I had already spent an hour degreasing the motor/boat so i could wash it and now will have to spend time to fix the rigging going into the motor. Taking it back to them would be a full day round trip plus gas $ and they didn't seem to care but they would send a boat detail kit if i gave them my address. To me this was the third strike on lack of attention to detail/QA since they had all of my billing/mailing info on record, needless to say im not getting a detail kit either ...
My question is does my experience seem normal and is there any different course of action I should pursue ?
Sorry for the long write up, just frustrated since Ive been running Mercs for almost 17years and never had an issue outside of a coil pack and my first motor with a waranty that doesnt cover issues.
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Originally Posted by bigpig
