The Guys at Summerset Marine

[Danimal]

I would just like to say that I had a great experience with Jeremy and Randy over at Summerset Marine in Delavan. I went to pick up my boat yesterday and was greatly surprised when I got home. I was reviewing my service ticket and on it read;

Winterization - $135.00
Oil Change - N/C
Merry Christmas!!

I thought this to be a great gesture. I will definitely take my boat to Summerset from now on. It's amazing what a small gesture like a free oil change will do for someone. Others on here have talked up Jeremy and now I can see why. He's a stand up guy! I will recommend Summerset Marine to my other boating friends.

Thanks Jeremy and Randy!

[east tx skier]

That is a nice surprise. Good for them. I think your $135 more than covered it, but it's certainly good to see a dealer make that extra effort even when they weren't expected to do so.

[Danimal]

That is a nice surprise. Good for them. I think your $135 more than covered it, but it's certainly good to see a dealer make that extra effort even when they weren't expected to do so.

Yes, it was completely unexpected. Summerset has a customer for as long as I own my boat.

On a side note, there is a 1998 30th Anniversary edition like Farmer Teds sitting for winterization. I wish it was for sale!! That is only the second one I have ever seen. FT's being the first.

[Summerset]

Dan,
Thanks for the great words. We're here to take care of as many Mastercraft owners as possible.

Hey East Tx - at $135 I'm one of the cheaper guys in town. :)

If you need anything else, just let me know.

[east tx skier]

Jeremy, not saying it's a bad price. Quite to the contrary, compared to what many dealers charge for an oil change alone, it's a very good price. Top notch for you guys to throw in the oil change. Hope you didn't misconstrue my message to Dan. To explain further, ...

My comment was meant as a continuation with Danimal of a previous thread where the question was, for that price, does it include oil and tranny fluid change, the original question relating to doing it yourself versus having it done by your dealer. If memory serves, in that thread, I found it to be a good dealer price if it included the fluid change, but that it would always be less expensive to DIY. I suggested he do it himself, but I understand it being a matter of comfort level and don't discount his decision to let the pros handle it.

The dealer from whom I purchased my boat sent me a flyer recently offering winterization, i.e, drain, fog, and stabilize, for somewhere between $80--$100 if I remember correctly. My servicing dealer has quoted me around $140 for winterization w/ AF and oil and tranny fluid changes (perhaps a bit more, it's been a while). They run $70 per hour for service. I'd mention their name, but they are a competing brand. But like you guys with Dan, they have found a customer for life (at least as service goes). My hat's off to them, too, for walking me through a couple of things as I winterized my own boat and did annual maintenance for the first time on my own. Clearly, they'd rather make money by doing it for me, but they are never too busy to entertain my phone calls.

While I think $140 is a good price for what they offer, I prefer to be able to recomission my boat, knowing exactly what has been done and what needs to be done, at a moments notice if, for whatever reason, we hit 80 degrees in late February around here. They have a small staff and a relatively long wait for service versus my patience in waiting to hit the when the weather improves. Plus, the DIY just doesn't cost as much and is invaluable for all I've been able to learn about my boat. But that boils down to individual preference and comfort level. Reasonable minds can differ on the benefits of one versus the other.

Another thing that gets tricky is what is included in "winterize." In other words, some include a fair bit of annual maintenance in the term. The dealer from whom I purchased my boat is what I'd consider the minium that needs to be done. I was actually surprised they didn't use AF. Seems most dealers do just for CYA reasons. While I don't feel the need to use AF on my boat, if I were being paid to winterize someone elses, I'd feel compelled to just for the sake of coverage.