The Benefits of Using a Certified Mechanic

Let’s set up a hypothetical situation for you: you’ve started feeling sick. You’re experiencing the gamut of symptoms of coming down with something; you’ve got a fever, sore throat, achey joints, headache, nausea, etc. You’ve tried home remedies, over the counter fever relief drugs, and vitamins too numerous to count, but nothing seems to be working. So you decide to go and see a doctor. In one scenario, you see your GP and once you arrive, the doctor (who proudly displays his medical degree and licence to practice medicine on the walls in his office) sits you on the table, takes a throat swab for analysis, asks about your symptoms and surmises that you have strep throat. They subsequently prescribes a regimen of antibiotics to clear it up. In the second scenario, you find some guy listed on Facebook or on a poster stapled to a telephone pole who requests $2,500 in cash, checks your reflexes and shines a light in your eyes and then says that you’ve probably got some unpronounceable illness and produces a handful of pills from his pocket. Which scenario seems preferable to you, the first or the second? 

 

Now, let’s make a couple of changes to this hypothetical situation: instead of you being sick, the situation is far more dire: your boat isn’t working. The engine is making weird noises, alarms are going off, and you can’t get up to speed. You’ve tried clearing the faults, you’ve tried flushing the motors with fresh water, and you’ve limped back home on one motor. Nothing seems to be working. So, in one scenario, you call Amzim Marine Services, and knowing that you’re not sinking or on fire, one of their certified technicians comes out to diagnose the issue. They discover that you’ve sucked up some sand (easy to do in the shallow Floridian water), and you need a new impeller, which they replace with official Mercury parts they have in their mobile workshop vans. In another scenario, you call some guy recommended by a random passerby in the marina, who pulls up in an unmarked van. After 3 hours of tinkering in your engine room, he says that you need a new alternator, new manifolds, 3 new batteries and a bilge pump (all of which he can do right there and then). After another 8 hours replacing all those parts (and paying the low, low price of 11 hours labor plus parts), you start up the motor and get the same error and running issue. 

 

Working on vehicles in the old days was easy: my father recalls being able to fix his own car because when he popped the hood, he saw his engine, 6 wires, and a battery; it’s hard to mess up a configuration as simple as that. With computerized diagnostic systems, sensors galore, and bigger, more efficient engines, it requires a lot more than a single toolbox with a set of wrenches to get it fixed. Just because the “tech” shows up with a Laptop, doesn’t mean it can do anything other than google a solution for the problem at hand. Like the doctor example above, today’s mechanics need years of experience, education, and testing in order to become certified by just one of the numerous manufacturers. Once certified by the manufacturer (in our case, Mercury), the mechanic gets access to databases of parts and specialized representatives, diagnostic equipment, and specialized tools to better serve their customers. When you see our Technician show up with a laptop, you can rest assured that we are connecting your boat to that computer and using specialized software provided by Mercury to get an in-depth readout of every sensor on your engines. On top of that, they have access to your boat’s maintenance records, and any recalls that might be out on your motors. Some recalls are simple problems with simple fixes like an update to the computer. Others can lead to disasters that can cause damage to your boat, and (God forbid) injury to other people. 

 

“But,” you might ask “the guy in the van is SO much cheaper than certified mechanics. Why does it cost so much more to have it fixed by a ‘Certified’ mechanic?” Think about it this way: the mechanic in the second scenario took 3 hours to incorrectly diagnose your problem, and an additional 8 to replace parts that didn’t need replacing. At the end of the day that bill was probably expensive, and didn’t fix the issue at hand. The Amzim Marine tech knew exactly what was wrong from the phone conversation, and spent an hour replacing a $50 part. Less time spent figuring out what is going wrong means smaller bills for you. 

 

It is expected that the boating industry will continue to grow and expand over the next 5 years, there are most likely going to be more boats that require repairs, and more boats that are put on the market. While this is great news, it also means that there will likely be an influx of these “man in a van mechanics” that aren’t certified popping up in the future. We urge you to do your research: find a reputable shop that has technicians that are certified in the type of motor you have. Amzim Marine is proud to have a 100% Customer Satisfaction Index score with both Formula Thunderbird customers and Mercury Marine customers. That statistic is something that we plan on keeping up by continuing to offer the best possible service to both our long term and brand new customers! 

 

Amzim Marine Services is also very proud to say that all of our techs are fully Mercury Marine Certified Technicians, for both MerCruiser and Mercury Outboards (and just like the Doctor’s office, our certifications are proudly displayed in our front office). Our techs, Laz and Zach, as well as our owner Gary, are all equipped with a combined 35 years of experience working on these motors, and can tackle any problem you might have with your boat. Our mobile workshop vans enable us to come out to your boat, wherever it might be in the Collier/Lee county areas. If you need a service or a diagnosis on an issue on your boat, give us a call at (239)228-6713!