Suzuki servicing and warranty

[Jung at Heart]

Hi Steve509926 Thanks for the update, that is a shame as I'm not keen to pay for basic servicing which i can do myself as it is only a small outboard and servicing costs could exceed it's purchase price over a few years.

In the unlikley event there is a major fault it will probably cost less to repair than servicing for a couple f years at a main dealer, I will use the manufacturers servicing kits and keep my fingers crossed. It would be a different story if it was a large outboard where costs could run it to £1000's.

Thanks again for the heads up.

[Fenlander]

I would refer back to my comment in post 5...

*Suzuki UK clearly state... The Suzuki warranty only applies to the outboards imported by Suzuki GB PLC and is subject to regular Authorised Suzuki Dealer servicing in accordance with the schedule published in the Owner's Manual*

If something major happens it doesn't matter what a "kind" dealer told you on the side Suzuki will likely refuse the claim. Then you rely on dealer goodwill and they might claim you misunderstood and shrug their shoulders.

So I'd say if you want a sure fire warranty play by the book... if not then DIY and take any failure on the chin... that's what I decided to do with my 20efi.

[Steve509926]

When I had my new Merc 15hp I had the dealer do the first two services, 20hrs & 100hrs. Theory being if it's going to go wrong it'll go wrong sooner rather than later, which turned out to be true as the engine mounts failed very early in its life.
I sold the 15 and bought a used (less than 20hrs) 20hp Merc which I had dealer serviced for the first 20hr svs. I was told as it was outside the 3 month first service period the warranty was invalid. It did me a favour as I now self service my 20hp Merc and over 100 hrs later I haven't had any problems.
To be fair to Merc as I'd had a previous problem with engine mounts, they did change the ones on the 20hp free of charge.

[Jung at Heart]

Thanks Fenlander, I agree.

Crossing my fingers is for the outboard to keep running well without dealer servicing, rather than in hope of being able to claim on the warranty if i use genuine parts as I wouldn;t even bother asking.

In my mind it doesn't add up financially to pay dealer prices to service a 5HP outboard so I shall almost certainly take the risk.

Experinece so far of outboards has been that not much has gone wrong although I may just be lucky.

I hope well with you.

[Fenlander]

Yep similar with my Suzuki Steve, I had the first service by the dealer (very poorly done too) and thought anything major would have happened in that year then with proper DIY it should be fine. I think with what we call our portable outboards 20hp and under it's probably always going to be a winner.

[Fenlander]

>>>I hope well with you.

All good thanks, age considered!

I made the comment in the post above about 20hp and below... I think that applies even more with the smaller single cylinder carb models and yes by and large outboards are super reliable.

[Jung at Heart]

Originally Posted by Steve509926

When I had my new Merc 15hp I had the dealer do the first two services, 20hrs & 100hrs. Theory being if it's going to go wrong it'll go wrong sooner rather than later, which turned out to be true as the engine mounts failed very early in its life.

Steve, That sounds a sensible approach. Thanks.