I'm with airshot. IF there's a local dealer that services the brand you buy, they're not going to want to touch it. After all, you didn't trust them enough to buy locally, but you expect them to service it?
I have ordered two from onlineoutboards and they are great. Best price and easy shipping.
As long as you don't have any issues they can be great. How much of a gambler are you ?? If you survey the customer complaints on motors, far more issues with service after the sale than with motor issues themselves !! Same goes for lawn mowers and most other expensive engine tools.
That's what I was thinking when I made my first response. If I were a dealer, and somebody brought an online purchase in, expecting warranty work, I'd be in no great hurry to accommodate them. Warranty work doesn't pay the monetary value that it should, and I made no profit from a sale, so there's a loss for me, instead of any profit to feed myself or family with.
When I bought my Tohatsu 9.8 I tried two local dealers and they both said they can't match the online prices so they don't even stock them. But they're happy to work on them if ever needed. I even offered to pay them what they needed to make a profit and they weren't interested. I found it weird but one of them was honest enough to say he'd just order from Online Outboards and then mark it up and he didn't feel right doing that. Above 20hp it was worth it but the smaller portables weren't.
Yes. Now that you mention it, availability was also an issue they mentioned and again, it was Online Outboards and Tohatsu Direct that my guy said buys them all up. Because the Cabela's in these parts never have them in stock.
