Dave's Marine Services

This is the third year in a row that I've taken my boat to Dave's Marine Services in Garner on Hwy 70. Every time I take the boat in, I get honest, timely feedback, at which point repairs are my choice. I always choose to have Dave/Team work on my boat because they are friendly, inexpensive and trustworthy. Dave's is growing as people hear about their reliable/affordable marine services, so I would encourage you not to turn a boat in the same week you want it back. Certainly don't complain about their great work taking quality time away from your schedule. Dave's expertise will save you commas in the long run, since he's been in the industry for decades and has developed a foundation of knowledge designed to find the lowest cost, highest reliability for solutions to your boat's problems. You'll find someone who can do it quicker, probably, but good luck finding someone better.
5 7 years ago (16-04-2018)

If i could give fewer stars, I would. I could write a book on all the reasons why not to go here, but after 6 months of them having my boat and not fixing it, i found a new place that has it working like new (and only took 5 days)!
1 7 years ago (12-01-2018)

Very friendly, dropped my skis off around 9am , to program the keys they got them ready around 12 I was suspicious to go there at first because of the bad reviews, but very friendly personnel ! Definitely will go there again !!!
5 7 years ago (26-02-2018)

RUN, DON'T WALK, AWAY FROM THIS PLACE!!! My boat was having issues going into forward gear. I was told by Dave's that it was out of adjustment and to adjust was $130. I was also informed that my prop shaft was bent and needed to be replaced. They quoted me a total of $600-$800 for everything. According to Dave's the boat would be ready in a few weeks. A few weeks passed and when I followed up, I found out that they were waiting on hard-to-find parts. This was not a big deal since I was not in a big rush. Approximately two months later I got a phone call saying that my boat was finally ready and that I owed $2,000! This was the first time I heard that the cost of repairing my boat, including parts, was two times the original estimate. I pushed back and we agreed on a total payment of $1,500 .. which is after Dave's made me feel like I was the bad guy in the situation. I picked up the boat and paid the agreed upon $1500. I put the boat on the water today and guess what?! NO FORWARD GEAR. I gave Dave's a call to see if there was a fine adjustment or anything else I could do so I was not stuck on the lake. The guy who answered the phone yelled to someone, presumably the owner in the back, that I'm on the phone and am broken down on the lake. I could clearly hear the owner's response to the guy who answered... "Tell him he didn't pay his bill and to go **** himself" Yep, go **** himself. The guy on the phone repeated the response he was instructed to say and hung up on me. I called back and got no answer. Now I'm out $1,500 and my boat is in the same position that it was when I initially brought it to Dave's. If you actually read the review this far I would hope your next step will be to find someone else to fix your boat.
1 10 years ago (24-06-2015)

I started going to a local parts store, they were able to find the alternator that they said belonged on my boat, but it was about $300. That seemed high to me so I decided to keep looking. I went to another boat shop in Garner and the guy there said the “office people” had left for the day and they didn’t sell parts anyway, shooed me away and sent me to the next guy down the street, thats were I found Dave. Dave, was not only friendly he was helpful. I showed up at his shop at around 4:20PM. Stuck my head in the shop and he was the first person I met. Dave stopped what he was doing and came over to me and asked how he could help, he didn’t ask me what I needed, he asked me how HE could help. Its a subtle difference, but an accurate predictor of how the rest of our time together would go. I told him what I was doing and asked him for advice or suggestions. Dave, took me in the office and when he heard how much the parts store wanted for the alternator he spent no less than thirty minutes helping me find the right alternator from the company he recommends, all while knowing that he wasn’t going to make a dime off of the deal because I was reinstalling it myself. Dave had to reference at least two different books and pulled up about 50 different pictures of alternators and the backs of them to determine which one I needed. Ultimately we fount the exact replacement alternator this company and it was less than half the price I had originally been quoted, $75 delivered. Needless to say, Dave has made a customer for life out of me. I'll be looking for something that needs to be repaired on my boat just to be able to take it to him.
5 10 years ago (09-06-2015)