I handle the maintenance and repair for approx 10 small outboard motors for my sailing club. When I can't figure it out, I take it to Specialty. They have always treated me fairly. Sometimes takes a little longer to complete than I would like, but I've never asked for a "rush" or a priority response. Scott is an honest and responsive guy. read more

If used Specialty many times when operated by Eric the previous owner. He and his crew were awesome. Today my outboard failed early at Anacapa and had to motor back on the kicker. Frustrating for sure. I decided to stop at Specialty for the repair, meet the new owner and price out and possibly purchase a new Honda 200. One of the workers came out and told me the owner would be right with me. He was working in the cabin of a boat right out front. This owner scott completely blew us off while we waited for over 30 minutes?? Never even said a word to me as i stood right there? He then kept looking out the window as if to see if we were still there? His worker told him he had customers waiting three times and the owner blew him off as well? The worker just shook his head. What kind of business does this? Being a native 805 waterman, I actually know many commercial and sport boaters in the area. They will learn on my experience with this guy. This place does not deserve any business whatsoever. Stay away! You have been warned. read more

Scott is a great guy to communicate with. He is honest, knowledgeable, and reasonable. Hunter worked on my Yamaha outboard and got me fast results. Best experience with a boat mechanic shop by far. Will be coming back very soon I'm sure as I have 3 boats, and can't do it all. Good job boys! read more

Specialty Marine - Outboard running tits - Boat Repair Near Me - Oxnard, California

i worked with the crew to help with the installation of the e prop motors and hydraulics for the 28' pontoon boat we built amazing guys and great service read more

Scott at Specialty Marine did a great job on a re-power on my 20 year-old Parker boat. Scott was Patient answering my questions and providing me the information I needed to make an informed decision on choosing the right motor and set up for my boat. I shopped around and discovered Specialty Marine had the best price for my new motor. Scott's estimated was spot on without any surprises. I would without reservation recommend Specialty marine to anyone Looking for a top quality marine shop for sales or service. read more

Specialty Marine - Boat Repair Near Me - Oxnard, California

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My Honda 2.3hp outboard had a mystery illness that caused it to die after starting. Scott kept at it and finally figured out that the problem was a defective fuel cap. It was replaced under warranty at no charge. Scott and Specialty Marine are awesome! read more

Only spoke with them on the phone, but Specialty Marine did not really impress me with their knowledge and customer focus. I was looking to buy a small quantity of grease for use reassembling an old outboard engine. I phoned Specialty Marine hoping they would know their grease, and perhaps sell me some for my little Evinrude. Unfortunately, the man who answered did not seem able to tell me what kind of grease was appropriate, first telling me "just go to an auto parts store" and then "Get some trailer grease. That's waterproof." So then I asked "If you were working on my engine, is that what you would use?" "No!" A snort, and a guffaw. "Well, what would you use?" "I'd use Honda grease. From a big tub. I'm a Honda dealer. Doesn't really matter. They're all the same." "Well, okay, what kind of grease is that? Is there a spec or something? Is it like an SAE 90 grease?" Silence. And then: "I don't have time for this." Fair enough. From the other reviews, it is apparent that they do indeed have bigger fish to fry. So I will give them credit for hanging with me for all of about a minute, but beyond that, the cavalier attitude and lack of patience would definitely make me think twice before doing business with them. read more

I Contacted Suzuki Marine direct at 714-996-7040 when Eric was not answering his phone when calling to check on my outboard on Thursday 7-25-19. Suzuki even tried calling him - we just got voicemail. Eric said he was out sick, it happens, I understand that. But if business stops completely when he is out sick, and during his posted business hours, you question both his concern for the customer, or his confidence is his crew to answer the phone and do business without him. We need to be able to reach someone, anyone, during business hours to give us a progress update on our expensive outboard. For Honda Marine Customer Care - 770-497-6400 Talking with Suzuki Marine I explained I would drive up the next day and see whats happening. Suzuki asked me to keep them informed - (they do keep record, and care about customer issues with their dealers). When I arrived Eric had the lower part of my outboard on a table, severely damaged from a rope with a large metal clip on the end, that the prop picked up while in his water tank when they were running the outboard. A large chunk of metal was missing, and several chips, dings, paint damage, prop damage, and scuff marks which were not there before. My like new outboard in near perfect condition with no more than 25 hours on it, was just a mess. When Eric walked away his worker showed me the rope and clip that he pulled out of the test tank. Just UNBELIEVABLE !!! I'm still in disbelief, and so was Suzuki when I called to let them know what happened, and that I have pictures for them. Worst Part - Eric was NOT saying "I'm very sorry this happened, I promise I will fix it to your satisfaction, and give it back to you in the same condition you left it with me" NOPE, just said he will fix it and it was their fault. I'm attaching photos showing the damage, and how my outboard was returned to me, still with damaged areas, a horrible repair, scuff marks on the plastic housing, and prop not replaced like he said. Instead he said he had it professionally repaired. But as the pictures show it still has chips and missing paint, wavy cavitation plate where chunk came off. Now Eric did not charge me for the impeller and it's housing being replaced, and rightly so. But he should have also returned my outboard in the same condition he received it - BUT it was cheaper for him to make me think I was getting something, a trade off for damaging my outboard - when actually the few hundred saved on the service I cannot use to correctly fix my outboard. Eric knows he got off cheap - compared to replacing the parts he damaged, a little liquid metal, bondo, and labor saved him hundreds. When I asked him if he had insurance to cover the damage he said he had a $5,000 dollar deductible, and the lower part of my outboard would cost him $1,500, and he made comment about that cost to him on a job that came in for impeller service. He didn't want to pay for his workers mistake, he said he could liquid weld back together the outboard - which he did - and you can see the repair. My outboard had just been washed the day before I dropped it off, when I picked it up it was filthy. And while speaking with Eric before the repair was done, he starts talking for some reason about getting out of this business, and how his rental properties are most of his income, not this business, and there is no one to take over - THANK GOD !!! I have never seen a case of burn out this bad before, and case of just not really giving a hoot about the customer. It's all about Eric. I ALSO DID PASS THIS INFO ON TO SUZUKI - THEY NEED TO KNOW THERE IS SOMETHING SERIOUSLY WRONG WITH THIS GUY. When I picked up my outboard Monday 8-5-19 Eric says to me "I think I should be able to charge you our regular price now for service" "Since we fixed it like new" Which you can see in the pictures is not true. A tactic by him to later make me think I got a deal when he handed me an invoice with zero's on it. He asked me it I was happy now, which I replied I would have rather paid for the service and not have a damaged outboard returned to me. I also told Eric the only recourse I have is that I have been speaking with Suzuki all along, and that I use Yelp. I gave him a chance to say let's take your outboard inside and give it a real good going over inspection and let me keep it until it's right. I immediately pointed out the prop looked bad, and they painted over the chips. But I realized this was the best Eric was going to do, and I just need to pay him and go. My outboard was here before for impeller and parts replacemnet 3 years ago, and that's what ended up needing to be done again. And 3 years ago there were no issues, so if you think your safe with a dealer you have used in the past I would suggest looking at their recent YELP reviews to see if anything has changed. And even contact Suzuki or Honda or Yelp the 5 star dealers and go to them no matter how far you have to drive. read more

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went because impeller install/ carb flooding, Boat ran great!! went to ck. out progress , scott put in spark plugs! without asking me or running the motor, when I dropped it off he asked me how it ran? I said like a clock, he said everybody says that!, going to another shop to see if he put them in at all , if he didn't will post ,wouldn't even run my boat when I pick it up to ck. carb contacted BBB and reported him. he already has complaints, happy boating otherwise, oh boat impeller was not put in!! told me one $ the day before pic, when I got there 100s were added( Impeller was not put in) no guarantee from carb shop or paper work read more

Specialty Marine - Boat Repair Near Me - Oxnard, California

Scott, the owner is very customer service oriented. He treats his customers so that I had no reservations returning to him. He got my boat into the shop quickly. The repair looks good. The shop is easy to get you boat in and out of. read more

I am so happy to found Eric he's the best of all. I'm at San Pedro and I drove 90 miles to get Specialty marine. Eric is most honest person I ever met in this marine industry. And he's coworker Hector is hardest worker I ever saw. He put my new Honda Outboard motor in 4 hours none stop straight work to finished. I saved over $2000 and 2 weeks of times compared to other Honda dealers. read more

Leaving this review because I was made aware of the new management here. I think they deserve some positive feedback. New owners are really knowledgeable and went above and beyond in helping me find the parts I needed. Also transparent in what they could and couldn't do for me--much appreciated. Thanks guys! read more

Scott took the time to answer my questions and I very much appreciate him going out of his way for me. Thanks Scott, you've earned my business! read more

This shop is not skilled in handling anything except Honda, no Certified Technicians outside Honda to do anything else. They are happy to Lie and remove Parts from a carb and clean it, aside they have no parts for services on anything outside a Honda. Scott and Hunter have no knowledge to diagnose or experience to know enough to allow on a Vessel costing over 20k. I strongly believe they are the worst shop I have had to experience and do not recommend unless you have a Honda outboard or generator. Left me disgusted wasting money and time. read more

Eris is a AWESOME guy and his boat shop Specialty Marine has worked on two of my boats including a total Re-power, has Re-powered a couple friends boats and now is Re-powering my Uncles boat as well ! His crew of Mechanics do a great job and have always finished my work in a timely manner. Also his prices are the Best ! These 5 Stars are well deserved many times over as I can be a difficult customer at times since I don't know as much as I think I do and Eric is very good about outlining what really is needing to be done.. Thank you to Specialty Marine for always getting the job done above my expectations and for being nice to my pocket book as well ! read more

This place is awesome. Eric is very knowledgeable very honest and customer service oriented. He has most parts in stock and if not he will get them in a day or so. His prices are fair. I tried dealing with another Honda dealer but found Specialty Marine to be a much better choice. read more

These guys are great, super honest, kind, hardworking. My first time there was incredible, so glad I found them.

What a great company and what can I say about the owner, Scott. He worked with me and the results are amazing. Recommend highly for your marine service needs. read more

Love this place. Poker faced service from a crew of few words,, but it's all upfront and the best prices from really good people. They usually beat internet prices out-the-door. Because of Honda company policy,, ya have to pick it up in person, they or any other dealer can't ship the outboard to you. Parts yes, but the motor no. Honda is just about the last builder of small and medium HP outboards outside of Tohatsu. Ya buy a Mercury,, it's a Tohatsu with a Mercury label. Same with Yamaha and the most the rest except Honda. Pay a few bucks more and get the Honda. Ya get what ya pay for with outboard motors. Speciality Marine has that Honda ya want in stock and it's new, fresh in the box. They back it up with a 5 year warranty for no extra cost. No fairy tales with warranty service on all their lines they carry. They install and rig on your boat with skill too. Speciality also carries Suzuki outboards featuring the insane DF300 which is all the rage in the fishing world. Forget the ridiculous Etec or Omnimax,, roll with the 'Zuki DF300 for mind blowing performance with proper resale value and a serious 3 + 3 = 6 year warranty. Everyone knows this is the best place with the best prices and service on generators and outboards in the South West. Speciality Marine services all brands. Look for their sign on 5th street guiding you to the back of the complex to their shop past the school buses. read more

I wish I could explain how amazing Specialty Marine has been. We ordered a motor for our coaches launch. (We a rowing up in the Chanel Islands harbor) They helped us with transportation of our launch. They cleaned our launch and installed the new motor and control box so fast and with so much expertise. I will only buy from Specialty Marine. Such an amazing experience I wish everything in life was like them. Awesome read more

If you have ever dealt with a marine mechanic you know timeliness is not their strong suit. We dropped off our boat today and within the same day they have already gotten back to us about what the problem is AND 90% of the work is already done! We are very impressed and will definitely be coming back read more

Eric and his crew got me back on the water in a timely fashion with excellent quality work. I purchased a Honda 150HP to replace my 175 HP Johnson 2 stroke. I honestly couldn't be happier with these guys. read more

Been dealing with Specialty and crew for 25+ years. Bought all my outboards from Eric and he has always been fair and reliable. Last 3 years, I had them install a complete flowscan system in my Davis, Dashboard overhead for my electronics, and recently re seal my DP out drive. These guys have bailed me out an several occasions and get the job done. Appreciate the service all these years. Cheers, Jimbo AKA Badger read more

After having our boat fail us at the dock, we didn't know what to do. It was early (7:30am)and no one was open. We drive by Specialty Marine and after a 5 min. Diagnosis, we were informed that it was airlock and instead of replacing the fuel pump, the gentleman sent us on our way. By far the most honest Marine mechanic I've ever met. He saved our day and we are now off to go chase down some fish!!!!! Stand up business with honest , knowledgeable and professional services!!! read more

DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT TRUSTING YOUR BOAT OR EVEN A DINGHY WITH THESE CROOKS. Took a 19 foot Glastron to be checked out. Specifically for an oil service and bad gas fumes. The trailer needed new bearings and the 2 small side guides carpeted and 2 saftey chains installed. (No price quoted,uuugghh,my fault) Was told carburetor was leaking and needed an $8 part and hour to install. So far so good. Then I pick the boat up and they want $1500. 9 hours of labor with no break down. $300 for bearings, not gold plated either. Haha. Just a complete rip off thru and thru. To top it off, the oil was never changed. Apparently they couldn't suck the oil from the dipstick because of a baffle?, so they changed the filter and added 1 quart of 20/50 standard oil to the 60 hour old 5/30 synthetic. Cmon,REALLY!? The funny thing is I, with 3 fused discs, was able to put a 99cent foil turkey pan under the engine and drain the oil then suck oil from the pan. The finale, when i get the boat home I immediately smell gas. The storage locker has 1/4 inch of gas sloshing around. Really guys?!? I should have known by the lack of other boats there for service . I hafta guess that the people saying that they are good and honest are reviews just contrived and written by friends and family. Stay away, I sure wish I had. Still difficult to sit down. read more

Garbage!!!! Stay Far Away!!!! -20 stars should be best for these clowns!!! Biggest scam shop I have ever been to hands down. Long story short, Owner, Eric is a rude POS Mechanic, Oren, either.....Doesn't know $hit about $hit, or was in on the scam. First thing he tells me, sounds like a bad block...WTF, proceeds to quote me an engine change while the boat is still hooked to my truck..... but says we'll trouble shoot it first. No $hit fella...(my bad for not running then, I know) Took the boat in for a carb rebuild (I chased it to that point) Told they must first trouble shoot it....Fair. Called me, said yes it's the carb, ordering rebuild kit now. Cool. Call me later with a laundry list of parts hey threw at it, none of which was a carb rebuild. (Changed some gaskets is the closest thing to carb work they did. Sorry, your boat is doing exactly what it did when you dropped it off......but we need $600 for what we've done so far.....WTF, oh but we can get you a new carb for another $450. Then, put it all in writing, "Carb is too badly corroded and not serviceable" WTF again. Called 5 card shops, nobody agreed with this diagnosis.. Brought the carb to an awesome shop, not naming them here but they were saviors. I brought the work order and carb to them. Instantly, "your getting F-ed over buddy. Pulled the carb apart real quick, clean as a whistle. "Just needs a rebuild" I have them proceed. Called me 2 days later saying the carb is GTG and pressure tested, all good. I return to Specialized Marine (where the boat is being held captive) Talked to Eric, with all this documented from his shop and the carb shop. Proceeds to Curse me out in front of his entire staff, because he got caught and it was all on paper. Carb shop saved me and proved this companies bullshit practices. Eric's rude ass kicked me out because I was calling them out and he knew they got caught. Meanwhile, took the boat to the carb shop, they installed my rebuilt carb, hooked it up, boat ran amazing!!!! Please take my advise and avoid this stressful experience. I've never written a Yelp review but this had to be shared so I can hopefully save someone. read more

On a recommendation from a friend I took my Tohatsu 6hp to Eric because I had oil coming out of the prop area. Now one must understand that this is Friday afternoon before a 3 day weekend. I was figuring on dropping the motor off and rowing ashore on our weekend getaway to Santa Cruz Island. Eric took the engine and placed it on a stand and started checking things. He drained and filled the lower unit, which was in good shape. He took the top cover off and inspected the carb and hoses. He put it into the test tank and fired the engine right up. After that he checked and topped up the motor oil. Turns out the oil came from the engine which was coming out the exhaust (center of the prop). The reason for all the trouble was that I laid the engine down on the wrong side for too long and engine oil went through to and down the exhaust and out the prop. MY BAD. Eric did all of this in about 30 mins and sent me on my way a very happy camper. Definitely visit Eric for great customer service! Bill read more

These guys are great. I took my boat to the other big shop in town and was repeatedly disappointed with outboard and customer service. Not the case with this shop. The prices are fair and the work is excellent. read more

I had a great experience purchasing a new Honda 90 Outboard at Specialty Marine. Eric is a genuine person that gets the job done. They did a great job on the installation on my 17' Montauk. They had it ready in about 3 days and I was back out on the water the next day. Good prices here on Honda Outboards and great customer service. Can't recommend this local shop enough, check them out! read more

Went to see Eric a couple times for motor and parts advice. He was knowledgeable and extremely helpful. Fixed our motor on the spot! Will definitely go back and recommend him if you're having issues with your boat or engines!! read more

I took an older outboard motor in . Just stopped running. It turned out the impellor went bad and it over heated. They replaced the impellor and told me it ran great . It was $400. I trailered the boat back to the marina and could hardly get my boat back to my slip because it ran so poorly. After 4 trips back to the shop and a lot of smoke blown up my ass it turned out I had water in one of the cylinders due to a cracked block. Motor is trash. Misdiagnosis and a waste of time and money. Wouldn't recommend these guys read more

It's been a few years since I last posted about Specialty Marine and Eric continues to go above and beyond. Recently I launched with my grandson looking forward to a day fishing at the islands. After leaving the dock we realized we had no steering. We buttoned up and intended to leave the boat at Specialty Marine as we have experienced exceptional service from them for years. Eric immediately jumped on the boat and diagnosed the problem. After bleeding some air that had gotten into the hydraulic steering, we were sent on our way. They saved the day and we experienced that precious time together on the water. I would not take my boat to anyone else for service or repairs. read more

Eric is the real deal! A totally honest and ethical person. I've bought 3 new 50 and 60 hp outboards from him and he did impeccable installations ...and when anything went wrong (even if it was my fault on the weekends), he showed up and fixed the problem. Highly recommended!!!! read more

I'm not one to leave many reviews but I'm pretty irritated and thought this needed to be said. I took my boat there to be diagnosed for a motor issue which they called me quickly to tell me it was the carbs. I had them do the cleaning and fix the leak that they suggested. I took the boat out a few days later and it only worked half the day. I am not an expert but thought this was wierd as they just worked on it. I called them and Scott said they would have to charge me even to look at it. I called them a few weeks later to get the boat in and he said to bring it in in the new year. I waited two weeks and I called in the new year and he said he would call me back for an appointment. He never called. I took it to a different mechanic and he said the work done on the carbs was done wrong. It makes sense as the motor barely worked after picking it up from specialty marine. I'm not sure if anybody else has had issues but I will never be bringing my boat back here. Horrible work and service. read more

The worst experience I have had at a boat shop yet. The 1997 outboard that I have had for over a year had a fuel problem while we were on vacation in Channel Islands. I thought we could have this shop look at it since they are the Suzuki shop listed in the area. The mechanic bad mouthed the work done by my local mechanic who rebuilt the engine 2 years ago. Telling me that fuel pumps were installed backwards and plumbed incorrectly. Since I work on my own engine as well and personally replaced the fuel lines myself I know this not to be true. Eric stated that he had taken pictures and video of the pumps installed backward. Later on when asked for the pictures, I was told in a dismissive tone, there were none. The problem was worn reed valves in each pump. Had nothing to do with how they were installed or plumbed. To replace two fuel pumps and a thermostat cost $916.00. They charged me 5 hours labor on a job that should have taken 2 or 3 hours. They were never friendly, never apologized for bad mouthing my mechanic, nor were eager to help. the mechanic who did the work was extremely unpleasant on the phone and treated me not like a customer but rater a bother. I never found him helpful nor courteous. The boat stopped running 20 minutes after I put it back in the water after these guys got done with it. Go figure. I don't trust them with their work, the time they charge to do that work, or the results of their work. I will not take my boat back to this place EVER. After my boat failed to run after they got done with it, I took it out of the water, put it on the trailer and brought it right back to my mechanic. All else equal, I would rather be frustrated by a boat motor with a good mechanic on the job rather than have to deal with a boat motor AND a bad mechanic. I do not suggest using Specialty Marine at all unless padded rates and poor service is your cup of tea. At almost a $1000.00 for this work, I would expect to be treated well. The whole experience was rotten as well as resulting in me needing to bring the boat back home to my mechanic. read more

I needed a gas tank and all the accessories for it to hook up to the engine of a Honda boat motor....I called before going over to the store to check availability and prices. The gentleman I spoke to was very nice and gave me pricing and also said he'd give me the fitting i needed for what I understood to be no charge. He said, "oh, I'll just give you the fitting". To me that means no charge especially when I'm already asking about pricing. Anyway, he quoted me a line for $15 and a gas tank for $30. Well, when I got there, the prices had all changed...the tank was $54, but I got double the capacity he quoted me for so I can deal with that, but the line was not $15, it was $32 and there was a connector that he didn't tell me about on the phone that was $30, and then he charged me for the fitting which was $20. By the time it was said and done, my $50 quote ended up costing me $135 (w/out tax)!!! When I asked about the prices he quoted me on the phone, he simply didn't respond, walked away and had his employee check me out. I feel really deceived and taken advantage of. I was wanting to give him the business because he's a local business and the competitor is corporate, but with the experience I had I would not go back. I'll give my money to corporate...which would've sold me the exact same set up for $100 incidentally. At least he wasn't downright rude, but that's not enough of a bonus to give any more stars. read more

Specialty Marine did a great job replacing the engine in my 26' stern drive boat - high quality work, completed quickly for a very reasonable price. They are very knowledgeable and work efficiently. I recommend them for anyone needing work done on their boat. read more

Took my 20hp Suzuki outboard for repair. The guys at Specialty Marine were knowledgeable and friendly. The best part was the turn around. Seems my outboard was housing a family of mice. They ate the wiring and basically made a mess in the engine compartment. I took it in on a Wednesday late afternoon before they closed I figured it would take a week or two....well it was competed on Saturday early morning, two and a half day turn around!!!! Wow!!! They cleaned out the mess, rewired with a new harness, did a complete tune up and even loaded it into my van. I highly recommend Specialty Marine. read more

I am an avid independent marine outboard mechanic and I find Specialty Marine to be the most knowledgable Honda people around. They have the experience and the resources to tackle big and small problems and have never been stingy with their knowledge. I have made many purchases of materials and outboards from them and I find them reasonable and well worth developing a relationship with. Eric and his staff simply know Hondas and have seen a lot. Give them a shot and I think you will be pleased read more

Have been going there for 15 years with 3 different boats. Work done on time and reasonably priced. They are honest and won't add on extra unnecessary work. Always helpful for advice and questions. I wish all mechanics ran their businesses like Eric- read more