Buying an engine from Malaysia or Indonesia

[vermonter55]

Searching for a yanmar RE power for my J-40, ads pop up for Inboard Engine Sale.com in Jakarta, or Malaysia, for a substantial discount, seemingly offering all the bells and whistles including transmission and control panel, with free shipping. Has anyone tried these distributors?

[Reefmagnet]

There's been the odd story over the years. The overall gist is that while not necessarily a scam, you'll be hit with so many post sales fees and charges that any savings worth the angst will most likely be none existent.


Here's a previous discussion on this site:

https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...om-235404.html

[FPNC]

This is a scam. All you need to do is call or e-mail the engine manufacturer and ask if this site is an authorized dealer for that brand engine.

[Tsuru]

A friend repowered his boat a couple years ago with a similar engine.
To this day he regrets that he went with a local dealer.
He chose to go with a local dealer, for aftermarket service and warranty. All of which never materialized. He looked into the import engine enough to determine the duty and shipping details (which were not significant).

I agree with the general consensus “If it appears to be to good to be true it probably is” but it’s hard to get a baseline cost of that engine here in the US. The lack of transparency makes it difficult for a layperson to determine the cost.

The OP’s question was “ Has anyone tried these distributors?”. In this and the linked thread no one had. One poster provided good information in regards to doing business in Indonesia (or most likely any developing nation). But otherwise, no first or even second person information.

I’m happily retired but at some point I worked for a large multinational company that built and operated equipment. It was common to use exchange rate, vat, and other legal variables to buy identical equipment in other nations. This was done for various reasons, but mostly bottom line value. On a personal note we have friends that in better times flew from New Zealand to the US west coast to visit. They commented how much cheaper a round trip ticket was departing from New Zealand than the US. I never really checked but have the perception that the cost was based on the exchange rate and what the market will bear. I don’t really know but is this the same type of thing?

[Compass790]

Originally Posted by vermonter55

Searching for a yanmar RE power for my J-40, ads pop up for Inboard Engine Sale.com in Jakarta, or Malaysia, for a substantial discount, seemingly offering all the bells and whistles including transmission and control panel, with free shipping. Has anyone tried these distributors?

Wise of you to ask.
I certainly wouldnt want to be the guinea pig.