I am looking for comments or information about Sterndrive Engineering
Incorporated (SEI) aftermarket outdrives, out of central Florida. This
message will be sent to SEI as well so some of these questions may not be
applicable to the newsgroup, and vice versa.

Background:

The company started selling NEW aftermarket Alpha 1 Gen I drives in the
fall of last year. The price for a complete drive is $1195 (or $595 for
an upper and $695 fo a lower). Units come with a one year warranty.
Units are completely interchangeable with the mercruiser alpha 1 gen 1
(although SEI doesnot recommend using mixed gear sets)

The companys web site is:

www.sterndrive.cc


Group:

First of all, anyone in the group have ANY experience with these drives?
What are your feeling of an aftermarket drives in general. Will there be
mechanics refusing to warranty their work on such drives? Aside from the
obvious potential of getting an inferior product, what are some other
pitfalls? If you have an alpha one setup would you consider purchasing
an aftermarket drive? Why or why not?


Justin Webb of SEI:

You have a one year warranty, great. But it's in "legalspeak" so it seems
a bit vague, can you explain without the legalspeak how it works? How
does it compare with Mercruisers new or rebuilt warranties? If I have a
warranty claim can my local certified mercruiser mechanic determine the
cause of failure, or do I need to send the unit back to you? If I don't
have to ship the drive back, will you pay for the cost of the repair, or
ship a new unit out upon the mechanics determination? If I have to ship
your unit back under warranty, will you ship another unit out immediately,
or will you wait until you receive and examine my outdrive which could
amount to weeks of down time, a VERY precious a commodity for great lakes
boaters.

Speaking of warranty repairs. How many units have you sold? How many
have been sent back for repairs. How many of those sent back have been
covered by the warranty. What was the average turnaround time between
receipt of the outdrive, and when the verdict of coverage was rendered.
Once a unit is deemed to be covered under warranty what is SEI course of
action?

I have two boats, both running identical alpha setups (260HP V8 Alpha
1.47:1 uppers). I am looking to replace the outdrive on at least one of
those boats if not both. Do you have any volume pricing? I'd potentially
be looking to buy three. One for each boat plus a spare.

ALL:

I will go on record as saying if these drives are even remotely as
reliable as the OEMs, it is a relative bargin. I'll probably pick at
least one up, just to find out for myself. I'll keep this group posted if
I do, and how its working out.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Bob Dimond