My initial complaint was that the boat would come up on plane normally, full throttle, but in a very short time would lose rpm and at times shut off. They had the boat for 2 months. The initial diagnosis was a failed high pressure fuel pump. That was replaced, I questioned them on this because the pump had enough power to give me my normal rpm to get on plane. They told me that pressure was too low and was leaking fuel back into VST tank. Fair enough. They also diagnosed that the throttle centering sensor was also bad. That was replaced. The third problem found was that the thermostat was stuck wide open. That was fixed and needed to be fixed. I authorized all of those repairs. The last information I received was that the primer bulb was collapsing. Hummm, could have had some impact on an engine starving of fuel. I called for an update within a few days and the boat was ready. The bill totaled $1934 before taxes and credit card fees, I authorized all of it. I received the boat back on 3 Oct, 2022. Then next day I changed the oil. I noticed that the primer bulb had been replaced, I checked the bill and found no mention of it and they did not tell me when I picked my boat up. Might that have been the initial problem? May well have been. I don't think they are dishonest, just not equipped to diagnose my Yamaha outboard. On last thought, communication from them is next to zero. This has not been a good experience for me and I don't think I will use them again! read more

After hurricane Sally damaged our boat, we were at a loss as to where to bring our boat for repairs. We chose Panhandle as they could take the boat immediately. We did not have any expectations as to how long it would take to do repairs, but we certainly did not think it would take 5 MONTHS just to do the estimates ! We made dozens of calls over those months to inquire about the status. We got the runaround every time. When we finally received the estimate, it was over $44,000 ! We had only paid $75,000 for the boat a year before. Even though we had been without our boat for all those months, we decided to get a second repair estimate. We thought that amount was outrageous! We then proceeded to pick up our boat at the shop. The owners told us that we could take the boat, but that they were going to charge us $1000 for doing the estimate. We said absolutely NO! The owner and his son got immediately defensive and the wife even got in my face. They proceeded to LOCK US IN THE YARD AND WOULD NOT LET US LEAVE UNTIL WE PAID!! My husband called the sheriffs office and they showed up a few minutes later. After speaking to us and the owners of Panhandle Marine, we finally settled on $500 to release our boat. We were furious!!! We took the boat down the road to Auer Marine in Fort Walton and they accepted the boat and had the estimate and repairs done in less than two months AND at a cost of $12,000, thats $32,000 LESS THAN PANHANDLE!!! DO NOT TAKE YOUR BOAT TO PANHANDLE MARINE!!!!!!! read more

Friendly knowledgeable staff. Diagnosed my merc engine problem over the phone and told me how to fix it. This was after we left another merc dealer who "fixed" another issue and said he couldn't figure out what was now going wrong (turned out to be an unsecured throttle cable in the engine - which they caused). We never used Panhandle before, but it will definitely be our 'go to' place for merc engine repair. We personally went to the shop to meet Scott to say thanks. read more

Horrible, horrible customer service. Brought My boat over there to get the motor properly running right and to hook up some controls. Had it for four to five months. Finally he called and said they didn't want to work on it. The motor ran and turned over when we brought it to them. And when I picked it up from them and boat didn't even have spark plugs in it anymore. They Said they did a compression test on it and now they're saying they didn't do anything but they still charged me $100. For what??? The day after we picked it up we left several messages with no return phone calls. Called again and he hung up the phone on me!! Don't deal with these shady people. read more

Stopped in to pick up some parts for a Mariner. I guess they are they only game in town. I tried Auer first. Had to ask a guy that was obviously put-out by me not already knowing where the parts were sold. Went in the tiny waiting area. There was a customer reading a magazine with no help in sight. After a quite a few minutes I decided that rather than get all angry about the rude/ slow service I could just get it from the internet at a fraction of the cost in a couple of days. There are essentially 2 boat parts place in Ft. Walton. Auer and the internet. read more

They price gouge here!!! Beware! Their diagnostic fee is 200.00 and they charge 100.00 per hour for labor! They need to get real!

Price gouging is the best way to describe Pandlehandle Marine. Beware of the high diagnostic fee which is added to the repair bill.

This shop does amazing honest work. First we took our boat to another shop who overcharged us and gave us back a boat that still didn't work. Panhandle marine tested all the parts the other shop had replaced to find out those parts didn't even need replacing. They also told us the previous shop had put on the wrong flywheel and over filled the oil. Panhandle marine fixed our boat and charged less than a 1/3 of the price of other shops. read more

I only gave one star because I had to!! $1000 later I was told that they could not fix my boat! I brought it home and have a "boat mechanic" fix the problem, including the problem they created, as well as going through my engine, for a mere $250! My mechanic, while being polite, wondered why the nuts on my lower unit were "chewed up" and one was even missing! Not mention my boat was full of grease and black film from a fire a couple stalls down the way! And I had to reroll my Bimini top up in the rain as they had used it and merely folded it back! Horrible doesn't even do their service justice! My dumb ass paid them! Don't take my word! Go to the dock and ask around. They will tell you another horror story! You have been warned! read more