I would not recommend doing business with this place at all. first off gave him a call to ask about rebuilding my Mercury motor 97 225 EFI. said yes nows a great time cause I'll be open to get it done right away. as im just finishing up a boat and can get started next week. ok so drove the 2 hours north on a wednesday and talked to him BTW we have been texting about whats wrong with the motor. because I had just bought the boat with a bad motor. told him what the problem was from the last owner and what I wanted done. also said I'd like the motor to be gone threw from top to bottom. as the boat and motor had been sitting for over 2 years. Lee said yes I can do that. also wanted a new water pump installed and the gear lube in the lower unit changed out. which I was willing to pay for if additional cost's were not included with his guesstment from the quote of 4k to 6k 3 weeks later I call to check on things... told him who I was he had no idea who I was. ok I get that. told him my boat and oh yeah I had 2 boats in front of you and I'll be getting to the teardown this week... on give me a call and let me know what you find when tearing into it.. because if it going to be over the price's you gave me then i would just trash the motor and buy a used one for 6500. well a week goes by I call.... yeah I just got done honing the block (red flag) and that there are parts missing from this motor. IE the auto oil pump. I said I was given that from the last owner its in a cup in the boat by the steering wheel... he said I cant find it. ok can you order that he said well there's a gear that is unavailable and I can't find it anymore. I start my search.... found the gear in Canada had it express shipped to him.250 bucks total also had an oil pump sent to him.2 day shipping 220 bucks total 2 weeks later I get a call you boat is ready for pickup... ok I can be there tomorrow. Lee. ok see ya then. I get there boats parked. we talk for a few mins head into the office to settle the bill... 6.575.00. not what I was quoted but ok. if he did a good job then its worth it. I checked it out. first off the trim switch doesn't work. that was bad to begin with and told him that. thats why i wanted the motor gone threw from top to bottom. so my statement fix it from top to bottom wasn't followed.(red flag) so he looks at it... was just a relay. he replaced it. worked then. also said he had run the motor for 25 mins at the shop after the rebuild and that it ran fine. all checked out. I asked how was the water pump he said oh I didn't change that cause it was working fine... (red flag) originally ask him to replace water pump. he said yeah I always do that with rebuilds. (red flag) which he didnt do like asked. so few days forward I'm ready for the break-in of the motor.. put the boat on the water start it up. not 3 mins go by alarm going off... oil light. there was a sheen of oil gas on the water like i've never seen before I'm thinking it was just from being rebuilt I called right away. he said it could be a sensor on the oil tank. said just unplug it..(red flag) said its more then likely cause the oil system hasn't primed yet. thinking to my self ah that should have been primed when you ran it for 25 mins (red flag) but was told to mix oil with the gas to be safe... ok I do that. back on the water. ran fine smoked but thats cause of the over oiling. followed the directions for break-in. step one problems alarms from oiler not working. step 2 ran ok for 30 mins then just randomly shuts down. alarm goes off no idea why. starts back up. now I'm heading back to the dock keeps dying no reason. hit a wake and boat bounced. died again. so I'm following the steps. I go to move the rpms about 2000 as stated. will not go over 2k RPM's. fill throttle and nothing. I texted him saying this motor has nothing but problems going on. and said these things should have been found during the 25 mins you ran it like you said you did. no response from him. I get the boat out of the water. come home and call another place to see if they can help me trouble shoot. btw this place doesn't do rebuilding just repairs. cause i'm not getting any thing back from him. the other place ask's me ?'s. check plugs. ok yeah old one's. they said not good. ok check fuel filter. yeah old one. also told them about that oil warning light. said it could be a sensor they said start by replacing those with new. ordered new plugs and I had a fuel filter from another motor. same filter #'s. replaced all that and it was recommended to drain what gas I had and to use fresh. so right now im at the point of waiting on the new oil sensor bottle to replace that. and to put gas in the boat and make it a 50'1 ratio to be safe while the break-in happens. ive texted and called no response and he's reading the texts im sending BTW. so here i am with a motor thats cost me 7 thousand dollars and its not even close to running right. i'm going to have to get someone else to fix read more

I would not recommend doing business with this place at all. Lee is the owner and I brought my Yamaha 1994 50 pro to be worked on. It had a gas leak coming from the crank seal. The reason I chose this marine shop is there was a sticker on the motor as he has serviced it before. As it turns out, he rebuilt the motor in 2004. When I brought the motor in, I told lee after doing research, and visibly seeing the leak it seemed to be the crankshaft seal. The paint was actually deteriorating in the exact spot where the leak was. When I brought it in, he looked at the motor and said he did rebuild it in 2004 and the crankshaft seal was not leaking. He said it was probably bad reeds or the seals by the reeds. I was like Ok so I left the motor. I did not hear from him for 2 weeks and called him and he said he would look at it this week. Adain, I did not hear from him in the next week and called. He said he would get to it this week which he did. He called me back and said, "Good news. The reeds were OK and the seals were bad." I was relieved. He charged me $375 and also fixed a collar on the outboard. I took the motor out the following week and the motor had the same gas leak. I called Lee and he said bring it in but he did not have time to do it for a few weeks so we agreed I would call him in a few weeks. In the meantime, I took the motor out 1 more time and made a video of the gas bubbling out from the crankshaft seal and then called him. He said bring it in which I did. I brought the motor in and he said he didn't have time to look at it today and I said OK but I need it back in 1 week as I had a fishing trip planned. Monday came around, no call. Tuesday no call. Late Tuesday I happen to be driving by the shop and decided to stop in. The boat was in the same place I left it and went into the shop. Lee told me he was too busy but he would work on it tomorrow and it is a big job. I explained a second time, I needed it by the weekend. He said he would call me tomorrow. Wednesday came around and no call so I called him again. He gave the same answer and said he was too busy and would get to it tomorrow. Thursday came around no call so I called him. Lee again said he was too busy, he would get to it tomorrow. I told him that I had the fishing trip planned and he keeps giving me the same answer. He told me to come pick up my fucking boat. I need not say anything else. This guy is condescending, unreliable, acon artist. Do not do business with this guy read more

do not ever use tristate marine in wauconda to work on your boat...after the 1st time we took it there mid summer he said it'd be ready in a few days, 2 weeks later i called him & asked what was up & he didn't even know my husbands name, told me our boat wasn't there!! sounds real organized, huh? so we finally get it back & he claims it was all fixed & we take it out & worse than when we brought it in. he did not offer to give money back but to look at it again, needless to say we've been without it. he keeps telling my husband each week it will be fixed & a new story, but never hear from him. i called him today & all he could do was say yeah i don't have any help, & i was out sick one day & i lost yesterday too!! really?? ummm i don't give a shit to hear your problems dude get my boat fixed or give me my money back!!! he said he will try to get to it this week like he always says. only 2 boats ahead of me! unbelievable!!! grrrrr don't say i didn't warn you, boat owners!! read more