Sending your EMM from the United Kingdom
What it costs, how long it takes, and who deals with the paperwork. Plainly, so you can decide before you pack anything.
The short answer
We collect and return EMMs from the United Kingdom every week, so this is routine traffic rather than a special case. Here is what actually happens.
Door to door
Typically about a week
DHL Express is typically one working day in transit each way. The repair itself is typically three to five working days after the module arrives. The rest is transit.
Paperwork
Handled at our end
We book the collection and prepare the customs documentation. You pack the module and hand it to the driver.
In transit
Tracked and insured, both legs
The shipment runs on our DHL account, so if something goes wrong in transit the claim is ours to chase rather than yours.
How it works
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1
Tell us the part number
It is printed on the label on the EMM housing. We confirm whether it is repairable and send you a fixed quote with shipping instructions.
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2
We book the collection
DHL Express collects from your address, or you drop it at a service point if that suits you better. An EMM weighs about half a kilo to a kilo and a half, so it is a small box.
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We repair and bench-test it
Diagnosis, component-level repair and a full bench test before anything goes back. Typically three to five working days after arrival.
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Back at your door
Returned by DHL Express with tracking, straight to the address it came from.
What it costs
Three things, and there is no fourth arriving later.
- —The repair. A fixed €532 ex VAT for modules under 100 HP and €596 ex VAT over 100 HP, agreed before we start. It does not move because the fault turned out to be more work than expected.
- —Shipping. Quoted live to your own address before you commit to anything, not estimated.
- —Card transaction costs, if you pay by card. A small percentage.
We do not charge European VAT on repairs for customers outside the EU, so the ex-VAT figure is what you pay us.
Quote my shipping costCustoms, and why the carrier matters
Since 2021 the United Kingdom has been outside the EU customs union, so a module coming to the Netherlands now needs full customs documentation rather than moving as freely as it once did. We prepare it at our end, so it is paperwork you never see.
This is the one part where we would push back on doing it yourself. Handed to a local carrier without the right documentation, a module can sit at the border, attract charges nobody expected, or simply be sent back to you. Use the DHL Express service we arrange and none of that is your problem. If a shipment does get queried we have an account manager we can call, and in practice those are resolved in a few days rather than weeks.
One thing to budget for
When the repaired module comes back into the UK, HMRC can charge import VAT on it, in the region of 10 to 20 per cent. It is collected by the carrier on delivery rather than by us, and we do see it happen, so budget for the possibility rather than being surprised by it.
What customers in the United Kingdom say
Fast, kept well informed, fixed the issue. Had to pay VAT charge when importing back to the UK which I hadn't factored into the costs, but still better value than a new one.
My Evinrude Etec 50hp failed completely and the issue was traced to a failure of the engine management system (EMM) which is both complex and expensive to repair or replace. A couple of acquaintances who had first hand experience of such failures recommended Hardware Care in the Netherlands as perhaps the world's leading authority for Evinrude EMM diagnostics and repair. After a brief email exchange with Sam pick up via DPD was arranged by them, I would thoroughly recommend letting them organise both collection and return which is both very efficient and cost effective particularly post Brexit when import / export can be an issue. The lead in time for repairs is a few weeks given they are very busy and there was a hiccup in this process because it was found that my EMM was damaged beyond repair with the route cause unknown. Apparently this is something of a rarity and to be honest Hardware Care's automated email responses were somewhat lacking in scenarios such as this. However when mistakes occur the sign of a good company is how they respond and on the back of my issues they produced a detailed plan on how they were going to overhaul their responses in such instances... very impressive. They were as good as their word and having sent them the relevant .edf file and a previous service diagnostics report (if at all possible make sure you have this data, it will save time and additional cost!) they reprogrammed a reconditioned unit and returned it in a timely fashion. To cut to the quick we installed the reconditioned EMM and to our delight the Etec started first time with no sign of the issues encountered when it failed. Hardware Care also added an Etec Service Diagnostics cable to enable me to download the relevant file and connect the three Etec's I own to my laptop by way of an apology and a thank you. All in all I would thoroughly recommend Hardware Care who provide a friendly professional guaranteed service with my outboard fixed at a significant saving over a new EMM if indeed you can get hold of one. To Sam and the team thank you.
Found Hardware Care online as there is nobody offering anything like this service here in the UK. They organised a courier and customs clearance and the whole thing was just super easy. Took a bit longer than expected but that could well have been because of the time of year (Christmas). Once the repair was completed I paid the bill and my EMM was on its way back. Make sure you keep a copy of your paperwork because the customs clearance department of DHL lost track of the details of my parcel, but once I forwarded them the original documents, then everything was cleared through customs and back on track. Received EMM the next day and plugged it in to find it worked perfectly. The only thing that Hardware Care could possibly do to make their service even better, would be to maybe include a few details about the hours run etc in a printout. This would be a useful addition ?. Very happy with Hardware Care and would have no problem recommending them 110% * * * * * * * * Just wanted to do a quick update as I feel its really important. The day I added my feedback, I was emailed by Hardware Care. They told me that they already had plans to do as I had suggested, regarding the data printout, and that if they sorted their system in time, I may be lucky and they would still have my data. Well guess what!? I WAS lucky and recieved an entire engine diagnostic printout within a couple of days!! AMAZING!! This has made my (already brilliant) Hardware Care experience unbeatable.
Is it worth sending it this far?
If being able to hand your module to somebody in person matters to you, a local shop has a real advantage we cannot match, and we would rather say that than pretend otherwise.
What we would put on the other side: a fixed price of €532 to €596 ex VAT, a 24-month warranty, no cure and no pay if the module turns out to be beyond saving, and a workshop where EMM repair is the whole business rather than one service among several.
The distance costs you a few days each way. That is usually the smallest number in the decision.
We also put our terms side by side with a US repair shop, price and warranty included.
Not sure yet? Ask us first.
Tell us which engine you have and what it is doing, and we will tell you honestly what we think, including if we think it is not worth repairing. We would rather say that before your module leaves the United Kingdom than after.
Common questions from customers in the United Kingdom
- How long does it take to send an EMM from the United Kingdom and get it back?
- The repair itself is typically three to five working days after the module arrives, and DHL Express carries it both ways. The repair time estimator gives a figure for your specific module rather than an average.
- How much does it cost to ship an EMM from the United Kingdom to the Netherlands?
- You get a live DHL Express round-trip rate to your own address before committing to anything, rather than an estimate. An EMM is a small parcel, roughly half a kilo to a kilo and a half. The repair itself is a fixed €532 ex VAT under 100 HP or €596 ex VAT over 100 HP.
- Do I pay European VAT on the repair?
- We do not charge European VAT on repairs for customers outside the EU, so what you pay us is the fixed repair price, the shipping quoted before you commit, and card transaction costs if you pay by card. Charges raised by your own country on arrival are collected by the carrier rather than by us — see the note in the customs section above.
- Who handles the customs paperwork?
- We do. We book the collection and prepare the documentation, including the commodity code and declaring the shipment as a repair rather than a sale. You pack the module and hand it to the driver.
- Is my EMM insured while it is in transit?
- Yes. Both legs move by DHL Express, tracked end to end, with the declared value covered. The shipment runs on our account, which means a transit claim is ours to chase rather than yours.
- Is it worth using a Netherlands workshop instead of a local repair shop?
- The distance costs a few days each way, which is usually the smallest factor in the decision. Against that: a fixed €532 to €596 ex VAT, a 24-month warranty, no cure and no pay if the module cannot be saved, and a workshop that does EMM repair as its whole business. If handing the module over in person matters to you, a local shop has a real advantage we cannot match.
Vous ne savez pas ce qui ne va pas avec votre EMM ?
Réservez un appel de diagnostic gratuit avec nos techniciens. Nous sommes spécialisés dans les problèmes liés aux EMM ; décrivez vos symptômes et nous vous aiderons à cerner le problème avant même que vous n'expédiiez quoi que ce soit.
L'appel se déroule en anglais.
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Sans engagement
Nous passons en revue vos symptômes et vous donnons un avis honnête, sans pression pour expédier quoi que ce soit.
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Réponse rapide
Nous répondons sous un à deux jours ouvrés
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Partout dans le monde
Nous aidons des clients des États-Unis, d'Australie, d'Europe et d'ailleurs à diagnostiquer à distance les problèmes de leur EMM.