Yamaha makes a very good engine, parts are expensive, regular maintainance items are expensive, their electronics are probably the best. They corrode pretty bad, trim motors usually the first to go. They are very sensitive to low quality fuel
For Mercurys, I can't say anthing on the Verados, I don't have any experiance with tehm, they are heavy, majority of the assembly is now being made offsore. Their electronics have gotten a lot better. I like the opti's(probably what I would buy if I could afford a new motor), parts are avaliable anywhere. They do like expensive oil, they are lighter than most motors. The optis are equal to the e-tecs in fuel consuption and better than most four strokes.
Suzuki makes a good engine, they are far less picky about fuel than a Yamaha, weight is on par with all the other four stokes. They offer a 175 four stroke(Yamaha doesn't). Sem to be a bit cheaper than Yamaha when sold loose. Their warranty sucks, they corrode horribly. If it wasn't for Suzukis, Yamaha would have the worst reputation for corrosion
Johnson /Evinrude. E-tec are the lightest of the bunch, very fuel efficient. Don't use alot of oil. They are the most expesive. You have got to have a good dealer, its a must. The dealer must be very familure with tehm, if they don't know what they are doing, you're going to have problems. Can't say abotu corrosion(not that many around here), they do use the same Showa trim system that Yamaha uses.
When it comes down to it, I'll stick to my old school 2.0, 2.4, 2.5 mercs
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