Cheers

 

Yamaha in 2 stroke are ridiculously expensive, same price as other manufactures 4-strokes.  They do however make a very polished product.  4 strokes I don't have much experience with, but always been a big fan of Tohatsu even though they are a fraction noiser than others.  They are very powerful for their given weights, which is normally lighter than competitors and are very simple in design and easy to service.

 

5 or 10 years ago you couldn't go past a yamaha. They were untouchable. In terms of reliability and performance they were years ahead of the rest.

However I think it would be fair to say that the the rest of the market has caught up.

Yamaha, Suzuki,honda,Mercury in the four strokes are all great outboards and are in direct competition. And in my opinion it would be unwise to pick one out from the others in todays market. 

I won't comment on the 2 stroke because personally I can't see them being around as a brand new engine in the forseeable future.

Warranties differ but at the end of the day its a personal preference.

If it was me, service relationship and the price that your paying would be the biggest factors that I would consider.

BTW I have been in boats with all the engines mentioned in offshore trips. Not reading some test in a magazine. And that to me means more than reading some performance figures in glossy print!!!!!!!!

 

I just traded my 115 yammy 4/s on a 150.  The motor did 1300hrs over the six years I had it and it was still running sweetly at trade in time.

 

Original cost was $19,000 and they gave me $9,000 trade in for it. 

 

I serviced as per recommendations and servicing cost worked out about $4.00 per hour until I had the 1000 hour service which cost $1200 and effectively increased the servicing cost to $5.00/hr. I see with the new motor there is only one 30 hour service before the regular 100 hr services. The last motor had a 10 hr, 50 hr and then every 100hr service.

 

I was averaging a fuel consumption of about 1 litre per nautical mile and the motor was pushing a 6 metre hardtop alloy boat. I feel the 115 was underpowered for the hull it was pushing.

 

I was seriously contemplating changing to a suzuki but their trade in price on the old motor did not stack up with Mr Yamaha's offer.

 

I feel proximity to service centre and quality of service as well as servicing costs are important considerations.  The nearest reputable Honda dealer is miles away which is why I did not look at a Honda as replacment motor.

 

Have to agree with the other posters though on 4 stroke and direct injection technology being the way forward.  I just like pure simplicity in an outboard and to do the servicing easily and cheaply myself once out of warranty and to also be able to fix a problem out in the middle of nowhere. 

 

I would have a 4-stroke if I could afford one and they were a bit lighter in weight.  On a small boat like mine, weight and power mean absolutley everything.  Not such an important consideration on larger boat.

 

I honestly think all outboard manufacturers get it right these days, and it's hard to go wrong with the major players as mentioned above.  Each brand has it's lemons though...

The variables are

2 stroke ~ more fuel usage & noisier but bottom line ~ cheaper.

4 stroke ~ less fuel usage ~ quieter ~ expensive (but greener !)

 

I think the most important consideration is the dealership that will be doing your servicing.

Check out who are the agents for merc / yammy / tohatsu / Evinrude / Suzuki etc in your area.

Place a list of their names  ~ using this forum ~ and ask for peoples experiences with them.

Then make up your own mind based on after sales service ~ not necessarily on resale.

I would far sooner accept $1000 less as a trade than miss out on 6 months of boating because someone could not get my motor running properly.

 

 

Therefore if you have a choice look at resale, and I agree look at where are you going to get it serviced.

 

I am also a sucker for the 2 stroke 3 cylinder engine.   A great design.