I am currently waiting to have my third 250 Pro XS lower unit replaced. The first lower unit had to be replaced because Mercury was assembling the lower units with the bearings upside down which became dislodged and wrecked the gears! It was covered under warranty but the problem was every new Pro XS in the country needed a new gear case all at the same time! It took Mercury months to correct this problem so people that had brand new motors were off the water for months. Mercury currently has a design flaw in the top seal (that has existed for years) on their Torque Master gearcases which forces the upper seal out unless the lube is under filled. Unlike a lower seal fail, you don't see any indication this has occurred because there is no visible lube under your motor so by the time you realize you have a problem you gear case has already seized up leaving a rebuild out of the question. By-the-way I have been told the list price of a new Torque Master gear case is $9200! Mercury's claim is this happens when lube is "overfilled". I fill my lube with the motor completely vertical, pump lube in from the bottom until lube comes out the top hole, wait 10 minutes with the top screw out to allow lube to settle, repeat, wait ten minutes, repeat a third time, wait ten minutes and replace first the top screw and then the bottom screw. I am currently waiting for a third lower unit because the upper seal failed for a second time. In fairness I did not use this process the first time I had an upper seal blow out because after 40 years of owning outboards and doing my own LU lube changes I never had a top seal failure. To make matters worse, for the last several months Mercury has been installing counter-rotating gears in all of their replacement 3.0 lower units so shop mechanics have to rebuild brand new lower units so they spin clockwise to accommodate their customers because Mercury can't be bothered to fix their issue. In addition to the gear cases (fortunately I have not experienced the described case cracking yet). I have also had to replace; the oxygen pump, the coils, the trim pump, the alternator, two starters, the mid section because this Pro XS is equipped with solid motor mounts seated in pot metal cavity that over time gets demolished! My problem developed out of warranty so although I had to spend thousands of dollars to replace (another) flawed Mercury design (that the company would not stand behind) my mechanic replaced the cavity with a more hardened metal seating (I believe from a Verado) but my buddy had the same thing go on his and because it was under warranty the (same) mechanic was forced to replace the motor mount cavity with the original soft pot metal or Mercury would not cover the costs. My last Merc was okay from a reliability standpoint, and I have a great mechanic, and I was swayed by the number of Mercury service locations (compared to Yamaha and Evinrude which were my other options at the time) at the time so I bought another Mercury...but it is absolutely the last one I will ever buy, I am forced to move to Yamaha, Suzuki, or maybe even Honda for my next outboard(s). It's unfortunate companies like Brunswick and Anheuser-Bush look to advertising over making a better product to take advantage of short term profits at the expense of customer loyalty. I feel bad for the honest hard working people at both these companies that at the mercy of greedy CEO's looking only at the short term!
Yam and suz are Japanese and mercury is China correct ? Mercury were the drag and fly boats racers engine I’ve only had Yamaha so I wouldn’t know 22 years w the same motor one Renan powerhead and rebuild the carbs myself 3 k and outs back w a 30 day down time old tlra hard to beat
For the prices we pay for all this stuff it should never break. Damn near 100k for a setup rig and you'll spend your first season with nothing but issues. See it time and time again
I grew up as a Johnson guy on my dads Crest-liner 3/4 deck Aluminum circa 1958-59. I still have the boat and motor. I always respected the give and take of competition that the big three had. My first motor was a Elgin but growing up during the 60's Merc was the hot rod followed by Evinrude then Johnson as the mom and pop version of the higher performance Evinrude. I recently became the proud owner of a Baby Elto . Point is , start them out small cheap and fun, foster fun competition, gain brand recognition and loyalty . in the end you get good boaters having fun fishing, boating, racing, and it doesn't bankrupt them. Just wait, imagine when Yamaha and Suzuki shift into the outdrive market ! And they don't tie their engine/drives to a specific hull builder....Thanks for all you do. Jim
First off, I love the channel. I just can’t for the life of me understand how we are now bringing up Mercury reliably issues… I remember in the 90’s bay fishing with my dad and driving around the bay in NJ looking at guys broken down on the water with the cowls off hanging over the back. Mercury reliability has sucked since i can remember. At the local lake near my house you see a lot of old outboards from the 80’s to 90’s and 9 out of 10 are OMC. You hardly ever see the old merc’s around where I frequent. I will never buy a mercury. The big three to me are Yamaha, Suzuki, and tohatsu.
Im a 29 year old salesman, suzuki has been winning my heart since i started selling them. Ive actually been trying to steer people towards suzuki over mercury because they help me, they help my customers, and they just f@$%#ing work. I have been LOVING everything theyve done so far except changing rigging every year lmao
Your correct in what u say, I’m 54 and grew up Merc just like my family, but over the many boats and outboards I’ve owned, All are Suzuki and Yamaha. I want to fish and make it back safely.
I've been watching your channel for awhile. I've had some bad luck with motors. Some under warranty and some not. I've had to buy 2 new motors because of it. You're a breath of fresh air. The run around lying, poor service BS I've had to go thru with some dealers and service guys is disappointing. Thanks for being a straight shooter. If I repower again, I'll be calling you.
I’ve owned a ZXR21 Skeeter bought new in 2021 with a SHO on it. It’s just over 100hrs on it and runs like new. ZERO ISSUES AND I LOVE IT! But, I also did my research and knew to buy the Yamahamner.
Within Ten years the average working man will never own high end boats! Merc is putting all there eggs who can afford the high end stuff!!! Top of the line Bass boats will be 150 to 200 grand boats! The segment of buyers will decrease sharply except for the very well off individuals!! As always love everything you do!!
I don’t think so. The large majority of people who own those boats now take crazy loans out. They’ll just keep doing it. It’s why all these boats can be sold for so much. It’s not because there’s a bunch of super rich bass fisherman writing checks for these 100k boats.
@@MassReelFishing We gotta be close to breaking point . Everything pre covid was 2-4% interest on a boat loan. Now those same boats are going for $10-30K more plus the interest of a 7-9% rec loan. I personally won't be upgrading to a new boat until I have the cash or interest rates come back down. I refuse over pay for a boat that has remained the same while gaining 20-30% more valve.
Agreed, they don't need to go after the repower market for 1 motor. They already have that covered with the boat manufacturers - Nitro, Ranger, Triton, Tracker, etc that all come with Mercury only.
Hi Andy...I have seen guys in my bass club with Mercury's have problems all the time. I have a Honda 200 and knock on wood. I have not had any engine problems. It has been a reliable outboard. My not be the fastest, but it gets me there and back. Keep up the great show. SPEED, MONEY AND NO BRAKES👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Very interesting team talk. My most recent boat has a Mercury outboard... But it's a 21 year old Classic 125HP 2+2 Carb model. The thing runs pretty damn well. I'll run it until it blows up, then repower with a Suzuki 115HP SS for sure.
I agree with you 100% I have a 150 and a9.9 suzuki on my Alumicraft and love them . Mercury did land Lund boats though , reason why I went with Alumicraft . Didn't want a Mercury
Mercury needs to re-group and focus on quality, long term reliability and service. In all fairness they had some great products over the years but they also had a lot of duds and lemons come off the line. 30 years ago we had to take spare powerpacks with us on the water in case a Mercury or Jonson would need one. The Yamaha and Honda motors came and they had rock solid electronics and great reliability across their whole line. They had a lot less problems overall, people took notice and switched brands over time. People expect that kind of reliability now.
When I worked at a dealer Yamaha warranty was so much better than Suzuki. As far as honoring warranty, making it easier for the dealer to get parts and paid for claims. And at that time Suzuki wouldn’t touch anything one day past warranty. Yamaha always stood behind a mfg flaw months after warranty expired.
There is no question to this day Yamaha parts availability and warranty is far better than Suzuki. Both the initial Suzuki warranty and the SEP which is even worse. Suzuki has a LOT of work to do in that area.
Gotta say, kinda surprised about the merc hate. I got 8 mercs in the fleet i work on, 6 v6 and 2 L4s tickin away at 4000hrs, and i've been impressed. Very little failures and even less so with the cone heads, i know a pair that just got retired at 4500hrs after wrapping a rope around the props. Maybe the SeaPro line is somehow better than the ProXS, but i dunno everybody ive talked to here seems to like em. They like the fuel burn too. That being said my boat has a yamaha on it.. I've got 4 brand new v6 SeaPro coneheads in the fleet this year, i'll let y'all know how it goes. We're at 150hrs so far, i expect to be at about 700 by october.
As a person that sells and works on boats i often push mercury hard because its often my product. My favorite mercury is the 150 4stroke, there on everything they perform well and the easy access maintainance is nice, that being said lots of plastic and wierd metal alloys of various kinds on the same motor like a hodge podge. The supercharged verados sound really smooth and were a great concept I believe if they could have got the upper RPM fuel economy better they should have persued the supercharged l4 and l6 instead of the v8 cones. All this being said for my personal boat its yamaha. For my sled and quad etc yamaha. Japan is its own animal its litterally a country where integrity, reputation and honor mean everything. They have the strictest rules reguarding knock offs and fake brand name products. You might have to take off 8 5mm bolts to get to the oil drain on the sho vmax but under that cowl is clean like a doctors office, not the mess of wires mercury has that can easily get pinched. Yamahas castings and paint are beautiful even under the cowl. These motors are the choice of regular [not rich speed freaks] off shore folks there more expensive but you get what you pay for great resale as well. Yamahas got it hands down with little to no advertising or ganging up with tons of manufacturers
Do the Mercury Marine issues crossover to racing? I’ve gotta 2019 300R and haven’t seen any issues. Also, addressing the rising amount of merc motor issues; is it in proportion to the greater number of mercs sold?
A buddy of mine that lives in Mn. Bought a lund with a Suzuki on dealer advice. Was told best warranty, best service and lack of warranty claims ,,,, dont know dont own one i am definitely following closely to see ehat my next boat will have on it .
1. For Freshwater…. I’m absolutely SHOCKED that Mercury survived the 80’s and early 90’s. Parts were a nightmare. 2. My next boat research will START at my Mechanic. Next I’ll go to the Parts guy. At the end of the day, I’ll be buying an engine that my shop can support and a boat to hang it on. At the end of the day, I need to get back to the ramp.
Thanks for the video. Some food for thought. I'm probably going to have replace my etec so trying to decide which way to go. This has helped. Just need a 115hp
I am still running a 1990 black max 175 on my Ranger. I can still find parts and it's 32 years old. But the moment it decides to stop working for good I am going with Suzuki.
Growing up dad was a hardcore evinrude fan . Every boat he ever owned it had to have one on it . Can’t can’t the amount of times he swore it was the best and the amount of times it was broke . Hated them since and got a Mercury haha
Would love to see a video on when to repower and when to move on. Also your opinion on which brand to go to. I have an 05 Ranger z20 with a 05 evinrude (I know). While the motors runs fine it is getting some age it. Repower or move on? That is the ?
Last time i was up in FonDuLac at a Merc Service Class i think one one their emoloyees told me there were like 11 or 12 buildings Andy.that was almost 20 yrs ago,seems like it would almost be to much of a job to build all new buildings.Just the Casting Facility and the building where they actually build the engines on the assembly lines were good sized and The shear amount of high tech equipment,all of the engineering departments,the Dealer training areas,Parts and accesories,the shipping and receiving stuff,so o n and soforth would be A astronomical task to start from scratch.if memory serves me correctly there were over 6000 dealers nationwide and overseas.I spose bigger things have been done in the manufacturing world,but Moving Mercury Marine out of Wisconsin seems un-imaginable to this old Boy.another fun fact my Merc Sales rep told me was the state that sold the most outboards back in the 90's was actually Louisiana,kinda made sense to Me.I really enjoy you guys vids and ive often wondered if selling our Boat Dealership(Merc&Yamaha)Mighta been a tad pre-mature as sometimes i seem to miss the place,but whats done is done and im just goona settle with watchin u guys and the occasional Outboard repair in my mancave,Peace....
Andy, is Mercurys problems across the board of all models? I keep hearing you talk 250 pro xs. I'm possibly buying a 2022 Vexus with a 300 Verado XL. Whats your thoughts on that motor? Thanks.
I agree. Great video. I have a 60 4 stroke mercury actually the only mercury motor mage in China(bad) but it works great. This is my second one and both are great motors. That is all I have to say. If I could ever get a big bass boat it would be powered by a Yamaha.
Nailed it. Mercurys are cool, they sound awesome, and they seem to perform well. When my HPDI lets go, it'll going to be a SHO or 250ss for me. Also, I'll be up in la crosse for the Anglers Choice Championship in a couple weeks. Idk if you'll be around, but if i get a chance id like to stop by!
Brunswick sold their bowling business around 8 years ago. Brunswick brand bowling products are not part of the Brunswick Corporation and haven't been for a while. They sold off their billiards business a few years ago as well.
I’ve been running my mercury 4stroke for 4 years now and I have put it through hell and never had a problem when I fish tournament I see 5 mercury’s to 1 Yamaha of course your going to have a few more problems.. I think you just hating. There not going to go bankrupt 😵💫
I’m sorry but I think it’s stupid to have to take your boat to a dealer or manufacture tech shop to swap simple parts. 1. What if you live an hour + from a dealer or tech 2. What if your like myself who is a truck driver or someone who travels for work all week. It’s kinda hard to drop your rig off on a Wednesday when you left out for work on Monday and won’t be home till Friday night And not all shops are open on weekends 3. I’m sorry but it’s the truth shops have outrages shop fees now some are better than others but most dealership shop fees are 100-200 an hour so if any part of the repair isn’t under warranty pucker up butter cup. Especially when they hit ya with shop supplies like 1 zip tie cost you the whole pack. 4. You could have to wait days to weeks before the work your boat needs before the dealer or shop can get to your boat because they are booked out. So in closing if you have something minor break on your motor that you can simply fix yourself you should have the ability to fix it yourself and not loose your warranty nor should you have to pay for the parts
I remember the day i chucked my merc drove 500 mi for vaca put the boat in fn thing missin and bangin ( after my so called mechanic tuned it up) went to a guy who just started yamaha dealership and made the deal on the spot removed old junk put on the new yammi on , still runnin it to this day
I'm going to look at a procraft 180 F/S with a 150 merc xr6. 5hrs from me and hopefully seller will meet me at a marina so they can check it. I'm new to boats, are procrafts any good? I bass fish alot but like the idea of F/S over a 2 seat bass boat.
My next engine will be a Suzuki or Yamaha. I’ve seen to many of the new Mercs leave guys at the blast off area or getting towed in to weight in. My buddy is always working on his 2012 Merc and problem after problem. Sad that they can’t get it together and the advertisements match the reliability
Interesting video... (great title) has your negative experience mainly with the Pro XS? By the way, I recommend your channel when someone has questions on specific outboards and aluminum fishing boat brands
@teammarineservice would love to buy some of your apparel supporting the shop. Went to the website and was shocked none of the current line up says “speed, money, no brakes”! When can this happen so I can pick up some gear from you guys?! Great content, keep it up 👊!
@@TeamMarineService fffff…. I just started following a little bit ago! Cannot get enough of this channel. Please! If not, I’ll order custom. I’m just a skip, hop, and a throw away over in MN. Cannot wait to come over and see the shop at some point.
Only thing about Yam and Suz being such huge companies they would pull the plug on the marine division of their not profitable. Suzuki already did it in the 80’s when things got tough. We seen Bombardier do it with Evinrude. Mercury does not have that luxury. They need to be there as they are only a marine company.
I ran a Suzuki 140 in 1980 I guided on lake Texoma for 15 yrs my dad guided for 25 Yrs. Johnson 150 was blowing up right and left. Also ran Yamaha mercury. The motors weren’t breaking, piston rings were sticking and gaulding pistons. They blamed fuel for the carbon buildups. We went to supreme helped a little but still had carbon problems used decarbon spray still stuck rings. Happened to all manufacturers
I will be buying a Yamaha SHO even if it does cost me a few more $’s. I’ve driven every brand of vehicle and will only buy either Toyota or certain Nissans. Period. I want reliability,reliability, not a cool sounding start up pos that keeps me off the water. I was almost going to buy a new 200 proxs but thanks for reminding me that if I did , I would dearly regret it!!
Lower units in late 80s early 90s were how much 2,500 bucks?? How much are they now?? How much new technology is in the lower units to push the cost up to ??? I've heard 7,500 for lower units?? Wtf. How much different are they today Vs. A generation ago??
Currently purchasing a 2017 Suzuki 90 horse and was out of warranty told the dealer I wouldn't be able to buy it without some sort of warranty Suzuki gave me one year and I was able to purchase another year for $300 son so I'm buying a used Suzuki engine with 20 hours on it out of warranty and they still put two years warranty on it
Suzuki or Yamaha need to come up with a powered hydraulic tiller steering system or buy out the mertains (now mercury) patent. The walleye and musky guys, myself included, are stuck with Mercury on the bigger boats. I want to run a suzuki in the worst way but on a 200hp tiller there has to be some sort of powered assist steering.
I have had a air compressor on order for my optimax for the last 45 days can’t tell me when it will ship Going to fix the motor and sell and buy a Yamaha
I have nothing that you probably want to hear, but I run smaller motors, 40Hp. I have my first Merc., EFI, and I'm not very impressed. My old 95 Evinrude 40 two stroke would run circles around this thing. do you ever do these team talks on 40's or did I miss something?
Yep I see it now on all boats and motors going out of business 20 years from now probably be around 300,000 400,000 truck probably be about 300,000 400,000
My ol man was a hardcore evinrude fan when I was growing up he never wanted a mercury and then evinrude went rupt so he was forced to change so he chose a mercury. I have to say he was well satisfied we ran the sh::t out of that motor and after twelve yrs it still hangin on but if I ever have to repower I think u have convinced me to go with Suzuki.
Brunswick owns a LOT of boat brands. One of if not the most of any other single company. A lot the brands you can't get from the factory with anything but a Mercury. Dealers can order a boat with no motor and put on the motor they want on but that usually costs more. Most boat buyers care about what their payment is more than anything.
I have owned an evinrude they don't make them anymore so that's that I owned a Yamaha and still would but I wanted a new boat during covid so I bought a mercury and for 2 years it has been great so far and through the years all brands of everything will have problems that is just the way it is
I Currently own an Evinrude XP 200. It's a 90 model and runs great. As long as I can get Parts and Service And as Long as it Continues to run and be Reliable, I'll Continue to run it as Long as I can 😎
Mercury has been shut down for the last week and 1/2 . I make deliveries 1 to 3x a week there in foundulac. I actually was just there 5 hours ago. I talked to the security guard and the guy who unloads trucks. Its really no big secret what happened.
I have a 2 stroke Johnson gt 100 had since 1988 been in shop one time for my stupid Miss take to run gas out of carbs. Still running strong today. Don't care fer speed it's reliable motor want I want. Love Johnson or evenrude 💯💯💯💯💯💯
You can't gauge Mercury's future success according to the N American market. Mercury Marine is 95% of the world market in marine propulsion. America's obcession with bass fishing is a drop in the bucket for MM. Stern Drives and Diesel dwarf the USA bass boat market. Suzuki and the bigY will never put MM under. imo
Messed with a Merc for years. I kept at it because when it ran, it was awesome, but the parts were cheap and just kept breaking. Have since owned 2 Suzukis and now the tried and true Yamaha F150. Not going back.
I’m speed guy, I own a bullet and will always as long as I can afford it, only own a bullet, that being said, I love my 300r and haven’t had any issues yet, but Yamaha needs to step there game up, if they had a gear case like a sport master, and had the speed of mercury I’d probably have one, but even a Yamaha flashed to the moon won’t run with a 300r,
I ran a 225 EFI Mariner for 25 years, great engine. When it came time to repower I chose Suzuki 250SS. Andy put the seal of approval on my research. No oil, over double the mileage. No regrets 1.5 years in, can barely hear it running.
I think what’s happening to merc has happened to omc , skimpin out on parts, I wouldn’t say they are getting outdated but i can definitely see the japan market is starting to take over
I am in the mode of upgrading my 115 OptiMax to either a new 115 or going on up to a 150 which my boat is rated for. Personally I’ve really considered the Suzuki over the Yamaha and Merc bringing up the rear. Biggest drawback for me on Suzuki is the lack of dealers near me. The closest is almost 100 miles from me. Also the high cost of changing out controls. But I’d have that too with the Yammy. Only difference is there’s a Yamaha dealer 35 miles from me which is a plus. The biggest thing going for the Merc is the dealer networks which seem to be almost everywhere. It’s a damned hard decision.
I just did this exact swap this spring and put a 115 Suzuki on my boat and I can not say enough good things about that motor. Starts first crank every single time, extremely quiet, pops you on plane and has the same or slightly better top end as my old two stroke. I am extremely confident you would be happy with one. Best of luck in your research!
@@ashleywynn4923 No Ashley they are not. Are Suzuki and Honda outboards the same? The Honda outboard engine is one of the best options for boaters seeking performance and efficiency, while the Suzuki offers a lot of bang for the buck. If you have ever looked at Honda or Suzuki outboard motors, you know that they are different from one another.
I am currently waiting to have my third 250 Pro XS lower unit replaced. The first lower unit had to be replaced because Mercury was assembling the lower units with the bearings upside down which became dislodged and wrecked the gears! It was covered under warranty but the problem was every new Pro XS in the country needed a new gear case all at the same time! It took Mercury months to correct this problem so people that had brand new motors were off the water for months. Mercury currently has a design flaw in the top seal (that has existed for years) on their Torque Master gearcases which forces the upper seal out unless the lube is under filled. Unlike a lower seal fail, you don't see any indication this has occurred because there is no visible lube under your motor so by the time you realize you have a problem you gear case has already seized up leaving a rebuild out of the question. By-the-way I have been told the list price of a new Torque Master gear case is $9200! Mercury's claim is this happens when lube is "overfilled". I fill my lube with the motor completely vertical, pump lube in from the bottom until lube comes out the top hole, wait 10 minutes with the top screw out to allow lube to settle, repeat, wait ten minutes, repeat a third time, wait ten minutes and replace first the top screw and then the bottom screw. I am currently waiting for a third lower unit because the upper seal failed for a second time. In fairness I did not use this process the first time I had an upper seal blow out because after 40 years of owning outboards and doing my own LU lube changes I never had a top seal failure. To make matters worse, for the last several months Mercury has been installing counter-rotating gears in all of their replacement 3.0 lower units so shop mechanics have to rebuild brand new lower units so they spin clockwise to accommodate their customers because Mercury can't be bothered to fix their issue. In addition to the gear cases (fortunately I have not experienced the described case cracking yet). I have also had to replace; the oxygen pump, the coils, the trim pump, the alternator, two starters, the mid section because this Pro XS is equipped with solid motor mounts seated in pot metal cavity that over time gets demolished! My problem developed out of warranty so although I had to spend thousands of dollars to replace (another) flawed Mercury design (that the company would not stand behind) my mechanic replaced the cavity with a more hardened metal seating (I believe from a Verado) but my buddy had the same thing go on his and because it was under warranty the (same) mechanic was forced to replace the motor mount cavity with the original soft pot metal or Mercury would not cover the costs. My last Merc was okay from a reliability standpoint, and I have a great mechanic, and I was swayed by the number of Mercury service locations (compared to Yamaha and Evinrude which were my other options at the time) at the time so I bought another Mercury...but it is absolutely the last one I will ever buy, I am forced to move to Yamaha, Suzuki, or maybe even Honda for my next outboard(s). It's unfortunate companies like Brunswick and Anheuser-Bush look to advertising over making a better product to take advantage of short term profits at the expense of customer loyalty. I feel bad for the honest hard working people at both these companies that at the mercy of greedy CEO's looking only at the short term!
Could you please repeat that?
Yam and suz are Japanese and mercury is China correct ? Mercury were the drag and fly boats racers engine I’ve only had Yamaha so I wouldn’t know 22 years w the same motor one Renan powerhead and rebuild the carbs myself 3 k and outs back w a 30 day down time old tlra hard to beat
My sons High School Team is in 9th place right now at the National/World Tournament. Thanks for helping out those kids.
For the prices we pay for all this stuff it should never break. Damn near 100k for a setup rig and you'll spend your first season with nothing but issues. See it time and time again
I grew up as a Johnson guy on my dads Crest-liner 3/4 deck Aluminum circa 1958-59. I still have the boat and motor. I always respected the give and take of competition that the big three had. My first motor was a Elgin but growing up during the 60's Merc was the hot rod followed by Evinrude then Johnson as the mom and pop version of the higher performance Evinrude. I recently became the proud owner of a Baby Elto . Point is , start them out small cheap and fun, foster fun competition, gain brand recognition and loyalty . in the end you get good boaters having fun fishing, boating, racing, and it doesn't bankrupt them. Just wait, imagine when Yamaha and Suzuki shift into the outdrive market ! And they don't tie their engine/drives to a specific hull builder....Thanks for all you do. Jim
First off, I love the channel. I just can’t for the life of me understand how we are now bringing up Mercury reliably issues… I remember in the 90’s bay fishing with my dad and driving around the bay in NJ looking at guys broken down on the water with the cowls off hanging over the back. Mercury reliability has sucked since i can remember. At the local lake near my house you see a lot of old outboards from the 80’s to 90’s and 9 out of 10 are OMC. You hardly ever see the old merc’s around where I frequent. I will never buy a mercury. The big three to me are Yamaha, Suzuki, and tohatsu.
Im a 29 year old salesman, suzuki has been winning my heart since i started selling them. Ive actually been trying to steer people towards suzuki over mercury because they help me, they help my customers, and they just f@$%#ing work. I have been LOVING everything theyve done so far except changing rigging every year lmao
Thanks to Andy and team marine for getting us back out there on the water for the national and world finals
Your correct in what u say, I’m 54 and grew up Merc just like my family, but over the many boats and outboards I’ve owned, All are Suzuki and Yamaha. I want to fish and make it back safely.
I've been watching your channel for awhile. I've had some bad luck with motors. Some under warranty and some not. I've had to buy 2 new motors because of it. You're a breath of fresh air. The run around lying, poor service BS I've had to go thru with some dealers and service guys is disappointing. Thanks for being a straight shooter. If I repower again, I'll be calling you.
I’ve owned a ZXR21 Skeeter bought new in 2021 with a SHO on it. It’s just over 100hrs on it and runs like new. ZERO ISSUES AND I LOVE IT! But, I also did my research and knew to buy the Yamahamner.
Within Ten years the average working man will never own high end boats! Merc is putting all there eggs who can afford the high end stuff!!! Top of the line Bass boats will be 150 to 200 grand boats! The segment of buyers will decrease sharply except for the very well off individuals!! As always love everything you do!!
I don’t think so. The large majority of people who own those boats now take crazy loans out. They’ll just keep doing it. It’s why all these boats can be sold for so much. It’s not because there’s a bunch of super rich bass fisherman writing checks for these 100k boats.
@@MassReelFishing yes there is tons of people taking 20 an 25 year loans on bass boats!
@@MassReelFishing We gotta be close to breaking point . Everything pre covid was 2-4% interest on a boat loan. Now those same boats are going for $10-30K more plus the interest of a 7-9% rec loan. I personally won't be upgrading to a new boat until I have the cash or interest rates come back down. I refuse over pay for a boat that has remained the same while gaining 20-30% more valve.
@@ScalesandFur people don’t care. They just take out longer loans to keep their payments the same.
@@MassReelFishing you are right! But there has to be a breaking point!
Thank you for your hard work and information.
Agreed, they don't need to go after the repower market for 1 motor. They already have that covered with the boat manufacturers - Nitro, Ranger, Triton, Tracker, etc that all come with Mercury only.
I’m looking to buy a new boat and it’s a new mercury fs 175 on it. I was wondering if I should take the pro xs instead? Thanks in advance!
Hi Andy...I have seen guys in my bass club with Mercury's have problems all the time. I have a Honda 200 and knock on wood. I have not had any engine problems. It has been a reliable outboard. My not be the fastest, but it gets me there and back. Keep up the great show. SPEED, MONEY AND NO BRAKES👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Andy, you’re starting to win my heart again. The Icon vids were killing me. Thanks for this! And thanks for helping the kids!
Very interesting team talk. My most recent boat has a Mercury outboard... But it's a 21 year old Classic 125HP 2+2 Carb model. The thing runs pretty damn well. I'll run it until it blows up, then repower with a Suzuki 115HP SS for sure.
Johny Morris will buy them out
I agree with you 100% I have a 150 and a9.9 suzuki on my Alumicraft and love them . Mercury did land Lund boats though , reason why I went with Alumicraft . Didn't want a Mercury
Mercury needs to re-group and focus on quality, long term reliability and service. In all fairness they had some great products over the years but they also had a lot of duds and lemons come off the line. 30 years ago we had to take spare powerpacks with us on the water in case a Mercury or Jonson would need one. The Yamaha and Honda motors came and they had rock solid electronics and great reliability across their whole line. They had a lot less problems overall, people took notice and switched brands over time. People expect that kind of reliability now.
When I worked at a dealer Yamaha warranty was so much better than Suzuki. As far as honoring warranty, making it easier for the dealer to get parts and paid for claims. And at that time Suzuki wouldn’t touch anything one day past warranty. Yamaha always stood behind a mfg flaw months after warranty expired.
There is no question to this day Yamaha parts availability and warranty is far better than Suzuki. Both the initial Suzuki warranty and the SEP which is even worse. Suzuki has a LOT of work to do in that area.
Gotta say, kinda surprised about the merc hate. I got 8 mercs in the fleet i work on, 6 v6 and 2 L4s tickin away at 4000hrs, and i've been impressed. Very little failures and even less so with the cone heads, i know a pair that just got retired at 4500hrs after wrapping a rope around the props. Maybe the SeaPro line is somehow better than the ProXS, but i dunno everybody ive talked to here seems to like em. They like the fuel burn too.
That being said my boat has a yamaha on it..
I've got 4 brand new v6 SeaPro coneheads in the fleet this year, i'll let y'all know how it goes. We're at 150hrs so far, i expect to be at about 700 by october.
As a person that sells and works on boats i often push mercury hard because its often my product. My favorite mercury is the 150 4stroke, there on everything they perform well and the easy access maintainance is nice, that being said lots of plastic and wierd metal alloys of various kinds on the same motor like a hodge podge. The supercharged verados sound really smooth and were a great concept I believe if they could have got the upper RPM fuel economy better they should have persued the supercharged l4 and l6 instead of the v8 cones.
All this being said for my personal boat its yamaha. For my sled and quad etc yamaha. Japan is its own animal its litterally a country where integrity, reputation and honor mean everything. They have the strictest rules reguarding knock offs and fake brand name products. You might have to take off 8 5mm bolts to get to the oil drain on the sho vmax but under that cowl is clean like a doctors office, not the mess of wires mercury has that can easily get pinched. Yamahas castings and paint are beautiful even under the cowl. These motors are the choice of regular [not rich speed freaks] off shore folks there more expensive but you get what you pay for great resale as well. Yamahas got it hands down with little to no advertising or ganging up with tons of manufacturers
Do the Mercury Marine issues crossover to racing? I’ve gotta 2019 300R and haven’t seen any issues. Also, addressing the rising amount of merc motor issues; is it in proportion to the greater number of mercs sold?
I went to my Mercury dealership first looking for a 25hp. I bought a Suzuki for $1100 less with a 5 year warranty.
Suzuki is doing great in Florida, tons of repowers. My Suzuki's have been great.
A buddy of mine that lives in Mn. Bought a lund with a Suzuki on dealer advice. Was told best warranty, best service and lack of warranty claims ,,,, dont know dont own one i am definitely following closely to see ehat my next boat will have on it .
Guys what happened to the cheap electric outboard try out, I wanted to see some junk burn up.
1. For Freshwater…. I’m absolutely SHOCKED that Mercury survived the 80’s and early 90’s. Parts were a nightmare.
2. My next boat research will START at my Mechanic. Next I’ll go to the Parts guy. At the end of the day, I’ll be buying an engine that my shop can support and a boat to hang it on. At the end of the day, I need to get back to the ramp.
Thanks for the video. Some food for thought. I'm probably going to have replace my etec so trying to decide which way to go. This has helped. Just need a 115hp
Suzuki all day brother! 😅
I’ll tell you one thing. Whatever you buy won’t be as fast as that etec, but man did they have a lot of probs with those.
I am still running a 1990 black max 175 on my Ranger. I can still find parts and it's 32 years old. But the moment it decides to stop working for good I am going with Suzuki.
Growing up dad was a hardcore evinrude fan . Every boat he ever owned it had to have one on it . Can’t can’t the amount of times he swore it was the best and the amount of times it was broke . Hated them since and got a Mercury haha
Would love to see a video on when to repower and when to move on. Also your opinion on which brand to go to. I have an 05 Ranger z20 with a 05 evinrude (I know). While the motors runs fine it is getting some age it. Repower or move on? That is the ?
I wish Yamaha would come out with a racing version like the mercury R’s
Last time i was up in FonDuLac at a Merc Service Class i think one one their emoloyees told me there were like 11 or 12 buildings Andy.that was almost 20 yrs ago,seems like it would almost be to much of a job to build all new buildings.Just the Casting Facility and the building where they actually build the engines on the assembly lines were good sized and The shear amount of high tech equipment,all of the engineering departments,the Dealer training areas,Parts and accesories,the shipping and receiving stuff,so o n and soforth would be A astronomical task to start from scratch.if memory serves me correctly there were over 6000 dealers nationwide and overseas.I spose bigger things have been done in the manufacturing world,but Moving Mercury Marine out of Wisconsin seems un-imaginable to this old Boy.another fun fact my Merc Sales rep told me was the state that sold the most outboards back in the 90's was actually Louisiana,kinda made sense to Me.I really enjoy you guys vids and ive often wondered if selling our Boat Dealership(Merc&Yamaha)Mighta been a tad pre-mature as sometimes i seem to miss the place,but whats done is done and im just goona settle with watchin u guys and the occasional Outboard repair in my mancave,Peace....
Wow thanks for the info Mike. It does seem unimaginable but crazier things have happened.
Ok so when is the Suzuki 300SS coming?
Thank you guys at team marine for helping the Zim team get to the high school world champs
Y’all are very welcome!! 🇺🇸+🇿🇼=💪🏻
Man, you make sooo much freaking sense. If you were running for president you'd have my vote. 🤘💯
What's the best 250 on the market merc or Yamaha I'm looking at ranger 521r
Suzuki 250 SS is the best in our opinion with the Yamaha 250 SHO a very very very close 2nd.
Andy, is Mercurys problems across the board of all models? I keep hearing you talk 250 pro xs. I'm possibly buying a 2022 Vexus with a 300 Verado XL. Whats your thoughts on that motor? Thanks.
It's a good platform for them
Does Yamaha's engine still make oil? Leaking fuel pasted the rings?
Only if you don’t break them in correctly
I agree. Great video. I have a 60 4 stroke mercury actually the only mercury motor mage in China(bad) but it works great. This is my second one and both are great motors. That is all I have to say. If I could ever get a big bass boat it would be powered by a Yamaha.
Nailed it. Mercurys are cool, they sound awesome, and they seem to perform well. When my HPDI lets go, it'll going to be a SHO or 250ss for me.
Also, I'll be up in la crosse for the Anglers Choice Championship in a couple weeks. Idk if you'll be around, but if i get a chance id like to stop by!
Brunswick sold their bowling business around 8 years ago. Brunswick brand bowling products are not part of the Brunswick Corporation and haven't been for a while.
They sold off their billiards business a few years ago as well.
When there is competition for a product the product gets better. Like you said it'll be awesome.
I’ve been running my mercury 4stroke for 4 years now and I have put it through hell and never had a problem when I fish tournament I see 5 mercury’s to 1 Yamaha of course your going to have a few more problems.. I think you just hating. There not going to go bankrupt 😵💫
I’m sorry but I think it’s stupid to have to take your boat to a dealer or manufacture tech shop to swap simple parts.
1. What if you live an hour + from a dealer or tech
2. What if your like myself who is a truck driver or someone who travels for work all week. It’s kinda hard to drop your rig off on a Wednesday when you left out for work on Monday and won’t be home till Friday night
And not all shops are open on weekends
3. I’m sorry but it’s the truth shops have outrages shop fees now some are better than others but most dealership shop fees are 100-200 an hour so if any part of the repair isn’t under warranty pucker up butter cup. Especially when they hit ya with shop supplies like 1 zip tie cost you the whole pack.
4. You could have to wait days to weeks before the work your boat needs before the dealer or shop can get to your boat because they are booked out.
So in closing if you have something minor break on your motor that you can simply fix yourself you should have the ability to fix it yourself and not loose your warranty nor should you have to pay for the parts
I remember the day i chucked my merc drove 500 mi for vaca put the boat in fn thing missin and bangin ( after my so called mechanic tuned it up) went to a guy who just started yamaha dealership and made the deal on the spot removed old junk put on the new yammi on , still runnin it to this day
I'm going to look at a procraft 180 F/S with a 150 merc xr6. 5hrs from me and hopefully seller will meet me at a marina so they can check it. I'm new to boats, are procrafts any good? I bass fish alot but like the idea of F/S over a 2 seat bass boat.
Absolute worst riding boat
My next engine will be a Suzuki or Yamaha. I’ve seen to many of the new Mercs leave guys at the blast off area or getting towed in to weight in. My buddy is always working on his 2012 Merc and problem after problem. Sad that they can’t get it together and the advertisements match the reliability
Interesting video... (great title) has your negative experience mainly with the Pro XS?
By the way, I recommend your channel when someone has questions on specific outboards and aluminum fishing boat brands
So True. Mercury has always been high performance, temperamental as hell. Yamaha is Mr. Reliable.
When you’re hot and tired, you don’t hold back! Continue to tell it alike it is! I like that!
You got that right!
@teammarineservice would love to buy some of your apparel supporting the shop. Went to the website and was shocked none of the current line up says “speed, money, no brakes”! When can this happen so I can pick up some gear from you guys?! Great content, keep it up 👊!
We made some that were a limited production run… should we bring them back?
@@TeamMarineService fffff…. I just started following a little bit ago! Cannot get enough of this channel. Please! If not, I’ll order custom. I’m just a skip, hop, and a throw away over in MN. Cannot wait to come over and see the shop at some point.
@@TeamMarineServicehell yeah!
Only thing about Yam and Suz being such huge companies they would pull the plug on the marine division of their not profitable. Suzuki already did it in the 80’s when things got tough. We seen Bombardier do it with Evinrude. Mercury does not have that luxury. They need to be there as they are only a marine company.
They are owned by Brunswick. They were way more than a marine manufacturing company.
I ran a Suzuki 140 in 1980 I guided on lake Texoma for 15 yrs my dad guided for 25
Yrs. Johnson 150 was blowing up right and left. Also ran Yamaha mercury. The motors weren’t breaking, piston rings were sticking and gaulding pistons. They blamed fuel for the carbon buildups. We went to supreme helped a little but still had carbon problems used decarbon spray still stuck rings. Happened to all manufacturers
In ur opinion if u was going to repower would u buy a sho yamma instead of merc in the 225?
I will be buying a Yamaha SHO even if it does cost me a few more $’s.
I’ve driven every brand of vehicle and will only buy either Toyota or certain Nissans. Period. I want reliability,reliability, not a cool sounding start up pos that keeps me off the water. I was almost going to buy a new 200 proxs but thanks for reminding me that if I did , I would dearly regret it!!
Lower units in late 80s early 90s were how much 2,500 bucks?? How much are they now?? How much new technology is in the lower units to push the cost up to ??? I've heard 7,500 for lower units?? Wtf. How much different are they today Vs. A generation ago??
I have Champion 190dc. Looking too repower but everyone says the Suzuki 200hp is junk as far as performance. What do u think?
That for the most part is true, we are in the final stages of fixing that issue but we aren’t done yet.
@@TeamMarineService please do a video for us 200hp guys that want the Suzuki reliability and performance of the yamaha.
Currently purchasing a 2017 Suzuki 90 horse and was out of warranty told the dealer I wouldn't be able to buy it without some sort of warranty Suzuki gave me one year and I was able to purchase another year for $300 son so I'm buying a used Suzuki engine with 20 hours on it out of warranty and they still put two years warranty on it
Suzuki or Yamaha need to come up with a powered hydraulic tiller steering system or buy out the mertains (now mercury) patent. The walleye and musky guys, myself included, are stuck with Mercury on the bigger boats. I want to run a suzuki in the worst way but on a 200hp tiller there has to be some sort of powered assist steering.
Just curious... why you promoting Ranger Boats on your TV? Lol!
And I'm waiting on the Humminbird vs Garmin vs Lowrance graphs video :)
It’s a cool vintage sign we found.
@@TeamMarineService Oh okay I thought it was a TV lol
What happing with the new electric outboard to day😮
Noooo, don’t leave in another 20yrs, ain’t gonna be no realest to voice their opinions no more!!!!!!! Keep up the great work and humor👍
I am switching to Suzuki on my Ranger 461vs
I have had a air compressor on order for my optimax for the last 45 days can’t tell me when it will ship
Going to fix the motor and sell and buy a Yamaha
I don't see the big three having issues ever but I have three boats and I am slowly moving towards tohatsu.
I have nothing that you probably want to hear, but I run smaller motors, 40Hp. I have my first Merc., EFI, and I'm not very impressed. My old 95 Evinrude 40 two stroke would run circles around this thing. do you ever do these team talks on 40's or did I miss something?
Yep I see it now on all boats and motors going out of business 20 years from now probably be around 300,000 400,000 truck probably be about 300,000 400,000
Comment below on what y'all think! They likely won't be bankrupt but we aren't sure that they will still be #1 in 20 years...or even 5 years!
My ol man was a hardcore evinrude fan when I was growing up he never wanted a mercury and then evinrude went rupt so he was forced to change so he chose a mercury. I have to say he was well satisfied we ran the sh::t out of that motor and after twelve yrs it still hangin on but if I ever have to repower I think u have convinced me to go with Suzuki.
I have a 250 pro xs 4 stroke where should I look for a crack at?
Mercury has the market share because that is what the boat manufactures put on them. The majority of people don't repower their boats.
Brunswick owns a LOT of boat brands. One of if not the most of any other single company. A lot the brands you can't get from the factory with anything but a Mercury. Dealers can order a boat with no motor and put on the motor they want on but that usually costs more. Most boat buyers care about what their payment is more than anything.
I have owned an evinrude they don't make them anymore so that's that I owned a Yamaha and still would but I wanted a new boat during covid so I bought a mercury and for 2 years it has been great so far and through the years all brands of everything will have problems that is just the way it is
I Currently own an Evinrude XP 200. It's a 90 model and runs great. As long as I can get Parts and Service And as Long as it Continues to run and be Reliable, I'll Continue to run it as Long as I can 😎
Mercury has been shut down for the last week and 1/2 . I make deliveries 1 to 3x a week there in foundulac. I actually was just there 5 hours ago. I talked to the security guard and the guy who unloads trucks. Its really no big secret what happened.
"Acculated"... That's a whole new word! Sukis and Yamas are the standard (in that order)
Could happen. I was a die hard OMC fan in the 70’s. They are gone because they got involved in to many other projects.
I have a omc Neptune now. 😅😅
They release Ficht too soon before it was sorted out.
I will never give up my 2.5 promax......never you cant make me. I have three fresh complete blocks ready if need be.
Good video!! Customer service everywhere sucks.....
Could you do videos on trouble shooting issues on our boats...electrical, motor, etc.
I keep running the tried and true Evinrude. My 115 HO does just fine!
I have a 2 stroke Johnson gt 100 had since 1988 been in shop one time for my stupid Miss take to run gas out of carbs. Still running strong today. Don't care fer speed it's reliable motor want I want. Love Johnson or evenrude 💯💯💯💯💯💯
Im at a marina in indiana and they did move there warehouse down here.
Doesn’t, it cost more to repair a Yamaha or work on them.
Nope, usually Merc parts are more $$$
I bought a Suzuki 300 over the 300 pro xs based solely on the fact that I knew it would go vroom every time I hit the key
Great video as always!
You can't gauge Mercury's future success according to the N American market. Mercury Marine is 95% of the world market in marine propulsion. America's obcession with bass fishing is a drop in the bucket for MM. Stern Drives and Diesel dwarf the USA bass boat market. Suzuki and the bigY will never put MM under. imo
That's funny, every time there's an outboard seen in a foreign documentary it's a Yamaha
who cares if your boat goes 75 if you cant get back to the dock......Mercury 2023
Skeeter 300 ZX, 70mph Suzuki 250SS. Enough for me.
Mercury is a surviver! Somehow they are able to keep bouncing back! I would never count them out!
Messed with a Merc for years. I kept at it because when it ran, it was awesome, but the parts were cheap and just kept breaking. Have since owned 2 Suzukis and now the tried and true Yamaha F150. Not going back.
I’m speed guy, I own a bullet and will always as long as I can afford it, only own a bullet, that being said, I love my 300r and haven’t had any issues yet, but Yamaha needs to step there game up, if they had a gear case like a sport master, and had the speed of mercury I’d probably have one, but even a Yamaha flashed to the moon won’t run with a 300r,
A Yamaha with a Nizpro supercharger would be competitive
I had a Suzuki in the 80's it was a great motor whish I could have got that on my Ranger
thanks for helping the kids out in the world championships.
I have a 2016 225 ProXS and once I re-power I’m going with Yamaha or Suzuki 225hp
I ran a 225 EFI Mariner for 25 years, great engine. When it came time to repower I chose Suzuki 250SS. Andy put the seal of approval on my research. No oil, over double the mileage. No regrets 1.5 years in, can barely hear it running.
Another great video, Andy!
I like tohatsu outboard do one on them
I think what’s happening to merc has happened to omc , skimpin out on parts, I wouldn’t say they are getting outdated but i can definitely see the japan market is starting to take over
Only time i see those off shore motors being used freshwater is the great lakes honestly
Where’s Honda Marine, you never mention, I running one on my bass boat and love it.
I am in the mode of upgrading my 115 OptiMax to either a new 115 or going on up to a 150 which my boat is rated for. Personally I’ve really considered the Suzuki over the Yamaha and Merc bringing up the rear. Biggest drawback for me on Suzuki is the lack of dealers near me. The closest is almost 100 miles from me. Also the high cost of changing out controls. But I’d have that too with the Yammy. Only difference is there’s a Yamaha dealer 35 miles from me which is a plus. The biggest thing going for the Merc is the dealer networks which seem to be almost everywhere. It’s a damned hard decision.
Zuke's don't break.
I just did this exact swap this spring and put a 115 Suzuki on my boat and I can not say enough good things about that motor. Starts first crank every single time, extremely quiet, pops you on plane and has the same or slightly better top end as my old two stroke. I am extremely confident you would be happy with one. Best of luck in your research!
Zukes are honda. Take cal off and look.
@@ashleywynn4923 No Ashley they are not.
Are Suzuki and Honda outboards the same?
The Honda outboard engine is one of the best options for boaters seeking performance and efficiency, while the Suzuki offers a lot of bang for the buck. If you have ever looked at Honda or Suzuki outboard motors, you know that they are different from one another.