4-stroke motors-Who makes the most reliable????

In the market for a used boat, motor and trailer and want to get a 4-stroke. Of the big players who makes the best with least amount of problems? Currently looking at Yamaha, Mercury and Honda not in that order. Any advice, comments or suggestions.

You could debate this subject until the cow came home.. Choice it strictly yours, most of them are pretty good, maintain them you should get many years of service. Mine gets serviced at the end of every season, its an 03 Mercury 60 hp 4 stroke. It gets a 100 fishing trips a year and hours of trolling and haven't had any issues. Except a couple of warranty items. Have friends who run Honda, Yamaha, and a E-tech, only difference I see is there quieter than my Merc, but I can't hear anyway !!! Good Fishing

My 2 cents here. I have a 2000 4 Stroke 70 HP Evinrude Tiller outboard and fish more than most meaning I have countless hours on this engine. I usually fish Geneva, Winnebago and Leech Lakes and the engine endures mostly mid to open throttle with a good amount of trolling as well. Never had one problem with this engine and I change oil twice a year with filter. I change the fuel filters and install new spark plugs ($1.98 each at F&F)and drain the lower unit. The motor has been flawless/award winning performance for me anyways and I enjoy the quietness and great gas mileage it gives me. Again, just my 2 cents here but I must say the proof is in the pudding on this 4 stoke!

Bought a new long shaft Honda 15hp back in 1995 & is still running like a top. 1 pull start during the season & 2 pulls to start after winter hibernation. I would buy another Honda in a heartbeat.

Tuffy2 you could be correct. I thought it was the 60's and down that were built by Tahutsu. Maybe Mercury built the plant for them, who knows.

owned a Merc. 9.9 new since 1996. Other than carb overhaul once, just routine maintenance. Ready fir this 3786 hours on it.You guessed it I troll ALOT! This was one of the Yammie heads that was cold blooded and did a slight reroute on water lines. No complaints from me on this one. Also bought a new 150 EFI merc at same time and had that rebuilt 4 years ago with 3730 hours on it. No problems since as well.

I agree with Tim, this is really just a Chevy vs Ford vs Dodge question. We are fortunate to have several good choices. Each manufacture builds quality products. The only real question is how much technology do you want, how much do you want to spend on manufacture required maintenance, factory warranty differences and price. With proper maintenance and good gas they'll all last a long time.

The Yamaha 2 strokes are very very good! Have a 90 on one of my alaska boats thing is great. little hard on fuel but I don't run it slow to often so not fair to say that cuz it's at 5000 rpm most of the time. My dad runs a 25 hp 2 stoke on the river and it has taken a beating and still runs like a top.

Tim........Mercury built a plant in China in 2005 to manufacture the 40-50-60 hp motors. They still built some here thought, just to keep up with demand. If I'm not mistaken, the 30 hp and down are built in Japan by Tohatsu.

I am a Mercury go so they are the best right! Actually it all comes down to preference, and how old of a motor you plan on buying, and what size too. Honda, I have never heard of a complaint about them, but they are very heavy to a comparable motor of another brand. Mercury, depends on how old of a motor you are buying. The early Mercury 4 strokes had a Yamaha head and Mercury lower unit, they were cold blooded. Current model and a few years old Mercury's 60HP and less are made by Tahatsoo (not sure on that spelling). They are reliable, and Tahatsoo makes motors vor several other manufacturers. Yamaha, good motors, you don't hear of then having problems to often. However there have been instance where something simple like a seal takes 2-3 weeks to get the parts for. It really comes down to the Ford and Chevy deal I like Fords and that is what I drive, you like Chevy's. Really they are all good motors, just depends on how old they are, how they been driven and maintained.

Here's another angle.....I'm most likely going to buy a used setup and that being said what's good bad or otherwise with Yamaha non-EFI 4-strokes? I am currently looking at 2 of them but they are NOT EFI.

I vote Suzuki!! 13 years and countless hours on my Johnson 115 4 stroke (suzuki) with not a LICK of problems. Just regular maintenance and still purrs. Not many honda dealers to service your motor around here in Milwaukee area that I know of. Yamaha is better than your other 2 listed hands down and plenty of dealers and same with Mercury. My new motor 150HO E-tec and cant wait!

I know you stated that you are looking for a 4-stroke, but I think you would be surprised by the reliability, efficiency, power and quietness of the E-tec motor.

Honda's not the fastest or the lightest. But they're the most reliable with the best factory warranty. It's the same V6 block as the Honda Accord and Honda Odyssey. Just a good, quiet, smooth running motor without the complicated electronics of the Mercs. As far as the Yamaha goes, the larger motors are nice. I have a yam 9.9 kicker on my current boat. It runs fine but it's no where near as quiet or as powerful as the Honda 9.9. I bought it because it was $800 less than the Honda. I'd never buy a Suzuki motor as long as Honda and Yamaha are still in business.

I agree with fish hook on Yamaha as the pick of the litter.

I run a 60 Suzuki (04 Johnson, OMC had them for their 4-strokes) and 60 Yamaha for work. Both are great motors, but the Suzuki has been bullet proof - over 2000 hours on it with only regular maintenance needed, and we run those motors through hell and back. The Yamaha had a reoccurring issue a couple of years ago that has been fixed and has been great since then. When choosing a motor for my personal boat, Suzuki was 1a and Yamaha 1b, I went with Yamaha because that's what the dealer had where I got the best deal - no issues in 5 years with it.