VOLVO OR MERC

[ianainge]

LOOKING AT BUYING A 1995 WINDY 31 WHICH CAME WITH A CHOICE OF VOLVO OR MERCRUISER OUTDRIVES (DIESEL) IVE HEARD ALL THE SHOCKING TALES OF VOLVO PARTS PRICES, BUT IN THE FORUMS OPINION WHICH IS THE BETTER BET.

 

[hlb]

What you shouting for??
My mechanics have all told me that volvo are crap and expencive but others worse.
Anyway how do you come to have a choice of engines in a 1995 boat???

Haydn

 

[ianainge]

Because it was made with a choice from new,so if the merc is a better engine i will look for one with a merc.

 

[duncan]

don't think you are going to geta simple answer to this - you will proabably need to be more specific over the actual engine / drive combinations but, in any event, how thay have been maintained and used will have a far bigger impact on a 6 year old boat than any reputation the particular model had then.

 

[byron]

Ian it is considered bad manners to type in Caps on the internet. It is considered to be shouting. As regards your question, all things being equal I would sooner have a Merc than a Volvo.

©2001

 

[Jcorstorphine]

Bad time with VOLVO,(I know I am shouting but VOLVO ENGINE SPARES ARE OUT OF THIS WORLD, NOT MANY PEOPLE KNOW BUT THEY ARE ACTUALLY MADE OF GOLD AND THAT IS WHY THEY ARE SO EXPENSIVE. SUSPECT MERC ARE ALSO VERY EXPENSIVE. LOOK FOR A BOAT WITH PERKINS OR FORD AND YOU WILL NOT GO FAR WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


John C

 

[adrianm]

Personally I'd go for the Merc, they're a lot cheaper as engines in the first place so the cost of the boat should be less. In my experience the parts are very reasonable.

 

[Guest]

I know that Volvo spares are expensive but as stated properly maintained the costs should not be too horrendous. I've had Volvos for the last 10 years on 4 different boats and only had one large bill for a replacement outdrive. I have go friends who have Mercs and they have had some very expensive problems particularly on the 5 cylinder ones. Some of the Merc engines are / were based on the BMW ones and they were very expensive to maintain with lots of problems.

All in all IMHO go for ones that have been well maintained with a boat in similar condition and choose the best regardless of manufacturer.

 

[Guest]

As an engineer and boat owner with Volvo engines I would go for Volvo, they have a better spares back up than probably anyone else,all be it at a price you will find a dealer in nearly every port on the southcoast.

 

[ari]

If you're buying petrol engines then Mercruiser, if you are buying diesel engines then get Volvo.

Mercruiser make way more petrol engines than diesel, diesel engines seem to be more of a sideline for them and as someone further up said, their diesels seem to be based on BMW Marine diesels (Mercruiser bought out BMW Marine some years ago) which are not rated.

Volvo's emphasis on the other hand seems to be on producing diesels, with petrols playing second fiddle.

Ari.

 

[jfm]

There's more to an outdrive than the 'gine. Merc's core business is outdrives and IMHO their legs and gearboxes are very well engineered, better than Volvo. The engine bit of an outdrive itself is less interesting, more of a commodity IMHO. So my vote wd be merc

JFM

 

[Guest]

Agreed. Petrol = Merc, diesel = VileVo. You just know diesel's going to cost more to look after, so don't moan at the service bills, look at what you save on fuel. If you're running petrol, the Mercruiser every time, for my money. Spares are dirt cheap (in relative, boaty terms) in the US, and it is feasible to bring 'em yourself.