which outboard? Yamaha or suzuki

Martxer

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I was told by a dealer who fits Suzuki outboards to their boats that the Yamaha is considered the superior motor.
 

Hot Property

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Suzuki didn't honour a warranty claim regarding frost damage on the mild Hamble so I bought a Honda with a decent warranty....
 

Rappey

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I dont think you could go wrong buying any of the main brands. For me it would be down to price, weight and warranty packages.
 

ontheplane

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I know there is a massive price difference....

Whether than relates to the relative quality I don't know.

I have never heard of anyone ever having an issue with a Yam to be fair.....
 

westernman

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I was told by a dealer who fits Suzuki outboards to their boats that the Yamaha is considered the superior motor.
I was told by a dealer who sold Yamaha and Suzuki 2.5HP 4 strokes that the Suzuki had plastic bits which decayed. The Yamaha was better lasting.

No idea whether that carries over to more expensive motors. But usually what a company does at the cheap end gives you clues about how seriously they think about quality for the more expensive things as well.
 

jfm

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At 300hp, I would get the Yamaha or Mercury. Hard to choose between them because both are excellent. (I recently bought the 300 Yamaha).
Specify electric steering, so you get heading hold and full autopilot.
Maybe get your order in fast because there is backlog!
 

Bowlerhat

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At the height of the counter piracy campaign in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean, the Somali pirates ran riot. They pushed their operating envelope way offshore in dodgy skiffs. Every one was powered by a Yamaha.
 

jfm

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I'd buy a Honda if I were you ;)
Erk no 🙂. Not a terrible product by any means, but way behind Mercury/Yamaha on electric fly by wire steering. You need to use hydraulic steering on honda, which means you then need a whole pump-based autopilot (or no autopilot). That would be a poor choice when you see what Mercury/Yamaha offer as regards electric steering with integrated a/pilot.
Anyway Honda don't do 300hp; their max is 250hp
 

Peterlewis321

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I had a Suzuki 250 on my last rib…..despite careful use and annual servicing I had 2 major issues/failures (warranty) and would never go with Suzuki again. Particularly as, with the second v expensive failure requiring a new engine block and 2 cylinder heads, Suzuki GB did not fully reimburse the dealer (SAL Marine in Lymington, who were excellent!) for the repairs as apparently they ‘cap’ their warranty liability and leave their dealer to pick up any extra.
 
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