Merc wins again

Merc gets J.D. Power engine award 2/15/2007
While Bass Cat Boats this morning received the J.D. Power and Associates customer-satisfaction award for bass boats (see Dock Talk item further below), it was Mercury’s OptiMax that nabbed the coveted J.D. Power Highest In Customer Satisfaction Direct-Injected Outboards award. Its MerCruiser won as well in the sterndrive category. This was the second consecutive year both engines won their respective categories.

The awards were presented today to Mercury president Patrick Mackey, Mercury Outboard president Mark Schwabero, and Mercury MerCruiser president Kevin Grodzki at the Miami International Boat Show.

Mackey said: “Being recognized 2 years in a row for both our outboard and sterndrive businesses demonstrates that Mercury Marine is truly No. 1 on the water. This achievement clearly shows that the hard work of Mercury’s people over the last few years has truly paid off. The quality and reliability we’ve built into every engine delivers the best customer experience in the marine industry.”

Oh hum, oh hum, another award!!

Oh..here we go

I love my merc. But it is junk right guys

GO TEAM BLACK

Good job.. But you forgot to mention that Merc is sharing the award with Evinrude.

Who won the 4-stroke award?

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Good job.. But you forgot to mention that Merc is sharing the award with Evinrude.

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Have you got a link Derrick? I looked at JD’s web page, but couldn’t find marine motors.

No matter what motor you prefer I thought this one was pretty funny. Effective advertising to say the least.

Motor Test

Derek, I wasn’t trying to forget anything. I posted the document word from word from where I saw it.

If you have a post for Evinrude, post her up and congratulations to BRP!

Remember, I’m the guy that say buy the best motor, which is usually from the BEST DEALER!

Todd

JD Power Press Relase

Read your link – Merc #1, Evinrude #2

By the way. I think JD Power doesn’t mean squat. I actually wrote them one time asking for an explanation of their statistical analysis rationale. They responded it’s a trade secret.

In other words… My belief is you could have X number of anything but something could be “best” by one result, one customer, etc and X gets the trophy. Who even knows if they get a big enough sample to be valid? How is it done, etc.

That said congrats to Merc and Evinrude. I’m sure there’s some validity in there somewhere.

“Outboard DI two-stroke segment

Evinrude and Mercury rank highest in a tie in the outboard DI two-stroke segment. Mercury ranks highest in the segment for a second consecutive year, while Evinrude records a 24-point improvement compared to 2006.

Owners of two-stroke DI outboard engines report high marks for ease of starting and reliability. Engine transmission problems and the engine running roughly are the two most frequently cited issues for engines in the segment.”

Not sure what they mean.

I agree Todd, JD probably only surveys less than 1% of total registered ownership. And those motors are 1-2 years old.

This is an interesting piece of info that hansn’t been touched on from the JD powers press release:

“Owners of four-stroke EFI outboard engines experience much fewer problems and have higher overall satisfaction compared to owners of other outboard engines available in the market. Owners of four-stroke EFI engines report an average of 58 PP100, while owners of two-stroke DI engines report 77 PP100. Owners of two-stroke carbureted engines report experiencing the most problems, 167 PP100, which is more than double the number of problems as the higher-technology engines.”

The above numbers reflect an occurance of 33% more problems for owners of 2 stroke DI vs. 4 stroke. Wonder how the marketing departments will spin this one…

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Read your link – Merc #1, Evinrude #2

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“Evinrude and Mercury rank highest in a tie in the outboard DI two-stroke segment.”

How is Merc #1 and Evinrude #2 if they tie?

Why do you think??? Cause Merc is better.

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The above numbers reflect an occurance of 33% more problems for owners of 2 stroke DI vs. 4 stroke. Wonder how the marketing departments will spin this one…

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Those E-Tecs sure did make those 2 stroke DI numbers look bad didn’t they?

On a serious note, as to the 4 strokes. One thing that is misleading to people is that the dates of the survey for the 4 strokes doesn’t include any time when the Verado’s were on the market yet. The evaluation of Mercury’s performance in the 4 stroke division is based on all pre-Verado motors, and those motor’s powerheads were built by a different manufacturer.

Next year will be the first survey period that will include any Verado’s.

In the end, there are great steps forward in all area’s of the market, and regardless of personal product preferences, we all have better choices today than at any time in the past.

These us vs. them motor posts are becoming worse than any politcal thread that ever existed on this site. You can say, well just don’t read them…I won’t in the future…since I am looking at new motor up ’till now I was looking for some FACTUAL INFORMATION from contributors…found out there is not a chance.

From a guy who is not sponsored by anyone and just wamts an honest opinion every once in a while

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These us vs. them motor posts are becoming worse than any politcal thread that ever existed on this site. You can say, well just don’t read them…I won’t in the future…since I am looking at new motor up ’till now I was looking for some FACTUAL INFORMATION from contributors…found out there is not a chance.

From a guy who is not sponsored by anyone and just wamts an honest opinion every once in a while

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Your best motor will be from the best dealer in my opinion. This is the boat show season and it always heats up. I swear I won’t respond or post stuff like this but then I do it anyway…

There ISN’T a bad engine out there really, they all have their pluses and minuses

DO LOOK AT

Dealer Network
Factual Awards or ratings (Bass/Walleye Mag, JD Power, Powerboating, etc.)
DRIVE a boat with the engine.
ASK people who own the motor about their experiences
There are also intrinsic things – color, ownership/manufacturing site, looks
And, of course, price.

I’m sure you can think of more.

But honestly, there are a lot of great engines.

Curmudgeon!
You are right.
It is no different than asking who makes a better truck: Ford vs. Chev vs. Dodge.
You won’t get an answer anywhere…….Just doesn’t exist.

For me being non-biased to any motor manufacture, I’ll give you my honest opinion: NO OUTBOARD IS ANY BETTER THAN ANY OTHER!!!!!!

For what the weekend warrior is going to use his boat for, I would look at two factors: Initial cost and resale value.

Don’t bother looking at fuel consumption or if one motor actually puts out 5hp more than the other. You won’t know the difference. And if spending $5000 for a motor with a Flux Capacitor to give you 100 miles to a gallon of gas is cost-effective, then go that route. A person sure can buy a lot of oil/gas for $5000, or even $2000. But if the resale works better in your favor to have that motor, then go that route.

Funny ya know…….We all had carbed 2-strokes that smoked worse than a roadhouse bar on a Saturday night. And they all worked!!!

Buy whatever motor you have confident in. Technology has come a long way with motors and most are very reliable. Buy from a dealer you trust and where you will have the boat and motor serviced. If you do this you will be very happy with whatever you choose because they should take good care of you no matter the brand.

I think the hardest choice is 4stroke v.s two-stroke.

I bought my first new boat last spring and only had experience with a 1978 merc 115 black max before that (talk about an engine with a nice rumble to it). So I had zero preference on the motor type. I knew I would rather have a 4 stroke but wasn’t a huge concern. As a weekend fisherman, I would agree with Gary that I wouldn’t ever really notice any differences in the motors so I looked for a good deal. Although I would say max out your horsepower. I wasn’t smart enough and made the mistake of believing the dealer when he said the motor I got was big enough. Now I am trying to figure out a way to max the motor without getting kicked out of the house.

I know I am new here, but here is my ? First of all I bought a new boat and motor a year ago and JD power never sent me a survey? you would think they would like info from people that have a season under there belt with a new setup? now I am for the most part nonbias I will work with any of but everyone is talking brp and merk what happened to yamaha seems to me about 99% of the people I talk to think yamaha is great and has been for years. Maybe yamaha is not padding the pockets of JD Junkers enought or yamaha and other companys are taking that money and using it for development ? some of you are right maybe if a person is looking for a new rig they should spend some time at the boat landing with some friendly talk and ?s and get some good feedback that is my 2 cents

2ks

Hey Absolute!
Welcome to IDA.
Yep, not much chat Yamaha or even Honda.
I would assume that Honda would be right up at number one for quality?

yah Honda, don’t here much bad there ether I guess the only thing I have ever heard is the higher hp units might be a little heavy… maybe the yamaha’s and the honda’s have something in common with the maytag man?… I think for the most part we are fishing so we need to get to the landing with what ever we have, even if you are racing, you sill have to finish
2ks

My favorite part of everyones posts are how they are seemingly trained to support one brand over another. Why is that? Have you run all these motors personaly? How can someone tell anybody that they own the best motor? 95% of the public has never owned but one brand of motor. Mostly because thats what their Dad or someone in the family ran.

I can say that I have run Merc,Yamaha, and Evinrude. I have run 2 strokes and 4 strokes in 200H.P and larger. I will leave my feelings to myself (as it’s my personal choice what I run). Nobody pays me to run any motor and until I get free motors and get paid cash to say one is better than another, I will just run the ones on the boats I own! Right now I own a 225 4 stroke and a 200 stroke.

Welcome to In-Depth Outdoors Absolute2ks & Gordy!!!