Evinrude Why Not?

Up until last fall, I had a 2011 Ranger 620 with G1 250. It was a pretty good motor. During the 8 years I owned the boat, replaced the T/T relay twice and a fuel injector. The lower unit was replaced before I owned it. If it wasn’t for 2 stroke and having to always be filling up the oil reservoir due to be 50:1, I would have considered a G2 on new 620. The incredibly low maintenance, long warranty, and winterizing, big pluses. Instead decided to go with Mercury Pro XS. I spent months searching for reviews on the Pro XS and could not find a single comment from an owner that was not glowing about the Pro XS. Time will tell and will have great dealer 2 miles from where the boat will sit at the lake all summer.
Not sure on the cost comparison, when I went to build the new Ranger, the E-tech was more than Mercury but that could be due to the arrangement between Ranger and Mercury.
My previous two boats had Yamaha’s and they were both great engines.

I have a 2019 Alumacraft Edge with an Etec G2 150 HO. Only one season so far(~50 times on the water), but have been very happy with it. Very quick out of the hole, great gas mileage, and the power steering is awesome IMO. I do admit that if I do have problems ever I might be limited to the # of places to get it worked on as there are a lot of electronic elements that seem to be pretty specific to the G2, but the dealer is local and the buying experience was good. I am also 100% certain that I would be happy with the Yamaha 150SHO or the new MERCs. I had a Yamaha 2-stoke on my last boat and it was rock solid. It just happened to be a situation where it was the right boat at the right price that met my needs.

My “why not” is because Ive run a E tec before. Never again. Even on the days it ran flawlessly I would much rather have a Yamaha.

Evinrude did make some nice commercials for E tec.

I think most manufacturers are putting out a quality product these days – and it’s your money so go with what you think best meets your needs and feel good about it. With that said…

Why wouldn’t I buy an evinrude?

Too many horror stories. I switched over to a 4 stroke and am never going back. Would never even consider looking at a used boat with any 2 stroke on it, and many of my friends agree (not saying we’re 100% right, just sharing my experience). Also – resale value speaks for itself.

I couldn’t care less about another 1-2 mph top end, I want quiet reliable power. Yamaha, Suzuki, Honda, and Merc verado would be my choices (in that order).

I find it pretty hilarious about the Evinrude guys talking about how great their motors are and they only had to fix this, fix that and their biggest plus is low maintenance.

I personally have never done one thing, not once, not ever, have I had one of my Yamaha’s in the shop. I use them and abuse them. Never once to the shop.

As far as winterizing a yamaha… huh? All I do is change oil and put in gas. There’s no winterization, and no maintenance…. I really don’t see what Evinrude guys are referring to.

As others have said, if you want an Evinrude I’d recommend you go get one. Its your money.

Kurt Turner wrote:

David – your on a Yamaha leaning website

Every non sponsored fishing website is Yamaha leaning. Go to any country around the world… guess what Yamaha leaning.

As the Mexican fishing guide told me… “Yamaha no fix!”

Joe Scegura wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Kurt Turner wrote:</div>
David – your on a Yamaha leaning website

Every non sponsored fishing website is Yamaha leaning. Go to any country around the world… guess what Yamaha leaning.

As the Mexican fishing guide told me… “Yamaha no fix!”

Joe, that is funny and true. That has been my experience with the Yamaha motors I have had on my boats. When I was shopping to upgrade boats having a Yamaha motor was high on the list of wants.

Now that’s funny. Thanks, didn’t think of that.

Thanks. Interesting point. Four strokes have twice the moving parts, and require much more maintenance. I hate helping family and friends with the maintenance on their four strokes. That’s why I started looking at Evinrude.

Thanks for the honest level headed input. I’m new on this site. Had a choice between Suzuki 3 cyl. or the Rude. I’ve done alot of research. I’ve seen no reason to go with the Evinrude.

David G wrote:

Thanks. Interesting point. Four strokes have twice the moving parts, and require much more maintenance. I hate helping family and friends with the maintenance on their four strokes. That’s why I started looking at Evinrude.

Yea, I guess I don’t see what the additional maintenance is. Like Joe said, change the oil and lower unit fluid once a year and you’re done. I literally do all my maintenance in about 10-15 minutes at the boat landing in November/December after my last run for the fall. The 4 strokes are sooo reliable. The disdain towards Evinrude is, in my opinion, warranted. They just don’t offer a consistently reliable product when compared to the 4 stroke motors.

Whenever I travel to coastal areas I make a point to checkout what engines are hanging on various work boats like commercial fishing, guide boats, sightseeing tour boats etc. By far the most engines I’ve seen are Yamaha and Mercury. This year in Florida that held true but with a few Suzuki thrown in. Some of that may be due to what dealers and service availability is for the area but overall I believe it is due to dependability of the products. I’d go with the commercial guys who put tons more hours on an engine than we do. That puts Evenrude last overall from my unscientific analysis. Last two engines I’ve owned are a yamaha and a Mercury. No problems with either.

I have heard it said by a very popular Muskie guide that he blew his Etec motor twice, and the customer service sucked. He switched brands after that. I have never heard anyone with a yammaha, mercy or Honda complain that there motor blew during the warranty period. When I was shopping for a new boat I told the salesman at hallberg to price up a competitor with an etec as I had the same thoughts the OP did. Salesman than convinced me that was the absolute last motor he would choose. His top 2 were Yamaha and Honda. That was just one mans opinion though.
Perhaps it’s possible that etecs are the best, but come with the highest likelihood of having a lemon??

David G wrote:

Thanks for the honest level headed input. I’m new on this site. Had a choice between Suzuki 3 cyl. or the Rude. I’ve done alot of research. I’ve seen no reason to go with the Evinrude.

Dave, Prior to my Evinrude G2 I ran a Suzuki 115 tiller on my 2001 and 2008 620T’s and looking back at all the motors I owned they were the absolute best. I am not brand loyal to anyone as I don’t drink either the 2 stroke or 4 stroke kool aid. Owned the early Evinrudes, 2 – 4 cylinder 2 stroke Merc’s, 2 cycle Suzuki, Mariner 2 stroker, 4 stroke Suzuki’s and now my G2. I also bought a new 2019 25 hp 4 stroke Merc for my river boat last August. I have gone with my dealer recommendations and they have never let me down. I also understand that they have side incentives to sell specific engines with their programs which make them more money. Yes, G2’s are complicated and your normal mechanic that just invested his time getting set up to service the “other” motors probably find that they just can’t support everyone so why not point people in the direction that they service? My Ranger dealer is always in the top 5 dealers in the nation for selling the most Ranger boats. One thing that contributes to this is the amount of program boats that he runs through, guys sponsored by Ranger/ Merc…whomever. As well there are lots of guys that are being sponsored by certain companies, as a spokesman in exchange to use their products a pretty good deal. I remember Capra’s, always had a certain boat/motor combo. Talking to them in the fall they could not say enough things good about Skeeter. That winter they switched to Ranger and it was simply amazing how terrible Skeeter’s got in the last 6 months and it was just after I ordered a new Skeeter. I don’t fly the Evinrude flag but I am not saying either….Hey I know a friend who says….rather you asked for experiences and I told you mine without bias. You’ll love the Suzuki however your dealer is one of your key influence’s in this decision. Seriously I was considering a 250 Suzuki on my Ranger but the dealer talked me out of it. Maybe he knew he was going to drop Suzuki soon and could not support it. With BRP purchasing Alumacraft, and if history repeats itself you may find that in a few years all Alumacraft dealers will have to be certified Evinrude repair. You can but it’s expensive to buy a Skeeter without Yamaha, a Lund without a Merc, and you will find that Ranger with anything but a Merc will be more $$$$ as companies continue to evolve. You should have that discussion with your dealer, where am I going to be in 3 years. Not that he knows but he might. Either motor will serve you well. Also remember that the class of motor (>150hp) is a different animal than one less than 115 hp. I call my G2 my Chrysler as it looks just like an old one. Now that Merc Pro XS has come out I don’t feel so bad on the looks!

You can look at 10 year old used boats and a lot of them with two strokes had new power heads at some point. That was enough reason for me to get a 4 stroke. If i have a boat for 10 years, i dont want to rebuild it. Not a brand thing for me, 2 stroke vs 4 stroke more than anything.

Of everything you just said this rings the truest.

Now that Merc Pro XS has come out I don’t feel so bad on the looks!

Just messin with ya.

I have owned many etec skidoo sleds and still have 2 newer ones. But I am the person that has seen enough engine failures on them not to keep them too long so I try to trade up every 2 years. I would assume the direct injection concept is simular on both Skidoo vs Evinrude??

I would want to have a 4 stroke if I was trading it off when the unit is 6+ years old do to engine worries and resale value.

(It’s like many of the Toyota/Honda fans of cars. OK, 20 years ago those were better running cars than your domestics. But not today. Today’s Fords and Chevys are every bit as good, if not better. If you are still only considering Toyota or Honda, you are missing out).
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queenswake wrote:

It does bother me some to see fans of certain brains becomes almost brainwashed into not even considering other options. I agree that it’s really a 4-stroke vs 2-stroke. I sure hope by now that people realize that today’s Merc are just as good as that Yamaha. Same with Suzuki.

It’s like many of the Toyota/Honda fans of cars. OK, 20 years ago those were better running cars than your domestics. But not today. Today’s Fords and Chevys are every bit as good, if not better. If you are still only considering Toyota or Honda, you are missing out.

I’m not going to defend me love of 2 strokes. Still miss my 150 HPDI yammie. Thing was an absolute rocket…

Gotta admit, today’s newer high torque 4 strokers got my interest. Good timing too, contemplating downsizing to 17.5’ tiller to enable a downsize of tow vehicle.

Carry on….

I really like the growl of my Optimax which is 20 years old and besides one bad injector has been flawless.

That being said as I always say I do not care what color it is, if you got a good one you got a good one if you got a lemon you got lemon. Does not matter who made it there are lemons in everything built.