New boat and outboard

I’m looking at a new boat this year currently I have a smoker craft pro mag 171 with a 115 Yamaha 4 stroke. Looking at an alumnacraft comp 185 fsx. Looking for opinions on susuki vs Yamaha in the 150hp. The dealer is pushing susuki and they are a little cheaper but I do like my Yamaha I have now. Also any input on the competitors would also be appreciated. I don’t fish big lakes too often but it would be nice to if I wanted. Most of the time there is 5 of us in the boat wife, myself and 3 kids. The boat will be used mostly for fishing with some pleasure boating, water sports thrown in.

I can’t speak on the competitor, but I have a Trophy with a 150 suzuki on it and it has been a great motor. Granted, I just got the combo this year and is a 2020 model. 140 hours and it is just great. I can’t believe how fuel efficient and quiet it is. I will say though…if you’re looking at 5 people in a boat (even though they’re kids) I would look into a larger boat, 195 maybe? which is not offered in the competitor. A Trophy would fit your needs, and if you shop around should be able to step into one at a comparable price.

No experience with the Suzuki, but the Yamaha F150 four stroke is among the most reliable outboards on the water. Would highly recommend one.

I have an older Suzuki 150 and it has been excellent. Can’t go wrong with either brand IMO.

I hear you browndog bigger is always better lol. We are going to look at them tomorrow and see how they fit. Thanks for the input on the motors that’s kind of what I have been hearing also. They are both good and I have a couple dealers close that service both so that shouldn’t be an issue.

Zuki are good motors, IMHO Yammi is top.
Either will be reliable.

BUT… make 100% sure you are getting what YOU want. If the dealer won’t listen to their customer then find a different dealer. You are the one paying for it, not the dealer.

One question I would ask – Do they have the motor you want in stock? Easy motors to sell, not so easy to deliver?

Good Luck!

-J.

The one dealer I am dealing with puts Suzuki’s on all their alumnacraft so I would think they have them in stock but they can get Yamaha as well so I will ask about that. The susuki is cheaper and has a better warranty (6yrs) but that doesn’t mean much if it’s always in the shop. I talked to the service manager where I bought my boat and he said Yamaha but the only bad thing he had to say about susuki was parts can be hard to get or take longer sometimes but I have been seeing a lot more susuki’s the past few years so maybe that has changed.

Suzuki is making an effort to get more market share, that is why you see more of them of recent. They are great outboards, right up there with Yamaha. From experience, HP to HP, the Zuke’s have a bit more top end than Yammy’s. Both are great outboard, I don’t think you can go wrong. Yammy may have a better dealer network.

Not sure if this is a good comparison but I have a 10+ year old Tohatsu that has always worked great. Suzuki makes Tohatsu.

Stanley wrote:

The one dealer I am dealing with puts Suzuki’s on all their alumnacraft so I would think they have them in stock but they can get Yamaha as well so I will ask about that. The susuki is cheaper and has a better warranty (6yrs) but that doesn’t mean much if it’s always in the shop. I talked to the service manager where I bought my boat and he said Yamaha but the only bad thing he had to say about susuki was parts can be hard to get or take longer sometimes but I have been seeing a lot more susuki’s the past few years so maybe that has changed.

They are both bullet proof, it would be a fluke for either one to be in the shop alot. i just bought a new boat and i went with the yamaha cause i had no troubles in 3 years on my last one,and i got 6 year warranty on my new yamaha

1999 F100 Yamaha. Traded it in last spring on a new rig. Other than leaky fuel pumps that were not made right, no issues. Went with another Yammy on my new rig.

I have talked to a few different dealers now and am just waiting on some trade numbers to see who has the best numbers both for trade in and new boat price. Thanks for all the input and hopefully I can make something work.

I’m looking at selling my 2013 Lund Rebal XL 1650, 60hp 4stroke, shoreline trailer. I’ve put 20-25 hours on it since I bought in 2016. Teranova troller with ipilot. Any thoughts on its value?
Thanks

I was faced with the same decision. Dealer also pushed suzuki. Purchased a comp 175 sport with 140 suzuki. Wanted yamaha but it was $600 more and came with a 3 yr warranty instead of 6. As others have mentioned i think they are both great motors. All things being equal if I had the choice again with the same inequalities I take suzuki. If same warranty and same cost I go yamaha but both great motors.

I’m going on year 5 with the motors. I got a 140 and a 9.9 kicker. My starter did go out on the 9.9 which the mechanic said was an anomaly. Covered under warranty and it still worked fine with the pull chord. Had to replace spark plugs on the 140 last year. Other than that no issues.

If you’re working with a certain dealer in the metro I would stay away. Awful experience with them. PM me for more details if you want em

crappie55369 wrote:

I was faced with the same decision. Dealer also pushed suzuki. Purchased a comp 175 sport with 140 suzuki. Wanted yamaha but it was $600 more and came with a 3 yr warranty instead of 6. As others have mentioned i think they are both great motors. All things being equal if I had the choice again with the same inequalities I take suzuki. If same warranty and same cost I go yamaha but both great motors.

I’m going on year 5 with the motors. I got a 140 and a 9.9 kicker. My starter did go out on the 9.9 which the mechanic said was an anomaly. Covered under warranty and it still worked fine with the pull chord. Had to replace spark plugs on the 140 last year. Other than that no issues.

If you’re working with a certain dealer in the metro I would stay away. Awful experience with them. PM me for more details if you want em

Dan’s Southside Marine by chance?

chubs1018 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>crappie55369 wrote:</div>
I was faced with the same decision. Dealer also pushed suzuki. Purchased a comp 175 sport with 140 suzuki. Wanted yamaha but it was $600 more and came with a 3 yr warranty instead of 6. As others have mentioned i think they are both great motors. All things being equal if I had the choice again with the same inequalities I take suzuki. If same warranty and same cost I go yamaha but both great motors.

I’m going on year 5 with the motors. I got a 140 and a 9.9 kicker. My starter did go out on the 9.9 which the mechanic said was an anomaly. Covered under warranty and it still worked fine with the pull chord. Had to replace spark plugs on the 140 last year. Other than that no issues.

If you’re working with a certain dealer in the metro I would stay away. Awful experience with them. PM me for more details if you want em

Dan’s Southside Marine by chance?

Id rather not publicly bash a business regardless of how i was treated. If you want details i can PM you. My experience with this certain dealer was 6 years ago by this point. Maybe they have changed? I doubt it but people can decide for themselves

Update. We ended up trading in our smoker craft for a brand new alumacraft competitor fsx 185 with a 150 Yamaha sho. Bought from LaCannes marine and should be here March/April.

Stanley wrote:

Update. We ended up trading in our smoker craft for a brand new alumacraft competitor fsx 185 with a 150 Yamaha sho. Bought from LaCannes marine and should be here March/April.

That’s a good choice. I would have suggested Suzuki based on my experience with them, but you cannot go wrong with Yamaha. The Suzuki 150 is actually the same block as the 175 so it gets a bit more displacement for the HP ratings from what I have seen.
The dealer I bought my boat from sold and serviced all brands and would put anything on the back I wanted. I wanted a Suzuki, but went into the service area and asked the manager which motors return the most. He says, well, if you get a Suzuki and dont decide to have us service it for you, this is the last time I will see you. He’s been right so far. Yamaha is right there too.

CaptainMusky it’s funny you bring that up about talking to the service managers about the motors because I did the same thing and was told Yamaha so I guess you can’t go wrong with either. The only real negative I found about Suzuki was parts took longer to get, sometimes months from what I was told by the service manager I talked to and they are a certified Suzuki dealer. I went with the Yamaha sho because I wanted a little extra hole shot since there will be 5 of us usually and was told to stay away from the SS Suzuki model from many dealers and an alumacraft rep. They changed the gearing for 2021 on those motors and I guess it’s more for bass boats and doesn’t work well with fish/ski style boats like I bought. The regular Suzuki’s didn’t get this gear change only the SS models.

Interesting about the gearing change. I wish I could find a pic of my 19 foot tournament sport loaded up with all our gear and 3 guys for a 20 mile trek one way on lake of the woods. Hundreds of extra pounds over just fishing gear and it pops right up on plane. You won’t regret the yamaha they make fine motors too.