I have an SEI upper/merc lower. 300 hours at 350+ horsepower run pretty hard too. No issues. The original merc upper seized from a low lube level due to prop seal leak and was replaced before I bought the boat by the previous owner. I resealed the lower, and as stated, have been running since.

Merc Retail is $ 2707 for the standard rotation Alpha Gen II outdrives. They come not separated but put together and with a mounting gasket kit. Merc has come down another 200 bucks since last year. SEI is forcing the price decrease because Merc has lost so many Alpha outdrive sales to SEI. Even insurance companies quote a replacement of an SEI outdrive in the past 2 years as before they would quote the $ 3995 Merc OEM price tag. Not anymore.

Ayuh,.... I've got 2 SEI's in the fleet of barges I maintain,...

1 behind a 350 Efi, 'n 1 behind a 350 Mpi,... Both hulls are High-liner 222s,....

The Alpha 1 SEI behind the 350 Efi has been in place for 3 seasons, without any issues what so ever,...
A dock boat that is used everyday,.....

The 350 Mpi has an Alpha 1, Gen.II,....
It blew up within the 1st week on the barge,....
Pulled it, boxed it, shipped it,.... less than a week later, the replacement showed up, 'n was installed,....
That was 2 seasons ago, 'n this is also a dock barge, that's used everyday, from early May, to late November, or ice-up,....

I've installed 10 or so on customers boats and only one warranty problem, an impeller. They are pretty noisy, shimmed very loose. The paint peels off as stated. Never a problem with gear lube leaking and I never pressure tested one yet. Problem is I don't make much money on them and they killed the rebuilding drives market for us.

This fall I did the impeller service on the outboard I bought over the summer. SEI tag on the lower unit, so I called, spoke to a real live person, and was informed it was put into service in 2009. Go ahead and guess which lower unit I'll be buying if something happens to this one..... (Hint: it isn't Mercury)

And for those of us that have no clue what the hell Ayuh means: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftZYb5HGDlI

Have one on a Chaparral 20' runabout, has worked flawlessly for 4 years. I'd do it again in a heartbeat!

ayuh, it's a real common expression in south florida...

I have installed over 20 SEI drives at my shop in 3 Years , and not 1 warranty claim yet. Doesn't pay to rebuild a Merc anymore for the price of a SEI.

Thanks for clearing that up! Been listening to Bondo for years now, always has good advice, and was never quite sure. Ayuh!