We have all volvo stuff on our parasail boats. I know you're already laughing but truthfully, they are suprizingly reliable with the diesel pentas. We put 12+ hours a day on the boats most of which is under heavy load 7 days a week and rarely have a mechanical problem with the drives or motors. This is on boats that are like 4 and 5 years old now. Also the control around the docks with a single/duoprop is 100x better than a normal single.

The Volvo DuoProp drives are by far the best engineered, best build and most cost effective way to get the most use from an I/O application. The setup tolerances are an exact science in and of themselves, the drives will last indefinetly with proper maintenance and care. The idea's behind the composite drives are impact & corrosion resistance. They are still the same drive as the standard DP's under the fancy packaging.

Good luck

if he buys make sure someone in town will work on them.