Most reliable outboards
 

I know that back in the day yamaha had a reputation for reliability and mercury had a reputation for weak lower units. How do outboard makers fair today is 2023. I see a lot of boats with mercury on them so they can’t be that bad. What is the best outboard manufacturer in terms of reliability and maintenance? Some people still don’t trust mercs. Others thinks its a stif competition between yamaha and suzuki. Me personally, I think yamaha got to relax and was caught up to.

Depends what you want to do with your outboard.
I think Merc are generally better for high end performance but Yamaha are hard to beat as a commercial engine.

I know it’s a different market here in Thailand but Yamaha still sell a 2 stroke 200hp, NO fuel injection and NO oil injection. (Bit like an old 1980 model) They run them at 5,000 rpm all day on commercial speed boats and clock 3,000 plus hours before they start to fall apart. Plenty of four strokes here doing the same job but the 2 strokes are half the price to buy, and that’s a huge deal in this market.

Merc don’t even come close in sales, mostly due to price, and no cheap 2 stroke answer to Yamaha.

RR

I need something endurance. Like 24 to 36 hours straight

The difference is much smaller than in the carburated 2-stroke days when Yamaha was the durability leader by far (yes, they had corrosion issues in Florida).

Yamaha may still be the king of the hill, but all remaining manufacturers make reliable outboards. And Yamahas still corrode in Florida.

If you care about weight, Mercury is the way to go.

Maybe the Suzuki dealer gives you a better deal.

It is like cars these days.

Any engine can do that.

the onx diesel outboards you might want to look at pretty impressive

In boston yamaha outboards always corroded sooner than anything. Suzuki weighed a ton..

Only new 4 stroke id avoid is the Yamaha 350. Maybe the Suzuki 350 as well. Yamaha 425 is too loud. Everything else is fine. Mercs probably run a little faster.

suzuki diesel in my opinion. Don’t expect to go fast but my experience is they’ll last you 10yrs or more.

Suzuki makes diesel?