This came up in another thread and has likely been discussed but some of us werent here so.........how does Merc justify the price of their V8 boat engines?

I dont except warranty covereage as an acceptable answer as its a short warranty and you could build several motors during the warranty period and still be ahead.

I dont buy the resale issue either. It doesnt effect the manufacturers cost of providing a product.

Some will say its the cost of R&D. I do accept this in regards to their drives and maybe outboards. But the engines are car/truck engines with a couple changes.

So what do you think?

HUGE PROFITS!

That was easy, any other questions?

Yeah. Why do we pay it and why dont more manufacturers offer their own engine programs ?

I think there are quite a few really good engine mfg's that have alot to offer over merc.....this comming from a guy with a merc outboard

The manufactures need MerCruiser drives and MerCruiser will tie the 2 together. Fountain the largest user of MC perf engines tried to use his own engines and MC squeezed him on the drives and basically forced him to use their engines to get the drives. It cost him over 1 million for his defunct engine program.

I wish Volvo was still involved in performance mkt. Also I think it would be great if ford/Honda/Dodge.... would pair up with say IMCO Extreme drive and offer a package.

Just a thought.??

Really--upgrade from 500EFI/ Bravo XR to 500EFI/ with #6 SSM and your talking $39,000 MORE! That is one hell of a high priced outdrive!

A friend of mine built a 1100hp blower motor a few years ago. He spared no expense on it.
He used a Bowtie block , Callies crank , Carrilo rods, Brodix heads, you name it. I think the total cost was around 38,000, including dynoing it. Now how much is a
Merc 1000sc ? 100K ? Isn't that a little
ridiculous !
My own (675hp)540 I built for around $8500, granted it does not have a top of the line short block. Add another $3500 to upgrade the short and your still way shy of a Merc 575sc.

Yup David, thats what I'm talking about.

With the current economy and the need to reduce the overall price of a boat, I hope we see some attempts to make this sport more feasable for the average family.

I'm thinking you could probably buy a new boat, pull the engine and put in a GM crate motor, sell the new Merc motor, and come out ahead on price, performance, and warranty.

I know that HTM has their own engine program and given the disaster that has struck that company, I hate to inquire as to how it has worked for them.

If I were lookiing for a boat right now, I would be looking for a newer used boat with a broken motor at a great price.

That's why manufactures are looking into other drive systems- Arneson, Weismann, etc.