Quote:
Originally Posted by markg
We currently have a 17 ft Crestliner with a 140 Hp Suzuki outboard. Its a good boat and the motor has been very reliable. We have owned it for about 10 or 15 yrs and i am thinking about what kind of new boat i may want.
Most of the new boats have Mercury motors. I see that most boat shops work on Mercury, that would be handy. How is there reliability?
What brand of boats have high end quality? We have been quite happy with Crestliner but Lund and Princecraft seem impressive as well.
All advice is appreciated.
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If you are looking to purchase brand new and want to stay with an aluminum boat, I would have a look at Westlock Motor products, and have a look at an Alumacraft with an Evinrude E-Tec G2 on it. In my experience, Lund has declined in quality from the boats that made their name great years ago, and prince craft was never in the same league as a Lund or even a Crestliner.
Personally I would suggest that you make the jump to a quality fibreglass boat, such as a Warrior, Ranger, Yar-Craft etc. Depending on the type of use you have in mind for it, it is hard to beat the ride quality in a glass boat, and the fit and finish in my Ranger is second to none.
As far as outboards, there are lots of Mercs out there because Brunswick Marine is the parent company of Merc and of many of the boat manufacturers, such as Lund, Princecraft, tracker, etc., making it hard to get anything but a Merc on these hulls.
Personally though, I would not have a Merc, as when I see an outboard grenade at a tournament, it is generally a black one, and while all engines can fail, their track record is poor in my opinion.
Add to that all the maintenance that a Merc requires and the need to run premium fuel, I would not make them my choice.
My first choice would be an e-Tec, as it is lighter than the comparable 4 stroke Merc, has less emissions, uses less fuel, runs great on regular gas, and is as quiet. My second choice would be a Yamaha, as they have proven to be excellent motors as well, and I would stay away from Merc, as mentioned, and from Honda, as much as I like Honda products, they are heavy outboards, and lack the power of a comparable HP outboard of the other brands.
this is just my opinion and experience, and you will find people with horror stories of all brands as well as great success with all brands, so choose what will work best for the use that you have, and that fits your budget and convenience as well.
Good Luck in your search.
