Yeah, I'm eating the Popcorn also. This some eye opening stories.
Yeah, I'm eating the Popcorn also. This some eye opening stories.
I had a new 2009 200HO Etec, fantastic when it ran, but broke down once every year, third year it ate a piston so I repowered with a Yamaha SHO. Powerhead on the Etec was replaced under warranty, but I still lost a ton of money when I repowered. The guy that bought it is now on powerhead 4, but that one's lasted a while. I would never, ever buy another.
Who is manufacturing them? I will call my buddy at the dealership tomorrow and see if he can find out. Just odd because he had to go thru this whole thing of verifying inventory before he made it avail to the shared inventory stuff is coming from. He was also told "this is it".
Parts are still a limited number with Rude and yes all parts can be hard to get but if you want to keep an outboard 10 years we both know it is smarter to pick the folks still in business. For those that bought before they went out of biz I hope the best and stated it was a good motor.
For your reading pleasure. I got a good laugh out of this one but its true. This ought to ruffle a few feathers! I took this off another site, posted in 2013.
I am in the Outboard Motor industry. All first run editions of motors (generation 1) had issues.
Yamaha HPDI-------1999-2001ish--------disaster
Yamaha 4 Stroke---------2002-2007ish--------great but exhaust corrosion on some engines(not all), Balancer issues on inline motors(not all), oil seal issues............not all had this Im not running away from these motors.
Yamaha 250 4stroke 2006-2007---------------1st run of variable camshaft.............Major Lower Unit Problems(Suprised Nobody mentions this) Notice how 2008 models and up have an extra colling intake on lower unit??????
Yamaha 250-300hp HPDI----------------ABSOLUTE DISASTER. Almost on par with Evinrude FICHT. I have seen so many people come through our shop with these motors blown.
Honda 4 Strokes------------Just not enough of them around to really know but to be honest................I have not heard any consistant bad things. I would own one but Lack of used parts may scare me.
Evinrude Ficht (first generation ETEC........yes I said that)-------------disaster
Suzuki 4strokes 2000-2007ish-------------great engines but corrosion..............typical Japanese
Nissan TLDI------------not enough of those around to know for sure............some have blown up
Mercury Verado Gen 1------------had issues---Lower Unit failures, Supercharger Failures, etc
Mercury optimax 1998-2000------Disaster............Opti BOMB
Mercury Optimax 2002-2005-------------Much Better
Mercury Optimax From 2006 to today------------Awesome
Mercury Verado Gen 2 (2008ish and up)-----------Awesome. People seem very happy with them.
Etec------------------Fine but this was basically a second gen Ficht( have fun with that one guys)
Yamaha HPDI made in last 5 years or so---------------Fine
Yamaha 4 Strokes Made within the last 7 years or so------------------fine I have not heard much about the corrsion.(time will tell I guess)
Suzukis made within last 5 years...................excellent.
Moral of the story.........................Motors that were made at around 1998-2002 (DFI) were basically the guinney pigs. That was an "experimental" time with all this new techonogly.
Another bag of popcorn please
If I really liked the boat and could get it at a huge discount to save enough from the purchase to pay for mist of a replacement. ..... I would buy one .. . Otherwise, no.
RT188
I LIKE boats...BUT I LOVE PLANES
Oh yeah.... I love the RT188 too.
I noticed the same thing when boat shopping. Every price point that was appealing was with a Rude on back. I was told by several in the industry to stay away. parts and lack of services techs was main reason.
Techs that are trained and that have access to parts will thrive if they go independent. They won't be able to do warranty work though. I'd buy a carbed motor in a minute.
I admittedly didn't read through all three pages of posts on this but I vote Not just NO but H#$$ NO!!! My current Ranger with a G1 Etec on it has been sitting at Gone Fishing Marine in Dixon California since last August. I'm waiting on an EMM from BRP and it's still back ordered with no ship date. To say I'm pissed is an understatement!! I asked about ordering a used one off of Ebay and having it reprogrammed and my dealer said he had to send them back to BRP to be reprogrammed. Well that would be fine except for the fact that BRP keeps having supposed closures that are unannounced. It doesn't seem like a reliable fix for my issue.
Yeah hard pass lol
Geeeezzzz! I'm on my 3rd bag of Popcorn.
I would stay away. That being said, OMC made the toughest small outboard ever. You can't kill an older 25 HP.
history has shown that anytime you see a low price on a bass boat in this crazy market it will have a evinrude or johnson on it hard pass.
No surprise this has become the ultimate Evinrude bashing thread. Of course, the usual haters show up but now everyone that was left high and dry by BRP are in for the kill, as well. No one, including me is going to defend BRP. And despite some of the misinformation in this thread, most of us Evinrude users likely won't recommend that anyone invest a lot of money on an Evinrude engine.
Having said that, I love my G2. There isn't a better motor made that would match up with my boat. It's clean, quiet and strong and has been very reliable for the past 7 years. I have no desire to sell it or my boat and never will. I'll keep my G2 till it blows up. Meanwhile, I'll wave as I pass most of you by.
1994 201 Champ re-powered with a 250 HO G2 E250LHAFA 05438419
2020 Nitro Z20 Pro Package
Ridiculous!
The vast majority of Evinrude parts are available, there are however some that are challenging. Like 2005 ETEC Injectors, Ficht parts etc. But depending what motor you're looking at, this might not be a big concern. They do build a good, reliable motor, you just want to be an educated buyer. If you narrow it down to a particular boat/motor, post it up in the Evinrude/Johnson forum. Here you'll get all the doom and gloom.
Good luck with boat shopping and don't be afraid to ask questions, just know that here on the General page, you'll get 1000 different answers and some that aren't worth reading.
Heartland of America
2000 Ranger 520dvx
2000 Mercury Optimax 225 - 0T136160
--
1997 Charger 395TF
1997 Evinrude Vindicator 200 - G04296981 (E200STLEUB)
70’s,80’s and 90’s Johnny’s and Rudes were good motors after those years not so much