Mercury Verado

[eyepatrol]

Now that these motors have been on the market for a year, I was wondering if anybody has one and if you could give a summary of your experience with it...likes or dislikes, etc.

I'm headed to the boat show tomorrow with my wife and I'm sure we'll see a number of these motors on the floor. Would like to know a little bit about them when it comes time to discussing them with the wife. Probably should have made this post a few days ago, but hopefully will get a response!

thanks

[PerchJerker]

I was tempted to buy a 175 Verado a few months ago but went with an Opti instead. The Opti is proven, the Verado isn't, and chances are I'll keep this boat for several years. If I thought I'd be getting a new boat in a couple years I might have gone with the Verado.

I just keep thinking back to the FICHT - supposedly the greatest motor ever invented not that many years ago, but try to find a happy FICHT owner these days.

However, the guys that have Verados seem to LOVE them.

Don't know if this helps or not but have fun shopping.

[Jim Hudson]

Bass

I personally run a Opti, but have been in boats with and know a lot of people who own the Verado. No bad feedback from any of these guys as of yet!! One of the guys bought a 31' Boston Whaler and decked it with 2 250 Verados.. A speed demon for sure, but is great on gas consumption, and the boat trolls really well when he is out searching for lakers.

One thing mentioned by the guys who like to chase after walleyes, is the quietness of the motor using Mercury's patented silencing technology. It is said you can run over a pod of walleyes in shallower water and not spoke em!! Also, the digital throttle and shift doesnt cluck like the Opti or other outboards, also a benefit to walleye anglers in shallow water.

For gas consumption and oil price, the Verado and the Opti are about a horse a piece. Both get great gas mileage, and are about the same. For the oil part, you pay about the same in the long run. Oil changes in the Verado and adding oil for the Opti.

So from what I have heard and seen, the Verado is solid, just like the Opti!!

[eyepatrol]

Thanks for the replies. Although we won't be buying a boat this year, we will be buying one next year. We're taking this opportunity (the boat show) to look at various boats and try to determine which boat best fits both our needs. I want a fishing boat; wife wants a boat with "comfy" seats in it (she grew up riding in a Bayliner). Will likely look at the Reata and the Sportfish. BUT, another major important factor in boat buying is the motor you put on the back of it. You just don't want that thing to fail on you. I'll be talking with boat dealers and such tomorrow, and I'm sure they'll give me the big sales pitch on motors. I just wanted to get the non-salesman point of view. I had an Opti before I sold my boat last year. I really liked it a lot, but I'm very interested in the Verado too. I'll probably put this same post on here next year too, just to see if there are any more Verado owners and to see if anyone has had problems after the second year of these motors being on the market.

thanks for the good info. Can't wait to look at all the "eyecandy" tomorrow...boats that is!

[J Smith]

Not to bash anything out there but I know a couple of mechanics who say the Verado's have so many sensors that if the littlest thing has a glitch, they go into guardian mode.

I guess there's been quite a few guys left in the middle of the lake. Both of the mechanics I talked to also said they love fuel, kind of like their 2 stroke counterparts. I was talked out of a Verado last year (05) for a number of other reasons. I bought a 225 Honda due to the information I aquired. I also did'nt like the fact that you need another battery for the power steering. In my Baron I had room for 3 batteries not 4. Remember I'm not bashing just reporting what I've learned.

J.

J.

[sparkyaber]

basscatcher- which reata are you looking at? The 1750/1850 series or the 180/190/210 series? If it is the latter, I would also look at the Triton lineup of fish and skis. I was sold on a reatta last year until I acctually got into a Triton FS-180. The lay-out almost the same as a ranger, and the build quality is about the same, with all of the same features. When it came time to buy, I just waited around for the best deal.

Good luck

abe

[eyepatrol]

I'd be looking at the 1750/1850 series. The 180/190 isn't quite set up the way I'd like, although I did look at them a little.

[PerchJerker]

For the 1750 Reata max HP is 130 and I think the smallest Verado is a 135, so a Verado is probably not an option on that boat. But I assume Merc makes a 115 4-stroke you could put on there???

For the 1850 Reata you could go with a 135/150/175 Verado, but 2006 is the first model year for those motors. When I ordered last July I couldn't even get a projected delivery date on a 175 Verado. The big Verados came out in 2005 but those are not the same motors you'd be looking at for the boats you mentioned.

Not sure if you've seen the Stratos 386 XF but it is very similar to the 1750/1850 Reatas, and cheaper.

[sparkyaber]

When I was still looking at boats, I thought that the 50 series was designed for "the new four stroke motors" what ever that means, I still think that the reason we still have 2 strokes is the need for speed, instantly. Most of us really don't need that extra get up and go? I know I don't, but it was really hard to find the boat I was looking at with a fourstroke. One other option that I don't think was mentioned above is a honda. My dad bought a used 90 hp and it was awsome. He did have a problem with it the last couple of years though- It is not ment to run in mud. The lakes were so low that his dock only had about 8" of water and about 2' of mud at the end of it, if you were careful you could get the boat away from the dock with out sucking in mud, but some in my family were not so carful, leading to a pluged water line inturn warping the head. Other than that, great motor, quiet, quiet, quiet. About the same amount of power as the two stroke that was on his boat previously, only just a little heavier. Moral of this story, what ever motor you buy, don't run it in mud!

Good luck,

abe

[eyepatrol]

Well, I was at the boatshow today and man were there boats! From the tiny, little, less than a duck boat, to the upstairs, downstairs, I've got tons of money type boats. My wife and I only looked at the fish & ski type boats. Looked at Crestliner, Lund, Alumacraft, Ranger, Tracker, Stratos, Skeeter, and I think a Triton (too many to remember now). Thankfully, the wife and I are both in love with the same boat...the 1850 Reata. Man does that boat have room!!! Looked at all kinds of motors, 'cause you just couldn't walk 10' without seeing about every brand of outboard on the market. Man those 250 Verados are huge. One boat dealer had a 2005 1850 Reata that was originally $38,000, but was on sale for $29,900. Had a Yami 150 4-stroke, Lowrance something, and Minnkota something on the front. Never looked all that hard because we weren't shopping per say. The Crestliner Sportfish boats are real nice too. Much nicer seats in those...arm rests, high back with head rest, and reclining. Ranger doesn't have those types of seats, maybe next year. If not, we'll probably special order seats like that, since that is what the wife wants.

Anyway, I'm rambling on about boats here. Verados seem to be a good motor on the surface, but as mentioned before, I'll likely put another post like this next year to see if there are other Verado owners out there and try to find out more what the likes, dislikes and perhaps problems (if any) there are with the motors.

Thanks to all for the responses. Now I just need to try and maintain my sanity for one more year!

[PerchJerker]

That dealer can say his 1850 was originally $38 but it would never sell at that price.

A few months ago I bought an 1850 with a 175 Opti and a Pro Kicker and a BUNCH of options and accessories. I also priced it with a Verado. $38 is too high (way too high since I'm assuming that boat didn't have a Pro Kicker on it).

Good luck with your sanity.

[Fishbitten]

The Verado is actually made for Merc buy Suzuki, not that this makes it good bad or indifferant, but some people like knowing theese things.

[caseymcq]

Where did you see that the Verados are made by Suzuki? I am just curious. I knew they were getting a lot of their power heads from Yamaha but I didn't know they were getting stuff from Suzuki now too. It is kind of ironic considering they were complaining about the foreign manufactures dumping their products on the market.

[GoodToGo]

The Verado's are made by Mercury in Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin.

[marine_man]

Quote:

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The Verado is actually made for Merc buy Suzuki, not that this makes it good bad or indifferant, but some people like knowing theese things.

---

Johnson / Evinrude used to be buying suzuki 4-strokes and re-branding them, but I believe that has changed for 2006 - they're making their own 4-stroke now

The powerhead is 100% Mercury, made in Wisconsin like someone else said...

I have heard that the new smaller 4-cylinder verados (130-175 hp)are not supercharged and really lack the punch the bigger ones (200-275 hp) do, and are not quite as fuel efficient as the larger verados...

Take it with a grain of salt as it's just what I've heard second hand, but it's come from a pretty reliable soucre...

marine_man

[marine_man]

Quote:

---

The Verado is actually made for Merc buy Suzuki, not that this makes it good bad or indifferant, but some people like knowing theese things.

---

Johnson / Evinrude used to be buying suzuki 4-strokes and re-branding them, but I believe that has changed for 2006 - they're making their own 4-stroke now

The verado powerhead is 100% Mercury, made in Wisconsin like someone else said...

I have heard that the new smaller 4-cylinder verados (130-175 hp)are not supercharged and really lack the punch the bigger ones (200-275 hp) do, and are not quite as fuel efficient as the larger verados...

Take it with a grain of salt as it's just what I've heard second hand, but it's come from a pretty reliable source...

marine_man