first thing compare the weight of each to get an idea which ones might suit your boat the best . 

Yamaha all the way - have a 200 Yamaha and it’s never missed a beat. Great fuel economy too.  

 The latest Merc 200 four stroke is the best by far, leanest on fuel ,quietest of the bunch, best corrosion resistance and biggest parts inventory in aus. You dont have to waiy for months  ex japan as the opposition. Best warranty in the business. No i am not a merc dealer but have 46 years  of recreational fishing and 35 years of commrecial use of outboards and have used them all.

I'd go the merc, by the yankee sites they are having to wait long periods for some of the favourite sizes. V6 with the weight of a 4 cyl. 

Or the 200R -V8 mmmmm

The new Mercs are pretty cool.. that’s coming from a guy with a 300 yam. love the yam though 

 Cant go too far wrong with all 4 of them.

Weight is probably the bit you want to get right the most.

Have a 225 on a seaquest 6.8 and regularly get a nautical mile to a litre......I still cannot believe how good the economy is nor how quiet. 

 Talk to your boat mech and get his opinion too, how easy to service, parts (cost) and availability, also how much info is displayed when the service program is plugged in. I found out recently that Suzuki lack a lot of incindent information. Example being that the motor had been overheating and the program only tells you that the alarm had gone off a number of times. Other outboards log the time and duration of the incident so you can better pinpoint problems. But yeah pretty all brands have lifted their game including Merc. You will not know your world with a 4 stroke on the back insanely good.

Hows about a Verado 400 r ?  

I’d be looking hard at the new Merc 200s too. As above lighter than the yammy & Suzuki 4cylinder 200s but a v6

I'm a massive fan of my 3ltr Merc 150. It has the grunt of a 175 in either of the Japanise competitors. So much down low torque. At the time it was also $3k cheaper than the cloesest Yammi model.

I would go the Merc V8 in a heartbeat... I would be tempted to find out the price adder for DTS.

If you want decent resale and reliability go Yam/Honda/Suz

 I have only heard good things about the new mercs aswell but in this day and age all the big brands are pretty bullet proof

 Yeah been reading up on the new Mercs, I  know they haven't been out long but can't find a bad word about them 

 I've always been impressed by the hours and fuel usage people say they achieve with the Honda, especially under 4500 rpm. But these new Merc motors have been getting people excited. 

The link below shows a test in 2009 where the 225 Honda gets 1.9 km per litre at 20 knots on a Haines 650. You'd think it would be even better with the updates.

http://www.hondampe.com.au/docs/marine/fuel-consumption-reports/Fuel%20Consumption%20Data%20Sheet%20-%20Haines%20Hunter%20650%20Horizon%20-%20BF225.pdf

Most sea rescue groups arenow running Suzuki engines due to reliability and service.

Stay away from Yamaha. Support form Yamaha has been crap and parts almost impossible to get in WA if not Australia.

 The new generation Mercurys I believe are a game changer in the 4 stroke market. There high displacement low weight simple design has taken the industry by storm. Take a look around at the ramps these days and they are very popular.

I re powered my rig with a 115 pro xs ct about 14 months ago, now done about 150

hours and it has been faultless.

the bottom end torque in these outboards are awesome and the weight of there outboards no other manufacturer can match.

i searched long and hard to find any negative feedback on the new Mercs before making my dessecision

And I simply couldn't find anything and still can not.

Not only do they look shit hot, they really perform.

cheers 

bolts 

 The Honda is too heavy - 277kg compared to 215kg for the new Merc.  

I like the idea of a big v6 with smoothness and plenty of torque so at the moment the Merc is in front for me.  Lightweight, 6 year full warranty (as long as its serviced at an auth merc dealer).  

The only question is over long-term reliability and resale as they haven't been out long but everything else gets ticks in the right boxes.

Next will be figuring out how much I can sell the Opti for.  2007 with 850hrs.  Any ideas?  would prefer to sell it rather than get nothing on a trade.

 it would be Honda. Problem is, in some HP ratings, they are very heavy. This doesn't apply across the range, just some ratings. Excellent name for reliability. 

How do the merc fair with fuel? I had heard they were thirsty compared to others. 

 Independent testing has the Merc 6cyl as the clear winner in fuel consumption. Combined with the highest torque at both ends, lightest and quetiest, its the leader in the 200 hp stable. The design of the Merc is much simpler and Merc dealers claim greater reliability. The internet is full of satisfied owners who vouch for this. Combine this with lowest purchase price, biggest dealer network and parts inventory in Australia, second longest warranty period and best corrosion resitance and you have the full range of leadership criteria. While the competition is also very good, parts availability in Aus on the japanese brands are not as extensive. The Japanese have a better resale value at the moment but as the Merc builds its reputation this may well change.

 I needed parts for a yammy last year. Waited over a month for them.

 Crano you did well. I know of yammy parts taking 3 months to get here. I also had issues with Yamaha not honouring warranty claims , thats why i switched  to Mercury.  Merc are excellent in stepping up . I had an engine out of warranty by 3 months, it dropped a con rod which went thru the cylinder wall and they repaired the motor for free as they accepted it was an assembly problem back at the factory. They were keen to keep their reputation .  

Have got quotes from a couple of dealers over here (Cairns) and delivery time looking at 3 to 4 months.  Evidently they're selling like hotcakes.  Delivery time doesn't bother me as there's nothing wrong with the Opti other than age.  Even Suzuki delivery time is approx 2 months.  

Have now narrowed it down to Merc or Suzuki. 

Having got quotes for both Mercury and Suzuki the DTS model of each once fitted come in roughly the same, around $27.5k.  That's for the 4 cyl Suzuki.  

The non DTS model Suzuki is about 2k cheaper fitted.  Not as much difference with the Merc.  

The Merc is a V6 but 20kg lighter, has 20% more torque and a 6 year warranty vs a 5 year.  Suzuki has a great reputation for reliability and the 3.4 Merc is only new on the market.  Decisions.... 

I would choose Suzuki over merc due to reputation and proven reliability. Might not have all the latest and greatest bells and whistles but prefer the resale and peace of mind  

 I like what I see from Merc

Hey Scuddlebutt,  just wondering how you got on with you repowe and what you landed with as I'm about to follow suit. Tossing up between the Suzuki vs the Merc ( 200hp ) on basically same boat ( 625 Explorer Cruise craft).

Thanks for the feedback Rob I followed your build and saw you went that option so glad to hear so far so good with the Mercs

 I have just purchased a new merc 200hp 4 stroke they have plenty of stock, took 1 week delivery to Perth. What an awesome beast. Low noise level and very frugal on petrol. No regrets.

Where did you get it from / installed ? Am toying with changing my 2006 150 2 stroke merc on 6.4 trailcraft. Has low hrs and runs perfectly but between fuel usage and oil costs ( and noise) might be the time to do the change , but need to do the maths as wife wants new kitchen

Happy Hooker I purchased my motor using a good freind Lee Paxman who works for Hitech marine in Wangarra. He got me the best price and installed the motor privately for a good price. Top people to deal with.

 Seems like the old horror days are over of competing brands when Yamaha made their mark on the industry.

What are the actual dollar comparisons between the big brands now??

Are we talking 5k or just a cpl???

Im happy to run my 150 Yammy into dust when you see the new prices since covid fkd everything up by 30 % but ofcourse I keep looking

V8 Pro XS from Merc now for 4 years, done 600 hours and no problems yet, touch wood.  Only issue I have is for the extended warranty servicing must be done at an authorised Merc Dealer.  So I was quoted at time of purchase a 100 hour service was about $6-700, it has actually been about $1100-1200 each time.  It takes them about 2 hours to do, but they charge for 4 hours as that is "the standard Merc Price from Mercury".  I should get them to spend the extra 2 hours polishing the bottom of the boat.  The motor to date has been great, about 1 to 1.1 Nm per litre at 23 knots on an 8 metre centre console.

 Was told last week Yamaha have released the there new range this year and quietly slipped in a 4.7% price increase underneath all the hype.

My eldest boy is an apprentice at a merc dealership and pulled a V10 400hp out of the box for display the other day and fuckn wow!! (As I'm a diesel mechanic a admire such an awesome bit of machinery) it will retail for around $58 k

My new bout is being fitted out with 200 merc as we speak,chosen because of the lager capacity block and a V6 engine can be so well balanced 

Fuel economy on 225 Merc was 1 to 1.1 litres per Nm

 as wagyl said you have to get the merc serviced by a merc dealer to qualify for the full warranty. any other can be done by a private mechanic,cheaper.