Was I taken advantage of???

[ondarvr]

Warranties on outboards have always started when you buy it, the year of production doesn't make a difference. This is very common on boats, this subject has come up on here before and discussed in detail. Outboards are built overseas and shipped here long before the hulls are built, and it's very common for any mass producer of this type of product to make a large run to meet the expected demand and then stop production for a period of time. So these motors are typically made well ahead of time so they are available to boat builders as needed in the US.