Re: What Is Mariner? is it obsolete?
I am boat hunting, found nice boat with a 75 Mariner. Is mariner the same as merc or not? If not is mariner obsolete, are parts still being made and supporting the mariner outboards. Is Jonhson any better than merc?
Any advise would be great.
If you want a motor that you'll be able to get parts for, for many years and less confusion, then stick with Mercury or OMC only. Just about every other brand motor out there has a variation of manufacturers and there are times you'll run into stumbling blocks locating parts.
As stated in this thread, it looks as though Mariners are made by different companies, such as Mercury and Yamaha
As far as Mercury being a part of Brunswick corporation since 1939, that's rubbish. Carl Kiekhaefer purchased the failing Thor Plant in 1939 and revived a failing company and brought it to something spectacular. By 1957, Carl Kiekhaefer had the hottest engine on the water that awed the boating public.
By 1957, they had a 60hp inline six and OMC couldn't build anything to compare till 1960.
It was when Mercury became part of Brunswick and they took the Kiekhaefer insignia off of the motors, is when quality went to pot.
Meanwhile though, OMC was building a line of reliable outboard motors that were not that hot in performance, but were simple to work on and easy to get parts for. If you want a good motor, stick with Merc or OMC. Anything else will give you a head ache finding parts for and service technicians to work on it.