Congrats on your purchase! Properly taken care of, it will last you decades without any major repairs. The good news is that if you encounter any major issues in the first couple of years, the warranty should cover it. Become familiar with the winterization process for your engine and drive. Don't pay someone to do it unless you just aren't comfortable with it or find a heck of a deal (my first year I found someone to winterize, change oil, gear lube, filters, etc.) for about $150. That was a deal! Next winter, he upped to $350 to match market rates, I found someone else in the $200 range. Let him try it and was very disappointed. I label all of my filters with dates of install, and when it came back, filters were not touched. Oil was not golden. After more argument than it should have taken, he finally admitted he just drained the block, filled with anti-freeze and skipped everything else because he was backed up. Got a refund and learned how to do everything else myself that year. Now it is a small afternoon project that I can do more thoroughly than most shops in my area and for under $100 US.
The biggest piece of advise I can give is to use this forum as a hobby. Read through it a couple of times a week, especially the mercruiser section. It is amazing how much you can learn through other people's problems. Even if you aren't having issues right now, you will have them eventually and the issue may be covered already on here. Also, it gives you a good idea of forum etiquette. Responses are a lot more helpful if you know how to ask the question.
