Honest opinion - Tohatsu vs the others

[crashnburn63]

Hi-

Looking to upgrade my small boat from a Merc 9.9.

I'm finding very little local selection in the 15-25HP range. I'm looking for a 4 stroke, electric start. Most of what I can buy locally is Honda, Yamaha, and Mercury. But the dealers don't have any stock in this power range, and say they would have to order the motor and want full list price.

It looks like I can get a 18 or 20HP Tohatsu either mail order or from a dealer about an hour away for nearly a grand less than Merc/Yamaha, and maybe $2k less than a Honda.

I've been told that the small Mercs are made in the same factory as Tohatsu/Nissan, and I guessing they may even be built out of the same parts bin. Certainly probably the same labor. So I can't see paying a lot more for a Merc (besides, I'm not terribly happy with mine). Might be willing to pay more for a Yamaha, but I'm not yet convinced they are really that much better.

So I'm just looking for some honest opinions about how Tohatsu/Nissan small 4 strokes compare w.r.t reliability to the other brands.

Thanks,

-dm

 

[JB]

Re: Honest opinion - Tohatsu vs the others

Well, Tohatsus (including Nissan) are the top selling brand worldwide, but Yamahas have the highest customer satisfaction rating in the USA.

In that power range, if I were going to buy a new 4 stroke it would probably be the Tohatsu, but. . . .

Does anyone offer an EFI 4 stroke or a DFI 2 stroke in that power range? Not that I am aware of.

I am too much in love with the JohnnyRude 25s from the 80s. I don't think a carbed 4 stroke offers enough advantage to spend the extra bux. I would go find a good JohnnyRude.

 

[crashnburn63]

Re: Honest opinion - Tohatsu vs the others

Well, I'm just enough of an environmentalist (not much) that I want to go 4 stroke. Guess I can't stand the idea of a 2 stroke blowing that much $4 gas into Puget Sound. I wouldn't be surprised if they aren't outlawed here in a couple of years. I do understand 2 strokes offer a better power to weight ratio.

I'm thinking new cause the boat is stored over at my folk's place, and when I get over there on a weekend I need it to just work. I've had two weekends in a row partially ruined by having to work on the Merc (which is only 4 years old to begin with). And hauling it across to a dealer on the ferry can cost $40 per round trip.

Yamahas do seem to have one nice feature for salt water use which is the ability to flush the engine from the top w/o the motor running. Anybody know if the Tohatsu's support that?

-dm

 

[TOHATSU GURU]

Re: Honest opinion - Tohatsu vs the others

No better, no worse than anything else on the market overall. In terms of realiabilty,all brands have less than a 3% incidence of warranty claims/failure.Tohatsu has the smallest failure rate of all. But the difference in price is less than 2% on all the brands. Your local dealers must be charging way above the national market price for the other brands. You also need to consider where you will be taking the Tohatsu for warranty service. You didn't mention that there was a local Niisan/Tohatsu dealer near you. I sell Tohatsu and think they are a great engine, but, I think it would be a mistake to buy anything where you don't have a local service center.

And Tohatsu is number two for worldwide sales and wasn't in that J D Powers survey. JD Powers charges for participation to get a rating and Tohatsu won't spend the money

 

[Drowned Rat]

Re: Honest opinion - Tohatsu vs the others

crashnburn,

I just bought an 18hp Tohatsu 4 stroke. I went with Tohatsu because I know they're reliable, I have a dealer that's local, and they are cheaper than any other mainstream outboard out there. Significantly cheaper than some,(in that power range anyway). I researched buying outboards from local dealers and online and I compared the Tohatsu 18hp to other's 15 and 20hp. It beat all others by as little as $300 to almost $1000. It even beat it's Nissan counterpart by $100. Comparing it to other 4 strokes performance wise, it's avearge. Quicker power off the line than Honda, less than Suzuki. The rest of the power range is nearly idendtical. It's quiet and smooth, but not EFI quiet and smooth. It's easy to do oil changes yourself. Oil filter can be removed without removing cowlings. I'd buy another one

 

[crashnburn63]

Re: Honest opinion - Tohatsu vs the others

Well I've been comparing even Internet/mail-order prices, and even there there seems to be a noticable difference in prices for Tohatsu vs Merc. And Yamaha always seems to be $200 more than Merc for the same thing (at least in these size engines).

My guess is part of the reason selection is low here is that frankly, for anything bigger than about a 5HP, it is probably worth it to drive to Oregon and not pay the sales tax (WA=9%, OR=0%), and from what I've been told most people do that. As I said, none of the dealers I've checked have any floor stock, and all say they would have to order the motor and it would take 4-5 weeks.

I'd rather give the biz to a local dealer, but that really doesn't look like an option.

-dm

 

[gss036]

Re: Honest opinion - Tohatsu vs the others

It takes quite a few gallons of gas to go to Oregon, especially from the islands. There would have to be more than 9% saving to make up for that.
Check w/ Cap Sante Marine in Anacortes, they sell both Mercury and Honda engines and the last time I was in there they had most engines in stock or just a day away. Talk w/ Keith, thier prices are very competative. There is a Nissan dealer, Clearwate Marine in Bellingham, they also have a web site that use to show prices. Although Nissan usually demands a litte highrer price, must be the branding name.
Personally, my choices would be Honda, Yamaha, and then Tohatsu. I run the Honda and have several friends who have either Yamaha or Honda and I just don't hear of many complaints or problems.

 

[kandil]

Re: Honest opinion - Tohatsu vs the others

I think that all major brand outboard are very will made.
It is up to you the user to maintain and keep it in top shape so what ever you can afford will be a good choice

 

[ziemann]

Re: Honest opinion - Tohatsu vs the others

I echo Kandil and Elvin- there really isn't a bad one manufactured in that HP size- all of the brands are competitive. I would definitely let dealer service drive your choice. Tohatsu/ Nissan outboards have treated me well. I am a fan of both the current Nissan/ Tohatsu outboards and the older Johnson/ Evinrudes that JB's so fond of.

 

[hondon]

Re: Honest opinion - Tohatsu vs the others

I will Never[and I do'nt like to use that word]reccomend buying a crated engine from anywhere.All manufactures now have a pre delivery checklist that needs to be completed and submited to activate the warranty.Without that submision you are for the most part on your own.Then you have to look at the health of that dealership you are buying from.Sad to say but in the northwest they are dropping like flies.Buy a product that you know and recognise from a local established dealer.