<br />Not only the paint,my mariner was cheaper then the merc in the same hp and that 75hp runs great.<br />Also when Merc came out with Merc/Mariner it was also a franchise thing like Evinrude/Johnson. If you had a Merc dealer in town and say that you wanted tohave one in the same town,you couldn't so you could open a Mariner dealership. And thats how it became Evinrude/Johnson, many years ago, which also increased sales for the big boys.And then came the phase "I love my Mariner and I'll never buy another Merc again."