What my dealer says about my Honda 135hp vs. Suzuki, Mercs

[fiddlebick]

In short, he calls the Honda 135 a "water hog"..or "water pig" I can't remember which, but the idea is, that is a heavy motor for the hp rating. He said it is much heavier, (around 100lbs I think) than the comparable Suzuki 140,and they have had no warranty issues on the Suzuki's. As I talked to him about speed, he said if I had a 115 Honda I would go faster than the 135, although a negligible amount. He also said the 135 would continue to pull well fully loaded, given the better torque, and I don't disagree with him there, as I often have a full load of grandkids. According to him, Honda has slipped tremendously in market share, due to staying with their proven, older design, while everyone else has increased their technology to allow for lighter engines with better performance and fuel economy. He gives Suzuki the edge over Mercurys based on reliabiltiy and zero customer complaints or warranty issues... simply put, Suzuki is at the top of thier game right now. All said and done, it was interesting information for me, but I am totally happy with my boat, and what he told me explains why I don't get as much speed as some of you guys with smaller engines. Just thought I would pass this on before I forgot what he told me.

[Bamaman]

If you're happy with your Honda 135, that's all that matters. I'm sure they're reliable motors. I've never heard bad things about them.

And as for your dealer talking about a Suzuki 140, I hear they're also reliable. But if you go up 10 hp to the 150 Suzuki, it's much, much more motor in cubic inches and performance. But what your dealer didn't say was that the Suzuki dealers are few and far between in some areas of the country. Suzuki Marine's reputation as a company is not as good as Suzuki Motorcycles. I've read it's often hard to get parts from Suzuki. Another issue is resale value--and Suzuki is not top of the heap there.

Honda has recently come in with a completely new 250 hp 4 stroke, and I understand it's a wonderful motor. Too bad their dealer base has been shrinking. The boat business continues to be flat since the economic downturn of 2008.

I'd rather have another brand of outboard that has a better dealer base, better resale value and the ability to obtain parts from. That means Yamaha or Mercury where I live. And right now, you can buy a Mercury 150 FourStroke for $3K cheaper than my wonderful F150 Yamaha.

[slingshot]

Let me guess, your dealer doesn't sell Honda. It's my considerable opinion that anything that says Honda on it can hardly be classified as a "Hog" or substandard in any way. As a general rule, Honda has long been the definition of quality. Suzuki makes great outboards and always has. In fact they made outboards for Johnson and several other manufacturers for quite awhile.

[RJF]

My opinion is that size matters. I mean displacement. 115, 135, and 150 Hondas share a 144 cubic inch displacement. 140 Suzi has 124.7 cubic inches. Honda is about 80 pounds heavier. No dealer would convince me the Honda is not an excellent motor.

[rancherlee]

Honda seems to be staying very conservative in power sports products but it seems to work for them. On a pontoon weight really doesn't mean a damn thing and I'd certainly hang one on my transom if the price was right. Around here there are more suzuki dealers than Honda and the lone Honda dealer commands a pretty penny for a Honda over his Yamaha and Mercury lines. I've been looking to repower with a 115hp class engine and can get a Zuki or Merc for 9k rigged, a Yami for 10k, or a Honda for 11k for a rigged engine. Needless to say for 2k less and 85# lighter I'd take the Zuki over the Honda in my case. Honda is all alone in the 135 class except for the Zuki 140 which is weak 140hp and can be had for only 600$ more than a Zuki 115.

[The_Hellbilly]

Except for the paint flaking on my '04 135hp Honda, I can't gripe. I've never had a bit of trouble with it, and I've only changed the plugs once (I will change them again this fall.) I've never met anyone with a similar size Honda that's had a problem. The only people I know that seem to have newer motor problems are Merc owners.

That being said, if/when the Honda dies my next motor will probably be a Suzuki based on quality vs price. I plan on getting the 300

[willy13]

Honda seems to be staying very conservative in power sports products but it seems to work for them. On a pontoon weight really doesn't mean a damn thing and I'd certainly hang one on my transom if the price was right. Around here there are more suzuki dealers than Honda and the lone Honda dealer commands a pretty penny for a Honda over his Yamaha and Mercury lines. I've been looking to repower with a 115hp class engine and can get a Zuki or Merc for 9k rigged, a Yami for 10k, or a Honda for 11k for a rigged engine. Needless to say for 2k less and 85# lighter I'd take the Zuki over the Honda in my case. Honda is all alone in the 135 class except for the Zuki 140 which is weak 140hp and can be had for only 600$ more than a Zuki 115.

10K for a rigged Yamaha 115 is a great price. I paid $10,100 for just the outboard and another $900 for new throttle/shift contol and cable, new tach, and new wiring harness. So 11K rigged for me.

I chose the Yamaha over the Honda because the Honda 115 has the same block as the 150, so its heavier than it needs to be. I should of looked into the Suzuki, but it slipped my mind.

[fiddlebick]

Don't want my post misunderstood, the dealer was not running down the quality of my 135 or the honda brand as such...he was making the point that the rest of the field had taken steps forward, whereas Honda hadn't, so much, and his other strong point to be made was that they had almost zero warranty issues on the Suzuki's. I am very happy with the motor on my boat as it does everything I need it to, and I now understand why I don't have the speed I expected, compared to other members posts.

[The_Hellbilly]

A lot of speed has to do with the total weight of the boat including the furniture. For example, I took my toon out when I had all of my seats off and it gps'd 9 mph faster than ever in some less than perfect conditions.