1. I have had 1980s and 1990s Mercurys, 5 to 9.8 hp, for years with little or no problems. However, I heard from an employee at the docks at Lake Cachuma last year that they were having trouble with their new rental Mercurys. I too had trouble with one of their rentals last year, but only once out of several trips.

2. Because I am often in the market for an outboard at or below 15 hp I am always interested in what brands are used for rentals at marinas, because rental motors take a beating and represent part of the livlihood of the rental guys. I saw Hondas at some lakes and at the Santa Barbara Sailing Center. The rentals at Capitola Pier and Santa Cruz Wharf are Nissans, 8 hp I think. I tried this motor once and liked it. My son is satisfied with his 6 hp Nissan, but he has to travel about 2 hours roundtrip twice (no while-you-wait service)for each annual maintenance.

3. Check Cabelas prices if buying a Nissan.

4. Unless you are going to service the motor yourself do not buy a brand for which you have to travel too far for service. Over the years two Mercury dealers went out of business locally, requiring me to travel more than I wanted to for service. (I once had a non-Mercury service shop nearly ruin one of my Mercurys.)

5. Although manual-start outboards are available above 15 hp, I find that manual starting can be more difficult for models above 15 hp. I think that this is a matter of increased compression in models above 15 hp. I much regretted the hard starting 25 hp manual 4 stroke Honda that I bought.

Bob