I am looking at possibly buying a new boat in the near future that comes with a new Suzuki 90 horse outboard. Does anyone have any positive/negative experiences to share?

Sorry, but several of my friends (5) have had Suzuki outboards and all had way too many major problems. Two of them had 9.9 hp 4 strokes that shooked so bad the screws backed out of their rod racks and rod holders.

Just remember, just about any where on this earth, you can find parts for Johnson, Evenrude, Merc, and Yamaha. IMHO

Cigar

Cigar,

Maybe thats why Suzuki is offering such a great warranty. Right now thay are offering the standard 3yr warranty,plus an additional 3yrs for free. I was tempted to buy a Suzuki before I bought my new 50HP Yamaha last week. It was one of those deals that sounded to good to be true.

First, EVERY motor manufacturer has problems.

Do a search and you'll see inquiries on how do I fix this or why did the bracket crack on may Yamahammer.
None are perfect.
Suzuki is a major player outside of North America.
If you are considering a larger 4stroke, you will get much more advanced technology than honda or yam....EFI is quieter, more efficient, and doesn't need rebuild/adjustment.
They are good motors.
If you are looking for the best per $....go with Suzuki. If you want to impress your neighbor, buy one of the others.
You will hear people swear by one or another. They're all good.
It's like cars....I worked at a GM dealership for 2 yrs and wouldn't touch one...someone else may swear by their Chevy.
You are the only one that has to feel good about it.
Good luck.

goforchrome,

Does that mean i shouldn't put the little woman in a Blazer?

Papa,
I'm not going to start a GM/Ford/DC riot here, I was using it as an example.
But to answer your question,

Go to iboats.com and do a search on Suzuki 4 stroke problems. Seems to be more problems than other outboards,combined with hard to get parts and a small number of dealers.

I own 2 merc's, 1 honda, the honda is more reliable.

My choice would be either honda or yamaha. I think merc is still using yamaha powerheads for their 4 strokes.

Get a Yami - I tried a Suzuki and it basically stunk - warranty didn't matter, they never could get it to run right. I have never had anything but perfect performance from my Yamaha for nearly 2 years now.

take it for what its worth man I have had one for a year and a half ( 9.9 suzuki 4 stroke) and I use it once or twice every week its a great motor does'nt rattle or shake any more than any other motor its very quite and alot easier to get stared than a merc I used to have one of those but somebody else wanted more than I did

I have a DF70, in December of '02 it broke the oil pump drive (50 hours on it). Warranty repair, down for the whole holiday period of course. Then the replacement powerhead failed, 3 hours on it, seized the cam (I suspect improper assembly). The new power head has 20 hours on it, so far so good. The engine was down December to March, I was peeved, 2 fold, it was down, and it is a known factory defect, no effort to find and fix the engines prior to failure (2 hour return trip on the kicker engine). DF 70 is the only engine I have heard much about with trouble, but it was a certain series of engines. To compensate me for the wait the factory gave me a brand new spare Suzuki prop. Mine is smooth, insta-start, quiet and cheap to run. You can do a search on thehulltruth.com, there is a lot of engine talk there, you will find examples of bad engines there, every make, 2 stroke/4 stroke alike. Might note that the Suzuki 90 has EFI and the Merc/Yam90's are carbureted, I like the EFI.

I have a 99 Suzuki 65hp 2 stroke. I do my own regular maintenance of new plugs and lower unit oil and it has never had a problem and never been in for service. I can't say that about the 80hp Merc I used to have.

WoodinvilleBill