Suziki Outboards reliable or not?

[jadunn02]

I'm thinking of purchasing a Suzuki DF200 or DF175
has anyone had good or bad exprience with these outboards?*014*

Can anyone tell a website I can visit which would let me know known problems?

[Redfish]

Jadunn, you're bound to get some discussion on this question, but I'll be the first to say that the general answer you will get on this is that, yes, Suzukis are great motors . . . and so are the Yamahas, Mercs, E-tecs . . . .

Here is the best website I have found with actual discussion related to problems with Suzuki:

http://www.marineengine.com/discus/m...83/12483.shtml

There are a fair number of Suzie owners on this forum (mostly the small to mid-size gals), and you are likely to find some of us who have had an occasional warranty issue, but the general consensus I found when researching was that the Suzukis have a great reputation in as being very reliable, tough, long-lasting units. There are definitely some areas of the country where the trend is to buy Yamaha and other areas where Suzukis are the four-stroke queens. Still others prefer their E-tecs and Optimaxes (two-strokes). Suzuki certainly sells a large number of motors, and if they were not pretty reliable, that would have been news.

My personal experience with Suzuki has been good. I owned a DT 65 on my old boat that was at least 15 years old when I sold it. It was bullet-proof. I never turned a wrench on the motor other than maintenance. My new DF 115has 22 hours. I had an overheat issue that turned out to be related to motor set-up (too high), I guess. That is all I can say from personal experience.

One last note: almost all the Sea-tow and many of the commercial guys around here have switched to Suzuki. That is a statement as well. Good luck on your purchase.

[cheez]

The only problem I have with Suzuki is that their website is lame and there are no dealers in my area. There are close to 50 boat dealers around but none sell or service the Suzukis. No problem with my motor at all though.

[wblack]

I can't say one bad thing about mine after two years. 100% completely satisfied and extremely impressed every single outing!

I must say as well that many, many long time boaters that have been on my boat are amazed at the torque and quietness, very impressive! *thumbsup*

[skiffowner]

I have a DLX 24 with a 140 Suzuki 4 stroke and it has been a great motor. I researched motors before purchasing and found that Suzuki was very well built. Things like chain driven vs belt helped to sell me. I have had it a little over 2 years and no problems at all and I can run and run and run on little gas. I run it in very shallow water and you can raise the motor fairly high without losing wp. A jack plate would assist only by raising up and down vs tilting motor and am thinking about this as next purchase. Very quiet and reliable. It pushes the DLX 24 plenty fast for me on WOT @6K rpm and planes well at lower rpms. Strong torq. My service rep has told me that Suzuki is not real reliable on warranty items but I have had no problems to date. He is a CS dealer and is powering boats for clients with the new Evinrude ETEC. I would probably purchase another Suzuki. Regards and good hunting.
Skiffowner

[Dave]

Skiffowner, I'm curious who your dealer is. I did have one serious problem with my DF140. Not a mechanical problem with the motor itself but with a faulty/defective main wire harness. My beef was with the dealer not Suzuki, (who reimbursed me for the cost of labor) that the dealer charged me, claiming that Suzuki wouldn't pay them for that cost. I paid the dealer, after explaining I thought sure the warranty should cover the full cost of labor, and citing the warranty verbiage described in the warranty booklet. The dealer him/hawed about it, basically bad-mouthed Suzuki and so I paid the dealer just to get back possession of my boat and then filed a claim with Suzuki. They looked into the claim and reimbursed me in full, and said they did not know "why" the dealer charged me for the (covered) expenses.

The only other problem I have had with the motor is that when the dealer worked on the wire harness, they didn't reinstall the throttle cable right (actually said they didn't remove it in the first place) when they put it back on. It took me several hours (mostly because of the bum scoop from the dealer) to figure out why my newly repaired motor would now only achieve a max of 5000 RMPs. I have yet to hear anyone else have a problem with a wire harness so I believe I just got unlucky with this one and have full confidence that the motor is solid and reliable - I love it. Just performed a 200 hour service, myself - piece of cake - got authentic Suzuki parts from Browns Point Marine Supply.

Dave

[gut wrench]

sounds like that dealer was going to double dip suzuki,you pay labor and they charge suzuki...

happens alot in the industry..

[chumhead]

Like redfish, I too had a Suzuki DT65 on my old boat. It was 12 years old, and had over 3,500 hours of saltwater use on it and never once went back to the dealer or had a service issue. It cranked up on the first revolution when I demo'd the boat to sell it. That alone was enough to convince me to get my current DF140 (mine is a Johnson, just a Suzy painted white). I currently have 3 years and about 650 hours on it and have yet to experience any issues (other than the darn thing seems to want a little gas every now and then......I LOVE the economy of this motor).

When I purchased the Suzy DT65 for the old boat in '94 a few friends laughed at me. I only got the Suzy 'cause it was the least expensive one at the time, and I had planned to sell the boat in about a year. One even likened it to Alka Seltzer....saying "put it in saltwater and watch it fizz" (speaking of corrosion). Well, I got divorced and kept the boat for another 10 years and never spent a dime on the motor (other than spark plugs). It even had the original water pump when I sold it, and was still working perfectly. As you can tell by the number of hours I rack up on the motors, my boats rarely get the chance to sit around. I am a firm believer that long periods of non-use is the worst possible thing for an outboard motor in salt water. Oh yeah, most of the guys that laughed at me for getting the Suzy were on their second or third motor by the time I sold my old VIP Sea Squirt. My fishing partner Trim-Tab has seen the old boat a couple of times at the boat ramp and says the motor is still kickin'.

My personal opinion is that Suzuki would be my first choice, even if I could have any motor I wanted. A combined 15 years and not a single trip to the dealer.....the best warranty is the one you never have to use.

chumhead

[redneckredfishr]

Chumbedhead,

You definitely have racked-up the experience with Suzuki! Man, I'm glad I bought a DF140! GTG, man...

Thanx!
Redneck