Bob, Im no expert but will give my opinion on the matter, Honda is very reliable. I know of many down here who have them on shrimping rigs as well as bay boats. I just think you give up too much performance on a bass boat with these motors. Reliability has been excellent. All of the Optis I have been around for the last Few years are nearly bullet proof. No major issues of note and Great on Gas mileage to go along with the perfromance. They get my vote though not by much. A good deal on one of the other major players could sway me in another direction. Verado, I have no experience with these motors. ETECs have certainly come a long way. The newer models have been very good though the first Etecs had alot of Lower unit trouble. Most of that has been resolved now. Great top half of motor, bottom half still needs some work. Super quiet and strong though. Gas mileage suffers a good bit over the Optis HPDIs are all around great. The series 2 motors have been superb. The older hpdis had some power head problems as did all of the direct injected motors when they first came out. The high performance lower units have been good too. Have not heard of a lower failure on the Series 2 HPDIs. If you are serious about a 4 banger, Look at the suzukis. Strong, Quiet, Good on gas. If you have Mercury controls currently ( I seem to remember you do ) your decision may be made already. Good luck and hope you are happy with whatever you decide to go with . Chris Coupel Paulina, La.Chris CoupelPaulina, La.
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