Who makes Mariner?

[clydeoutboards]

Originally Posted by Poly

Or you have a mercury dealer handy and believe you will get better service from the guy who supplied the engine. Local service support is one of the compelling reasons for selecting one engine over another.

Or you believe that Mercury might give better warranty / after sales support.

Or you believe that the resale value of the engine will be higher in the long run with a more "appealing" badge.

Or you prefer the colour of the mercury / mariner livery.

warranty / after sales is the same and the parts come from the same place i.e. nissan.

In "the long run" we have found no difference and as more and more people understand that they are the same the gap in the first few years will lessen as well.

would anyone really pay an extra 15-25% for a colour? as for badge snobs I do find that v strange and I have not met one yet who knows it is the same engine and would pay more for the name. Maybe they are out there as you say, but so far I have not met one.

Fair point on the dealer comment as all dealers are not equal.

What I find strange is that even with the high price of engines and a big recession mercury/ mariner and knowingly still selling an engine for a lot more than Tohatsu even though they are the same. Is that not taking the **** a bit?

[Poly]

Originally Posted by clydeoutboards

warranty / after sales is the same and the parts come from the same place i.e. nissan.

In "the long run" we have found no difference and as more and more people understand that they are the same the gap in the first few years will lessen as well.

yes but both are about perceived value not the reality - so if the buyer thinks that he might get better support from the better known name, or that it might sell for more then in his view its worth it. Of course the twatsu dealer will tell him he is wrong, and he might be, but risk perception is rarely based on real risk.

would anyone really pay an extra 15-25% for a colour?

Obviously not on the west of scotland - but some of the folks down on the south coast are quite into the looks of their boat and having a 'wing engine' which matches the big one would be important to some. An extra 0.5% on the total purchase price of a shiny new rib is not going to make much difference to some.

as for badge snobs I do find that v strange and I have not met one yet who knows it is the same engine and would pay more for the name. Maybe they are out there as you say, but so far I have not met one.

I'm sure there must be. Look at cars - C1/Aygo/107 are made in the same factory, interchangable parts etc. They all cost different prices for the same thing - and people pay it! Brand value I think is the official terminology.

Fair point on the dealer comment as all dealers are not equal.

I think that is always a big issue in engine selection, but for an aux, you'd want to be able to get it serviced at the same place as the main engine rather than have two trips etc. Until the outboard world are forced to allow any competent engineer to to do the warranty servicing [and never has it been clearer that this should be the case than with these engines where it is all the same] then for the sake of a few hundred pounds inconvenience of having to go out of your way to get an engine serviced might swing it.

What I find strange is that even with the high price of engines and a big recession mercury/ mariner and knowingly still selling an engine for a lot more than Tohatsu even though they are the same. Is that not taking the **** a bit?

So if you could find sufficient stupid people customers willing to pay 15+% more for your identical product surely you'd happy to take their extra money, higher margins etc?

[lineofsight]

Locally paid less for 20hp M4S Mariner than Tohatsu and Mariner had 5 year warranty promotion. Different season and may be different pricing and promos. Same motor though.