Mercury Marine & Year dating

[Gman621]

I have been told the following in a recent email regarding Mercury motors, does anyone know if this is true?

Copy and pasted directly from the email sent to me which is part of an email exchange to ensure I get what is rightfully owed to me.

Merc doesn’t have a year dating. As of three years ago they’ve changed it to date of assembly so that there wouldn’t be a shelf life because some of the out boards receive very little change if any at all and dealers and public expect a rebates for none current motors. “no year, no change , no rebate"

The above is what the person I am dealing with was told by Rep of Mercury Canada!

Any info or insight would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
Lundfisher

[Topwater]

Its true.

[Floatingduck]

This is true - Yamaha had started this and Mercury followed. I don't see the difference if what you buy today was made in 2007 - never used and completly the same spec between one that was made in 2008. I would see an interest in asking for a dealer for a reduced price if your purchasing a motor with an older spec but not one of the same spec. Motors do not go bad on the shelf.

[Jimmy Jig]

I guess it wouldn't bother me to take a brand new motor if it was made one year earlier. I don't think I would take a motor that was two or three years in the box without a good discount. If the dealer wouldn't go for that I would change to another dealer. Now in the case of the '08 Merc., 4 stroke motors versus the '07's there were several changes made and the hood design was changed and that would be a different case for me. I wouldn't even consider the old style motor.

[ffishman]

Yep, its true. Although I didn't think they started doing it already, I knew it was on the books.

[big_crappie]

Merc, Yamaha, and Honda are doing it. Not sure about Suzuki but I can't imagine them not. In a time when the marine industry is on their knees it helps the dealers try to maintain some profit. There are always vultures out there trying to weasel every dollar. This will help some dealers stay in business. If alot of dealers go out of business there will be less competition and then higher prices in the future. Think about it. If the technology is the same and the warranty is the same, what's the differance. By the way, do you think the engines are tagged the moment they are made. They could sit in a warehouse for a while before being shipped, you never know. Just my thoughts!

In a reply to who doesn't have model years on their motors, it's Yamaha, Honda then followed by Mercury. As a dealer I can tell you it is a pain in the can. As dealer I can tell you that all it does is open up a whole can of worms during the sale and at pick up. I've ordered replacement motors for customers who insisted on a motor that reflected the current model year and they still came in as the previous year production model. If a manufactuar has motors in the warehouse customers could wait most of the season for a current year motor to even go into production. I'll give ya one guess who takes the blount of the anger.
I find that on order outs when you tell a customer that their motor is ordered as a 2008 but may say 2007 on it, the customers seem to think that the dealer is being sneaky. It's hard to type a contract w/o a model year on the motor.
Manufactuars say that no model year will help everyone with inventory management but realisticlly we order a motor that comes on the floor at 2008 pricing but it's a 2007. When the customer says I want a discount, who absorbs the discount? the dealer. On the other hand in the past when a manufactuar had say ten or tweenty motors of a certain size or style they needed to move they could offer a dealer that would step up and take them a discount. Now there is no need for them to do that.
I've been told by manufactuars that when you buy a car or a lawn mower you don't know what year the motor is in it. But, when you trade in your car they don't ask what year motor is in it either.
Honda doesn't put the model year anyware on the motor but if you learn the codes you can find out the production year.
Mercury will send a 2008 motor that has 2007 right on the sticker. "Sir here is your brand new red car you ordered, I know it looks blue but it's red". See what I'm saying? That being said, I used to order a brand new Polaris snowmobile every year, my 04 said 03 on the side, my 05 said 04 etc. I understood. My 2007 Triton 215 had 2006 engines and it had to be explaned when it was sold. I understand I guess.
So far the only manufactuar left that has not jumped on the no model year band wagon has been BRP. It hasn't seemed to hamper them from gaining market share, It actually may have helped them. 2009 Is a whole new year, I don't see any plans from Mercury, Honda, Yamaha or BRP on changing the way their motors are sold as far as model years.
I guess what I'm saying is it's even harder as a dealer, trust me. But it's out of our hands, unfortunatly it is what it is.............Manny

[angler53]

I found the manufacturer date of 11/2005 on the brand new 2007 ranger I was preparing to purchase. The dealer explained the no model year scenario and offered no discount. I read everything on the subject prior to buying it. I was ok with it until my $14,000 motor puked within three weeks of the purchase. I lost it and kicked up a lot of dust when I didn't get a 2007 model replacement. Yamaha replaced the powerhead under warranty and I came away with a good running motor. There's a lot more to the story but it'll just be beating a dead horse. I feel like I would suffer a loss if I sold the boat now. A new owner could find out with a trip to a service center so I think it would be best to reveal the truth and that I feel could cost me. Anyway it's all water under the bridge now.

[Hot Runr Guy]

"So far the only manufacture left that has not jumped on the no model year band wagon has been BRP. It hasn't seemed to hamper them from gaining market share, It actually may have helped them. 2009 Is a whole new year, I don't see any plans from Mercury, Honda, Yamaha or BRP on changing the way their motors are sold as far as model years."

As far as I'm concerned, BRP is playing games too. On another fishing site, a water ski team is selling 2009 E-tecs that were used this season, and have hours on them. Obviously, they were manufactured in 2008, probably in the first half of the year. What makes them a 2009? The manufacturers could easily deal with this by using a non-sequential serial number format, and the only date that is released is the "put in service" date.
HRG

BRP model year starts in July. They start manufacturing the motors before this so they can ship by July 1st. So yes, the ski team probably had 2009 motors and ran them all summer. Nothing wrong with this as long as the fact they are used is disclosed to the purchasers. Quite a few ski teams do this and get a discount.