New SEI lower unit 1991 Yamaha 200

[6992WHALER]

My Port engine lower unit died on the 3rd of July. I was running on the Mississippi River, I was throttling on and off hard as we navigated a very large wake, lost power and had a bad grinding noise. No external damage and no water in the gear oil.

I had a new SEI counter rotating lower unit installed this week. I am picking it up Saturday and will start the break in period.
The Starboard engine failed the same way in 2010; I replaced it with a new SEI lower unit as well. The SEI unit has worked great for the past 7 years.

The new lower unit cost about $1000 and has a three year no-questions-asked warranty (that covers failure due to impact as well).

[Jefecinco]

The SEI lowers seem like a good alternative to the much higher priced OEM units. I believe they are catching on due to most of the reviews. The warranty helps some to decide to try a product without a long track record. Because of what I've read on the web I would buy one.

[kingsf]

Hi everyone, just baught a BW Vantage 320 with 2 Mercruiser joysrick 350... Have five days to decide if I want or need the extanded warranty to 5 years + 1 free from BW so 6 years total instead of 5.....I should do 25 days of boating per years in Florida ( still live in Canada)... So I guess not even 60 hrs per year. There asking 10 K total + taxes dollar for two motors

Any taughts on that ...what are my chance to spent more then that on repairs in that 6 years ( 3 years warranty)

Thanks for your help

Stef

[Jefecinco]

If a product has a poor reliability reputation it may be cost effective to buy a warranty extension. If not, it is probably a waste of money. Extended warranties are simply insurance policies. The buyer of the policy is betting that the product will fail often enough in the warranty period to more than pay the cost of the warranty. The seller, in this case Mercury (the manufacturer), is betting it won't fail often enough to exceed the cost of the warranty. I believe the seller/manufacturer has more/better information about the reliability of their product than the buyer.

There is an argument that products that are new to the market have a higher risk of early failure. The Verado family of engines has enjoyed an excellent reputation for reliability for several years.

My overall perspective on purchasing insurance is a matter of prudence and the cost of prudence. I self insure whenever possible and when self insuring is below my comfort level I use the policy deductible to lower the costs.

There is a reason the insurance business is highly profitable.