re: Why does anyone in salt water buy a mercury engine?

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They might still be the best, but they certainly aren't "bulletproof".

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Our F150 4 stroke is a 2010 and hasn't had a single issue

knock on wood

we put it in the shop every spring to get serviced though so that definitely helps

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It's hard to imagine Mercury being that bad. Some of the big name offshore boats like to hang mercs, that has to count for something. Then again, I've known people who couldn't keep a yamaha running. User error perhaps?

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I don't think Mercs are bad motors at all. Like others in this thread, I think that technology and innovation have created companies that uniformly make very good motors.

Personally, until one leaves me stranded, I'll never own anything other than a Yamaha. My only reason for that is my family/me has owned 5 of the in my lifetime, two of which had over 5000 hours on them. All of them were used very hard. I've never once been stranded, and I've never once had a major issue with a Yamaha motor that I didn't cause.

I'm sure there are plenty folks that have similar experience with other brands and I'm no brand whore. I just stick with what works, and there are a lot of people who do the same. Yamaha has had it figured out for a long time, and that's why you see so many of them used by the people who rely on them for their livelihoods.

I've always heard good stuff about Tohatsus. Never had any personal experience with them on a boat I owned though.

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Lots of commercial guys run zukes.

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I don't see too many Zukes over here, comparatively at least. I see more Mercs. My buddy has a Suzuki 2 stroke on his skiff though, and he loves it.