who's got verado's?

[Glen E]

How do you like them?
Reliable?
any likes/dislikes?
economical?
does the digital shift and steering work well? feel different?

Just wondering - very little written on the boards by real life owners yet....

[sundancekid]

As you probably know, we have a set of 275s on our 34 Fountain demo. So far we have 120 hours with no problems what so ever. The motors are very quiet, good on fuel (we averaged 1.5 mpg during the entire Bimini Blast, which included numerous demo rides at high velocities ), and powerful. I have clocked 58.3 mph in 2' seas with that setup and Fountain claims 62 at the factory. We are very happy with them and think Merc has hit a a home run with the Verado. Last week, we delivered a 38 Fountain with triple 250 Verados and I was even more impressed with how that boat ran. I saw 67 mph on the GPS and climbing before I ran out of water at the idle zone. At a 50 mph cruise, I saw 1.4 mpg. This was with 2 people, safety gear, and 2/3 of a tank of fuel.

[Emperor]

I was suppose to have a 275 HP Verado on my 2400 Shearwater, ... but it got recalled in May so I switched to a 300 Yamaha. My friend ordered an identical 2400 Shearwater, also with a 275 Verado, but he waited it out and got the Verado a month or so ago. I haven't had a lot of experience with it, but I can offer you the following observations:

It is very quiet, at idle the steering pump is louder than the engine.
It is good looking motor, but quite tall.
It runs smooth.
The DTS system is great.
With similar weights, head to head, it is approx 3 MPH slower than a 300 Yamaha.
Fuel MPG is probably a little worse than the 300 Yamaha at cruising speeds in the 45 MPH range.

Over all it appears to be a very good motor. The drawbacks I see are the weight, and the cruising speed is rather slow. This is because it has such a high RPM range that you have to spin rather small pitch props, ... which leads to slow cruising speeds. My 300 Yamaha at 4000 RPM = 46 MPH, while the Verado powered Shearwater = 35 MPH. Of course that means you have to run fairly hard to get a cruise in the mid 40s, ... and you pay for it in fuel consumption. Of course the answer to longevity will not be available for a few years ...

[Bullshipper]

I talked to a Mercury Dealer in Mexico this weekend who actually bad mouthed them in terms of fit and finish. Said the cowling was made of plastic and that the paint was poor quality.
He said it. I didn't.

[jtburf]

But you typed it !!!!!!!!!!

straight from the Bulls Keyboard ...lol......


John

[MakoMyDay]

Mexican merc dealer=good source

[2ndlaunch]

We have one coming in on Thursday 9-9 a 250 Verado on a 23' North Coast -work boat. Will write my comments soon......

[sean9k]

Emeperor

Did your buddy get his Shearwater from Ft Myers?

I saw one up there when I was odering mine. That 24 with the 275
verado was an awsome looking rig. Not much on the water that
is gonna be able to touch than in terms of versatility and speed.