Mercury Verado / V8 FourStroke (250–400)
Modern Mercury V8/V10 FourStroke and supercharged Verado are strong, smooth, and well-supported, a clear step up from the OptiMax era. Slightly behind Yamaha on resale trust but closing fast, and often better integrated (joystick, digital throttle).
Service and what to check
100-hour service; supercharged Verado adds the supercharger oil interval. Check for corroded battery cables and the SmartCraft harness on saltwater boats.
Watch usage: above roughly 150 hours/year, this family starts losing reliability points — always weigh total hours against the boat's age, and on any outboard or I/O over a few years old, insist on a compression or leak-down test before money moves.
Boats that ship with this engine
Looking at a boat with this engine?
The engine is the single biggest reliability and value variable on a used boat. Paste the listing and BoatVerdict scores the engine risk for the exact hours and year you're looking at — plus fair value, red flags, and what to inspect.
Paste a listing, get the verdict →