Mercury-Mercruiser # 2?

[Gordo]

From Offshore news...
The annual J.D. Power award for customer satisfaction in the stern drive engine category goes to Volvo Penta.


J.D. Power and Associates announced last week that Volvo Penta ranked highest in overall satisfaction among EFI stern drive owners according to its 2009 Marine Engine Competitive Information Study. This is the second year in a row that Volvo Penta has received the award. MerCruiser finished second in a two-company competition. “Customer Satisfaction is a core value of the Volvo Group, and we constantly strive to improve each customer's experience with Volvo Penta engines,” said Clint Moore, President and CEO of Volvo Penta.

 

[f311fr1]

Volvo stuff does not break cause the don't put high HP in front of them. People with Volvo drives tend to NOT be gear heads or hop up artists.

 

[C_Spray]

Thanks - I appreciate that. I guess my 600's are punk. 9 seasons, 460 hours, zero failures.

No offense. :kiss:

Actually, the JD Power survey has a lot more to do with mainstream boating that the Hi-Po market. It is interesting to not that Mercury/Mercruiser finished last in EVERY category, though - 2-stroke outboards, 4-stroke outboards, and stern drives: Read this.

 

[FCMarine]

I would have to agree with f311 on this one. Of course there are exceptions like you c spray but your average Volvo customer wants a stock very reliable ride and is not thinking about modifying. As for merc normally they tend to hop the motors up more and put more strain on the drives causing them to break more often. Merc also has 75% of the market so more will break just due to the quantity out there compared to Volvo. Don't get me wrong though Volvo makes a great drive you just don't see them being pushed to their limits like you do on a merc. Just my .02.

 

[C_Spray]

....your average Volvo customer wants a stock very reliable ride and is not thinking about modifying... Just my .02.

But that is my point. This survey is about ALL owners, of which the "average Joes" far, far outnumber the Hi-Po guys to the point where we don't really count. It's not about how much stuff breaks; It's about how satisfied people are with everything from perfomance to reliability to service. If I were Mercury, I'd be alarmed that I was dead last in satisfaction in every segment of the market measured by JD Power.

BTW - If you take the Brunswick-owned companies out of the equation, since they are pretty much captive Merc companies, VP usually outsells Merc on the open market. Again, this is mainstream, not Hi-Po...