Good place to buy an outboard motor

I might be wrong, but I don't think you will find a NEW (small) OP/B in California that is 2-stroke.  You would have to find an older model one.  There is also a growing number of lakes/rivers/etc. that ONLY allow electric or small 4-strokes.

I'm fairly certain that West Marine will price match local retailers in the vacinity of that particular store PLUS you can get the rewards points.  They just had a tripple rewards weekend.  Bass Pro does something similar but they usually exclude Mercury O/B motors from the "rewards" portion.

Might be able to find a mom/pop dealership with a "last year" model they've had on display/rack for a little savings.  There isn;t large markup in these for the retailers.  That much I am certain of having been on the retail side of them.

Call Mark at the boat doc in Paso RObles he sells Mercs at close to cost. He does this so he can keep dealership and buy the repair parts. Might be worth a call.

3850 Ramada Dr, Paso Robles, CA 93446
(805) 434-3700

Tohatsu outboards,  do some google research on the brand, and at one time I believe Tohatsu made all the small outboards for Merc, and Nissan. 

Correct.  Tohatsu are workhorses!  Sold the piss out of them in Florida for commercial oyster harvesting & shrimping.  Those things take a BEATING and come back for more.  I have a 5hp 4-stroke Nissan/Tohatsu but I don't think I'm ready to part with it yet.  I use it in my 9' tug boat.

Tohatsu, I was skeptical at first because I've never heard of them before (at least the bigger size) then I've read how a lot of people recommend them. I'd probably drop by a boat/motor shop one of these days and compare them side by side.

And yes, I'm going for a four stroke motor. I see a lot I places restricting 2 strokes.

I can fit 4-5 people I believe. Maximum capacity is about 870 lb. and motor-wise no more than 9.9hp. A 8hp weighs the same as 9.9 and only slight difference in price, so I'd rather get the bigger one. I wouldn't want to be underpowered when it's needed. Also comes with oars. You can row it by itself, but I wouldn't do that with extra people onboard unless it's last resort.

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Tohatsu is, I believe, the most prodominate ob manufacturer worldwide.

Bill

A few years ago I did ALLOT of research on Tohatsu to convince myself of the quality/value in something I'd never heard of.

Bought a lite weight (85#) 9.8 4 stroke. Unfortunately I only used it as a kicker on my boat before I sold it so I can't offer much in the line of personal experience.  It did perform perfectly the few times I did use it.

I actually got it from the Bay Area Porta-Boat dealer, but looks like they carry Suzukis now.

The Tohatsus were cheaper, by a little, and finding that better know brands like Merc and Nissan just rebranded the Tohatsus sold me.

When I bought my merc it was made by Suzuki. it is a 15 but the 9.5 was the same.

Onlineoutboards.com was the cheapest I could find for the Tohatsu/Merc./Nissan.I did alot of research and read many reviews,I was going to purchase a new Tohatsu, just happened to find a 2008 15 hp that didn't
Look like it was ever used so I have it on my boat now,,,any one need a two stroke 15hpJohnson let me know I have one for sale.

Here is a link I used before.
http://www.smalloutboards.com/

I was able to score a great used motor till it was stolen.

Thanks for the links you guys. I'll make sure to check them all out.

Merc's as far as their larger motor's were always frowned upon as never being reliable for the long term.  Smaller motors being made by some one else maybe they are better. 

You will want a 4-stroke and for that the motors with the most dealers around are Honda and Yamaha with Yamaha ahead of Honda - helps if you need parts or warranty work. The Yamaha 4-stroke outboards have a special crankcase seal that keeps the oil from coming up into the power head when the motor is on its side so it can be stored or transported on either side with no problems.

Weight is a factor with the Porta-botes and up to 6 HP the weight is 57 lbs. but jumps up at 8 HP where the motors have 2 cylinders. At least the Porta-botes are a lot more efficient than an inflatable and require less power to move.

Best Yamaha dealer that I found and bought my 6 HP Yamaha from a year ago is Shipyard Island Marina in Wisconsin. They had a great price and when I bought the motor over the phone they put in the motor oil and ran the motor in their shop and did a full checkout and then drained the motor oil and re-boxed the motor and shipped it to me with a can of motor oil. Great prices and very professional. See www.shipyardisland.com

Thanks elkhornsun. I will check them out as well.  The 14' will take a minimum of 6hp outboard but  I don't know how much power that really is especially with extra people onboard, but I like how it only weighs less than 60#. I wanna go fast like Ricky Bobby on it so a bigger motor seems ideal. It looks like it's just a matter of preference brand wise. I don't see a lot of negative feedbacks against just one brand.

Herb,  Don't know if you bought your motor yet or not, but I just got a flyer in the mail from West Marine.  They are having a decent sale on Mercury Motor's and the New Lehr propane powered motors.   Merc's start at $900  for 2.5 hp  to $3319 for 20 hp.  The Lehr's start at 1049 for a 2.5 hp free 11 pound lpd tank when you buy a Lehr motor.