[JohnS]

The newer Mercurys are much better than they were a few years back. That price is not bad at all as long as it was taken care of. There have been no major issues that I am aware of for the EFI models and they have been pretty reliable. The carb motors did have some problems and I have heard of some as recent as 2003 but, not rod throwing issues. They have been fuel related. The Optimax motors had issues in the late 90's but that has since been cleared up as well.

Persoanlly, I now own a 2003 225 Optimax but would not have owned one several years ago due to the above mentioned issues. I did a lot of research before deciding to purchase. I was a tried and true Yamaha fan prior to that. Thus far, the motor has been to the shop two times in the last year. The first time was for a bad MAP sensor and the second time was due to the air injection regulator sticking. Mercury replaced the entire fuel rail that time and I have not had a problem or issue since. The EFI motor would not have this same fuel rail as the Optimax does.

So, if the motor has been kept up and checks out, I would take it without thinking much more about it. If it includes the controls and oil tank etc, even better. EFI's are easy on maintenance and easy to repair. Labor on them is much less than the Optimax as well. Only real thing that the EFI had an issue with that was the word on the streets was the oil pump failures but that "word" has also gone away. I do not think many of the brands out there have not had an oil pump issue at one time or another. Just like the Yamaha OX66 must be run, even if you do not use it, because the fuel pump gets "gummed up" and once that happens, they are garbage.

Check it out, but the Merc is a decent motor if it is one of the 2000's or newer.

Just my opinion...