just thought I would put my two cents in on the fichtes,I have a trouble free 2001 200hp evinrude ficht ,with 425hrs.The problem that gave the Ficht such a bad name was with the 98 and 99 models,and was more concentrated with the V4 engines,the V6 engines did not have as many failures.It was a quality control issue with Evinrude,that started to snow ball with all the warranty issues ,forcing Evinrude "down the tube".In 1999 -2000 Bombardier took over,and with reengineering and qualitity control brought out a "safer" ficht in 2000,the 2001 fichts were considered good,and so on and so on!Ya everyone knows of a bad 2000 or 2001,but I think the meer mention of FICHT freaks people out!,there is still alot of good ones out there,and I'm sure everyone has heard of a bad merc or yam story at one time or another.I know when I was looking for a motor for a Trophy that I podded,the $$$ were tight,and the pockets not so deep ,so a four stroke was as far as the "moon " for me to aquire,and the old carbed "smoker" was not real appealing,so with alot of research ,I was convinced I would roll the dice on the "Ficht',been 4 seasons!!