I'm trying to buy a kicker motor for my sailboat. I recently bought a 2000 Honda 8hp used thinking I could service it myself, but I couldn't. Now I'm looking for a new one. I found a 4stk 2005 9.9 tohatsu electric start at marine-outboards.com for about 1900+ship. Iboats.com has a 4stk 2004 merc 9.9 manual start for a comparable price. My local west marine sells 15hp 2stk mercs for about 2300+tax. All are around 75 lbs. <br /><br />Is marine-outboards.com a quality site? <br /><br />Some questions are, why are tohatsu's seemingly far cheeper than their competitors. Is it lower quality? Also, I'm trying to find some discounted overstocks from 2004, but I'm not sure which websites I can trust to deliver quality products. Im in the TAMPA area. Are there overstock stores in these parts that anyone knows about? <br /><br />Another question is, do I really need a 4stk for a kicker? The people at west marine told me to stick with a 2stk since I have no money (just out of college) and no experience to maintain a 4stk. Is that sagely advice? People are talking about improvements in 2stk technology, but I'm not seeing the etec and optimax technology in lower hp 2stks. Does that make them bad?<br /><br />Thanks for the help. I know i have a lot of questions, but theyre all sort of the same...what the heck should I buy?<br /><br />Best - Bryan
