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I guess it all depends on what you like. In my case, I have bought two used Whalers, both with "white" engines on them, and I could hardly wait to switch over to the "black" engines. No comparison in appearance in my estimation. I don't like the color white on outboards. It is a real mismatch with Whaler Desert Tan.

Where I boat in the winter months, SE Florida between Palm Beach and Miami, re-painted brand new high HP engines are all the raqe, and have been for about 10 years. There are shops that specialize in this work. You see every color, on both the large Mercury Verados and Yamahas. Many of these high end boaters think the outboard engines should match the boat color, which now days are mostly shades of white. White Yamahas are popular, so I guess those buyers don't like the Yamaha metallic gray.

Suzuki, who first copied Mercury black, is now offering high HP white engines, and of course, Evinrude has been offering dark blue and graphite engines for years to compete with Mercury black, especially in the bass boat market. So now I guess it makes sense that Mercury offers the 300HP and 350 HP Verados in white, at an upcharge of $1400., but which is probably less than the aftermarket paint shops charge.