I've owned a Nissan 9.8 4 stroke long shaft for 6 years now and haven't had a lick of trouble. Trolls down to nothing just about. Tohatsu manufactures the smaller motors for both Nissan and Mercury and are a great value with a great warranty. $1900 American with free shipping and no tax from onlineoutboards.com.
Hondas are wonderful motors and are built like a fine swiss watch. Their tight tolerances of components (again think swiss watch), especially in their fuel systems can cause havoc in the event small contaminants enter however. Then again Honda outboards keep winning JD power awards for the best customer satisfaction the past 11 years.
When I need to purchase equipment for a marine environment, whether it's an outboard, bottom paint or trolling wire, I research threads for durability/reliability of equipment situated in the nastiest, most corrosive environments such as tropical salt water areas. If it survives more than 10 years in the gulf of mexico with a year round salt bath and sucking in salty air without any issues, it will last a lifetime in NWO.
Everyone's equipment is usually the best regardless if it's Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, Mercury. They're all good until there are problems.
Just my two cents.