Readers say their Volvos are durable and perform well. The high cost and lack of availability of parts continue to plague this brand, however. The 8.1L Gi with DP drive is pictured here.

Reader surveys allow us to track the progress of a product line—whether it’s a boat, engine, or piece of electronics—over the course of several years.

In the case of this survey, we can go all the way back to 1992. That’s when we published the results of our first sterndrive—or inboard/outboard—owner survey. Twelve years ago, MerCruiser, Volvo-Penta, the Outboard Marine Corp. (OMC), and Yamaha all manufactured sterndrives. OMC dropped out of the I/O business several years before the entire company went bankrupt in 2001. Yamaha also gave up on sterndrives, and now, along with Mercury, dominates the outboard market. …