I'm lucky, bought a yamaha 9.8 with power lift used. The lift motor has started to rust, and I have cleaned and repainted it. The bad news is that a replacement lift motor is $900 from Yamaha which is what I paid for the whole outboard. I think when lift motor dies, I will buy a CMC lift unit from a Craigslist. I have used them before on friends boats and they work great.
