Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Decent build except for one fatal flaw. Now, if you plan to use this thing only a few hours here and there when the lights go out, or for tailgate parties, this probably won't be as big a deal for you, since you'll probably only put a few hundred hours on it in a decade - but if you plan to use it a lot, read on. I've purchased and put three of these things through the paces, one every couple seasons. After you put a few thousand hours on these things, they start eating oil like candy. I'm talking 8-12 hours from full crankcase to low oil shutdown - like fill the oil every time you fill the gas. A search online shows I'm not the first to run into this, either. I'm not sure what the design flaw is, but the other yamahas, the 1000is and the 2400is, haven't got this issue. Then again, those were made in Japan, these are now made in China. All three of these EF2000iS generators used to run the whole oil change interval without any change in oil level, then abruptly that changed. Your mileage may vary. Still, three out of three, as the hours piled up. I kind of got sucked into the deal, as we have other yamaha generators (2400 watt and 900 watt) and when the first 2000is began to eat oil, I figured it was an anomaly. By the time we bought the third, a pattern had emerged that this particular model has oil issues with increasing age. As of this writing the first two are dead, and number three is going downhill fast, but won't be quite bad enough for Yamaha to service it before the warranty expires. Their service shops leave a lot to be desired, when you can find one, and the techs view 5 ounces of oil use per tank of gas as "normal"... None of these 3 machines made it past 3000 hours. That's three of three of these things, dead of oil issues, despite good maintenance. Yeah, we put a lot of hours on them. Same goes for the 2400 watt one, and the 900 watt one. Here's the point: The 2400is and the 900is are still trucking along, though the sun has faded the plastic housings, and a few nonessential parts have fallen off them, and they were bought several YEARS before the first of these 2000is generators. They're still doing fine - in fact, the 2400 is outside in a thunderstorm, running as I write this - it was bought many, many years ago and with a conservative 25,000-35,000 hours on it it still DOESN'T USE A DROP OF OIL. Not a typo, man. Tens of thousands of hours of run time. The 900 has been everywhere and done everything under all conditions and in all weather, for so long I can't even guess at the hours on that puppy and it DOESN'T USE A DROP OF OIL. But then, that engine was made in Japan, not China. My point is simply this: I have two other models of yamahas that date to around 2003. They are faded from being from the sun, but you can't kill them, or their Japanese engines. I have three of these EF2000iS's that date from 2010 to the present. They, and their Chinese engines, are now junk. Let the buyer beware... and if you really need a generator in this class, I don't know where to send you, as honda is now outsourcing their engines to Thailand, apparently. Update - we've added a Honda eu2000 to the mix and I've run it a good bit. Now, I believe I do know where to send you. The Honda is a bit less fuel efficient, but a good deal more robust as far as starting heavy loads without huge voltage dips. I hate the Honda fuel filler, it's too small in diameter, the choke is a plastic tab, and I'm not a fan of the on/off switch and fuel shutoff being the same knob, would prefer a Japanese motor, but zits amd all it scores over the Yamaha in a few key areas, at least so far. It's more powerful, significantly better in starting heavy loads even from the eco throttle setting, and locally serviced by people who actually can fix it. So far, it holds its oil just fine, too.