Buying My First Sea-Doo!!

[SeaDooNoobie]

I am looking to purchase my first Sea-Doo watercraft and want to be sure I am not getting in over my head.

I have been speaking with a private seller about purchasing a 2005 Sea-Doo, model RXT-17. I am excited to get this thing and start having some fun, but a friend of mine said that I should really do some research before buying the thing.

He had brought up that when he bought his used car, he used a service called CarFax that offers a vehicle history report when you enter the car's VIN number. Is there something similar for watercraft such as Sea-Doos? I have the VIN number for the particular craft I am looking at and thinking that checking this out is a great idea. I don't want to buy a Sea-Doo that has a dark history of any sort of major accidents.

Any help on this subject would be greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance!

 

[bruester420]

You can't get a vehicle history report on a PWC. But you can cover yourself by asking a lot of questions and having a PWC mechanic look it over. There are certain things a qualified mechanic will know to look for. Find out if it had regularly scheduled maintenance done, where was it done? Did the dealer take care of it? If a dealer took care of it they will be able to tell you all the things that have been done to it. Also make sure you ride it. Just because it runs like a champ on the trailer does not mean it will run the same way in the water.

Good luck with your purchase and have fun afterwards!!!!!!!!

 

[SeaDooNoobie]

Thank you Bruester, I am glad I asked the question! Another question for you or anyone else, where are Sea-Doo PWCs manufactured? I was doing some quick internet research and it seems that BRP Inc is a Canadian company, are the PWCs manufactured in Canada or the United States?

 

[Weaverama]

I am going to ask a pretty basic question but why couldn't a prospective purchaser have the ski taken to a dealer where it could be hooked up to a computer and get a printout of any codes that may have been thrown?

When I bought my 2010 GTX and was told to bring it in for the 10 hour service, they said they would be able to see everything that engine had done including speed, RPM's, hours spent at different RPM's and any codes that my have been thrown.

My friend bought a used Kawasaki STX and only after numerous limp home modes the dealer hooked it up to his computer to show that the ski's computer had over heated 37 times, prior to his purchase! He would not have bought it if he had taken it in ahead of time and learned this.

So why isn't a printout from a reputable dealer an option on used skis? Or am I thinking too much?

 

[RFoster130]

It is, if you ask and are willing to pay for it.