I have been a "lurker" for a few months, and have learned and read tons of great information, so thanks to all of you who have contributed. Long story short, with all of my reading, you have lead me to purchase a brand new Speedster 150, 255HP model, that is leftover 2010 stock. I figured I will probably be one of the last owners who gets to have an impression of a brand new Sea Doo boat, so I wanted to share my thoughts 
I bought the boat as brand new but leftover stock from a dealer in Ohio (which I will not name). Long story short - worst buying experience of my life. I would have much preferred to buy locally, but they did not have any 255HP boats in the state (although amazingly my local dealer has a leftover 215HP brand new boat, but they are asking $20K for it, which is what I paid for my 255 including all dealer prep and delivery, and I got a 5 year warranty thrown in). Anyway, the boat was delivered with several inches of water (actually ice!) in the ski locker and engine compartment (and I was told it was still shrink wrapped ... not the case). It must have been sitting out in the elements for a couple of years, but I did get it completely cleaned up and sparkling like new.
So on to the boat ... I previously owned a 1998 Speedster (16 foot with the twin 2-smoke engines) that I bought used, and loved the boat. But it did porpoise like crazy, and the hull made a horrible cracking sound until I had it reinforced. I had to sell it when I moved across the country a few years back. I loved the 4 seat configuration on it, and I recently test drove a 2003 Speedster with the Mercury engine thinking I wanted to get that some size and configuration of boat. Well, let me say that I am SO glad that I ponied up for my new 150. It drives much better, feels much more stable, and is much much much faster out of the gate and top speed. And gas mileage is twice as good with my new boat (and I don't have to mess with 2 stroke oil). I did like my old boat, and considering the price range is much lower you can get on the water for much less money, but the experience with the new boat is awesome.
In fact, my new 150 is so fast I feel that I may have bought more power than I need. I am sure that the 150HP version is plenty fast ... probably faster than I would need 99% of the time, plus you don't have any supercharger woes. But I am an old performance guy be it cars or motorcycles, so I wanted something that has more power than I need ... this is a toy after all! So for the numbers guys out there, my boat does 60MPH on the GPS with wife, dog, and gear. That was with cool weather, freshwater, no waves, and about 700 feet above sea level. It might go faster but I didn't want to keep the engine under much stress during break-in. I would imagine under perfect conditions it could squeek out 62 or 63 mph.
So I am now at 5 hours total on the boat, and have only used half a tank of gas. That is unbelievable to me. I have taken it very easy on the boat and spent a significant amount of time putting around and sight-seeing, and I know when it warms up and I want to get wet the miles per gallon will drop off. But overall I am thrilled with the fuel economy compared to my old twin engine boat.
I love the size of the boat. On the water it is small but fine. Without much chop, I have yet to get wet. I can park it in my garage, and it is light enough to where I can roll it around by hand (not easy, but certainly not difficult on level ground). Towing it is a breeze. It is absolutely perfect for my needs ... I didn't want a party barge, just something really fun that I can take out now and then with my wife. I stand about 6'2" and weight about 220lbs, but the cockpit fits me fine. I wouldn't want to be any taller, though.
There isn't much to gripe about. I do find it interesting that it idles at about 1700-1800 rpm, which seems really high. At idle speed it goes about 5mph, so to go slower you have to continuously put it in "nuetral". It greatly pains me to say but I put a lovely foot-long scratch in the gel-coat finish on the very bottom of the boat my first time out; I was idling along and hit a submerged rock. So in questionable waters you can bet I'm switching back and forth between "forward" and "neutral" to take things really slow. Also, the speedo was WAY the heck off, but I filled in the little gaps where the speed-sensor-wheel is with permatex and now it reads within 1MPH of my GPS at top speed.
So to recap, the performance is out of this world. It takes off like a sports car and plants you in the seat, and it gets up to 50MHP super quick. Again, in hindsight I think I would have been totally thrilled with the non-supercharged version (and I know my wife would prefer it to not be so fast, ha!). I look forwards to years of fun with this thing. Really is a shame that Sea Doo quit making them, because it is an incredible little craft.
Finally, THANKS again to all of you who have posted over the years, because I read hundreds if not thousands of postings on this site which lead me to my purchase!
I bought the boat as brand new but leftover stock from a dealer in Ohio (which I will not name). Long story short - worst buying experience of my life. I would have much preferred to buy locally, but they did not have any 255HP boats in the state (although amazingly my local dealer has a leftover 215HP brand new boat, but they are asking $20K for it, which is what I paid for my 255 including all dealer prep and delivery, and I got a 5 year warranty thrown in). Anyway, the boat was delivered with several inches of water (actually ice!) in the ski locker and engine compartment (and I was told it was still shrink wrapped ... not the case). It must have been sitting out in the elements for a couple of years, but I did get it completely cleaned up and sparkling like new.
So on to the boat ... I previously owned a 1998 Speedster (16 foot with the twin 2-smoke engines) that I bought used, and loved the boat. But it did porpoise like crazy, and the hull made a horrible cracking sound until I had it reinforced. I had to sell it when I moved across the country a few years back. I loved the 4 seat configuration on it, and I recently test drove a 2003 Speedster with the Mercury engine thinking I wanted to get that some size and configuration of boat. Well, let me say that I am SO glad that I ponied up for my new 150. It drives much better, feels much more stable, and is much much much faster out of the gate and top speed. And gas mileage is twice as good with my new boat (and I don't have to mess with 2 stroke oil). I did like my old boat, and considering the price range is much lower you can get on the water for much less money, but the experience with the new boat is awesome.
In fact, my new 150 is so fast I feel that I may have bought more power than I need. I am sure that the 150HP version is plenty fast ... probably faster than I would need 99% of the time, plus you don't have any supercharger woes. But I am an old performance guy be it cars or motorcycles, so I wanted something that has more power than I need ... this is a toy after all! So for the numbers guys out there, my boat does 60MPH on the GPS with wife, dog, and gear. That was with cool weather, freshwater, no waves, and about 700 feet above sea level. It might go faster but I didn't want to keep the engine under much stress during break-in. I would imagine under perfect conditions it could squeek out 62 or 63 mph.
So I am now at 5 hours total on the boat, and have only used half a tank of gas. That is unbelievable to me. I have taken it very easy on the boat and spent a significant amount of time putting around and sight-seeing, and I know when it warms up and I want to get wet the miles per gallon will drop off. But overall I am thrilled with the fuel economy compared to my old twin engine boat.
I love the size of the boat. On the water it is small but fine. Without much chop, I have yet to get wet. I can park it in my garage, and it is light enough to where I can roll it around by hand (not easy, but certainly not difficult on level ground). Towing it is a breeze. It is absolutely perfect for my needs ... I didn't want a party barge, just something really fun that I can take out now and then with my wife. I stand about 6'2" and weight about 220lbs, but the cockpit fits me fine. I wouldn't want to be any taller, though.
There isn't much to gripe about. I do find it interesting that it idles at about 1700-1800 rpm, which seems really high. At idle speed it goes about 5mph, so to go slower you have to continuously put it in "nuetral". It greatly pains me to say but I put a lovely foot-long scratch in the gel-coat finish on the very bottom of the boat my first time out; I was idling along and hit a submerged rock. So in questionable waters you can bet I'm switching back and forth between "forward" and "neutral" to take things really slow. Also, the speedo was WAY the heck off, but I filled in the little gaps where the speed-sensor-wheel is with permatex and now it reads within 1MPH of my GPS at top speed.
So to recap, the performance is out of this world. It takes off like a sports car and plants you in the seat, and it gets up to 50MHP super quick. Again, in hindsight I think I would have been totally thrilled with the non-supercharged version (and I know my wife would prefer it to not be so fast, ha!). I look forwards to years of fun with this thing. Really is a shame that Sea Doo quit making them, because it is an incredible little craft.
Finally, THANKS again to all of you who have posted over the years, because I read hundreds if not thousands of postings on this site which lead me to my purchase!
