Jet boat advice...

[owali]

I am new to the forum. I am looking to buy my first boat, but I need advice on which one to get. I own two skis, but want a boat similar to the size of the challenger 180, the speedster I saw the other day looked a little small. My budget is about $13k. My main concern besides size is reliability. I have been reading through these threads but could not find the answer I needed. I did read that the supercharged model jet boats require a significan amount of maintenance, so I guess that rules out the possibility of the 2007 C180 I was considering. Can you please give me some suggestions/alternatives that are about the same size, but are farily reliable in my price range? Sorry for the newb questions

 

[Scott0321]

Maintenance issues

Great post and I had some of the same concerns and spent countless hours researching what I wanted.

Bottom line for me was the Seadoo engines are very reliable, all you have to do is take care of them. Yes that means extra $$$ over the long haul with the SCIC . Most important is to get what you want so there isn't any second guessing down the road. I ended up getting the Speedster with the intent of getting the 180. Now that I have it I can say that there would always have been that should, coulda , woulda.

Let's face face every boat , engine and manufacture has a unique set of circumstances that make you wonder; is the the right one ? The 180 is an awesome boat and with what you want to spend you should get a really nice machine.

 

[owali]

Thanks for the response. Are there any jet-boats larger than the speedster that is not supercharged? If so, what models and years? Also, assuming that it is well taken care of with preventative maintenance, what is the life expectancy before a major overhaul is needed?

 

[Craigmri]

Buy mine!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170424525988

Craig

 

[Sikiguya]

Owali,

:agree:If you want a meticulously maintained boat...one without any question of its condition, then you will want to consider Craigmri's boat. He has gone over his boat with a fine toothcomb. Any imperfection is listed on the auction or he will let you know. :cheers:

I think Craig is on a vision quest to find that perfect wakeboarding boat....one that fits in his garage...unless his daughter is reconsidering my murphy bed idea, has superb fit and finish, great performance, low maintanence...basically as all boat owners will tell you..an anomaly. :rofl:

Jim

 

[robin savell lloyd]

That is a very nice boat and seems practical to me mainly because it only has one engine. Do not get me wrong I would rather have 2 engines if the negatives did not out weigh the positives. If my math is correct you may have twice as many unexpected mishaps. Now if I had plenty of money I would buy 2 twin engine boats and not worry about loosing a season. It is very sad when you lose part of a season when you have so much $$ invested into a boat. and then when you go to pick your boat up from the shop you are mad at the cost only to find out later that the boat is still having problems. I have seen this and have read about it many of times. 2 means that these problems double. I can allway be wrong So good luck on picking your new boat. :cheers:

Buy mine!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170424525988

Craig