Purchase assistance Please

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firedude411

firedude411

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I am a very new member and I am looking for a first boat and decided on a jetboat due to the lack of a propeller. The seadoos look great and I have found a 2001 challenger 2000 for $9000(no dealing yet). This has a 240hp Mercury V-6 fuel & oil injected motor. Is this a good deal? According to NADA it is, but what about the boat and motor? Has this model been reliable? Thanks for any help. Oh yeah, there is also a 2000 18' Challenger for about $6800 I am looking at. It has the Mercury 210 hp motor. Any input would be greatly appreciated.
 
Firedude,

Tell us a little more about your boating experiences. How many people you will generally have on board. What kind of boating will you do? Will it involve watersports? Fishing? Beach runs? Will you boat in the intercoastal in your neck of the woods or inland lakes?

I personally think the bigger boat is better. More room, better ride in chop and will save you from getting two-foot-i-tus in 6 months.

Whats your budget? There are some screaming deals out there if your willing to look for them and travel to get them. I really like my new rotax 4-tec engines. But with that said if I got a smokin' deal on a Merc powered boat I would have bought one.

Craig
 
Sorry for the lack of info-
It will be me the wife and 2 little girls(6) mainly but possibly other family members sometimes. We will be using for light fishing, watersports, tooling the river and some beach landings as well. I hear you on the two-foot-i-tus, I think I get that without even buying one yet. Budget is limited, less than $12000 PREFERABLY. I can travel for a good deal. Always leary about travelling a distance to find that it isn't quit so good though.

Jeff
 
20'

I vote on the 20'. I had the Challenger 2000 before my current Utopia 205. Both are awesome boats. Be aware the Challenger does not have a traditional windshield so you and all passengers are more "In the wind" whereas the Utopia makes for a great family boat because it does have that windshield and a great center table for those picnics on the water. In addition the Utopia comes standard with a hide-away Bimini top. The Utopia 205 will also seat 8 in a pinch. There are other Seadoo 20 footers like the Speedster 200.

Dont get me wrong, the Challenger 1800, 180, Utopia 185 are also great choices. I just fear that where you will be boating you'll be glad you had a little bit bigger boat and in todays market the price differential isn't that great.

Craig

firedude411 said:
Sorry for the lack of info-
It will be me the wife and 2 little girls(6) mainly but possibly other family members sometimes. We will be using for light fishing, watersports, tooling the river and some beach landings as well. I hear you on the two-foot-i-tus, I think I get that without even buying one yet. Budget is limited, less than $12000 PREFERABLY. I can travel for a good deal. Always leary about travelling a distance to find that it isn't quit so good though.

Jeff
Click to expand...
 
I really appreciate the quick responses, and am very leary of the merc now. The Boat I am looking at is in Fort Meyers, so I am not sure I want to risk the long trip 3+ hours. Would a compression check be enough to test the motor? If so is it easy to do? I am mechanically inclined but never really messed with motors much less marine motors. Well, obviously this is not a must, but it is starting to get exciting and my patience is slimming. anyway, thanks again for the help!!

Jeff
 
I have to agree with Craigmri on the 20' over the 18', for two reasons. The first is the bigger the boat the easier it is to keep the passengers happy. Their is more room to store gear and coolers, and you're not tripping over each other. Second is between the two engines the 240 with it's fuel injection will get the same if not better fuel consumption than the 210s triple carb set up.

The only thing to keep in mind with the bigger is better argument is take a good look at your tow vehicle, and where you are planning on storing the boat. It would be no fun to buy a new toy only to find out too late that it just does not fit in your life.

As far as the Mercury is concerned, make sure you get it checked out by a Mercury mechanic before you consider buying any boat powered with it. This is true for any boat and motor combination no matter what brand you look at, but if the Mercury has had a rough life it will cost you more than the total purchase price of the boat to replace it. I'm not trying to make the Mercury sound bad, as I have had great service from mine, but I want to make sure you do all the proper research before you buy anything.

And as Craigmri said there are a lot of deals to be had out there right now so don't be afraid to look around a bit before making a decision.

Aaron:cheers:
 
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Purchased

Well, I took the plunge and purchased a 2003 Utopia 205 with the 240hp EFI motor. I must admit though I did so kinda blindly. No compression check or sea trial. No good excuse for the lapse in judgment other than we got to know the sellers very well and trusted them. The final price was $9500 and will be putting her in the water this week. The boat cranks up very fast and seems to run good. I did however notice a slight random clunking sound at idle but nothing when shortly raising the RPMs. Please no lectures about the blind buying of the merc. I will be getting some pics soon and updating profile as well. I guess for the manual I will do as suggested on this sight. Any and all friendly suggestions and advice would be appreciated.
 
trust'em as far as you can throw'em....:rofl:

Congrats on boat, hopefully, clunk'n sound aint anything more than old gas, need new plugs...:cheers:
 
I believe that is exactly it. Boat did sit a little while, due to financial troubles of the previous owners but it was stated that a fuel stabilizer was added prior to down time.
 
Firedude,

Nice choice with the Utopia. I've only had mine a short while but I'm really enjoying ours. Mine is the dual 4-tecs but I used to own a Challenger 2000 with the Merc 240EFI. Use the Merc Quicksilver oil. Some smoke is normal at idle but if it smokes alot have the oil system inspected by a good Merc Machanic.

Cant wait to see pics.

Craig
 
Congrats on the boat, I'm sure you will be happy with the versatility of the Utopia. And your not the only who bought their boat with out a check over. I picked mine up from Vancouver with out ever even seeing it in person. I had the fellow send me as many pictures as he could, then loaded up the truck drove eleven hours and towed it home.:cheers:

If it has been in storage for a while, I would recommend draining as much of the old fuel out as possible and topping the tank up with fresh 87. Also change the plugs and fuel filters.

Make sure you download the M-2 manual and browse through it.

Aaron
 
rookie101 said:
Congrats on the boat, I'm sure you will be happy with the versatility of the Utopia. And your not the only who bought their boat with out a check over. I picked mine up from Vancouver with out ever even seeing it in person. I had the fellow send me as many pictures as he could, then loaded up the truck drove eleven hours and towed it home.:cheers:

If it has been in storage for a while, I would recommend draining as much of the old fuel out as possible and topping the tank up with fresh 87. Also change the plugs and fuel filters.

Make sure you download the M-2 manual and browse through it.

Aaron
Click to expand...

11hrs huh.....bounc'n out in da morn'n to phoenix, AZ..round trip around 11 hrs...dude, you should see the checklist for crap, just in case. Had to gut the wheels/tires and hubs off trailer I have now, get this boat home...:reddevil:
 
Thanks everyone I appreciate it. I would have forgotten the fuel filters. Going to change the filters, the plugs, fuel and do compression checks before putting her in the water. Anything else I may want to look at?
 
Fluids

Make sure you check both the Stator and the pump fluid. Also make you have enough oil in your reservoir and you have all your safety gear. Then do a check of all the lights, switches, tires and anything else you can think of.

Aaron
 
+1 on doing an overall check. i love my utopia 205 even though i got the 250 optimax :-D :-D. like rookie said, check the pump gearcase oil, the stator oil and you should have the fuel filter / water separator changed out, new plugs, and check the compression and hrs. make sure the engine belt is in good condition, lube every thing up and drop the thing. Also make sure you use the correct oil which would be the QUicksilver premium oil! Enjoy it man
 
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