Thinking about buying a Jet Boat

[patooyee]

First, I generally hate the thought of owning a boat. The investment, the maintenance, storing it, etc. just don't appeal to me. I've never been envious of anyone who had a boat and never really desired to have one. The last thing I need is another piece to maintain. BUT we do live so close to the water it seems almost illogical not to own some sort of watercraft and now that my daughter is old enough to enjoy it I do find the thought of going out island and sand bar hopping with her and the wife appealing. I know that you never get your money back out of buying something new and everyone knows I'm a cheap-ass. I also don't have space to store anything big nor reason to own anything big. I don't fish. Basically I just want something big enough to throw me, the wife, the daughter, a cooler, and possibly the dog in and just go out for a few hours on the weekend. Something outboard just doesn't interest me, I don't know why. A Jet ski sounds like fun but isn't big enough. That makes a jet boat seem like something I might have interest in with minimal initial investment. Something like this is what I am referring to:

I don't have the first inkling of how to shop for a quality used one though. I've never owned anything that floats. My wise uncle always told me "If it flies, floats, or ****s its cheaper to rent." I almost universally agree with him on that, too. But he never lived 5 minutes from the Gulf of Mexico and he was rich so he would never consider a $5000 used boat. If he was to buy a boat it would have been a $1,000,000 yacht with stripper poles and ****, so he kind of lived in a different dimension than me. I want something cheap enough that I won't feel that I have thrown a bunch of money away on lost initial value and small enough that I can just hook it up, drive across the street to the boat ramp, drop it in at 2pm on a Wed., go have a little fun, and pull it back out before dark.

Anyone got any advice?

 

[bdillon2372]

No advice, but that looks pretty fun to me....

 

[patooyee]

There's literally thousands of used one for sale near me. They're very popular here. But they also get abused so I want to know how to find one that still has some life left in it.

 

[TBItoy]

Jet skis are high maintenance.

Jet boats are like maintaining 2 jet skis.

I prefer outboard myself.

 

[patooyee]

Jet skis are high maintenance.

Why do you say that?

 

[ibrokeit]

Why do you say that?

Because they are. Probably not going to be fuel injected in your price range. Probably going to be a 3cyl 2stroke motor with 3 carbs. Times 2.

Also, sand kills impellers in the jet pump housing.

 

[patooyee]

3 cyl 2 stroke, yes. Most I am seeing have a single carb per motor though. Ain't nothing wrong with that though. I'm not afraid to work on them. I figured maintenance would be required, especially in my price range.

I'm aware of what sand does to them. I'm smart enough not to run it into sand though. I'm reading that there are ways to avoid buying one that has been run with sand in it a bunch. IE, inspecting impellers, etc.

Your input is dully noted though, thank you. Anyone else got anything to add?

 

[ibrokeit]

3 cyl 2 stroke, yes. Most I am seeing have a single carb per motor though. Ain't nothing wrong with that though. I'm not afraid to work on them. I figured maintenance would be required, especially in my price range.

I'm aware of what sand does to them. I'm smart enough not to run it into sand though. I'm reading that there are ways to avoid buying one that has been run with sand in it a bunch. IE, inspecting impellers, etc.

Your input is dully noted though. Anyone else got anything to add?

Not really. It's been a while since I kept up with jet ski stuff. They are fun.

 

[InittowiniT]

Buddy of mine moved to birmingham from the gulf, couldn't believe how long boats lasted around here. Said saltwater and sand dissolved the foot in a year or two. I would look for a inboard fish/ski from north of you!

 

[patooyee]

Not really. It's been a while since I kept up with jet ski stuff. They are fun.

When I was younger dad had 2 Sea Doos that we had a lot of fun on. We sprayed them down good and ran fresh water through them after every run. Kept them full of oil and good gas and beyond that they didn't seem like much maintenance. We made sure not to run them on the beach. We would shut them off and coast in, anchor them, play around, then walk them out a few yards to avoid sucking up sand before we started them again. Never really had any issues with them other than Hurricane Ivan sweeping them away. My fond memories of them are probably what give me my current inclination toward the jet boats.

 

[TBItoy]

Why do you say that?

Every one I have been around seemed to never run good consistently. Didn't matter the brand. Seemed like we were always pulling carbs, spark plugs, fighting overheating problems... Of course this was all on used rigs that were 5+ years old. (basically this experience relates to my Tiger shark, 2 sea doos, and a Kawasaki)

I had a Tiger Shark 770 that I ran for 4 seasons, always needed something it seemed. Blew head gasket, impeller, carbs cleaned, etc.

Working on engines inside a jet ski hull is pretty shitty. I don't know about the Jet Boats, they may be easy to access with a rear hatch.



I bought a mid 90s Sea Nymph Stinger deck boat for $2500, ran it for 3 seasons (probably 20 trips total) then sold it for $2500. I replaced the water pump impeller (maintenance item) and fixed some minor electrical issues, but overall I didn't spend any money on it. It's aluminum hull, and had a 2 stroke Johnson outboard.

Dad has always had at least 2 boats, and as many as 4 at one time. Usually a nicer fiberglass bass boat, a large jon boat with a tiller handle outboard (for duck hunting the river and crappie fishing), a small jon boat with a mud motor (for duck hunting swamps and timber), and a small jon boat with a small outboard (for small lakes and back water fishing).

So I'm pretty comfortable with 2 stroke outboards, but overall, it seems like the outboards are less maintenance than inboards and jet skis.

Although I think A LOT of reliability issues that people have with jet skis and inboard motors has to do with storage and winterizing....

 

[bbone]

Ive had friends with them, they were good on lakes....not so much in the ocean because of waves. The seemed to be lacking in the power department, where as a prop driven boat usually stays motoring along.

 

[patooyee]

I'm not wanting to go into the "gulf." I would just be staying in the inter-coastal. The actual Gulf is scary to me. I'll leave that to trained professionals.

 

[TBItoy]

When I was younger dad had 2 Sea Doos that we had a lot of fun on. We sprayed them down good and ran fresh water through them after every run. Kept them full of oil and good gas and beyond that they didn't seem like much maintenance. We made sure not to run them on the beach. We would shut them off and coast in, anchor them, play around, then walk them out a few yards to avoid sucking up sand before we started them again. Never really had any issues with them other than Hurricane Ivan sweeping them away. My fond memories of them are probably what give me my current inclination toward the jet boats.

Sounds like y'all were exemplary jet ski owners.

Most treat them like disposable toys. Kinda like most RZR owners treat them...

Just assume that any jet boat you look at is the equivalent of looking at a Dodge 2500 with straight pipes and a "I'd rather be Cummin than Strokin" window banner. It probably as been abused and not maintained properly...

 

[patooyee]

Just assume that any jet boat you look at is the equivalent of looking at a Dodge 2500 with straight pipes and a "I'd rather be Cummin than Strokin" window banner. It probably as been abused and not maintained properly...

That's kind of how I look at all used vehicle purchases. Yet the alternatives are not to own one at all or to buy new. Even if I could afford it, I'm philosophically against buying new. So that leaves learning about them to buy used or not buying at all. At this point I'm in the learning phase but I would probably be just as content not buying at all.

The nature of my job provides random sporadic single days off, very few multi-day stretches. I don't get weekends off almost ever. Going on an out of town wheeling trip requires months of pre-planning and schedule-arranging. The vast majority of my off days are week days. We don't have mountains or woods around here, the water is our equivalent. The few forests here are are just flat red-dirt pine forests with 100 degree heat and flies. My wife and I always sit around wondering what we can do on these random days. There's no off roading around here. We own a Ranger and can't even find anywhere to take it. Down here boating is what everyone does. We constantly wish we owned a small boat.

 

[jta]

I would look at something with an outboard too. The jets aren't that efficient when it comes to performance or fuel. I agree with the fact that they are kind of like a side by side.

 

[ibrokeit]

I would look at something with an outboard too. The jets aren't that efficient when it comes to performance or fuel. I agree with the fact that they are kind of like a side by side.

Pretty much. Find a smaller center console.

 

[WTH]

I have one, Seadoo Speedster. Like anything it all depends on how you maintain it. I have very little issues with mine and I have had it for a few years. Mine is a twin engine, I did replace an engine shortly after I bought it, cheap enough to replace and was fairly easy to do. Since then I have no issues. SeaDoo is the way to go, their engines put out more power than any of the others and again when properly maintained will last a long time. When buying check the wear rings and impellers. Do a compression test, the compression should be very close on the cylinders on the same engine. Of course salt water is bad on any engine, if it has been properly flushed afterwards it is probably ok, but I would prefer fresh water. Power is not a problem, gets out of the hole quickly, pull a skier, tube, whatever. Depending on the model you can count anywhere from about 40-60 mph. You can get all the information you could want here....

http://www.seadooforum.com/forumdisplay.php?5-Sea-Doo-Boats

If you have any questions let me know. If you buy a one year membership there you can download service manuals, I highly recommend getting one, tells you everything you need to know. Depending on what model you get I may have one I can send you.

Hope this helps.

 

[patooyee]

I have one, Seadoo Speedster. Like anything it all depends on how you maintain it. I have very little issues with mine and I have had it for a few years. Mine is a twin engine, I did replace an engine shortly after I bought it, cheap enough to replace and was fairly easy to do. Since then I have no issues. SeaDoo is the way to go, their engines put out more power than any of the others and again when properly maintained will last a long time. When buying check the wear rings and impellers. Do a compression test, the compression should be very close on the cylinders on the same engine. Of course salt water is bad on any engine, if it has been properly flushed afterwards it is probably ok, but I would prefer fresh water. Power is not a problem, gets out of the hole quickly, pull a skier, tube, whatever. Depending on the model you can count anywhere from about 40-60 mph. You can get all the information you could want here....

http://www.seadooforum.com/forumdisplay.php?5-Sea-Doo-Boats

If you have any questions let me know. If you buy a one year membership there you can download service manuals, I highly recommend getting one, tells you everything you need to know. Depending on what model you get I may have one I can send you.

Hope this helps.

What year is yours?

 

[WTH]

99.....

I do not agree with what some are saying about the power. Maybe on a brand other than a Seadoo, but I don't think anyone that has ridden in one would say they are lacking on power. They come out of the hole fast, plane in no time. They really are like a jest ski just with more seats. Turn on a dime, 180's are easy.