JetSkis... What to look for in a personal watercraft (PWC)

I've ridden them a couple times.  That's the extent of my knowledge.

I want one.  Actually 2.  I'd like to keep the budget under $7K for 2 PWC and a double trailer.  I'd love to pay less, but it looks like the pickins are slim for lower priced units.  I plan to rent them to guests at my lake house, do durability and reliablitiy are really important.  Don't need fancy extra features or performance that makes them harder to maintain.  I'm looking for the Miatas of skis.

What should I be looking for?  Are some brands better than others?  2 stroke VS 4 stroke?  What are some of the problems I should look for?  Can they be tested out of the water?

Brands to avoid?  Are older units OK?

What should I expect to pay?  What should I anticipate in maintenance?

I'm looking at a pair of Seadoo GTX Limiteds today.  Older models- 1998 and 1999.  Very well maintained including a rebuild, but high hours.

Does not apply to you but two jet skis reminds me of an old story from about 2009.  A guy I worked with was successful, under 30 and single.  He intended to buy two jet skis.  What he found was, since not married, insurance on the second jet ski was outrageously expensive.  The reason being, since no wife (who might be the likely person to use the second jet ski) that the insurance company priced the policy like the second jet ski would be used by someone (anyone) who would be untrained and unfamiliar (and likely reckless) with the jet ski.  

I always found that story interesting.  

I personally would not buy used. I would double my budget and get 2 new ones. These are things that are high revving, run at full revs all the time, road hard and often put up wet. 

I have 3 uncles who have bought, between them, 6 used waverunners (I assume you mean you want waverunners and not jetskis). 3 of those PWCs lasted less than 2 years, even with regular maintenance from my uncles - and I don't mean they were doing it themselves, I mean they were taking it to a shop to do winterization etc.

The two uncles that still have waverunners each bought 2 brand new SeaDoos. 7 and 6 years later, they've been trouble free. All 4 strokes, 2 strokes are slightly more fun, but the 4 strokes are much quieter. 

No direct information though. You're much more technically capable than 2/3 uncles that I'm referring to, and the 3rd (the one who no longer has a working waverunner) has about 78 other projects going on.

This thread is relevant to my interests. SWMBO and I are debating between 2 PWC and a 18-20 foot boat (deck or bowrider). 2 very different uses, I know, but we already have a nice Axis wake boat in the family that we have access to. We have experience with both types of craft, and are comfortable operating either. I have a feeling PWC ownership will be less expensive in the long run, but can't pinpoint why my logic goes in that direction. 

Anywho, I'll be watching the discussion. 

In reply to mtn :

Define the difference between Waverunners and Jetskis. 
 

I thought they were just brands.

In reply to mtn :

I'm not seeing much new stuff available for double the budget.

Looks like decent older used ones are around $2500- $3K.  $7K can buy me 2 skis plus a trailer.  

New ones start at nearly $10K, and a decent double trailer will cost about $2800- $4K.  That would be a total of $25K or so.  That a lot more than 2X $7000.

Honestly, $7K is a stretch for me.  I'd rather under $5K (but I don't think I can find anything that low in decent shape).  $25K is impossible.  

I will say that I've never owned one, but I've been around them a lot.

4 stroke vs 2 stroke is pretty much like you would think.  4 stroke is cleaner, but makes less power per pound.  If your focus is on having a lightweight performer, 2 stroke is the only choice.  If you're looking for a big luxo cruiser for getting on the lake, 4-stroke will do fine.  Many of the 2 stroke variations from names that also make outboards often repurpose their outboard power heads which (for the most part) are stupidly reliable.  SeaDoo mostly sticks with Rotax which is also a well-known good name.

All of them will have some way of running them out of the water.  The Yamaha I winterized for friends last fall came with a push-on o-ring fitting that screws to a garden hose.  Shove it on, turn on the water, run it.  All of the ones I've had experience with use a nipple on the nozzle of the jet to provide water.  For some, that's the only pump.  For others it's just a lift pump and there is an additional pump on the block.  The point being, nearly all of them won't be damaged by running them dry, other than overheating if run for more than a short time.  I'm not suggesting you run it dry, but it's not like an outboard where the pump can die fast if run dry.  Winterizing is done the same way.  Plug a funnel in the hose and run it while dumping pink anti-freeze in.

They're pretty simple.  Many of them will have a large-ish jacketed muffler to cool the exhaust.  If it was used in a muddy or sandy area and scrubbed the bottom regularly, the jacket can get clogged and it's a bit hard to diagnose without pulling the muffler outlet to see if water is flowing.  Symptoms would be overheating.  The fix is to rod out the jacket to get flow going and the rest should rinse itself out much like snaking a sewer drain.  You punch a hole and let the water do the rest of the work.

I personally prefer 2-strokes for the simplicity.  No oil changes, higher power density, etc.  Most will have oil injection so no need to mix fuel.  Yamaha seems to be the go-to for quality, SeaDoo seems to be the go-to for performance, but I think you'll find that a lot of them are just fun regardless.  As far as lemons or lemonade, that's beyond my scope.  I don't repair them anymore, and even when I worked at the marina I didn't see very many other than maintenance/winterization.

In reply to SV reX :

Jet Ski is stand up

Wave runner is sit down

That being said that's the old school description as most brands make sit down now

Also, since there are variations in jet design, I suggest digging deep to find thrust numbers instead of HP.  Thrust/weight is a better determination than HP.  PWC manufacturers love to advertise 300 hp, but that doesn't mean it's faster than the 200 hp found in another brand.  Jets eat a ton of HP to make thrust so it's not always apples to apples if you compare HP.

Also doesn't hurt to look at hull design.  Flat is fast but punishing.  Deeper vees are slower but more stable at speed and ride smoother.  If you're looking for speed and doing loopy tricks, flatter is better.  If you're looking for family cruises, deeper vees might suit better.

In reply to SV reX :

Looks like they start around $5800.  Doesn't include trailer or tax or any of that. Doesn't mean it is actually available either. 

I've always heard that a Jet Ski is a standup watercraft, meaning there is no seat. A Waverunner has a seat. But you're probably correct, it is probably Kawasaki vs. Yamaha, which IIRC were the first ones to the market with each.

Maybe not relevant anymore, but I put hundreds, maybe thousands, of hours on a pair of Kawasaki Jet Skis, the 550 stand-ups, back in the early 90's. All day long, dawn to dusk, those things were rode hard every weekend in the summer, and sometimes late into the fall. Man, they were indestructible. One had a slight leak around the hood gasket, so it would take on water. If you didn't get back to shore soon enough , it would eventually die and "sink". Not really, but the nose would dive too much to ride. So we'd tow it back to base with the other, drain the gas, pull the plugs and blow out the cylinders, and then put it together and send it. Always ran better after a good 'cleansing'. I'm not sure my body could take the beating those dish out anymore though. I got several concussions from hitting the water so hard on jumps and crashes. I even disappeared once, jet-ski and all. Went deep for long enough to make the guys I was riding with wonder what the hell happened to me. Good times.

I'm following this, I want another.

Jet Ski and Wave Runner are both trade names and have nothing to do with sit down or stand up.  Jet Ski is Kawasaki and Wave Runner is Yamaha.  It's like saying Crown Vic and Caprice.  Both are full size sedans that came in various configurations, just from different manufacturers.

"Jet Ski" is a brand of Kawasaki.  There are both standing and seated versions of Jet Skis.

I'm looking for a seated one.  Don't care the brand.

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

I'm not really looking for a "performer".  No jumps, loopy stuff, flips, or racing.

Something for family cruises.  No flat bottoms.

I would look inland only. I would not want to buy one that has lived its life on the coast with salt dissolving it. 

I would probably only look at 4 cycle engines. The number of people that know how to mix oil and gas or know that they have to fill the oil tank as well as the gas tank is falling rapidly and PWC engines cost a good bit more than a Challenge car. 

I would also call my insurance company in advance and find out what that is going to cost. I would guess it would be rather expensive. 

If there is a place on your lake that already rents them, I would look into doing a deal with them and letting them handle all the maintenance and insurance. 

I have nothing to add other than you can tow them both with the Miata once you have it all together 

I know your asking specifically about PWC but this is GRM so, what about a pontoon boat?   I've rented boats 3 times and every time it's been a small ~30 HP pontoon boat.  It can go places, get the family out on the water, and because of inherent performance envelope limits isn't ripe for abuse.  Also generally the outboard motor is what goes bad.  You can replace those pretty easily and you could in fact have 2 so you can do maintenance and such off the boat and swap them if you wanted.   One rental cabin we had had 2 PWCs and a pontoon boat available as part of the rental and we didn't even use the PWC.   My experience with riding PWCs is the agressive ridding of them is what makes them fun. You don't tend to use them to go to the public dock across the lake to get dinner/ice cream.  You don't tend to take them to the sand bar and anchor while your kids swim and splash.  You use them to go find wake to jump and scream across lakes WFO at all times until you get tired of it then you go back home.  There is a place for them and if I had "lake person money" one would be in the stable but it would get used less then a Normal I/O cruiser and even a Pontoon boat would.  

Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:

Jet Ski and Wave Runner are both trade names and have nothing to do with sit down or stand up.  Jet Ski is Kawasaki and Wave Runner is Yamaha.  It's like saying Crown Vic and Caprice.  Both are full size sedans that came in various configurations, just from different manufacturers.

Maybe not as much now, but when they first hit the market, the Jet Ski was a stand up PWC made by Kawasaki. the term wave runner came about in 1988 when Bombardier released the Sea-Doo to compete with them.  My Family owned the PWC dealer in OC MD for 40 years, there is a difference. They have pretty much blended together to mean the same thing in the last 20 years, but Kawasaki still makes a stand up version. At this point Kawasaki does make waverunners under the Jet Ski name, but that is why I said it is old school descriptions. Paul is looking for a wave runner no matter what the brand is.

https://www.coastalwatersportsvi.com/single-post/2014/08/18/setting-the-record-straight-jetskis-vs-waverunners

When the Personal Watercraft Vehicles first were put on the market, the main difference between the Jest Ski and the Waverunner was the vehicle's driving position. When first designed, the Jet Ski was designed to be driven while standing up, whereas the original Waverunner was driven from a seated position.

In reply to nocones :

Pontoon boat is definitely on the radar too. 
 

My dock has shallow water access, and a lot of variation in the depth. A large storm can raise the water level 4' (leaving the dock submerged).
 

I don't have a boat house, or a lift to get the pontoon out of the water  I figure it would be easier to learn the ins and outs of managing boats on my dock with a smaller craft.

Several of my neighbors have pontoons, so it's definitely possible. But I want to learn how to deal with the water level issues before I commit to a pontoon. 

In reply to Steve_Jones :

I know you have a lot of experience, but it sounds like you are using outdated verbiage. 
 

"Gay" used to mean "happy" too! 

FWIW, I spend a lot of time on 2 different lakes. No one on either of those lakes calls them either "Jet Ski" or "Waverunner". 
 

They call them all "skis". 
 

I suspect the term "waverunner" never took on the same meaning in a place that has no waves. 

In reply to Toyman! :

I like your idea of partnering with a local rental company. 
 

(I'm still going to look at a couple of Sea Doos this evening) 

I would strongly recommend 2-stroke engines. They are a lot easier to work on and provide a more fun riding experience. Full rebuilds are either high three digits or just over a grand. 

In reply to chaparral :

Is that a DIY rebuild, or a shop rebuild?

That price makes a pretty strong case for 2 strokes. 

In reply to SV reX :

Where I use them (not mine, my uncles), we have big waves. Everyone around us (UP) calls them waverunners. So likely some geographical differences. Hell, it could even be the influence of the local dealer for all I know.