Diamonddave952

Greetings all,

I need some advice from my fellow PWC owners. I have never owned a PWC before and would like to get one for my family to cruise around our lake next year. Between the Yamaha VX series and the Sea Doo GTI series, which brand would be highly reliable and relatively low maintenance? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated! Thank you

stig0000

i gota 09 vx delux, got 670 hrs on it and still going strong, just normal servicing,

my mate boart one with 550 hrs on it and its got no fualts eather, both of them cop a good riden,

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1969 w108 merc with a 1jz,

05 defender,

yammie jet ski,

liven life in aus

Ernest T

The VX is nearly bullet proof. That is why all the rental places use them. They are also get the best gas mileage of any ski on the market, and run 87 octane. It is easy to maintain yourself if you have some mechanical skills. Top speed will be around 53 mph. The ski is very stable, and will give you a good ride, but will be a little bouncy and wet if you ride in rough water........usually not a factor on a lake unless you have lots of boat traffic, or its a really big lake.

The GTI is also a nice ride, and the newer models are very reliable. Its hull will give you a better ride in rough water, and it will be a few mph faster than the VX. It will also have more gizmos and extra features, but also more stuff to break. The Seadoos use a closed loop cooling system, and that combined with the unusual Rotax engine makes them more difficult to do your own maintenance and repairs = plan on having a dealer maintain the ski. In the ocean, I'd recommend the GTI over the VX.

Best bet is to ride both and then decide, but that may not be possible if you are buying in the off season when prices are lower. You can't go wrong with either ski. The VX will be cheaper to run and maintain. The GTI will give you a little better ride, and will be a couple mph faster, but will cost more to run and maintain.

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2008 Yamaha FX HO Cruiser
2010 Hurricane Sundeck 2100

Diamonddave952

I very much appreciate the feedback so far! Thank you.

jetboater

Earnest T's comments are right on.

The Yamaha VX series is a great choice --it's been the number one selling ski in the world for something like 7 years straight --- driven primarily by rental fleets around the world who need a bulletproof ski--- you rarely see a brand other than Yamaha in a rental fleet because of their reliability.

If you look on the various forums, you'll see lots of folks who have 800 to 1600 hours on their VXs with little more than routine maintanance. Given the average person puts between 25-50 hours on their skis a year, that's 15-20 years of typical riding-- no other ski has this kind of track record. Plus it holds its resale value well in case you want to "trade up" down the road.

But, as Earnest T points out, it's not the best ski for rough water-- the hull is more designed for flatter water like lakes and rivers. Other, larger Yamahas are more for the rough stuff.

Outlaw

I been out of touch for a while being busy. But let me say that the Seadoo GTI won the PWC of the Year award. It is much more state of the art then the older design Yamaha. Like Ernest said it will give you a better ride due to the hull design and better performance as well for the same reason. Ernest says they are hard to work on, I have to disagree. I do most of my own maintenance and repairs on my skis. I am not not a mechanic but with my experience and my good friend' s help it is pretty straight forward. I can't comment on the Yamaha's difficulty as I never worked on one. Having said all of this you will find the Seadoo to be a more superior ski the harder you look at them.

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2006 RXT with RIVA STAGE THREE KIT 295 HP

2009 RXT-IS 255 HP

2008 GTX 215 HP



Land Rocket - 2003 Z06 Corvette, Chevy

Outlaw

Some people are under the impression that you have to run higher octane fuel in Seadoos. Key words are "have to", in the non supercharged models you can run 87 octane any time you want. In the high performance supercharged models it is "recommended" to run high octane fuel for better performance but not manditory. When running lower octane fuel the ECU will automatically retard the timing to compensate for the lower octane fuel. Which will result in a little less performance. I have had to put 89 octane in my modified 2006 RXT which is 300 hp up from 215 hp and it ran fine to get me home.

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2006 RXT with RIVA STAGE THREE KIT 295 HP

2009 RXT-IS 255 HP

2008 GTX 215 HP



Land Rocket - 2003 Z06 Corvette, Chevy

98yota

Both will give you a great time on the water! The Rotax motor is a power house but needs to be kept up, they can be picky at times. Of coarse both machines need normal maintenance. Yamahas are just bullet proof, it seems hour after hour the Yamis just keep going.

I'm not just bias because I own a couple of Yamahas because I work on all makes. They all a good machines, they all have specific strengths and weaknesses. Either ski will give you hours of fun! Good luck and have fun!

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1993 Yamaha WaveBlaster 701
1989 Yamaha WaveJammer 500

jetboater

Another key in your decision between Yamaha and SeaDoo is dealer support--especially if you buy new---are there both dealerships close (enough) to you? Is one better than the other in terms of support and service?
That could make the decision easier.....

Ernest T

+1 Very good point if you are buying a new ski, and new to the pwc world.

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2008 Yamaha FX HO Cruiser
2010 Hurricane Sundeck 2100