chwtom

I am buying my first PWC. I plan to use it for riding around the lake, and for pulling my young kids on a tube. It won't be left in the water, it will be towed to my house and kept in the garage when not in use.

I don't know how to repair a PWC, so I'd want something very reliable.

My budget is roughly 3000. I live in Wisconsin near Green bay.

Can I please get some help on models or features to look for? I know I need a 3 seater, but I don't know anything else I need to look for.

Also, I have been looking at blue book and nada for pricing, and people out my way are pretty consistently 20-30 percent over the recommended retail price, and these aren't dealers, they are in the paper or on craigslist. Are bluebook prices not accurate, or are people just not reasonable where I'm at?

Thanks much
Tom

chwtom

2003 Seadoo GTX DI 29 Hours

this is one that caught my interest. This price looks pretty good according to blue book, not sure how good a machine this model is or how this price looks.

YamaDoo

There is another guy with Tom in his name who also just joined the forum and I got you two confused for a minute. The 2003 Sea-Doo GTX you showed is a great machine but keep in mind it's a 2 stroke so if it has never been rebuilt it could be risky as it could decide to blow any time. If you want the ultimate reliability machine get a used Yamaha VX. They are 4 stroke and logging some very high hours in rental fleets with no issues. As far as people having higher than book value prices in ads it's just because everyone will always offer a lower amount so they put a buffer in place. Plus it's peak season now.