08 Islandia question

[CTdoo]

Hello,

We have had a sportster 1800 for about 9-10 years now and since we purchased it we have had two children. Well we have come to realize that it isn't big enough for the family anymore and are looking at moving to an Islandia.

I am looking at a 430 hp Islandia, is there anyway to tell if this boat has the latest supercharger components installed?

I have to say I am a bit put off by the problems I have read regarding the supercharged engines and the relatively short rebuild times required by sea doo. Our closest dealer could be considered a crook to say the least. I have always done all my own work on our sportster but from the reading I have done on the supercharged boats is that you are required to have the computer reset when maintenance is done. So I take it that unless you can get a dealer to agree to reset your computer you are pretty well hosed as far as self maintenance goes?

One other question I have is how big of a difference in performance is there between the Supercharged boats vs normal ones? We do a lot of skiing, tubing, wake boarding and live on a fairly large lake so getting from one end to the other quickly is pretty nice sometimes. I would like to have a min of 45mph top end and be able to pull two slalom skiers on occasion with out having to drag them forever before getting on a plane.

Thanks

 

[Dr Honda]

Nope... no way to tell.

There was suppose to be an update... but we have seen failures here on this board with superchargers that were "Supposed" to be the new versions.

If it's a new, left-over boat... run it for the rest of this year, and then just change the washers over the winter, to the tool-steel version (non-OEM) to have trouble free operation.

The 430 Islandia should hit 55 mph.

I am also in the same situation as you. (growing fam) I will be looking for a '06 or '07 Islandia over the winter. Those years have the non-supercharged engines (310 hp).

 

[CTdoo]

Well my original intention was to pick up a nice used Islandia, but the problem is people are asking crazy money for them. People are wanting 12-16K for 01-03 boats and 17-28k and up for anything newer. It is pretty hard to pay that much for a used boat with no warranty when you can pick up a leftover new one for a pretty good price.

For example a semi local dealer has an 03 that they have had sitting on the lot for about 2 years now. It has been stored outside since new and the interior is completely shot and is even missing some seat backs and trim panels, the gauges are yellowed from the sun, gel coat is pretty sad looking, it has gouges in it, the nozzle as corrosion on it, list goes on and on. Anyway they are asking 12k for the damn thing, I offered them 7k for it thinking it still isn't that good of a deal because of all the work it needs and the fact that it was probably mechanically neglected also and they turned their nose up at it.

I am pretty close to calling it quits with Sea Doo though as I have been trying to call them for about two weeks now to see if they can help me locate a leftover Islandia but they never seem to want to talk to anyone. I call daily and always get a message saying they have high call volumes and can't answer the phone. It doesn't instill any confidence that if I have problems with my boat that I will ever get a hold of anyone there to help me with it.

 

[Dr Honda]

Well.... unfortunately, you are right about the corporate customer service.


You are also right about the price for a used one... but you have to remember that they were $40k boats to start with. Also... an '03 will have a mercury drive system... not Rotax. (expensive to fix, and parts are harder to find)


Good luck in your search. :cheers:

 

[CTdoo]

Well.... unfortunately, you are right about the corporate customer service.


You are also right about the price for a used one... but you have to remember that they were $40k boats to start with. Also... an '03 will have a mercury drive system... not Rotax. (expensive to fix, and parts are harder to find)


Good luck in your search. :cheers:

I thought the Mercs were fairly reliable, but I would definitely rather have a closed loop 4 stroke.

I am not really sure what we are going to do at this point. It doesn't seem like anyone is wanting to loan any money on a leftover 08. I guess they are using its used value as the loan value, we would be looking at having to put close to 40% down on the boat and that's just not something we want to do right now. I guess we will just keep plugging along in the good old Sportster 1800 until something comes up.

 

[Dr Honda]

Yes... don't get me wrong. The Merc engines are very reliable... but when they do have problems, sometimes it can get expensive. The parts are getting harder to find... and most SeaDoo shops won't touch them.