1996 sportster questions

[mucrew]

first off i'm new here and totally new to seadoos. my family used to have a boat a few years ago but i was really too young to know much about the boat itself.

i've been looking around for some kind of boat to buy though and i stumbled across a 1996 Seadoo Sportster...a long time ago i rented a tiny jet boat like this and had a blast on it and so i would really like to get one for myself.

so my questions are as such: what's the difference between a sportster and a speedster? is it just the motors they put in the boat? how reliable of a boat is this? i know most people on here probably have nothing but good things to say about seadoos but if there are any issues with this boats could you let me know? and lastly, about how much should a boat like this in reasonable shape go for?

thanks!

adam

 

[JoeZ]

Yes, basically two engines vs one. There are a couple other small difference, but not many.

I own a 1996 Speedster myself. They are just as much trouble as a pwc; if you don't maintain it, owning the boat will be a horrible experience. Else, you'll have to keep up with regular maintenance items and will have to make repairs when needed, but it'll be a fun experience. Getting a shop manual will show you all the places you need to keep an eye on as well as how to fix it if something goes wrong.

I purchased mine around April 2006 for $3500, but the trailer was complete crap. If you look around you can find them in a range between this and $5000.

You can find some on ebay and craigslist.
Here are a couple of examples:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1996...ryZ80653QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/96-S...ryZ80653QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Keep posting on here and let us know what you find