these are really nice skis. im in the process of buying one right now. one thing about the 97 xp is that there is no hour gauge. you should ask the seller for an estimate of the hours otherwise a seadoo dealership can check it somehow. if it is over 200 hours there might be things going wrong soon. also check teh fuel lines. they coem grey as stock in this model and they are crappy. the gas breaks them down slowly and it will gunk op your carbs and you will need to clean your carbs every 2 years. you will want to replace the fuel lines with 25 feet of black 1/4 inch fuel lines from autozone. other then these problems i think its a very solid machine so have fun!