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GTR 215 - good first Jet Ski for family?

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23109VC

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I am new to the PWC world. I am in my early 40s, and my family was recently in Tahoe, we rented two Sea Doos and we are hooked. It was a total blast. We live in San Diego and are often at the beach - we have decided to get a jet ski that the whole family can enjoy. Me, wifey, and three kids (14, 10, 8).

We are looking for something we can enjoy for several years -= that will meet all our needs. Much of what we will be doing will be just crusing around the local ocean/bay area and taking trips to lakes. We have a time share up in Tahoe and go up there every summer - it would be a blast to pull a Sea Doo there and ride all over.

We have researched Yamaha and Sea Doo and like the Sea Doo models better. We are on the fence between buying brand new vs used. New is obviously better but also more costly.

I initially stated looking at the spark b/c the price was so attractive, but quickly dismissed it. We went to a local dealer and the spark just looks small and wimpy compared to the larger models. We are going to have a kid or two on the back a lot - so a larger sea doo would be more comfortable. when we went riding in Tahoe our kids just sat on the back, dangled their legs in the water, jumped off the back, swam around while we had it shut off just floating..and then climbed back on and we would take off again. it was so much fun.

our goals are to get something that can "do it all". something that can fit one or two kids on the back and just cruise, something we can tie an inner tube to the back of and tow the kids around (maybe the adults too) and also something that I can blast around solo on and have fun.

I am new to jet skis but used to ride motorcross type bikes back when I was younger. riding the jet ski reminded me of my younger days on the bikes..so I want something that is fast and I can toss into a turn, and then blast off again.. I am worried that if I opt to "save money" and get an entry level ski like a GTS/GTI 130, I may get bored of it? it may feel too slow or sluggist and I might find myself wishing I had got a faster one.

I have always been a speed junkie when it came to cars and motorcycles .. so I want sometjing fast..it doesn't have to be the fastest... I don't want to drop $15-17k on some 300 hp monster.but I want it to be fast enough that it will palster a smile on my face when I open the throttle.

my buddy who has a 260 sea doo recommended a 215. he said it would be fast enough that I won't get bored with it, but it won't be overkill.

I wonder if a 155 would be okay? I suspect the 215 might be enough faster that I would like it more.

I actually found a local guy selling a 2012 GTR 215 and he is throwing in his trailer. he has 50 hours on it. he is asking $8000.

good deal?

do you guys think a GTR215 would be a good one? one sales guy recommended the wake 215 as it would be pre-setup for inner tubing and wake boarding..but it's also about $15k which is pushing my budget.

am I crazy to buy a used jet skit that is perforamcne oriented? is this like buyin a used Nissan GTR and it was flogged and thrashed and I am liley wlaking into $$ problems?

I was thinking or either requestin ga test drive..and take it for a ride..I have NO idea if this is common practice in the used jet ski seling market or if sellers will tell me to forget it? I also was thinking of asking to take it to a dealer for a pre purchase inspection - I pay for the inspection.. and if I get good news, then i'd feel more comfortable buying it.

I knew a lot about cars but zilch about sea doos..I do know it was fun riding them and I think it would be good clean fun for the family. we are looking forward to some fun sun filled days in san diego beaches or local lakes... mom/dad takiugn turns taking the kids for spins. I also like the idea that there is a "slow" key I can let my 14 year old use so he doesn't kill himself... :)

thanks for any advice, suggestions, etc!!
 
a gtr 215 is an excellent ski and perfect for 1+passenger but for family oriented situations with multiple passengers i'd lean towards the GTX or RXT personally, I think they are more stable, less "sport', generally more practical.

If you were a mostly solo or you +1 all the time, then the GTR is a slam dunk good choice.

used/vs new, could go either way, I ALWAYS buy used and i've had good luck.

yes, a test ride is normal, and is a mandate for anything over 5K IMO.

if you buy used and get a SC model pay attention to know if its rebuild time, 2 years or 200 hours on most modern ski's, whichever comes first, $500 ish, if you do it once, don't worry about doing it a 2nd time, if you put 200 hours on the ski you'll GLADLY get it rebuilt, it means you had a lot of fun!

255's are more powerful than the 215's but its not necessary, the 215's are very fast and only take a second or two longer to top out.

Subtract about 10mph and add 3 seconds getting there if you bump down to 155 models. Nothing against the 155 but you can forget the "wow!" factor, its a cruiser but the upside it gets significantly better fuel economy and is an excellent starter ski.

$4500-7000 on trailer will get you a nice gtx 155/215 that will be very serviceable and if you find a year from now that you really like the sport, upgrade. No shame in buying in cheap while your level of enthusiasm is tested.

if you can afford it, the newer used models have IBR, < very cool

Other factors to consider < storage (keep it inside!) insurance ($300), expensive mechanical breakdown (yikes !)
 
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I own both a RXT-X 255 and a GTX 155. The GTX is basically the Caddy of SeaDoo's. SUPER comfortable ride and all the goodies. I strongly recommend the IBR system. For some reason, even beginners really get it quickly. If you can find a GTX with the 215 or larger, that is a GREAT ski.

I personally ride my RXT every time I/we go out. I can't help myself. It is a full size ski that simply screams and handles great. But,, rides considerably more harsh than the GTX...
 
I've been riding Sea Doo's for about 10 years- coincidentally mostly at Lake Tahoe- and have tried pretty much every model over the years. Based on your situation, you could basically get a GTS/GTI, GTX, or GTR. The GTR was actually probably my favorite because it was basically like a hybrid- it has the comfort/stability that you want for a family ski but enough power to really have fun when by yourself. You definitely will be getting what you pay for if you spend the extra $3k or so.
 
after re-reading the OP's post, if you want a hard turning model with oomph, you really need to stay away from anything 155 / 3 passenger or take the buoy course off your bucket list. if you get the 215/255 at least you'll have some power through hard turns.

The GTR might be a good compromise on cost/size/speed <right down the middle on all 3 and its a popular model so values are holding well.

Also with almost every model there are sponson upgrades that will give you more significant hook vs washout in hard turn's and 180's. (Worx/Riva/OEM-X)
 
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my wife and I rented two. she rode one, I rode the other one. we have three kids - 2 on one, third kid on back of the other.

I actually thought about getting two older used skis..so we would have two. I thought it would be more fun if we could all go togetgher...but I think i'd rather get one newer/modern ski that is more trouble free...if we become die hard fans, we can always get another one...our plan was to all go to the beach and find spots where we can beach it - and spen dthe day, take turns riding kids around...
 
Agreed, as good as the 155 is, it isn't what you want based on your desires,, I personally would not go with the 215, but that is because I am spoiled with my 255..
 
23109VC said:
my wife and I rented two. she rode one, I rode the other one. we have three kids - 2 on one, third kid on back of the other.

I actually thought about getting two older used skis..so we would have two. I thought it would be more fun if we could all go togetgher...but I think i'd rather get one newer/modern ski that is more trouble free...if we become die hard fans, we can always get another one...our plan was to all go to the beach and find spots where we can beach it - and spen dthe day, take turns riding kids around...
Click to expand...

Okay....I don't mean to sound harsh here so....bare with me. You know one ski ain't gonna be enough. Start planning on at least a pair of three seaters and a trailer.
 
red2blue said:
Okay....I don't mean to sound harsh here so....bare with me. You know one ski ain't gonna be enough. Start planning on at least a pair of three seaters and a trailer.
Click to expand...

I can't argue against this,,,

If you have two kids and a wife,, one or more will be waiting to ride,, two skis will fix that issue..
 
Oem for oem the 255 will be quicker outa the hole and a lil faster up top. BRP still has to live under USCG agreements.

It when you start down that modding road where you realize what you paid the extra money for on the 255.
 
Agreed,, 215 will cost more to mod to get it to a 255 or better as compared to simply buying a 255 to begin with.
 
I thought about trying to get two skis instead of one. I am trying to stay on a budget around $10,000. I could spend a little more, happily will spend less...but if I wer to spend $10,000..that would get a sweet single ski and trailer. but if I get two and a trailer...i'm going to have to look at a pair of older skis.

there are a lot of peole on Craiglist selling a pair of skis on a trailer... some look like junk and some look decent...

give me some suggestions - don't go older that X. I know I do NOT want a 2 stroke as some lakes won't let you run them there. I'd like to stay with something more modern looking.. loike 2012/2013 or newer....but it's hard to find a pair of those and a trailer for 10k...

I found this locally.. a bit over my budet but this looks not *too* old and is a total package/pair

http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/boa/5685211246.html

another setup

http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/boa/5688785482.html

http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/boa/5655490609.html

hard to say what would be better.. I agree if I only have one.. there will be someone always waiting to ride...and when we had the rentals.. part of what was fun was that we were all together... so I see wher having two skis would be more enjoyable... but then I wonder if maybe it would be better to just spend the money on ONE good one..i'd have little to no mechanical problems and would have something new and mostly trouble free..we'd go to the water to have fun and not worry something is going to break....we'd have seasons of that with a new one... I worry if I go too cheap then i'll just buy a problem and be constantilng fixing crap....

or maybe if you stick to stuff that is 100hrs or less you can find something relatively trouble free that will drive fine... the jet skies that we rented were older GTX models... probablye 2003-2004 models and they were a blast...so i'm sure an older ski can be piles of fun...

part fo my probem is i'm so new to the hobby I don't really know what I want or need as I haven't done it.

can I get a decent dual ski / trailer setup for $10,000 that will probably run fine ? i'm guessing if I get a used setup you just do test drives or have them inspected by a dealer and pay for the pre purchase inspection and figure the dealer will be able to spot obvious problems...and then you just roll the dice and hope they are ok.

thoughts?

for you gus who have families / kids - did you start with one or two? i could alaways get ONE good one..and if the bug bites us even ahrder and we are dying to have a dual setup - then we upgrade to a dual trailer and get another ski?

any more advice guys??
 
Only 3 in my household at the time I started with a single '05 RXT....The Mrs didn't get through that first summer before wanting one for herself....heh.

This is the wrong time of the year to be looking for deals.

A pair of solid '05-'08 RXT's and a trailer for around 10k is not gonna be outa the question.
 
Personally, this is what I would do in your situation and how my family and I have planned it out.

After looking at numerous used GTR215's, none of them were as well maintained as I would do it. So after a lot of looking and talking with my wife, we decided on buying a new GTR 215. I have had me, 240lbs, my wife, 130lbs, on the GTR and easily pulled my son up on ski's. He is 22 and weighs 220lbs. With my wife and I on the GTR, we top out at 63-64mph. Just me and it's 66mph on smooth water and 64-65 on rougher water. I can do tight ass turns at 60 and my speed drops to about 40, then gets back up to 60 very quickly. I play buoy racing out in the Bay when there's no other craft around. It's a BLAST!

After having ridden our GTR for about 19 hours now, it's about ready to go in for it's first service.

My wife doesn't care about riding faster than 50mph and she's really not into the trickery I am. So the plan is to save money up over this summer and into the winter months, then either buy her a 3 seater Spark or find a used one in good condition. We will buy in April, which the month before dealers and people stop being willing to work on the price. We will use the GTR for multiple people water sports and then the second one for the wife and another person to cruise around on. Don't discount the Sparks though.

At a lake we visit frequently, I got to talking to a guy with two Sparks. He said he loved them, both were the 90hp 3-seaters, but that he wished for more power and was thinking about getting a GTR215. So I let hm try mine and I got to try one of his. The Sparks weigh a lot less and I was actually able to do more tricks on it than my GTR. However, it bled off speed from 50 down to 20 when I did a high speed turn to the right, then dug in to the left to come out into another quick turn to the right trying to get a 180° flat spin. My GTR does that easily, the Spark, being lighter, went into the flat spin on the first hard turn in instead of really biting like the GTR. Still, I had a lot of fun on the Spark because the rear end does slide around a lot easier. But after 15 minutes on the Spark, I was ready to get back on my GTR. The man who rode my GTR said he was going to sell one of his Sparks and get a GTR.

Just some food for thought. My GTR has a much more forgiving and stable hull than that Spark did. Trying to ride over rough water at speed left me feel like I had been beaten up on the Spark, but the GTR handles is just fine and you don't get as wet. That's not to say you can't get wet on the GTR simply by jumping waves/wakes or doing hard donuts, but if you sometimes like to ride without getting water on you you can certainly do that on the GTR. And since I plan on using my GTR year round to fish off of, that was very important to me. All the power of a S/C motor, very stable and decent range. I've gotten 84 miles out of a tank of gas by staying below 7,000RPM. Plus, the VTS and iBR are extremely useful features to have.
 
personally I started with one, got a 2nd when the daughter took interest, got rid of #2 when daughter went to college.

note: the downside to One ski, family environment, that means you'll be riding around with kids w/o immediate assistance. I used to ride solo but after my first scare I changed to always having a ride buddy, now I never ride solo, if my bud's can't make it, i leave the ski at home and do something else, I prefer my "tow" to be 100 feet away, not 40 minutes.

re: the listings, I like #3 the most, good combination of ski's and personally i prefer a ski with 100 hours vs one with 10 (first lsiting), 10 hours means its had like 4 tanks of gas over 10 years which means its had some bad gas run though it.
 
Here is what I found:

https://sandiego.craigslist.org/nsd/boa/5695697332.html

What Do you think? It has about 50
Hours on it. I just looked at it. very
Clean looking. Owner has most recent service paperwork showing he spent about $700. It was the 50 hour service, bought a new key, flushed gas tank, changed plugs..
Some mother stuff. Paperwork shows they inspected supercharger and said good.
Compression was 135, 140, 140.

The only thing negative was the service noted said the impeller showed minor rocky damage and it said could affect TopSpeed or acceleration.

The trailer
Is included. It would

Good deal?

.
 
23109VC said:
Here is what I found:

https://sandiego.craigslist.org/nsd/boa/5695697332.html

What Do you think? It has about 50
Hours on it. I just looked at it. very
Clean looking. Owner has most recent service paperwork showing he spent about $700. It was the 50 hour service, bought a new key, flushed gas tank, changed plugs..
Some mother stuff. Paperwork shows they inspected supercharger and said good.
Compression was 135, 140, 140.

The only thing negative was the service noted said the impeller showed minor rocky damage and it said could affect TopSpeed or acceleration.

The trailer
Is included. It would

Good deal?

.
Click to expand...

Retail is about $7200. That doesn't include a trailer. So I'd go in at $7500 if everything goes good during the water test. The compression is very good.
 
I asked him if I could do a water test and he said that was a lot of hassle and he prefer not to . I think if I told him I would buy it at the end of the water test he might agree to meEt
What I'd be crazy to buy it without water tested it what it be OK to just rely on the inspection At the shop? I don't know if their stuff you can tell about it by writing on the water the shop can't figure out ??

While you can't judge a book by its cover the guy lives in $1 million house , has a Panamera in his garage a $60,000 jeep in his driveway an RV.... .. He's obviously extremely well off.. His house and his toys in the Jetske all looks superclean ... Service receipt was from a couple weeks ago The local JetSki shop m town.

I asked him about water testing it and he said the last time he took a boat to sell on a water test the guy ended up not buying it ... If I pushed in for a water test he might do it but I got the impression he Didn't want to... From where we live it's about a 45 minute drive to get to somewhere where you can test on the water .. Maybe 30 min.

If a water test is necessity I could basically tell him I'll buy it at the end of the water test and he probably would do it .. I wasn't sure if it will be sufficient to have it tested at a local shop or the water test is a mandatory step??
 
Oder him $75 for the test ride, or even $50, Tell him he can keep the money if you don't buy it. If you do, the money applies to the sale..
 
Coastiejoe said:
Oder him $75 for the test ride, or even $50, Tell him he can keep the money if you don't buy it. If you do, the money applies to the sale..
Click to expand...

That's a good idea IMO.

I would NEVER buy any type of used water craft without a test drive. EVER. Tell him you would be willing to do the test ride at HIS convenience. He may be concerned about time away from work or using up three hours or so of his weekend. But if you show up at his door saying, "Here's the money we agreed upon and I'm going to buy as long as it tests out correctly.", you'll likely get him to go along with it. Cash. Not a check.
 
I could offer to buy immediately after test drive .. Bring the cash.::

Being that I am new I don't know if it will be better for me to do a test drive or simply have a shop check it out professionally?? If you could only choose one would you rather do a test drive or have a shop inspect
It?
 
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