Ready to purchase boat, need advice

[mdchachi]

Hello I'm a newbie to boating in general, not only Sea Doo.

I'm looking at two boats and I will likely buy one of them so I appreciate any and all advice you may have.

First is a 2001 Utopia 185. Very low hours. Not sure how low but the guy (original owner) says he hasn't even gone through an entire tank of oil. Engine is a Mercury V6 EFI 210. Asking $9000.

Second is a 2009 Challenger 180. Only 28 hours. 215 HP Rotax. Asking $13,900.

Both are in excellent condition. I see a lot of opinions regarding mercury vs rotax, maintenance and cost of ownership etc. Any advice you can give me about this as well as about the models in general would be very much appreciated. What to ask etc.

My intended use is on inland Michigan lakes. General boating & tubing kind of thing. My original intention was to spend about $5000 for a 16' jet boat and now here I am... :coolgleam:

 

[Coastiejoe]

For me,, I am all over the 4-tech engine. No dealing with a separate oil tank. Being that the boat is an 09, you are good to go in regards to the washers being updated in the Super Charger (SC). 08 and older had ceramic washers that failed and could cause damage to your engine. The Merc engine is somewhat special. Not bad,, just special. One concern I would have is, may places will not work on the Merc engine as, it is a Seadoo boat but not a Seadoo engine. Not knocking, it is proven and does a good job. That said, the 4-tech engine is well proven. The SC will need rebuilt every 100 hrs even though the SC does not have the ceramic washers. It is an expense you will be looking at every couple years or so, but in my opinion, well worth it. The performance gain is worth every penny.

 

[Wing Luong]

I'll get the 2009 challenger and see if they willing to sell for 12000

 

[mdchachi]

Thank you for your advice. The guy was holding firm on his price for the 2009. I ended up buying the 2001. The size and feel of the two were almost identical. The 2001 is an excellent condition and it came down to budget. Plus I'm not likely to put it in the water more than 10x/year anyway so it should last another 10 years no problem.
In SE Michigan with all the boating activity, I'm sure I can find shops to work on it when needed which hopefully will be minimal if I maintain the engine properly. Thanks again. I'm sure I'll be back here many times as I start my boating life...