Seadoo Challenger questions

[eggmann]

looking at buying a 2002 20ft SeaDoo Challenger 2000 with a Mercury Optimax 250hp jet drive. 237hrs only. Dual batteries, JVC stereo plus an amp and 2 8" subs. Merc Smartcraft gauge (shows hours, fuel burn, fuel used, engine temp etc trailer included $9000.00 ...just wondering what issues I should be looking for with this boat ?? does it sound like a fair price ?....just getting back into boating after a long break and greatly appreciate any help ...Thanks

 

[henryb]

Ok, so first thing to do is to take it for a test drive! On the test drive, pay attention to the following things:
- check engine bay for how clean it is... Is it wet, oily and filthy or is it dry and clean?
- Listen for a warning tone, when you turn the key to on position, before you start;
- how easy was it to start, OptiMax should start easy;
- how much white smoke, some is normal;
- monitor the idle speed on the tach, should be around 1500;
- once it is warmed up a bit, check out the acceleration, should go from idle to 30mph in 3-4 seconds;
- check top speed, should be in the 45-50mph;
- check the max rpm's, should be around 5500-6000;
- back off throttle to run around 35 mph, engine should sound like it's running nice and easy around 4500 rpms;
- interior look for rips and cracks and tears;
- check all gauges, lights and buttons do what they are supposed to;
- with the boat on a trailer, check the hull, look for gouges, scratches, cracks, some minor spider cracks are normal;

Hope that helps!

 

[eggmann]

Thank you very much
Now with this boat being 14yrs old with only 240 hrs on it should I be worried about it needing a rebuild ??

 

[henryb]

So many factors go into the "condition" of the engine, age and hours almost don't play a factor?

Consider, one owner that always runs the engine at Full throttle vs one that did mostly idling?

Other more important factors such as did the cooling inlet ever get plugged up with crud and thus the engine always ran hot? Did the oil ever run dry? Was the wrong gas ever used? The list can go on and on...

So all you can do is try to evaluate the condition as best you can right now. If the owner has "all" of the maintenance records, that will help a lot, but that is rarely available.

 

[Big_Port]

I just bought the same boat this spring. Love it! I don't have the smart craft package and it came with the stock stereo and I paid $8500 for mine. It was very well taken care of, interior is very clean with no rips or tears....so their asking price seems fair. Good Luck!

 

[eggmann]

thanks for all the help :thumbsup: much appreciated

 

[eggmann]

also looking at another 1.. same boat but with a EFI 240 Merc 3L V6 just wondered how these 2 motors compare ? maintenance , reliability and such

 

[henryb]

In theory the OptiMax should be marginally more gas efficient, but in reality they are probably the same!

 

[henryb]

Essentially the main difference is that the EFI mixes the oil and the gas before it gets to the cylinder. An OptiMax send the oil and gas from separate injectors.

So on an EFI, you could disable the oil system and run the oil pre-mixed in the gas tank, if you were concerned that the oil pump was on the verge of failure (a number of people do this).

But you can not do this with an OptiMax, and you must run a specific DFI type oil on Opti's.

The OptiMax should have better fuel mileage and top end power, but they have way more computer parts and harder to diagnose things that go wrong! And the DFI oil is expensive! So there are trade offs!