What is considered high hours for a jet boat?

[mat5182]

I apologize ahead of time if this has been covered but i didnt see it in other searches. I'm new to boating and trying to understand what is considered high mileage for a jet boat. Some general googling has lead me to believe that 50 hours is considered low and anything over 150 is considered high? is that accurate? I'm on a limited budget and looking at speedsters or sportsters. Would still like to find something reliable though. And would like to better understand how to spot a good deal. Any help is appreciated.
Thanks.

 

[cycleguy88]

50 hours is about 1 summer. I would say that anything over 200 hours will need some work, but that's still not high. 500 is high.

 

[pudder]

I think an hour meter other then for preventative maintenance to some extent is dumb... how many hours are on Joe blows 1999 challenger? Nobody knows and nobody cares. It may have a 1000 hours on it but as long as it looks nice and runs well he is going to get 7000.00 for it. What am I going to get for a 2007 speedster when its 13 years old and the hour meter says 1000 hrs... This is a debatable subject and maintenance records do go along way but you have to admit, the number that gets displayed on newer models does keep away some buyers regardless of maintenance.

 

[RFoster130]

The amount of hours can vary a lot. I bought my boat when it was 10 years old with only 85 hours on it. Now 4 years later its only got about 100 on it. Im lucky to take it out 3 or 4 times a year. I know other guys on here who put 100 on in a single season.
Overall though, I agree with Pudder. Most the older boats have no hour meter and people pay good money for them all the time just because they look good. The newer boats could look just as clean or better and someone would shy away because it has high hours. Best thing to do is just make sure to do a water test and really check the boat out good. Ask the previous owner lots of questions. Ask about maintenance, ask for any receipts. Do a compression test on the engines. Doing your homework here ahead of time may prevent you form buying a POS. We see a lot of new people come on just because they just bought their first boat blindly with no guidance. Suddenly they find out its a pile of junk. A little time here can prevent that most of the time.

First thing to do is set a budget, then try to find the best thing you can for your price. ITs a good time to buy now till next spring prices will drop.

 

[Dr Honda]

Yep... what he said. I bought a 96 XP with only 45 hrs on it... but it needed all the same work when I got it, as if it had 300 hrs. Also... I bought a 2001 Polaris Genesis with only 75 hrs on it... and it didn't run.

With a sport boat... time it almost irrelevant. But... with that said... if you find a boat that is showing 500 Hrs, and has never been rebuilt... it's going to be due, and the price should reflect that.