Most reliable?

[u/Successful-Egg5196]

Is there a jetski that is just “the” ski. One that is known for the most reliability, least problems, easiest to fix if anything happens. Or are they all breaking every 5 rides?

Are bigger jetskis better than smaller ones. Is there anyone that if I don’t dog, do maintenance it will run or are they all problems?

[u/free_world33]

Now a days all 3 manufactures make reliable skis if they are maintained correctly. Traditionally Yamaha has been seen as the most reliable, which is why rental companies usually have Yamahas and nothing else.

[u/Successful-Egg5196 → u/free_world33]

What about newer vs old?

[u/free_world33 → u/Successful-Egg5196]

Newer. I wouldnt go anywhere near a 2 stroke now a days.

[u/RZR-800 → u/free_world33]

WHAT? The 90's Yamaha 2 strokes are legendary. Especially the 760's and 1100's. Also very easy and cheap to rebuild. Parts are still very accessible. At the shop I work at our lead mechanic travels all over the country to find these and he flips them. You can do whole rebuild for around $500 in parts, sometimes less depending on if it only needs pistons and rings. He won't touch a seadoo 2 stroke though only Yamaha.

[u/free_world33 → u/RZR-800]

They are but I wouldn't recommend them for most people.

[u/slimytoilet → u/RZR-800]

Is that mechanic anywhere near souther pa, because I have a Yamaha 1100 sitting in my in-laws driveway on a trailer that needs to go

[u/Comfortable-Let9618 → u/RZR-800]

2 stroke yami engines are good for 300 to 500 hours if well maintained. 4 strokes will doubke that of well.maintained

[u/__slamallama__ → u/RZR-800]

You realize they asked about something reliable and you spent a whole post talking about how easy they are to rebuild? That would indicate they require regular rebuilds

[u/RedditAppSuxAsss → u/__slamallama__]

There's a reason why you still see 30 year old two strokes everywhere on the water and hardy any 15 year old four strokes

[u/alkalinev]

My 17 year old Kawasaki STX-15F (that still feels "new" after all these years) hasn't needed a single repair. Zero.

[u/fredSanford6 → u/alkalinev]

I'd be making sure that pump is good still before it craters and shoves the crankshaft forward destroying the engine. The retrofit parts and just rebuilding the pump is probably good maintenance at this point

[u/Comfortable-Let9618 → u/alkalinev]

Loved mine till an idiot i let ride it sunk it

[u/scubas1973]

Yamaha VX110

[u/Skirra08]

A lot of people are saying Yamaha and as far as engines go that's broadly true. But if you're going to beach it (which you shouldn't anyway) stay away from the newer ones as they use automotive paint instead of gelcoat.

[u/scubas1973 → u/Skirra08]

Yamaha PWC have never been gelcoat. Although, the hull material changed for the worse imo.

[u/martman006]

Anything with a Yamaha 1.8L HO is one bulletproof engine.

The HO or high output is just a standard naturally aspirated engine, the Yamaha 1.8L SVHO or super vortex high output, is the supercharged version and hella reliable for what it is, but takes premium gas only and will require a new supercharger clutch every 50 up to 250 hours)

[u/jj119crf]

The Yamaha gp1300's are still great, if you can find a reasonably low hour one. But even then, the engines are super easy and cheap to rebuild. That said, most skis are reliable if the minimum amount of preventative maintenance is done and they haven't ingested water before. That's where the two strokes were so much better- dealing with water ingestion. Supercharged skis are far less reliable than any of the other categories; simply bc they are race machines and have to be maintained as you would a race car or bike. It's not a quality issue, just a lack of understanding by customers with respect to the needs of the machine.

[u/Successful-Egg5196 → u/jj119crf]

What causes water ingestion? Doing tricks and shit and getting water in the air intake?

[u/Comfortable-Let9618 → u/Successful-Egg5196]

Improperly flushing the skis or it takes on water in the hull and yiu try cranking it

[u/Ok_Mastodon_97]

You’re going to get allot of answers. All skis take work and break doesn’t matter the brand. If you want something reliable get a bone stock rental type machine. Every option a ski has from gages to reverse to high hp engines all adds problems. The simplest basic ski you can find will be the most reliable. Stay away from tigerjets,or Polaris. Think seadoo yamaha Kawasaki Honda. Mostly in that order without considering years.

[u/jmsgen]

Jet ski and reliable in the same sentence ? For longevity, You better be able to turn a wrench.

[u/SimilarComfortable69]

Anything in the last 10 years from the top three will probably suit you just fine. It's going to come down to a combination of number of hours, cost, and condition.

[u/tidder8]

If anything is going to be a problem it's usually related to the supercharger on supercharged models. Otherwise the "big three" PWCs are pretty solid and reliable.

[u/BigMacBonquisha]

I have a couple spark trixx that I bought in 2020 and have put about 150 hours each on and only had to do the wear ring and oil changes on them

[u/Klutzy_Newt3873]

I second on the above commenter for the yamaha vx110. I own a pair of 2006 vx110s and havent had a single issue so far. They dont even look like 20 yr old skis but have only seen fresh water and I keep them covered. Regular maintenance of just plugs and oil changes keep these machines damn near bulletproof as far as reliability goes.

[u/Gl3g]

I didn’t have a great experience with a non-running Yamaha Waverunner I bought. I bought it from a casual friend with a trailer for 600 dollars. I had planned on buying a rebuilt engine that came with a guarantee. It turned out a rod went through the cylinder and I didn’t have a “core” to qualify for that engine. I did learn that they are incredibly difficult to work on. I’m amazed no one’s had bad luck with them. It was probably about a 2005 model or older. I sold it for about what I had in it. I was told the carburetors may have been out of adjustment being what caused the rod breaking.

[u/CG_Photo]

Properly maintained and used 2 strokes or naturally aspirated 4 strokes.

Most broken skis are due to lack of maintenance, impropper use, or sitting for months without use.

[u/xspook_reddit → u/[deleted]]

"There was some black asshole here by me"

Nice. Maybe change your reddit name to r4cist420?

[u/jetski-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Be civil means no profanity and no generalizing an entire community of being a nuisance to you.

You're more than welcome to make a new post that follows the rules while expressing a concern that you have.

[u/Slowstang305]

The Yamaha FX HO/HO Cruiser