Looking to get a limited 242, 2010-2017

Ok so the search has begun again in my life. Used to own a seadoo 1800(terrible jetboat), and then had my 2000 Ar210 which was flawless. I am looking to get a limited 242, and i am a little confused on these new 4 strokes. It will be maintained well, im pretty specific with stuff I buy. I guess my question is how many hours are you guys putting on these motors??? I see a few decent deals for 150 to 200 hrs, but not sure if this is a good thing. I am used to 2 stroke ski motors, and 200 hrs is alot. Help me out guys, as I am looking at center consoles too, but I love the simplicity of the jetboats and how they handle.

Check out this thread, it's mixed a bit between the Mr-1 and 1.8's (with a couple rotax) but mostly all 4 cylinder as you requested. 150 to 200 is just getting broken in!

https://jetboaters.net/threads/so-who-has-the-most-hours-on-there-engines.7609/page-3

I guess I have to learn the lingo on mr-1 and 1.8s, I thought all the 2010's and up are the same motor? I also am trying to figure out how these bigger hulls handle going out far, I dive a bit and sometimes gotta go about 3 or 4 miles out to get to a dive site. I could do it on the old ar210, but rough seas were not her cup of tea. How are you guys finding the ride on open seas??

Your correct. All 2010's and up in the 242 are 1.8's. I just referenced the Mr-1 as they were included in that thread. Check out the Bimini threads for open water discussion. I will let others chime in on rough seas discussion as I am land locked in Ohio!

lemans.z20 said:

I guess I have to learn the lingo on mr-1 and 1.8s, I thought all the 2010's and up are the same motor? I also am trying to figure out how these bigger hulls handle going out far, I dive a bit and sometimes gotta go about 3 or 4 miles out to get to a dive site. I could do it on the old ar210, but rough seas were not her cup of tea. How are you guys finding the ride on open seas??

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You would want a 2015+ 240/242 for that for sure. Those will be more pricey as they are newer, but worth consideration. Those new 24' hulls have a full length "keel" and eat waves like NO OTHER jet boat. If you add trim tabs, and we have some good write-ups on Lectrotab custom-240 sets which are FANTASTIC (at about $700 with semi-auto controllers) and you will be running on par with smaller CCs out there. Some guys here regularly run long trips in 5-6' seas in these hulls.
The best value in those are the AR240s. It comes with few things that warrant an immediate upgrade, but all in all a tremendous value. The tower comes in so handy, even if you do not do any water sports. The E-series are awesome with fly-by-wire throttles (but those are not the same systems as in outboards, and they have some electric quirks).

I would not worry about the hours, those Yamaha engines last a long time. I would easily pick a well maintained boat with 200-300 hours on the clock over something that has 30 hours but has been neglected or abused or not taken care off.

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yeah I am thinking of waiting till end of this year to make a move instead and see how the 2015 + prices go. Jet boats seems to be very good, but they drop a ton after new so thats when I will strike. I have a kid on the way, so my biggest concern is trying to figure out where to put him since these boats dont have a cabin. Future father worries I guess lol

The early 1.8's are known to have oil cooler issues. That was supposedly fixed sometime in 2011. The later 1.8's have some issue with the timing belt tensioner. Im not familiar with when that issue started or if/when it was repaired,but you may wanna do some reading about it. Those issues aside, these are great boats and you can get a killer deal on a 2012ish boat with under 100 hours. I mentiom 2012 because i dont think its known to have either of the issues i mentioned above.