[mowtorman]

Something that will run for the 8 weeks a year you want to use it. Beware anything that has sat for several years. For carbureted jetskis sitting around is the kiss of death. Some of the carburetors are very difficult to access, you definitely don't want to be cleaning carbs repeatedly. The Polaris triples are particularly bad with a rack for the carburetors that comes out in one piece. It's not fun getting your forearms greased up on a 95 degree July day bent over a jetski for 2 hours fighting with it. I would say that the triples are more prone to cylinder failure than 2 cylinder models. Old gas needs to be completely purged, stabil in new gas just in case it sits longer than expected before the next use. If the fuel has sat in the bowl for too long it's too late, it will have jelled/separated. Make sure it hasn't been submerged, starters in particular. It is possible you might have to take the engine out to change a starter. Check the CDI boxes, a great place for tons of corrosion and wires falling apart. Even if it hasn't been submerged it's a great place for condensation because of the heat and cold extremes day and night. Compression test always good it might start and run on land and be down a cylinder ready for total failure in the next 30 minutes. The best reason to buy new is that you absolutely know that for at least one summer it will run every time you want to use it. Most of the jetskis on trailers in people's back yards are there several summers because the last time they tried to use it they gave up and parked it.