Yamaha vs Sea-Doo Reliability: Is Sea-Doo Better Than Yamaha?

The Yamaha vs Sea-Doo competition is probably one of the biggest arguments among personalwater craft (PWC) enthusiasts. You can see this debate flare up again and again on the online forums and on the water as well.

But where does this conflict come from? And why are these two brands are the most popular on the market? And finally…which is the better brand, Yamaha or Sea-Doo?

To find the answers, we at JetDrift have gathered into this post the most important facts and information about these brands, as well as their newest models!

If you want to discover and compare the current models, don’t hesitate to check our Yamaha vs. Sea-Doo vs. Kawasaki comparison tool!

Yamaha vs. Sea-Doo Competiton

When you look at the PWC market, you can currently find 4 manufacturers:

• Sea-Doo
• Yamaha
• Kawasaki
• Krash

Although there are 4 manufacturers on the market, Sea-Doo and Yamaha still sell the majority of the personal watercrafts in the US. According to yearly SSI reports, Sea-Doo usually has around 55% of the market share, while Yamaha is the second with around 40% share.

Krash Industries is a new competitor on the market as they’ve just started to offer their PWCs in the US, but their models are available at several dealerships nationwide!

When it comes to Kawasaki, this company is well known for its “Jet Ski” brand name, and many beginners think (wrongly) that this company offers only stand-up watercrafts. In fact, Kawasaki offers a wide range of sit-down watercraft too, but in spite of this, it has only a small (5-6%) market share in the US.

Kawasaki’s low market share is interesting, knowing that there was a time when it was the only manufacturer on the PWC market, until 1986. In that year, Yamaha introduced their first WaveRunner,the 500T. Two years later, in 1988, Sea-Doo re-entered the PWC market, and the Yamaha vs. Sea-Doo competition began.

Over the years, new manufacturers appeared and disappeared, but these three main manufacturers are still here and dominate the industry. If you’re interested what the competition was in the past, don’t hesitate to take a short look at this chart:

Started	Ended	Brand name	Manufacturer
1968	-	Sea-Doo	Bombardier (BRP)
1972	-	Jet Ski	Kawasaki
1978	1992	WetBike	Arctic Cat
1985	1993	Wet Jet	Koronis Part Inc. (Sold to MasterCraft)
1986	-	WaveRunner	Yamaha
1992	2004	SeaLion	Polaris
1993	1999	Tigershark	Arctic Cat
1994	1997	Wet Jet	MasterCraft
2002	2009	AquaTrax	Honda
2004	2006	Hydrospace	Hydrospace (sold to Benelli)
2006	-	Burrasca	Belassi
2008	-	Krash	Krash Industries
2018	-	Narke Electrojet	Narke
2018	-	Orca	Taiga

Honda’s watercraft, the AquaTrax, is still a well-known name on the second-hand market. Despite their age, you can still see many of them in good condition. Beyond Honda, the Polaris SeaLions and the Tighershark PWCs were also popular models in the 1990s.

Now, after this brief look at history, let’s go back to our Sea-Doo vs. Yamaha comparisons. We’ll take a deeper look into these two manufacturers and some important factors that you have to pay attention to while choosing your new watercraft.

Beyond these, you can compare the prices of the current models in one chart!

Yamaha vs. Sea-Doo Performance and Prices 2024

When it comes to purchasing a watercraft, many buyers wonder which brand to buy, Yamaha or Sea-Doo.

Many customers start their research with the prices, and for good reason. New PWC prices are rising every year and vary wildly from $6k to $21k, depending on the model.

To make your buying process easier, we’ve gathered all of the available new PWC models with their prices into this chart. You can sort the rows by clicking on the header, and if you want to learn more about each model, don’t hesitate to click on their names.

You can find specs, pictures, videos, and comparisons in the links!

Brand	Model	MSRP ($)	HP	Top Speed (mph)
Sea-Doo	Spark 60 for 2	6 999	60	42
Yamaha	EX	7 799	100	50
Sea-Doo	Spark 90 for 3	8 299	90	50
Sea-Doo	Spark 90 for 2	8 399	90	50
Sea-Doo	Spark Trixx for 1	9 099	90	50
Yamaha	EX Sport	9 099	100	50
Sea-Doo	Spark Trixx for 3	9 699	90	50
Yamaha	EX Deluxe	10 199	100	50
Yamaha	VX-C	10 199	125	53
Yamaha	Superjet	10 699	100	54
Yamaha	EX Limited	10 799	100	50
Yamaha	JetBlaster	10 899	110	54
Yamaha	VX	11 399	125	53
Sea-Doo	GTI 130	11 499	130	52
Kawasaki	STX 160	11 999	160	62
Kawasaki	SX-R 160	11 999	160	62
Sea-Doo	GTI SE 130	12 299	130	52
Yamaha	VX Deluxe	12 399	125	53
Kawasaki	STX 160X	12 599	160	62
Yamaha	VX Cruiser	12 799	125	53
Sea-Doo	GTI SE 170	12 899	170	55
Krash	Footrocket	13 199	145	NA
Krash	Reaper	13 199	145	NA
Krash	Pred-RR	13 199	145	NA
Yamaha	VX Cruiser HO	13 599	200	65
Yamaha	VX Limited	13 999	125	53
Sea-Doo	Wake 170	14 099	170	55
Sea-Doo	GTR 230	14 099	230	67
Kawasaki	STX 160LX	14 299	160	62
Yamaha	GP HO	14 499	200	65
Sea-Doo	Fish Pro Scout 130	15 099	130	52
Sea-Doo	GTX 170	15 199	170	58
Yamaha	VX Limited HO	15 299	200	65
Yamaha	FX HO	15 699	200	65
Sea-Doo	GTX 230	16 199	230	67
Yamaha	GP SVHO	16 799	250	67
Sea-Doo	GTR-X 300	16 999	300	67
Yamaha	FX Cruiser HO	16 999	200	65
Kawasaki	ULTRA 160LX-S	17 199	160	52
Sea-Doo	Fish Pro Sport 170	17 399	170	55
Krash	Footrocket Pro	17 499	145	NA
Sea-Doo	GTX 300	17 899	300	67
Kawasaki	ULTRA 160LX	18 199	160	52
Sea-Doo	Wake Pro 230	18 399	230	67
Sea-Doo	Explorer Pro 170	18 899	170	55
Sea-Doo	RXP-X 325	19 199	325	67
Kawasaki	ULTRA 310X	19 199	310	67
Yamaha	FX SVHO	19 299	250	67
Sea-Doo	GTX Limited 300	19 699	300	67
Yamaha	FX Cruiser SVHO	19 799	250	67
Sea-Doo	Explorer Pro 230	19 899	230	67
Sea-Doo	RXT-X 325	19 999	325	67
Kawasaki	ULTRA 310LX-S	20 199	310	67
Yamaha	FX Limited SVHO	20 399	250	67
Sea-Doo	Fish Pro Trophy 170	20 499	170	55
Kawasaki	ULTRA 310LX	21 199	310	67

When it comes to PWC prices, it’s a rule of thumb that the pricing always depends on the performance. The higher horsepower always means higher purchase prices–and more maintenance costs too.The supercharged PWCs can especially put a lot of financial burden on you. These models burn much more fuel and need more maintenance as the supercharger needs rebuilding regularly.Always keep these factors in mind before you select your model!

When considering performance, Sea-Doo offers models from 60 HP to 325 HP, while Yahama’s WaveRunners are powered with 100 HP to 250 HP engines.

If you compare the models in each category (Rec-Lite, Recreation, Luxury, Performance) one-by-one, you can see that there are only slight differences in the horsepower numbers within each category.

This means that competing models from different manufacturers offer more or less the same performance. It’s especially true in the case of the fastest models, as their performances are artificially limited with a speed controller unit.

Because of this, all of the flagship models can reach 67 mph top speed!

Brand	HP	SC	Displa- cement	2T/4T	Cooling
Yahama	100	No	1049	4T	Open
Sea-Doo	60, 90	No	899	4T	Closed
Krash	145	No	1162	2T	Open
Yahama	100, 110, 125	No	1049	4T	Open
Kawasaki	160	No	1498	4T	Open
Kawasaki	310	Yes	1498	4T	Open
Sea-Doo	130, 170	No	1630	4T	Closed
Sea-Doo	230, 300	Yes	1630	4T	Closed
Yahama	200	No	1898	4T	Open
Yahama	250	Yes	1812	4T	Open
Sea-Doo	325	Yes	1630	4T	Closed

Yamaha vs. Sea-Doo Reliability

When it comes to the Yamaha vs. Sea-Doo argument, the core of the debate is usually reliability.

If you search across PWC forums and FB groups, you can see many feuds heated by reliability factors. When you read these comments, keep in mind that there are a lot of brand-minded PWC enthusiasts who are completely fanatical and not worth arguing with.

You can read in some places that Sea-Doos are not considered to be as durable as Waverunners, while others claim that Yamahas have outdated hulls and technology.

If you’re new to PWCs you might ask: “How reliable are Sea-Doos?” and “Are WaveRunners innovative or outdated?”As there are no clear answers to these questions, we’ve collected some solid facts about the brands, and will let you make your decision based on them!

Sea-Doo Reliability

The Sea-Doo brand belongs to the Canadian BRP founded in 1942. The company is a well-known name in the world of motorsports, offering snowmobiles, trikes, and many different off-road vehicles for decades. So we can say they have considerable experience in manufacturing recreational vehicles.

Sea-Doo is currently the leading brand on the PWC market with the largest market share, and compared to other manufacturers, this company has the biggest segment of returning customers!

This Canadian company also is known for its continuous and inspiring innovation. Sea-Doo invented the first brake and reverse system (iBR) for PWCs. They use only closed-loop cooling, a Polytec hull, and they recently released the unique LinQ linkage system. The list of innovations is endless.

Last but not least, it’s a lesser-known fact that Sea-Doo was the first company in the world to produce personal watercraft. (Kawasaki was just the second brand on the PWC market!)

Taking all of these facts into account, it would be difficult to say that the Sea-Doos are not reliable! It also has to be mentioned that reliability always requires accurate and continuous maintenance.

According to Watercraft Journal, if a Sea-Doo gets the necessary care and attention, it will be as reliable as any other models on the market.

Discover 2024 Sea-Doo Models

Model	MSRP (USD)	HP	Top Speed (mph)
Spark 60 for 2	$6,999	60	42
Spark 90 for 3	$8,299	90	50
Spark 90 for 2	$8,399	90	50
Spark Trixx for 1	$9,099	90	50
Spark Trixx for 3	$9,699	90	50
GTI 130	$11,499	130	52
GTI SE 130	$12,299	130	52
GTI SE 170	$12,899	170	55
Wake 170	$14,099	170	55
GTR 230	$14,099	230	67
Fish Pro Scout 130	$15,099	130	52
GTX 170	$15,199	170	58
GTX 230	$16,199	230	67
GTR-X 300	$16,999	300	67
Fish Pro Sport 170	$17,399	170	55
GTX 300	$17,899	300	67
Wake Pro 230	$18,399	230	67
Explorer Pro 170	$18,899	170	55
RXP-X 325	$19,199	325	67
GTX Limited 300	$19,699	300	67
Explorer Pro 230	$19,899	230	67
RXT-X 325	$19,999	325	67
Fish Pro Trophy 170	$20,499	170	55

Yamaha WaveRunner Reliability

Yamaha is also a reputable recreational vehicle and vessel manufacturer. Beyond PWCs, they also offer boat and outboard engines too. Their Waverunners are legendary for their high quality and durability!

They’ve offered their PWCs since 1986, introducing more models over the years. Although this company is also making significant innovations, there are some fields where they say: “If something works, don’t change it!”That’s why they still use the open-loop cooling system, which is still the standard and most commonly used system in the marine industry. When it comes to safety features like brake and reverse (RiDE), you can find these units in every higher class WaveRunner.

Additionally, it’s a well-known fact that the majority of the PWC rental services use Yamaha WaveRunners. In fact, the non-supercharged Yamaha VX is one of the most common models in many rental shops. This is due to several reasons, like good price/value ratio, economical operation, and fewer maintenance needs.

Also, it needs to be mentioned that beyond Yamaha, you can find Sea-Doo models as well in several rental shops nationwide.

On the other hand, keep in mind that what’s good for a rental company may not be good for you! Rentals choose their PWCs mainly on a budget basis, and an individual user may have completely different considerations.

Summing up the above, it seems there’s s no doubt about the Yamaha Waverunner’s reliability. Almost every second PWC buyer, as well as the majority of rental services choose Yamaha WaveRunners, year after year.

So many people can’t be wrong!

Discover 2024 WaveRunner Models

Brand	Model	MSRP ($)	HP	Top Speed (mph)
Yamaha	EX	7 799	100	50
Yamaha	EX Sport	9 099	100	50
Yamaha	EX Deluxe	10 199	100	50
Yamaha	VX-C	10 199	125	53
Yamaha	Superjet	10 699	100	54
Yamaha	EX Limited	10 799	100	50
Yamaha	JetBlaster	10 899	110	54
Yamaha	VX	11 399	125	53
Yamaha	VX Deluxe	12 399	125	53
Yamaha	VX Cruiser	12 799	125	53
Yamaha	VX Cruiser HO	13 599	200	65
Yamaha	VX Limited	13 999	125	53
Yamaha	GP HO	14 499	200	65
Yamaha	VX Limited HO	15 299	200	65
Yamaha	FX HO	15 699	200	65
Yamaha	GP SVHO	16 799	250	67
Yamaha	FX Cruiser HO	16 999	200	65
Yamaha	FX SVHO	19 299	250	67
Yamaha	FX Cruiser SVHO	19 799	250	67
Yamaha	FX Limited SVHO	20 399	250	67

Other Factors to Consider

Design and Colors

Are you wondering which brand offers better designs, Yamaha or Sea-Doo? Let’s face it; good design is subjective and depends on personal taste.

Sea-Doo is well known for innovative, futuristic hulls which seem to attract many customers.

They aren’t afraid to use really extreme lines and color sets, which may sometimes shock the market, but in this way, their models stand out from the crowd!

Yamaha Waverunners are recognizable for their slightly more conservative design. Some haters say that these designs are outdated, but it depends again on individual taste.

Their hulls come with more general colors and clean lines, which gives these models a popular “evergreen” design.

Features

When it comes to the features, it would be a challenge to list all of them. Both manufacturers offer tons of accessories and features like brake and reverse systems, speakers, covers, trailers, extra storage facilities, reboarding steps, and countless others you may need on the water.

This means you can customize your PWC to a very high degree based on your needs.

You can build your own model virtually on each manufacturers’ website, so don’t hesitate to check the available features at the Sea-Doo and Yamaha Waverunner official websites.

Watersport and Fishing

When it comes to wakeboarding and PWC fishing, it’s good to know that Sea-Doo offers specially designed and equipped models for these purposes, namely the Sea-Doo Wake series as well as the Sea-Doo Fish Pro. These models offer turn-key solutions if you need a PWC for special purposes.

We also have to mention that larger Waverunners are also a popular choice for towing and fishing purposes. However, you’ll need some extra effort to upgrade them with the necessary equipment.

Do You Need a Stand Up?

If you’re looking for a stand-up watercraft, and hesitate between Yamaha and Sea-Doo brands, it seems the Yamaha Superjet could be your only choice.

Unfortunately, Sea-Doo doesn’t offer stand ups. In the past, they offered a “half” stand-up PWC, the convertible Sea-Doo 3D, but this model was cancelled many years ago.

If you’re open to other brands, you can consider a Krash freestyle PWC or a Kawasaki SX-R Jet Ski; however these models arrive with a more hefty price tags.

Availability

Before you make your final decision, don’t forget to consider the factor of availability. It’s always wise to choose a local dealer for several reasons.

However, while many dealerships offer delivery services to other states, it’s always best if you get the yearly maintenance as well as services in the same shop where you purchased your craft.

Because of this, first try to locate the dealerships in your area as it could be a hassle if you have to trailer your PWC too far each time it needs a professional’s attention.

Building a long-term relationship with a local dealership offers many benefits in the long run, even if their prices are slightly higher. Time is money as well!

So first, do your research to find out which dealerships are in your area, Yamaha or Sea-Doo?

If you’re lucky, you can find a shop which offers both brands under one roof. At these places, you can compare the models side-by-side, and you can also get some valuable answers for your servicing and maintenance questions.

Is Sea-Doo Better Than Yamaha?

So finally, is Sea-Doo better than Yamaha?

As you can guess, Sea-Doo fans swear that Sea-Doo is better than Yamaha, while WaveRunner owners claim that exactly the opposite is the truth. But let’s be realistic. Brand loyalty is extremely high among PWC owners, so most likely, there’s no clear ranking here!

However, there are many clues and facts out there about the reliability of both brands.

First, as you already know, Sea-Doo is still the market leader of the PWC industry, owning the biggest segment of returning buyers.

But it’s a well-known fact that supercharged Sea-Doos require more attention, as their supercharger and carbon seal has to be inspected and serviced more frequently.

Many consider Sea-Doos to be like high-end German cars. They come with a wide range of unique features, cool designs, and similarly, offer outstanding performance. On the other hand, some of their specific parts require more attention and maintenance.

Speaking of Yamaha, Waverunners are famous for their durability and lower maintenance needs. This is why the majority of PWC rentals (as well as nearly half of individual buyers) choose WaveRunners over Sea-Doos.

So finally, which is the best brand: Yamaha or Sea-Doo? It seems there is no exact answer to this question, since there are pros and cons on both sides, no doubt about that!

The final decision is always based on personal preference. If you haven’t purchased one yet, it’s highly recommended you do your research.If you’re looking for something reliable, you can’t go wrong with a non-supercharged PWC from any of the top manufacturers!

If you’ve selected your model, it’s also wise to do further research on forums and FB groups or Youtube. Some models have typical issues, and you can avoid these problems in advance with careful selection.

Beyond making the wisest choice, don’t forget about proper maintenance, as overlooked or poorly managed services can lead to several malfunctions, major damage, and less reliability.

Every owner’s manual clearly defines service intervals; always follow them. This applies to all models independently of the brand!

This was our short Yamaha vs. Sea-Doo Reliability comparison; we hope you found it useful!