The spray of the water on your face and the rush of zooming across the open water on your jet ski are appealing. However, before you buy the watercraft that will bring you this freedom, it's good to know that the price you pay won't penalize your wallet. For years, consumers have relied on the Kelley Blue Book pricing guide to provide accurate estimations of the value of used vehicles. Now you can use it to price your jet ski, too.
Amass information about the jet ski you are investigating. Of primary importance are the make, model and year of the personal watercraft. To further narrow your search, it's also helpful to know the cylinder volume of the engine.
Decide if you are looking to determine the retail or trade-in value of the jet ski. They differ in that the retail value is the price a dealer will ask for a used watercraft, while the trade-in value is a guideline of how much your jet ski is worth as a trade-in unit.
Visit the home page of Kelley Blue Book online and peruse the page for the box headed "Motorcycle Values" (see Resources below). The box includes pictures and links for pricing motorcycles, personal watercraft and snowmobiles.
Select the "Personal Watercraft" link or click on the picture of the jet ski. Choose the trade-in or retail value option on the next screen.
Click on the year in which the jet ski was manufactured.
Select the make (or manufacturer's name) from the provided list or choose the "Search Here by Model Name" option. This link will lead to another browser window listing all of the possible models. They are accompanied by the manufacturers and a guide of the years in which that particular watercraft was made.
Choose the correct model on the next page. All of the models produced by the manufacturer that year will be listed. Models are also identified by the cylinder volumes.
View a summary of the jet ski's features on the next screen. The trade-in or retail value of the unit will also be provided on this screen. As noted in the accompanying paragraph, the price is determined under the assumption that the watercraft is in good to excellent condition and doesn't make allowances for additional equipment or the hours logged on the machine.
See the additional equipment retail value by using the "Additional Equipment" link. This shows how much value each optional piece of equipment adds to your jet ski. The added value varies depending on the type of equipment and the year of the jet ski.
