1st time Jet boat questions.

[2kwik4u]

Yamaha's finance rates on new boats are great. And they usually have some form of promo for free extended warranty.

Take this with a grain of salt. I personally consider Yamaha's heavy advertising of great interest rates to be significantly misleading.

I have what most consider to be excellent credit and did not qualify for the promotional rate. Credit score was a 795 and was told I had "second tier credit" and was not eligible for the 2.99% offer from Yamaha finance. 795 gets me a premium rate everywhere else in the world.

Also, Yamaha's finance is not through them, but through synchrony bank. Not a terrible place to deal with, but something you should know going in.

I ended up taking the Synchrony bank financing at 7.99% to get the deal done on a Saturday, then immediately refinanced with my credit union for 4.49% the next week.

Just some food for thought.

 

[haknslash]

Also keep in mind with Yamaha financing you don't have to come up with 10-20% down if you qualify. Any other lender is going to want at a minimum 10% down.

 

[J-RAD]

Take this with a grain of salt. I personally consider Yamaha's heavy advertising of great interest rates to be significantly misleading.

I have what most consider to be excellent credit and did not qualify for the promotional rate. Credit score was a 795 and was told I had "second tier credit" and was not eligible for the 2.99% offer from Yamaha finance. 795 gets me a premium rate everywhere else in the world.

Also, Yamaha's finance is not through them, but through synchrony bank. Not a terrible place to deal with, but something you should know going in.

I ended up taking the Synchrony bank financing at 7.99% to get the deal done on a Saturday, then immediately refinanced with my credit union for 4.49% the next week.

Just some food for thought.

That's CRAZY! 795 is a great score... I don't think mine was that high at the time, but my cosigner had a great score... seems odd to me.

 

[Adrian @ JB Solutions]

I got approved with a 740ish.... something was weird going on there. I even asked before hand and they told me a 730 was required.

Wonder if the dealer was trying to sneak 5% on you.

 

[BRWC]

Do you like/enjoy working on your own toys? If you do, I would highly suggest you consider purchasing used, as you get a huge price break, and if you ever need service you can choose from many options, including yourself, while on a new boat, only the dealer can service you, as you have prepaid for the work. A boat is a fantastic investment in your family time, as long as you use it often! and the more you use it, the better it works.

With a great advantage of fitting in garage, the 19ft has an head start in the race. Do make sure to see it in person and try to seat everyone you would normally have over, and make sure you can live with the room. If you can, it will be slam dunk vs outside storage. (Nobody ever wished they got less power..when deciding between models, and two engines ensures 99% of the time, at least one can bring you home. just don't run out of fuel.) I had an 18ft for many years and it was very tight for 8 passengers, but we enjoyed it greatly. (and rarely took 8 people out at a time)

I had the same set of reasons/options/decisions. Went with the Yamaha based on proven reliability of the engine, clean out ports on the jets, and interior space.

I have a family of 3 (will be four in 23 days!) and we regularly have another family of 4 with us. It's snug, but not cramped, and with little kids they count in numbers, but don't take up much space. 8 adults is tight, 4 adults and 4 kids is roomy. Plenty of power on tap with a full load of people/gear/coolers/etc to still pull a slalom skier out of a deep water start, or swing the kids around on a tube. Thinking about how we use ours, it has worked out exceptionally well for us. There is a great use case for the larger boats, but the smaller one works for us, and the space is plenty. It's easy to purchase, easy to tow, easy to operate, and easy to store.

If you want a little more "zip" in your water ride, a few more bells and whistles, and are willing to buy used......an AR195, or AR192 is the same hull and dimensions on a trailer, but has a bit more of everything (including fuel usage). You can find them gently used for $30k or so. We got the 190 over the 195 based on fuel usage and colors, and we wanted a new boat instead of a used one. It fit the budget, the space, and the appropriately level of "needs vs wants".

In other thoughts, and an attempt to be thorough, I have not sat in the Glastron ever. I sat in the Scarab 195 at the boat show this year. It "felt" much smaller than my AR190. I sat in a WT-1 as well, that thing is just too "goofy" in terms of layout for my taste. Keep in mind winterization of the boats as well. To winterize my AR190, all i did was rev the engines a few times, and toss it in the garage. Done. The WT-1 will require significant winterization with all those ballast tanks, and I'm unsure what the other ones take. The single engine Yamaha is really SUPER easy to maintain IMO. With a pleasure time use case, I want to spend as little of that precious time as possible working on the boat, and as much as possible playing with it.

This sounds like you are in exactly the same situation I am dealing with. The supercharger rebuild was my only real concern for doing the 190 over the 195. I had read articles (I think it was on boats.com) that said supercharger rebuilds were a recommended annual thing at around 500$ and the extra maintenance cost was not worth the extra power when 90% of the time I will be slow towing a tube with a 7 year old or 13 year old or parked in an inlet throwing a Super spook to shore. I currently Kayak fish off of a Hobie PA14 and will likely continue to do that when I am riding solo because I love to fish the rivers over the lakes. So most use will be keeping the Gingers under the Bimini and the kids in the drink getting towed around. Lots of good information so far. Thanks.

 

[haknslash]

There are no "200 hour rebuilds" for the Yamaha Supercharger like there are with the Rotax. I think that was due to their washers or something. Plenty of Yamaha skis with more hours than that on greenhulk. There are mods you can do to prolong the clutch and life but for the most part they are fairly bulletproof. Keep in mind the boats and superchargers do not see anywhere near the same level of hard use and abuse as a jet ski. The biggest stress for a suoercharger is when the ski comes out of the water WOT or shuts off the throttle hard all the time after running WOT.

 

[BRWC]

I was in your situation 18 months ago, but then I found used 240 for the same price as sx190. Given the boat had less than 27 hours we put the deposit immediately.
Knowing what I know now the only reason why I would have boat a 190 again is for storage. The HOAs in Frisco are real nazis and I had to go to great length to be able to keep the boat a the house instead of storage.

PS if you decide to go with used option there will be plenty of boats available. Ie I know there is 2010 212 x coming on the market for probably $25 or less.

PS I will be going to Lake Ray Roberts to burn the fuel from last September, want to come along and test drive a 240 ? The family is welcome too.

PS would you ever consider a bimini visit ? If so you need to factor that in the desision.

I am never one to turn down a visit to the lake. I reside south of you in Midlothian (throw a good school in a cow pasture and watch it grow to a city overnight) sounds like we are likely dealing with the same Dealers right off 35 in the N. Dallas area. I have not been to Ray Roberts (Would love to though) as I frequent Joe pool and Lake Arlington (When I lived there). Would like to do a test ride at some point if you are going out. I will be in Tampa, Fl Monday through Friday next week and hopefully buying a boat weekend after. Message me in Chat if you want to discuss meeting up.

 

[Betik]

will drop you in IM

 

[GoVols01]

If you'd consider an I/O, check out the Regal 1900 boats. They come very nicely appointed at $30K and now offer a wake surfing version. We really liked ours, but needed a larger boat, which got us to where we are now.

 

[J-RAD]

Current promotion from Yamaha/Synchrony
https://www.yamahaboats.com/offers/

 

[buckbuck]

Another vote that suggests you consider a used Yamaha 21 or 23 footer.

 

[octavio3311]

How often have you had to use them? Not a lot of vegetation in my most frequented lake.

Let’s put it this way.
It is best to have it and never need it than to need it and not have it.
That said - anything can get sucked up, vegetation, a rope, a stick - anything.

 

[SCP1]

I did see that the Yamaha was the only one offering that option. How often have you had to use them? Not a lot of vegetation in my most frequented lake.

I am liking the 19ft options as with the swing away tongue they will fit in my garage.

Sounds familiar, that’s why I didn’t go bigger.

 

[SCP1]

I did see that the Yamaha was the only one offering that option. How often have you had to use them? Not a lot of vegetation in my most frequented lake.

It all depends where you boat, but I seem to do it at least once a year.

 

[druppert]

Fitting into my garage was a MUST for me as storing outside or in a climate controlled facility would cost several hundred per month in wear & tear or rent. Also, if you’re not boating with a large family & not hosting parties onboard a large boat just means more to clean & maintain. 2x as many spark plugs, oil changes, etc... I love the small manageable package of my 195. I do wish it was a bit smoother in less than perfect water conditions but that’s the only downside for me. Bigger is only better if you have a genuine need for it IMO.

 

[BRWC]

Fitting into my garage was a MUST for me as storing outside or in a climate controlled facility would cost several hundred per month in wear & tear or rent. Also, if you’re not boating with a large family & not hosting parties onboard a large boat just means more to clean & maintain. 2x as many spark plugs, oil changes, etc... I love the small manageable package of my 195. I do wish it was a bit smoother in less than perfect water conditions but that’s the only downside for me. Bigger is only better if you have a genuine need for it IMO.

Kind of my feeling on it as well since a lot of the time it is going to just be me and the kids. Keep it warm over there in Florida I will be in Tampa Monday and looking to get out on the water and do some fishing.

 

[njmr2fan]

We absolutely love our 190. When it goes out its fully loaded. 4 kids, 4 adults, sun tents, chairs, coolers, we bring it all. We've never had power issues. Sure, fully loaded with all that we only go 36mph across the lake, but that feels plenty fast with everyone on board and much faster, I think the kids and ladies would freak out. We pull tubes, we wakeboard and really enjoy how easy it is to maintain. I can fill it once a month at Costco and have some left in reserve after boating every weekend, So we really like how cheap it is to run as well.

 

[BRWC]

We absolutely love our 190. When it goes out its fully loaded. 4 kids, 4 adults, sun tents, chairs, coolers, we bring it all. We've never had power issues. Sure, fully loaded with all that we only go 36mph across the lake, but that feels plenty fast with everyone on board and much faster, I think the kids and ladies would freak out. We pull tubes, we wakeboard and really enjoy how easy it is to maintain. I can fill it once a month at Costco and have some left in reserve after boating every weekend, So we really like how cheap it is to run as well.

So the best I can tell is people all like different models but it seems everyone is pro Yamaha over the Rotax powered boats.
Sounds like my kind of day. keeping it easy!

 

[njmr2fan]

I like the old Seadoo's, almost bought one. Once I saw, sat in, and then found a deal on a AR190, I was sold. I like how easy the Yamaha engines are to service as well as their reputation for reliability. Ive owned many Yamaha dirtbikes with zero issues so that pushed me as well.

 

[Adrian @ JB Solutions]

I had a Rotax 900 ACE in my jetski. Great motor - great fuel consumption - low maintenance. If they offer that in one of the boats you are looking at it - I don't think you could go wrong with it, only downside is it low on power. I have read a tuner can get you to 110 HP, which is pretty close to the TR-1.