Chaparral Vortex 243 VRX Dealer Video

[props2you]

Watched this video

last night and was a bit surprised at multiple things:

$80k????
Many references to the "competitor" (yamaha).
Poor build quality (my opinion)
Poor Features (my opinion), although the steering wheel control features seemed interesting.


I haven't really looked at any other jet boat competitor for these reasons (in my opinion), Yamaha can't be touched for numerous reasons; 100% Yamaha, build quality, history, features, etc.

Has anybody went Yamaha and then switched? Pros/Cons, regrets?

Just curious as more and more manufactures are building jet boats.

 

[Neutron]

I have owned many boats before buying my AR240. Two of them Fourwinns and while they were great quality they had plenty of imperfections. Nothing that i couldnt remedy cheap and easy.
Yamaha while having some issues like the anchor locker leaks, incorrect battery voltage displays... etc.... (all easily repaired) they are still a well built, extremely versatile, relatively inexpensive, cheap and easy to maintain boat.
Kudos to Yamaha....well done.

On a side note, I love my Yamaha FZ1 bike and by far the best all round bike i have ever owned. And when i lived in New England and worked part time at a motorcycle shop, I found Yamaha bikes no matter what style the easiest to work on and one of the most reliable.

 

[Micah Thompson]

Watched this video

last night and was a bit surprised at multiple things:

$80k????
Many references to the "competitor" (yamaha).
Poor build quality (my opinion)
Poor Features (my opinion), although the steering wheel control features seemed interesting.


I haven't really looked at any other jet boat competitor for these reasons (in my opinion), Yamaha can't be touched for numerous reasons; 100% Yamaha, build quality, history, features, etc.

Has anybody went Yamaha and then switched? Pros/Cons, regrets?

Just curious as more and more manufactures are building jet boats.

So you were able to ascertain all these things simply from a dealer video? Interesting.

Let me tell you what I discovered by actually demoing both on a lake for several hours. The Chap is quite superior to the Yamaha in most regards, in fact, by a long shot in many. I went into the tests 100% confident I wanted the Yamaha, boy was I wrong.

If you want to keep living in a Yamaha echo chamber, like this forum mostly is, that's OK, but posts like this are ridiculous. You even indicated you've never looked at anything else, but feel great bashing another boat based on a video. I hate to stand up for a product I don't even own (yet), but since I actually tested both, feel I must.

Build quality? Aside from basing your opinion on a video, do you even read this forum? The low build quality of Yamaha is displayed almost daily, stuff you'd never see in a Chaparral. Yamaha is a robot-built, price-point boat, that's a simple fact.

History? You do realize Chaparral has been selling boats for FAR longer than Yamaha, right? You do realize they all have a standard 5-year bumper to bumper warranty, and LIFETIME hull warranty? (Yamaha is 1 year, and 5 year.) Not only that, Yamaha may have their warranty "all in one place", but again, have you read of their now legendary lack of wanting to actually provide coverage? Look over the forums, there are many threads.

Features? Come on; EVERY Chaparral Vortex, even the lowest-cost 20-footer has features only the high-end "Limited E-Series" Yamaha has, like throttle by wire, full throttle sync, and true, GPS-based cruise control. Every Yamaha under the E-series has no throttle sync, and no real cruise control (it locks the throttle.) The BRP package now also has IST, which lets you adjust the reverse buckets electronically from the helm, to achieve neutral, slow forward, slow back, whatever you want. It's also MUCH more maneuverable at slow speeds and reverse.

If you want to justify your high-dollar purchase, made without even comparing it to other products in person, on a lake, that's fine, but doing it and bashing another product based on a dealer video is quite ludicrous. As for me, I actually drove both, back to back, for several hours, and compared every single thing. I went in thinking I wanted a Yamaha, everything I own is Yamaha, but I did not order a Yamaha boat. It's not the superior product any more.

But what do I know, I've only owned about every kind of boat you can think of, for the past 40 years.

 

[props2you]

So you were able to ascertain all these things simply from a dealer video? Interesting.

Let me tell you what I discovered by actually demoing both on a lake for several hours. The Chap is quite superior to the Yamaha in most regards, in fact, by a long shot in many. I went into the tests 100% confident I wanted the Yamaha, boy was I wrong.

If you want to keep living in a Yamaha echo chamber, like this forum mostly is, that's OK, but posts like this are ridiculous. You even indicated you've never looked at anything else, but feel great bashing another boat based on a video. I hate to stand up for a product I don't even own (yet), but since I actually tested both, feel I must.

Build quality? Aside from basing your opinion on a video, do you even read this forum? The low build quality of Yamaha is displayed almost daily, stuff you'd never see in a Chaparral. Yamaha is a robot-built, price-point boat, that's a simple fact.

History? You do realize Chaparral has been selling boats for FAR longer than Yamaha, right? You do realize they all have a standard 5-year bumper to bumper warranty, and LIFETIME hull warranty? (Yamaha is 1 year, and 5 year.) Not only that, Yamaha may have their warranty "all in one place", but again, have you read of their now legendary lack of wanting to actually provide coverage? Look over the forums, there are many threads.

Features? Come on; EVERY Chaparral Vortex, even the lowest-cost 20-footer has features only the high-end "Limited E-Series" Yamaha has, like throttle by wire, full throttle sync, and true, GPS-based cruise control. Every Yamaha under the E-series has no throttle sync, and no real cruise control (it locks the throttle.) The BRP package now also has IST, which lets you adjust the reverse buckets electronically from the helm, to achieve neutral, slow forward, slow back, whatever you want. It's also MUCH more maneuverable at slow speeds and reverse.

If you want to justify your high-dollar purchase, made without even comparing it to other products in person, on a lake, that's fine, but doing it and bashing another product based on a dealer video is quite ludicrous. As for me, I actually drove both, back to back, for several hours, and compared every single thing. I went in thinking I wanted a Yamaha, everything I own is Yamaha, but I did not order a Yamaha boat. It's not the superior product any more.

But what do I know, I've only owned about every kind of boat you can think of, for the past 40 years.

LOL! Let me clarify... I'm not "bashing" simply stating my opinion. I have been on more than enough Chaparral's, cobalt's, baja's, donzi's, sea-ray's, four-winns, ebbtide's, monterey's, to understand they each have their strengths and weaknesses, most of all subjective preferences by prospective buyers. Obviously, you took my observations and opinions (which is why I clarified) personally since you own one. @Micha Thompson. I don't need to justify my purchase(s), perhaps you have regret, I don't know, and it's not my motive to understand your particular reasoning to purchase. You'll also note my inquiry as to if anybody has switched, reasons,. pro's cons etc., not bashing, just curious. Sorry I hurt your feelings, can we hug and celebrate our differences?

Maybe the video says more about the salesman/dealer than the boat?!?!

 

[Mainah]

My .02. The AR240 is a good boat at good price and even a great price if you fan find a previous model year left over. Chap is making a high quality jet boat and there is negotiation room in the price but the don't make a 24 ft class jet boat at the ar240 price point so not really apples to apples. I have said it before and it was a toss up for me when I bought recently it came down to the co-captains chair for the wife (the 2430 was not out or I did not know about it)

I like the new Yamaha hull even though it took down the hard slide turn fun factor but it did increase comfort and tracking. The lateral thrust bucket design on the Chap and other rotax powered boats is superior. All kinds of pros and cons on both sides.

The guy in the video is a salesman and the video is no different than any other boat or rv sales video. That same guy will jump right into another brand on the same lot and tell you why that boat is the best. That is the job of a salesman.

While I am not happy with some things about my boat and trailer I have fixed them and moved on. Enjoy your boats and don't sweat the prop guys thoughts on jets

 

[Britboater]

When I was in the market for my boat the Chaps had just been released, I was really sceptical about the drive line and engines too.
My local dealer here in the UK is the biggest in the country for Chaparral and after crawling over a few and being taken out, I can honestly say the Chaps are in a way different league to Yamaha. If/when I change my boat I would not hesitate to purchase a chaparral Vortex.
Build quality is just not comparable, Yamaha really have let themselves down, I love my boat and and prefer the shape to Chaps, luckily I've not had too many issues too (there, jinxed it now!!) but price cannot dictate build quality, it doesn't matter how much a boat costs, poor, shoddy workmanship and lack of R&D has no excuses.

On another note, you get an excellent dealership with Chaparral with excellent product knowledge, not just a Motorcycle shop with some boats for sale.

 

[tdonoughue]

I bought and like my Yamaha, but I certainly would not put 'build quality' in their column on this one. And I can only give them partial credit on the history (good history on jet skis and the engines; little history relatively speaking on the boats, with lots of history of warranty issues).

Never demo'd a Chap (just saw them at a boat show), but I do appreciate and agree with much of what @Micah Thompson writes (if not the tone). I especially liked the recitation of features on the Chap and their warranty information (didn't know that...). But, as noted above as well, it is a different price point boat. I try not be shocked when the less expensive product has fewer features, less quality, etc.

Finally, please remember folks, two things: this should not be an echo chamber for any one type of boat (and the majority needs to be sensitive here) and we can disagree without being disagreeable.