Help with buying used boat

[jdjd]

So the local boat sold before I had a chance to see it. Maybe a blessing in disguise. My wife and I have been looking into new boats. Unfortunately almost all 19' are sold within a 4 state area. With no luck finding an ar195, we have an opportunity to pick up an sx195. Doesn't seem all that different other than the companion seat and the lack of a wake tower. I guess I might be a little in favor of the tower. The question I need to ask is... is it really all that necessary? Further discussion with boat dealers, I am not sure that we will do anything that would utilize the tower. Is it that much better for novice watersports? I don't currently foresee any of my kids going for big air. For the next few years I think tubing will be the biggest activity. Eventually skiing and wakeboarding. Shouldn't need the tower for surfing. Can a guy do just about everything he wants with a tow hook without the aerial tricks or flips? Also somewhat concerned about resale. I talked myself into buying new because the ar195 seems to hold value well. I haven't seen any used sx195s for sale. Will these hold value as well or is the tower that big of a selling point? See sx190s selling way below ar195s but obviously have a different powerplant.

 

[marcham]

Tower is a big plus for wakeboarding, big air or not. I've never tried surfing without a tower, might make getting out of the water a fair bit harder. The tower moves the tow point quite a bit forward. We don't use the tower for tubing. General consensus seems to be that AR are easier to resell.

 

[Beachbummer]

The other side of the conversation is that most all boats out there do not have a tower. If you but one without a tower and wish for one later, you can still add it for another 2k or so. If you want to boat now and no tower is 2k cheaper, it may not be ideal, but it gets you boating. It's like chicken or beef... You are still going to eat, the difference between the two is not as great as not eating, but you are hungry now. There is no shame in trying the chicken, but it's not beef.

I don't have a tower, and have wished for one 1% of the time, and don't care I don't have it the rest of the time. Not enough to have made something about it.

 

[jdjd]

The other side of the conversation is that most all boats out there do not have a tower. If you but one without a tower and wish for one later, you can still add it for another 2k or so. If you want to boat now and no tower is 2k cheaper, it may not be ideal, but it gets you boating. It's like chicken or beef... You are still going to eat, the difference between the two is not as great as not eating, but you are hungry now. There is no shame in trying the chicken, but it's not beef.

I don't have a tower, and have wished for one 1% of the time, and don't care I don't have it the rest of the time. Not enough to have made something about it.

Thanks for your feedback. From what I understand, the wake board tower is only used for wakeboarding. Tubing and skiing should be done from the tow hook. You should still be able to wake board from the tow hook just maybe not as well as from the tower. The more I think about it, I don't know if the tower is necessary. I have 4 kids from 4-12. None have done any watersports. I feel like tubing and skiing will be the primary with some wakeboarding. I really want to surf! My skiing was done behind an old runabout with a 4 cylinder merc-cruiser always loaded. It was difficult to get up. I am assuming the 195's will yank just about anyone out of the water with little difficulty. I am starting to see that the tower might not be advantageous for me. I think I would be the 1% guy as well. For the couple years my wife and I spent a lot of time on the water (before kids) the skiing was fun but spent most of our time hopping around sand bars, camping and cruising.

 

[HangOutdoors]

Tubing, Skiing, Zup boarding, knee boarding, wakeboarding, wake surfing can all be done from the tower. Some chose not to use the tower for things and others use it for everything. We use it for everything, also gets rid of a lot of the spray. But you don't need one to enjoy the water sports. I also like the tower for my rocket launchers for fishing (rod holders). I guess if I didn't have a tower I could manage with out one.

I am fabricating an enclosure the attaches to the tower, That way I dont have to attach it to the Bimini. Also I believe the Bimini on the SX is larger, but would need some confirmation on that.

Resell appears to be better, I believe.

 

[scubasteve87]

I have a 2018 SX195 I bought new in 2018. Really wanted an AR, but the dealer wouldn't move off the price of close to 40K OTD (NYS Sales taxes on an MSRP 36K boat).

But through some luck I was able to get a new SX195 for about 30K OTD and haven't looked back. The tower can be nice to help wake surf, but you will be investing in ballast and possible throttle controls to really get good wake surfing out of the 195 hull. However, I have no problem tubing, water skiing and wakeboarding off the back of the SX with the regular tow point. I'm sure an elevated position would help getting out of the water for most, but its hardly necessary. I'm also old school and grew up skiing, tubing, etc off a 19Ft bowrider from the 80's that my parents had so I've never had or needed the "luxury" of a tower.

Tower does potentially help with re-sale down the line and I think on the larger Yamaha's its more or less a must/deal breaker as most expect those things at the 50K or so price point. But on a 195 that will resell in the 15-25K range over the next 5-10 years, the tower is not needed IMHO unless its an absolute deal breaker for you.

Given the only difference between an AR195 and SX195 is the 2nd captains chair, tower and graphics, I couldn't justify paying 5K+ premium for something I may only use 1% of the time while enjoying my boat. And to be frank, I always have the option of adding an aftermarket one for about 1.5-3k and a weekend of my time if need be.

 

[marcham]

Tubing, Skiing, Zup boarding, knee boarding, wakeboarding, wake surfing can all be done from the tower.

Except perhaps for tubing. The manuals have this warning: "Do not tow a tube or other inflatable from the wakeboard tower. Use the ski tow hook on the transom ". Tubes can place a huge load on the tow point.

 

[HangOutdoors]

As other's have stated on the threads here,, not sure it is the weight load to not tube from the tower. It may be that if it submarine's in a super hard turn that you could potentially capsize. Although I have heard of anyone do that. There are both types of members here who tow from different points. Whichever makes you feel most comfortable.

 

[jdjd]

Well we went with the sx195. Should be picking it up in a couple weeks. Can't wait to get it on the water!