Looking for a new boat 19ft. Is Yamaha really that much better than scarab and/or chaparral

[noboat]

We are in the market for a new boat. But I can not find a Yamaha anywhere. I wanted an ar 195. So next would be a chaparral or scarab but some people on the net do not like them. Are they really that unreliable? It hard to believe seadoo has making jet skis a long time also

 

[veedubtek]

I had an 07 and a '12 Seadoo boat, both were amazing machines. (several Yamahas too). Stay away from the '14 Scarabs and you should be just fine in my opinion (and sometimes even with them, it just seems to be where most of the bad press stems from). Don't forget about Glastron also.

 

[robert843]

I like the look of those glastrons as well if I lived on a lake and never intended to use my boat in salt water I would probably give them a solid look.

 

[subysti]

It seems to be more about finding a good dealer that is authorized and knowledgeable about the boats. Don't go to a new dealer with no experience with the brand and can't work on them. Some dealers seem to carry them for a couple years and jump ship leaving people stuck with no service. My local Yamaha dealer just picked up the scarab line just so he can offer both brands

 

[Matt Phillips]

Also look at where you're looking to boat and what you're likely to do. For example, we have invasive weeks in my marina in Lake Tahoe and that necessitates cleaning out the impellers later in the season each time we take the boat out. Without the Yamaha Cleanout ports this wouldn't be possible with the amount of weeds I pick up just going through the marina. In the Yamaha it's a quick 5 minute stop and I can gather up the weeds and not leave them to float and infect the larger lake in general.

Just an idea. I think the key is to find the boat that works best for you and get that one....even if it means waiting a bit for it. Don't be afraid to drive a ways to get one...so long as there's a dealer relatively close for service.

 

[W3bexec]

This is a "your mileage may vary" type of reply. I did like a year of research before I bought my Ar240. In the end I narrowed it to between the AR240 and Chaparral Vortex 223. I looked over the Chaparral's first, at 2 different dealerships. The first thing I noticed that I suppose could best be described as, 'manufacturing defects'. Things like switches not lined up correctly or even flush to dash. Screws missing in some spots. Seats and interior not quite stitched in uniform. Just really odd stuff. Things, to me, that should be caught at the factory, corrected, and the boat not sent to a dealer . I saw this even between models. I mentioned it and showed it to the sales person asking, "do you fix these issues before I take delivery?" who kind of chuckled and shrugged her shoulders saying, "they would look at it". It made me uncomfortable about what else is "off' with the boat but I can't see it. I was slightly bummed since I really liked the color scheme of the Vortex at the time (yellow/black).

Correctable? Yeah, I guess. Should you have to? No way.

After touring the Yamaha's, they were solid. They have more horsepower in the standard model and seemed like way better quality control. I considered going up to the 242 limited S but stuck with my budget and did the AR240.

I have no idea about Scarab. It was dropped early since there is like only one dealer in Colorado no where near me.

 

[noboat]

Thanks for the reply! After thinking and researching for awhile now we might give up on the jet boat idea. My wife doesn’t care what kind of propulsion it is she just like the j style seating. There is no dealer closer than 3 hours from me for any brand. Also everyone is sold out of the AR 195 and AR 210 and are not getting any until next year. There is nothing me SX195 I could get but I was told not to put an after market tower on. So we are looking at a four Winns 210 with a 250 mec. Hey it still get on plain in less than 4 sec. also I will be on Minnesota lakes so not much of a concern for hit something with the lower unit I guess

 

[the MfM]

I’d look for something with an outboard before a I/O.

 

[noboat]

I’d look for something with an outboard before a I/O.

I understand why you would prefer that. In Minnesota it seams that the i/o resale’s a little better. Not sure I guess I like like the way an i/o looks better.
Right now I’m looking at a four Winns 210 it a big boat but priced pretty good. Still looking around

 

[Ancient canoe]

Why can't you put a aftermarket tower on a SX195?

 

[Beachbummer]

If resale of outboards is lower in your area, but you are attracted to the maintenance benefits of an outboard (of which there are many over i/o) consider a used boat that will be pre-depreciated. You can use market forces to your advantage sometimes when the market disagrees with you.

 

[JetBoatPilot]

Look at it this way. Yamaha has been in the Jet Boat business now since 1996. Every other player today has been in it for about 4 years tops. Yamaha is nearly 20 years ahead of every other player in the game. This means they've made the mistakes, heard about it from their customers, made the adjustments, perfected over time and now have something really great to sell. Even though other boat makers are good at making boats, they are not Jet Boat people at their core, and as such they are going to have to pay for their education in the Jet Boat space. This means they'll make a boat, they'll make their mistakes, they'll fix them and over time will have a great product. I don't know if they'll ever catch Yamaha though because they Yamaha has such a huge jump on them plus Yamaha is much more committed to the Jet Boat concept and its overall success than any other maker.

My .02

 

[NorfolkJames]

My decision to choose Yamaha was based on the availability of dealers and parts. Whether one product is measurably better than the others in terms of reliability, performance, features and technology is definitely debateable, but based on my research, Yamaha crushes the others in the number of dealers. Because like it or not, there will be maintenance issues and its nice to have a friendly dealer here that is waiting to take more of my money vs. not having a dealer here and not having use of my boat.

BTW, always buy the factory service manual for your boat. It makes maintenance easier.