New Member from Central Florida

[lmoretti]

Thanks for the invite! I am more of a mud swamping buggy kind of guy and have a custom built Maverick XMR that I spend my weekends in the woods with (Picture attached). My wife is not a big a fan of this and she has expressed interest in a boat which is more to her liking. I first started off thinking of buying a center console offshore boat but decided taking on 150K debt is not the smartest thing at this point in my life. We live in Orlando and just a few hundred yards away from a chain of lakes and there are plenty more all within 45 minutes (we plan on buying a lake house in the next 5 years as well). So this brought me to lake/ski boats. I have been looking at Yamaha specifically, mainly because I know the name and quality of their other products. So I have many questions but would want to start off with these. Any input is appreciated as I really font know much about these types of boats outside of Malibu and Nautique in which all of my friends parents owned in high school and are too expensive.

I am looking at the 21 Limited S only in the 21ft range and a few 24 foot versions as well (mainly limites S as well). The reason being the boats below the limited model seem too bare and really the ones past it seem like overkill. Should I be considering any models over the others or is my thought process correct?

Are there any other manufacturers that I should be considering that compete in quality, reliability and cost?

Finally, on the Yamaha's, the first dealer priced me out at MSRP which I think is a joke. My Maverick was $24200 out the door at MRSP but I paid $20k out the door so I know these toys are not to be had at MSRP. What are people paying for these boats?

Sorry for the information dump but I am the type of person that will research for months before buying any thing of value. Thanks!!

 

[genwrx]

Welcome to the forum, there is tons of information and helpful members on here for all the Yamaha and Rotax type jets(Glastron, Chaparral, Scarab, etc), as well as some classic jet boats.

 

[lmoretti]

Thanks!

Still curious as to what people are paying. I've now received two MSRP quotes on the 242 Limited S. Anyone care to share what they paid?

Thank you

 

[captras]

I went thru last year, what you are going thru this year. I looked at Scarab, Chaps, Yamaha mostly because I wanted a jet boat. I found that, except for end of the year close outs, Yamaha does not deal on their prices. They will throw in extended warranties, covers, anchors, accessories, but the price is pretty much firm...at least here in Texas. How does that compare with the other 2. Scarab and Chap will deal on their boats, but they are generally higher MSRP.

Bottom line, generally they are all competitive in pricing out the door. Example...I bought a 2016 242 Limted SE for pretty much MSRP, with about $1000 worth of accessories included. A similarly equipped Chap, had an MSRP that was almost $30,000 more than the Yamaha....but it I could have picked it up for almost exactly the same price.

One thing to remember when pricing, however. Yamaha has almost no options.....they are all fully equipped from the factory, including trailers. So if you are going to comparison shop, dont just check the model price....you have to add all the extras that are not extras on the Yamaha. From what I have read on here, if you want a deal on a Yamaha, you have to wait till the new models come out and get a leftover. If you are willing to travel, there are plenty of them available. Good luck!