SX190 V SR230, what would you choose?

[JBehrens]

Looking around at possibly getting a boat to go along with the ski's, I found a 2014 SX190 (~$18k) that I really like, clean and turnkey, ready to hit the water. A friend of mine is looking to sell his 2004 SR230 (~$12k) that has good running engines but would need some cosmetic help, everything on it is in working order but it has only been on the water a once in the last 2 years. Question I have is, would buying the SR230 and sinking some money into getting it cleaned up and adding a few mods be worth it for the extra size? I would be concerned to put a bunch of money into an older boat to have it break but the idea of having some extra room would be nice. I figure both will come to about the same price after doing some work, budget is about $17-20k.

How I boat background: Usually on Lake Mohave, Colorado River, Lake Powell (3800ft), with ~6 people depending on the trip (also have 2 ski's for fun and more people), wake boarding, skiing, tubing, relaxing, long runs on the water.

Looking for the wisdom of JetBoaters, what would you choose if this was your first boat?

Thanks

 

[Beachbummer]

How is the water in your area? The size of the boat helps with chop immensely! I upgraded after 13 years with a smaller boat. The bigger boat is NICE. If I had to guess on maintenance likely over the next 10 years, I would suspect the 230 could possibly need something big vs its 10 year younger counterpart...that can't be totally ignored. It's about what you want... The bigger boat is NICE! Storage and towing are other pain points that the 230 can cost more. Also, compare that 230 with one from 07 which has the taller gunwale for just a little more. 4ft doesn't seem like a lot on paper, but in the water it's a big difference.

Best of Luck!

 

[Dwrat]

I've had/have both and the SX190 is my choice.
I love the fact that I can get 5 mpg in the 190, try that in the other boat.
Comes in real handy on Powel.

 

[JBehrens]

How is the water in your area? The size of the boat helps with chop immensely! I upgraded after 13 years with a smaller boat. The bigger boat is NICE. If I had to guess on maintenance likely over the next 10 years, I would suspect the 230 could possibly need something big vs its 10 year younger counterpart...that can't be totally ignored. It's about what you want... The bigger boat is NICE! Storage and towing are other pain points that the 230 can cost more. Also, compare that 230 with one from 07 which has the taller gunwale for just a little more. 4ft doesn't seem like a lot on paper, but in the water it's a big difference.

Best of Luck!

The water can very a lot, some days its flat calm and awesome others it can be blowing and a little rough. They are larger bodies of water so on a bad day it is rough but nothing too bad, not ocean level.

Needing to buy a new motor is a big concern to me.

 

[JBehrens]

I've had/have both and the SX190 is my choice.
I love the fact that I can get 5 mpg in the 190, try that in the other boat.
Comes in real handy on Powel.

I know it's slower but you do make a good point. Having the endurance is nice. Do you wish you still had the space of the 230? Or do the benefits of the 190 outway the space factor?

 

[Marvin willis]

I’d find a newer 230 if you can. But any 230 over a 190 imo. Can’t beat the storage. I didn’t buy a jet boat for the gas mileage.

 

[Beachbummer]

Nobody can promise you won't need a motor or rebuild on the 230, but the same could be said for the 195 in a couple of years.All else being equal the newer boat should last longer. To me they are truly different. Would you rather have a 2004 Honda Pilot that seats 8 with poorer gas mileage or a 2014 CR-V (seats 5 tight)for the same price? You can't seat 8 on the CR-V, but you can on the Pilot! Pilot is more confortable on potholes.

Crappy analogy, but somewhat close.

 

[Dwrat]

I know it's slower but you do make a good point. Having the endurance is nice. Do you wish you still had the space of the 230? Or do the benefits of the 190 outway the space factor?

Space and storage is plenty for us on the 190.

 

[JBehrens]

I’d find a newer 230 if you can. But any 230 over a 190 imo. Can’t beat the storage. I didn’t buy a jet boat for the gas mileage.

I'm not saying I'm buying it for gas mileage but I do like as much range that I can get. Helps on long river runs to not have to pay $5.50/gal at the fuel dock.

 

[JBehrens]

Nobody can promise you won't need a motor or rebuild on the 230, but the same could be said for the 195 in a couple of years.All else being equal the newer boat should last longer. To me they are truly different. Would you rather have a 2004 Honda Pilot that seats 8 with poorer gas mileage or a 2014 CR-V (seats 5 tight)for the same price? You can't seat 8 on the CR-V, but you can on the Pilot! Pilot is more confortable on potholes.

Crappy analogy, but somewhat close.

Haha that's a good way of putting it, just two different animals. Almost makes it harder to decide because I am not quite sure what would be better. Coming from packing everything on jetskis, I would think simply having a boat would be an upgrade but I could be completely wrong.

Just got some pictures of the 230, looks like it might need more help then I thought.

 

[Beachbummer]

If storage space or gas money is no concern, I pick the 230 model, because the greater size is very nice on the water vs. the 19ft with anything over 4 people. If you are certain you don't care for the bigger boat, then a 195 might be what you need.

You need to see and test both models to tell them apart. Words can't do justice to the difference.

 

[Rlc1z]

Myself personally I would not sink much money into a 15 year old boat that has not been very well taken care of. Everyone has their opinion on what would be best including myself lol. Of course a bigger boat allows for more people and storage and better ride in choppy water but also has more cost to run,maintenance,tow etc. If I was going to need a boat that is going to house a lot of folks on it,I'd probably buy a tri-toon,just saying. You have ski's to play with also so I would think the late model SX 190 would work for you. Put 4 in your boat,1-2 on each ski and have fun! Good luck on what ever way you go!

 

[Beachbummer]

I agree with all you points, but you lost me at tri-toon.

 

[JBehrens]

I don't think you will catch me on a tri-toon but maybe something a little more party barge.

 

[JBehrens]

I do agree though, risk looks like it might not be worth the reward. Also, I thought the USCG rating for the 230 was 12 people but looking around I see 10 as the max, can anyone confirm?

 

[swatski]

Looking around at possibly getting a boat to go along with the ski's, I found a 2014 SX190 (~$18k) that I really like, clean and turnkey, ready to hit the water. A friend of mine is looking to sell his 2004 SR230 (~$12k) that has good running engines but would need some cosmetic help, everything on it is in working order but it has only been on the water a once in the last 2 years. Question I have is, would buying the SR230 and sinking some money into getting it cleaned up and adding a few mods be worth it for the extra size? I would be concerned to put a bunch of money into an older boat to have it break but the idea of having some extra room would be nice. I figure both will come to about the same price after doing some work, budget is about $17-20k.

How I boat background: Usually on Lake Mohave, Colorado River, Lake Powell (3800ft), with ~6 people depending on the trip (also have 2 ski's for fun and more people), wake boarding, skiing, tubing, relaxing, long runs on the water.

Looking for the wisdom of JetBoaters, what would you choose if this was your first boat?

Thanks

Man, That’s a tough one.
The SR will be a project, no doubt, Could be very rewarding, if it goes well. Also keep in mind it has the non-HO engines, unlike newer 230s. I would jump on a newer 230 before considering an SR.
That’s said a SX190 is a bulletproof little brute! They are stupid loud, and you would probably want to add a tower, but if you buy it low enough it might be worth it. At the elevation you may struggle with more than six people if they are all adults. So keep in mind you’ll have to add things like the L13, repitch the impeller, May need a reflash to get it to do what you want. But they are great and easy to handle, tow, maintain, and store boats, I kind of miss mine.

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[Billtex2000]

How is the water in your area? The size of the boat helps with chop immensely! I upgraded after 13 years with a smaller boat. The bigger boat is NICE.

Agree! Where you boat means a lot. I went from a 17' Maxum to my SX210. We were getting beat up on my lake in the Maxum. Some weekends we couldn't even go out...too painful. Deeper draft definitely helps quite a bit in chop.

 

[JBehrens]

Man, That’s a tough one.
The SR will be a project, no doubt, Could be very rewarding, if it goes well. Also keep in mind it has the non-HO engines, unlike newer 230s. I would jump on a newer 230 before considering an SR.
That’s said a SX190 is a bulletproof little brute! They are stupid loud, and you would probably want to add a tower, but if you buy it low enough it might be worth it. At the elevation you may struggle with more than six people if they are all adults. So keep in mind you’ll have to add things like the L13, repitch the impeller, May need a reflash to get it to do what you want. But they are great and easy to handle, tow, maintain, and store boats, I kind of miss mine.

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You miss yours??? With all of the things that your AR240 has, dang that really speaks to the boat. Looking around, I think I would rather go with the sx190 then a newer sx230, the reason for considering the 230 is that it is a friend and it's cheap. I like the 190 and looking back at some of the old @swatski posts on 190 mods is giving me ideas.

With a bone stock 190 and 230, how bad would the performance hit at altitude be? Powell is my only concern with this, when I take it to June or Tahoe I know there is nothing to be had there anyway.

 

[swatski]

You miss yours??? With all of the things that your AR240 has, dang that really speaks to the boat. Looking around, I think I would rather go with the sx190 then a newer sx230, the reason for considering the 230 is that it is a friend and it's cheap. I like the 190 and looking back at some of the old @swatski posts on 190 mods is giving me ideas.

With a bone stock 190 and 230, how bad would the performance hit at altitude be? Powell is my only concern with this, when I take it to June or Tahoe I know there is nothing to be had there anyway.

I think that the twin would have an advantage, just generating more usable thrust, but I don’t know about the non-HO’s that could be an issue with a heavier boat like an old 230. Albeit the MR-1s may fare better at altitude in general. IDK.
I most definitely miss my 190, mostly for what you can do with the boat as far as storage and just general maneuverability. I could fit it in my garage if I wanted to work on her in the middle of winter, things like that. However once you have 6+ people there is no question that having twin power is an advantage. I spent a lot of time tuning my 190 to get rid of cavitation and have her pull hard on hole shot.

The storage space in 190sis ridiculous too! the bulkheads in the stern are wide open, you can fit as much as in a camper trailer there!

If you get a chance, check out the lake mead Marina off of Las Vegas, I believe they have 190s for rentals. Based on my experience with the place they will be not well-maintained, probably beat up impellers and so on, but that will give you some idea, kind of the worst case scenario, lol, if you want that.

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[chrisinslc]

Don't underestimate the 19' yamahas. It seems that everyone bashes them because they are too small, too slow, etc. I have a family of 5 and it works great for us. The storage is quite amazing. They are simple, easy to tow, easy to handle, and easy to maintain. We have friends that have boats so I don't need a boat that allows the neighborhood to come with us. I just need it to fit us which it does. When you want to modify things, just remember once you have 2 engines the cost of mods doubles...2 of everything.

The other thing that scares me is picking up a boat that has sat for a couple of years. That is what I did about 3 years ago, and the gremlins of the boat sitting rear their ugly head constantly until you "exorcise the demons". I finally got fed up with having to fix something every couple of times we took the boat out, so I bought a new Yamaha and couldn't be happier.