Bigger or newer?

In the market for my first ever boat purchase. We really like what we are seeing in the Yamaha AR series. Been researching for a little bit, and seen a couple posts on this topic, but have to ask...

All things being equal - price, condition, hours... Would you choose bigger or newer?

Have my eye on a '11 210 and a '05 230 . Very close in price & condition.

Advantage to bigger seem obvious, what about age? Assuming condition & hours are comparable.

Thanks!

Only you can answer. For us, with our budget and needs, bigger was better. We went with an 08 SX230 a few years ago. There are a few known issues but overall a very reliable boat.

More information - we have no little kids. Our kids are grown & out the house.

It will almost always be 2-8 adults only. Maybe an occasional teenager. No real water sports... Just cruising, hanging out, swimming. A casual day in the lake.

Beachbummer said:

Only you can answer. For us, with our budget and needs, bigger was better. We went with an 08 SX230 a few years ago. There are a few known issues but overall a very reliable boat.

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Thanks! I am leaning towards the 230. In my uneducated mind a newer boat not the same as a newer car. Right? 5-6 years is a drop in the bucket, no?

I would recommend checking the max capacity in lbs for each model. I bet the newer 210 is comparable to the 230, so that extra two feet may not give you more load capacity. I know with our first boat, it could hold 8 persons, but only at 120 - 150lbs each. Needless to say, it didn't meet our goals, and I wasn't counting everyone weight just to have my family and friends join us on the lake.

Depending on the hours being high or low, I would rather have a newer vessel that was used in the 50+ hours per year than an older vessel with less hours. In my opinion, the biggest enemy of any toy is being left sitting in order to rot. I think people usually take better care of the things they use the most, but its hard to say without thoroughly checking each boat.

I think an 05 230 does not have the more powerful MR1 engines, but it should still be more powerful than the 210. The 05 I am guessing is around 14-15K? if taken care of they last forever. My 2008 SX230 has given me zero problems. As a gauge, in its present conditon I could sell it for minimally 20K this spring. So what is the asking price of the 05?

To follow up on my last post and a quick search online, it looks like the 230 has 1800lbs capacity and the 210 has 1675 lbs capacity. Can't speak for the engines, as I have always had the 1.8l in my yamaha boats.

Grown Azz Kid said:

In the market for my first ever boat purchase. We really like what we are seeing in the Yamaha AR series. Been researching for a little bit, and seen a couple posts on this topic, but have to ask...

All things being equal - price, condition, hours... Would you choose bigger or newer?

Have my eye on a '11 210 and a '05 230 . Very close in price & condition.

Advantage to bigger seem obvious, what about age? Assuming condition & hours are comparable.

Thanks!

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In my opinion, with everything being somewhat equal (with the give or take of older vs newer), I'd go bigger to have room for people, gear, food, drinks, etc. to be comfortable on the water with several people.
One of the frequent sayings I've heard and agree with... "Buy your second boat first".

Size for storage and towing is another differentiation. Check weight and towing ability also.

Keep in mind the styling is quite different in the bow area. The older boats have a more pointed nose with less room, vs the newer flatter/larger bow with a wider front. You may prefer the style or advantages of one over the other (I really like the styling of the old ones, other people prefer the new styling and like the greater room it provides)

OCMD said:

I think an 05 230 does not have the more powerful MR1 engines, but it should still be more powerful than the 210. The 05 I am guessing is around 14-15K? if taken care of they last forever. My 2008 SX230 has given me zero problems. As a gauge, in its present conditon I could sell it for minimally 20K this spring. So what is the asking price of the 05?

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The 2005 model years came in both engine configurations....standard and High Output. The Airboxes on the high output engines say "High Output" on them (unless someone went sticker shopping! LOL)

My main questions would be about maintenance of each. An 05 could be a good boat, but not if it wasn't well maintained. Also, slowly seeing more ECU failures in the older boats....so make sure you seal the tops of the ECU if you get the older boat.

Thanks to all for the replies. Still kicking it around... Might expand my budget, go newer & bigger. But your 2nd boat first, right!

Agree with the above, we bought an AR192 only to trade it for a 242 in less than one season. The dealer always wins on a trade, so buy what you ultimately want the first time, you will learn a bigger boat at about the same rate as the smaller. But only one is going to best fit your needs.

I'd go with the biggest boat that you can tow, store, and want to maintain. As most boaters say, buy your second boat first. On a boat you will always want more space and more power. See if you can get any sort of maintenance history on either of the boats you're looking at. If you're gonna have up to 8 adults with you very often you're gonna want as much space as possible and as much power as possible. A High Output 230 is no slouch for a 23' boat when in good running order.

Fish said:

One of the frequent sayings I've heard and agree with... "Buy your second boat first".

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I disagree with this statement. If you've never been boating before, you have no idea what you want in your second boat, you barely think you know what you want in your first boat. It gives little to no good advice other than perhaps insinuating that the majority of people go larger on the second one. A better saying would, IMO, be....."You rarely hear people say 'I wish I had a smaller boat' ", or "You rarely hear people say 'I wish I got the smaller motor' ".

We're on our second boat, and it's actually the same length as our first. The big changes for us were propulsion system, fuel injection, lower maintenance, and a generally improved layout. We had ZERO idea that any of those things were even remotely on the list of items to consider when we bought the first one. We're still not even sure what we want for a 3rd boat. I like the idea of a 212X (for the twin 1.8's in a 21ft), but I would have to raise the header in the garage, or store offsite. If we're storing offsite, might as well get the larger 242SE (large bimini and E-Throttles, I don't want the wake stuff really). But this is more of a storage consideration than anything.

@Grown Azz Kid I would probably get the 210 in your case. I like the 1.8L engines over the smaller MR1's. Not quite as many revs, but similar real world performance. I kinda like the look of that 210 over the older 230's as well. Completely personal preference there, I think either will suit your wants just fine.

I was in the same situation as you when looking for the right boat. Ended up going with the AR230 due to the fact that we often have 8 in the boat and with coolers, gear and whatever else we wanted to make sure that we had more than enough room and power.

Buy your second boat first. I'd look for a 230 with the bigger engines. Also 210s dont have 1.8s.

The 2011 is not the best example, but it is when the bows of the newer hulls started to hold more. It's not as much of a wide bow as the 24's, but from I believe 2012 on, the 210's, got a wider bow. That extra bow space is money in comparison to the 230 series.

As for the cockpit size and larger engines, that could be worth going 230. It's all in where your priorities are at. Ideally, a 212 with HO, or newer 212 with 1.8's would be a good fit.

Good luck in your search. But when looking, sit in the captain's chair last. They will be very similar in most boats. Check out the other seating, storage and bow.

You definitely need to get aboard both models. The 210 has considerably more bow space, but less main cockpit space, from my recollection. We had a 2011 SX210 for 5 years. Was a great family boat for us. No "frills" really, but that works for me. As noted above, the 210 did NOT have the 1.8 engines. I has 1052cc engines that are 110 hp each. Ours would top out somewhere between 42 - 47 depending on load and conditions and was more than sufficient for most of our boating but did get a bit more marginal at high elevation (6200 feet).

If you are not doing any water sports why are you wanting the AR instead of SX?
Although I would agree the hugest you can tow and afford you should get, but if you are just going to chill at lake have you considered say 2015 sx190? I have seen those with less than 100 hours for like $17k..... don’t get me wrong we love our 240, when the kids are off to college and it is just me and wifey we might get an 190. They are just so easy to deal with in and out of the water

We went newer and smaller this year with a 195S. Should prove to be less costly to fuel , insure, store and maintain. Since were a family of 4 an 8 passenger boat works out well for us. Some weekends it's just my wife and I and or a couple of friends. My personal choice in your case would be to go for newer if you know the history of the boat and it;s maintenance history.