New to boating, looking for advice.

[dadofral]

I agree with the sentiments on wake surfing, no yamaha boat is surf ready out of the box, they lack enough ballast and you WILL have to add weight and probably some sort of home made booster, then getting it dialed in without a ridesteady or perfect pass will be next to impossible. Your budget will probably not allow for a dedicated wake boat that is newer-ish....but if you have your heart set on going ropeless behind a yammie you have your work cut out for you. I have had 2 different 212x models with some minor modification and we still can't get a decent wave, I love yamaha boats, but when they advertise a surf boat, it's really not ready until they up the ballast and do some more to make it so. My two cents.

 

[Mandiime]

thanks, I did do some research on surf set ups and definitely think we can make it work. Great idea about the independent mechanic, I’m gonna try to do some digging around and see if I can find anyone in that area.

If you're trying to surf and wakeboard look elsewhere. These boats will allow you to with extensive setup but you will regret and will be looking for a v-drive soon. If you're not too serious about wake sports and you just want to mess around with it casually then yes, go for it. I love my boat. I wakeboard a lot... it's a bit underwhelming and I have contemplated selling my boat and getting something else numerous times. However, the boat excels in other areas. It's a great all around boat. Jack of all trades master of none.

 

[Doug Kline]

Thanks for all the input! Looks like I have champagne taste on a beer budget when it comes to the watersports end of it ? I guess it best to have an all around good boat, especially being my first boat. Guess we can look forward to the challenge of going ropeless. Anything is better than wakeboarding behind a pontoon boat. Not that we ever did that...2x last year ?

 

[Mandiime]

Thanks for all the input! Looks like I have champagne taste on a beer budget when it comes to the watersports end of it ? I guess it best to have an all around good boat, especially being my first boat. Guess we can look forward to the challenge of going ropeless. Anything is better than wakeboarding behind a pontoon boat. Not that we ever did that...2x last year ?

Don't get me wrong, you can def do everything you want. It's just never going to be as "good" or "easy" as a boat that's made for it.

 

[2kwik4u]

If your not into tinkering or fixing - get a newer boat. Even on my 2021 252 I am fixing and tinkering with stuff because I don't want to take it in for warranty.

At 28k - personally - I would be lookin at a 2017 AR210 and finance the rest over 2-3 years. I boat in salt but if I buy used I looked for fresh water boats. Salt destroys everything - might be more corrosion than you can see with your eye on a 20 year old boat.

Agreed......I think the AR series is the best value boats to be had.

Might get a 212S or 212X from that ERA to get the 1.8L's though.

 

[BlkGS]

A few thoughts...

You say you like to surf. Around here that means wake surfing. Did you mean, actual surfboard surfing, or wake surfing?

I think the 230s are the best value boats on the market. The MR1 is reliable, powerful, and efficient. Theres tons of waverunners with them if you need one, but rental MR1s ran for THOUSANDS of trouble free hours. I might be wrong, or biased, but it seems that the MR1 isote reliable and less problems than the 1.8L is. Especially early 1.8s.

Of the boats you posted, I'd buy the one with the trailer and messed up seats. Messed up seats can be lived with until you're ready to have them fixed, boats don't drag on the ground well. Plus, it's a nice upgrade, and it'll be higher quality than the sorta cheap stuff yamaha used/uses.

My advice is what was given to me. Buy your second, bigger, boat first.

 

[Mandiime]

A few thoughts...

You say you like to surf. Around here that means wake surfing. Did you mean, actual surfboard surfing, or wake surfing?

I think the 230s are the best value boats on the market. The MR1 is reliable, powerful, and efficient. Theres tons of waverunners with them if you need one, but rental MR1s ran for THOUSANDS of trouble free hours. I might be wrong, or biased, but it seems that the MR1 isote reliable and less problems than the 1.8L is. Especially early 1.8s.

Of the boats you posted, I'd buy the one with the trailer and messed up seats. Messed up seats can be lived with until you're ready to have them fixed, boats don't drag on the ground well. Plus, it's a nice upgrade, and it'll be higher quality than the sorta cheap stuff yamaha used/uses.

My advice is what was given to me. Buy your second, bigger, boat first.

I agree.. buy your second boat first. Not sure about the smaller motor tho

 

[BlkGS]

I agree.. buy your second boat first. Not sure about the smaller motor tho

IMO, the only downside of the MR1 is sound. It does everything else better than the 1.8L from what I've seen. Again, new 1.8s may be better than the ones that were what I was looking at when I bought my boat, which were the early 1.8s with timing chain issues and whatever.

 

[Mandiime]

IMO, the only downside of the MR1 is sound. It does everything else better than the 1.8L from what I've seen. Again, new 1.8s may be better than the ones that were what I was looking at when I bought my boat, which were the early 1.8s with timing chain issues and whatever.

Yeah I don't know. I got the 2019 and not a single issue so far. I never had the MR1 so I have nothing to compare

 

[Doug Kline]

A few thoughts...

You say you like to surf. Around here that means wake surfing. Did you mean, actual surfboard surfing, or wake surfing?

I think the 230s are the best value boats on the market. The MR1 is reliable, powerful, and efficient. Theres tons of waverunners with them if you need one, but rental MR1s ran for THOUSANDS of trouble free hours. I might be wrong, or biased, but it seems that the MR1 isote reliable and less problems than the 1.8L is. Especially early 1.8s.

Of the boats you posted, I'd buy the one with the trailer and messed up seats. Messed up seats can be lived with until you're ready to have them fixed, boats don't drag on the ground well. Plus, it's a nice upgrade, and it'll be higher quality than the sorta cheap stuff yamaha used/uses.

My advice is what was given to me. Buy your second, bigger, boat first.

We surf, like in the ocean but would love to wake surf behind a boat too. The one with some tears in the seats it the one I’m leaning towards. I’ll post some pice so you guys can tell me what you think. Looking into having the boat surveyed before we invest 11hrs driving.

 

[Doug Kline]

I agree.. buy your second boat first. Not sure about the smaller motor tho

The one with the tears in the seats has the HO motor ?

 

[BlkGS]

One other thing I'll add. If I was looking at new boats for a family boat, it'd be a seadoo switch. It's not an awesome wake boat, but neither are the yammies. And it's an amazing family.boat.

 

[BlkGS]

We surf, like in the ocean but would love to wake surf behind a boat too. The one with some tears in the seats it the one I’m leaning towards. I’ll post some pice so you guys can tell me what you think. Looking into having the boat surveyed before we invest 11hrs driving.

Next question is do you trust the wife and or kid to drive the boat with you behind it? Lol

 

[Mandiime]

Next question is do you trust the wife and or kid to drive the boat with you behind it? Lol

Slap a Hydrophase on it and a hamster could pull you...

 

[Mandiime]

One other thing I'll add. If I was looking at new boats for a family boat, it'd be a seadoo switch. It's not an awesome wake boat, but neither are the yammies. And it's an amazing family.boat.

This would be much, much worse lol

 

[Doug Kline]

Next question is do you trust the wife and or kid to drive the boat with you behind it? Lol

My kid, yes. My wife, weeeeeeell. J/K. I think she would do fine. Just don’t ask her to pull it into the dock. I’m not even sure I’m gonna be good at that ?.

 

[Mandiime]

My kid, yes. My wife, weeeeeeell. J/K. I think she would do fine. Just don’t ask her to pull it into the dock. I’m not even sure I’m gonna be good at that ?.

Just slap on some Cobras and everyone will be fine. Changes handling dramatically

 

[Doug Kline]

2005 $22,500

 

[Mandiime]

2005 $22,500

Looks pretty clean for an 05... has Cobras already. NADA shows this boat average retail at $22,600. So price is in line with market value. How does the hull look? Any scratches or damage?

 

[Doug Kline]

Looks pretty clean for an 05... has Cobras already. NADA shows this boat average retail at $22,600. So price is in line with market value. How does the hull look? Any scratches or damage?

The hull looks real good, he sent me about 44 pictures in high resolution and I can’t see any scratches or damage