Considering 2018 200S - Questions

[Willson3]

I previously owned a Yamaha AR195 jet boat. I do not live on a lake, I travel to lakes and launch. I need a new boat and there is a nationwide shortage of Yamahas. I found a 2018 200S I am considering as it is a very good deal due to a divorce situation. Want to get some advice from people that know the boat. I really like the way that Cobalts are designed and look on the water, but I know that is not a reason to buy a boat. So the one I am looking at has the 200 HP V6 engine. I am not really a speed demon. I will do some water sports (probably some tubing and maybe wakeboarding). I want something that is relatively easy to tow and launch. I don't usually have large groups of people on my boat. I probably average 4-6 and if I have 6 people on the boat 2 are probably kids. My old jet boat did about 50 mph and that was nice at times when the water is like glass, but honestly if we are taking a decent voyage we cruise around 30 mph. So I am interested in hearing thoughts about the engine. I am also interested in hearing about adding a wakeboard tower to this boat. I don't want one of the silver rear-swept towers and is made up of a ton of skinny bars. I would prefer something that looks for like a stock, forward-swept, wake tower. Does anyone know if you can add a tower like that aftermarket? I would appreciate any and all help. Thanks for your time.

[AsLan7]

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Hey W3. Welcome to the Cobaltchat forum. So glad you found us!

You can definitely get a tower added. Samson is the tower manufacturer for Cobalt.

A 350 engine size will work well with a 20 footer. Where do you boat? You are going to love the Cobalt ride—especially coming from a jet boat.

Again welcome aboard mate!

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[Big Block Power]

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Hey W3. Welcome to the Cobaltchat forum. So glad you found us!

You can definitely get a tower added. Samson is the tower manufacturer for Cobalt.

A 350 engine size will work well with a 20 footer. Where do you boat? You are going to love the Cobalt ride—especially coming from a jet boat.

Again welcome aboard mate!

.

Welcome. 350 would be ideal. 200hp is the bottom in that boat I would drive it first loaded to see if you will be ok with it. I'm a bad judge for a engine size so with that being said. Go buy it!!!
Yes put a Samson tower on it and have fun.

[Willson3]

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Hey W3. Welcome to the Cobaltchat forum. So glad you found us!

You can definitely get a tower added. Samson is the tower manufacturer for Cobalt.

A 350 engine size will work well with a 20 footer. Where do you boat? You are going to love the Cobalt ride—especially coming from a jet boat.

Again welcome aboard mate!

.

I know a 350 is ideal engine size for a 20 footer. I am just wondering if I will really miss the extra power not having ever had it. I also don't want a boat the putters if I decide to have 6 adults on it. My yamaha had 250hp and weighed 1000 lbs less than this boat. This Cobalt weights 1000 lbs more and has 50 less HP. What I don't know is how jet boat HP translates to I/O HP. So is 200 HP in an I/O have more power than 250 HP in a jet boat since the delivery of the HP is different. I am struggling because this Cobalt is an amazing deal.....2018 with 13 hours...immaculate condition...has seadek throughout...has the blue/red paint job I like....and like I said it is a divorce situation so they are just looking to dump it. The only hesitation I have is the engine. I would like to be able to push low to mid 40's wide open on glass water. I would like to be able to tube/wakeboard. My use and the lakes I go to vary. I go to a lake near me that is approx 600 acres. I also take it up to much larger lakes in Michigan like torch, Leelanau, and even Grand Traverse Bay. My Yamaha did well on all of those lakes by the way and it was a 2500 lb boat with 250 HP. Do you happen to know what it costs to install a Samson wake tower?

[Willson3]

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Welcome. 350 would be ideal. 200hp is the bottom in that boat I would drive it first loaded to see if you will be ok with it. I'm a bad judge for a engine size so with that being said. Go buy it!!!
Yes put a Samson tower on it and have fun.

I know a 350 is ideal engine size for a 20 footer. I am just wondering if I will really miss the extra power not having ever had it. I also don't want a boat the putters if I decide to have 6 adults on it. My yamaha had 250hp and weighed 1000 lbs less than this boat. This Cobalt weights 1000 lbs more and has 50 less HP. What I don't know is how jet boat HP translates to I/O HP. So is 200 HP in an I/O have more power than 250 HP in a jet boat since the delivery of the HP is different. I am struggling because this Cobalt is an amazing deal.....2018 with 13 hours...immaculate condition...has seadek throughout...has the blue/red paint job I like....and like I said it is a divorce situation so they are just looking to dump it. The only hesitation I have is the engine. I would like to be able to push low to mid 40's wide open on glass water. I would like to be able to tube/wakeboard. My use and the lakes I go to vary. I go to a lake near me that is approx 600 acres. I also take it up to much larger lakes in Michigan like torch, Leelanau, and even Grand Traverse Bay. My Yamaha did well on all of those lakes by the way and it was a 2500 lb boat with 250 HP. Do you happen to know what it costs to install a Samson wake tower?

[Big Block Power]

Yes that 200hp will get you lots to mix 40mph. Buy it if it's a great deal. Flip it off you don't like it. Boats are selling like hotcakes right now. Let me know I'll buy it then. Your jet boat takes way more hp to get it going. They are not efficient at all. The 200 will give that v6 a workout. But you can always change props to get it where you will like it. Merc alpha or Volvo sx drive?
Tower rough guess 4k

[Willson3]

Yes that 200hp will get you lots to mix 40mph. Buy it if it's a great deal. Flip it off you don't like it. Boats are selling like hotcakes right now. Let me know I'll buy it then. Your jet boat takes way more hp to get it going. They are not efficient at all. The 200 will give that v6 a workout. But you can always change props to get it where you will like it. Merc alpha or Volvo sx drive?
Tower rough guess 4k

Do you think $43k is a good deal for a 2018 with 13 hours that is in top condition. Thick blue strip with with thin red strip accent. It has a beige interior...all beige...it is not white with the beige accents. It looks cool. Do you think the darker beige will get hotter in the sun than a white interior? Beige Seadek throughout. Rockford Fosgate stereo. Supposedly it was $63k new. Is that what these go for new? It is an hour away from me and I am supposed to go look at it tomorrow morning? Just trying to educate myself.

Also, can I put a dual prop on it fairly easily? Or when you say change props are you talking just a better single prop?

[Big Block Power]

Yes that's a average price. Will the cream get hotter. A touch but not much. Yes you can add a bottom half of a duo prop if it's a Volvo. Not really needed. Just change to a 4 blade stainless prop.

[Willson3]

Hmmm....average price. I was thinking it was a better than average deal. So you are saying I should offer less? Maybe $40k or $41? If it isn't a better than average deal not sure I need to jump on a smaller than desired engine. Damn it is nice looking though and low hours.

[Willson3]

This is the color of the interior. Do you think it would get hotter than a normal white interior?

[Big Block Power]

Yes the color will get hotter than white. How hot I don't know. Yes I was thinking 40 41. It's still a 2 year old boat with a less than desirable engine. Just because it listed for 65 doesn't mean it's worth 65. I'm guessing that was msrp list price. Now take at least 6k to 10k off that price now depreciate it for 2 years and yep you got 45k average price. That's just how I look at it and the market price as well. Take it for a test drive of you can. If it feels right go for it. It will ride way better than your jet boat. It's just more solid.

[AsLan7]

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Hey W3. Welcome to the Cobaltchat forum. So glad you found us!

You can definitely get a tower added. Samson is the tower manufacturer for Cobalt.

A 350 engine size will work well with a 20 footer. Where do you boat? You are going to love the Cobalt ride—especially coming from a jet boat.

Again welcome aboard mate!

.

I know a 350 is ideal engine size for a 20 footer. I am just wondering if I will really miss the extra power not having ever had it. I also don't want a boat the putters if I decide to have 6 adults on it. My yamaha had 250hp and weighed 1000 lbs less than this boat. This Cobalt weights 1000 lbs more and has 50 less HP. What I don't know is how jet boat HP translates to I/O HP. So is 200 HP in an I/O have more power than 250 HP in a jet boat since the delivery of the HP is different. I am struggling because this Cobalt is an amazing deal.....2018 with 13 hours...immaculate condition...has seadek throughout...has the blue/red paint job I like....and like I said it is a divorce situation so they are just looking to dump it. The only hesitation I have is the engine. I would like to be able to push low to mid 40's wide open on glass water. I would like to be able to tube/wakeboard. My use and the lakes I go to vary. I go to a lake near me that is approx 600 acres. I also take it up to much larger lakes in Michigan like torch, Leelanau, and even Grand Traverse Bay. My Yamaha did well on all of those lakes by the way and it was a 2500 lb boat with 250 HP. Do you happen to know what it costs to install a Samson wake tower?

.
Our first boat had the venerable 4.3LX GM vortec six cylinder. Great little engine at 190HP in a small boat such as yours. It worked for us at the time. It taught us power management, docking, and plane technique all in a package that was easy to manage. Then we grew to love the V8's and of course more HP and had a foundation from which to build.

Sounds like this six cylinder will work well for ya' W3....especially not having had larger. It will do fine for a 20 footer. When you start longing for more then it's time to upgrade. Now get out there and git her'.

.

[SAB220]

Suggest you need to look at the big pictures. How much for this boat? , How much is a new boat. How much is a new boat I want with .....
delta $$ amounts...Loan amounts ...can I resell ...big enough for the kids and go tubing....what about my new truck ...buying that summer place on the lake...and ...of course, the significant other wants...etc, etc

This results of this formula make your decision

[Big Block Power]

.
Hey W3. Welcome to the Cobaltchat forum. So glad you found us!

You can definitely get a tower added. Samson is the tower manufacturer for Cobalt.

A 350 engine size will work well with a 20 footer. Where do you boat? You are going to love the Cobalt ride—especially coming from a jet boat.

Again welcome aboard mate!

.

I know a 350 is ideal engine size for a 20 footer. I am just wondering if I will really miss the extra power not having ever had it. I also don't want a boat the putters if I decide to have 6 adults on it. My yamaha had 250hp and weighed 1000 lbs less than this boat. This Cobalt weights 1000 lbs more and has 50 less HP. What I don't know is how jet boat HP translates to I/O HP. So is 200 HP in an I/O have more power than 250 HP in a jet boat since the delivery of the HP is different. I am struggling because this Cobalt is an amazing deal.....2018 with 13 hours...immaculate condition...has seadek throughout...has the blue/red paint job I like....and like I said it is a divorce situation so they are just looking to dump it. The only hesitation I have is the engine. I would like to be able to push low to mid 40's wide open on glass water. I would like to be able to tube/wakeboard. My use and the lakes I go to vary. I go to a lake near me that is approx 600 acres. I also take it up to much larger lakes in Michigan like torch, Leelanau, and even Grand Traverse Bay. My Yamaha did well on all of those lakes by the way and it was a 2500 lb boat with 250 HP. Do you happen to know what it costs to install a Samson wake tower?

.
Our first boat had the venerable 4.3LX GM vortec six cylinder. Great little engine at 190HP in a small boat such as yours. It worked for us at the time. It taught us power management, docking, and plane technique all in a package that was easy to manage. Then we grew to love the V8's and of course more HP and had a foundation from which to build.

Sounds like this six cylinder will work well for ya' W3....especially not having had larger. It will do fine for a 20 footer. When you start longing for more then it's time to upgrade. Now get out there and git her'.

.

We all started out with the 4 cyl 130 or the 4.3 v6. We loved those boats and yes moved up. Granted they cost less then 10k back then.
I'll move you up to my bb for the 200s price though. So no need to mess around anymore.

[Willson3]

I know a 350 is ideal engine size for a 20 footer. I am just wondering if I will really miss the extra power not having ever had it. I also don't want a boat the putters if I decide to have 6 adults on it. My yamaha had 250hp and weighed 1000 lbs less than this boat. This Cobalt weights 1000 lbs more and has 50 less HP. What I don't know is how jet boat HP translates to I/O HP. So is 200 HP in an I/O have more power than 250 HP in a jet boat since the delivery of the HP is different. I am struggling because this Cobalt is an amazing deal.....2018 with 13 hours...immaculate condition...has seadek throughout...has the blue/red paint job I like....and like I said it is a divorce situation so they are just looking to dump it. The only hesitation I have is the engine. I would like to be able to push low to mid 40's wide open on glass water. I would like to be able to tube/wakeboard. My use and the lakes I go to vary. I go to a lake near me that is approx 600 acres. I also take it up to much larger lakes in Michigan like torch, Leelanau, and even Grand Traverse Bay. My Yamaha did well on all of those lakes by the way and it was a 2500 lb boat with 250 HP. Do you happen to know what it costs to install a Samson wake tower?

.
Our first boat had the venerable 4.3LX GM vortec six cylinder. Great little engine at 190HP in a small boat such as yours. It worked for us at the time. It taught us power management, docking, and plane technique all in a package that was easy to manage. Then we grew to love the V8's and of course more HP and had a foundation from which to build.

Sounds like this six cylinder will work well for ya' W3....especially not having had larger. It will do fine for a 20 footer. When you start longing for more then it's time to upgrade. Now get out there and git her'.

.

We all started out with the 4 cyl 130 or the 4.3 v6. We loved those boats and yes moved up. Granted they cost less then 10k back then.
I'll move you up to my bb for the 200s price though. So no need to mess around anymore.

What do you mean no need to mess around anymore?