Cobaltchat.com

DFWdude wrote: Tue May 23, 2023 11:10 am 282 is too wide to legally tow w/o permits.
272 has a tower w/o the bimini. Just found out that its already sold.
The mint 262 has a bimini but no tower, and no extended swim. With the little kids and dog, the extended swim is a must.

So at this point, my search will continue.

At this time of year, if you find what you're looking for, you have to act fast or take a chance of not getting it.
Tough choice when you don't want to break your budget or make a huge mistake.
Keep trying and good luck.

Agreed.
It's a great time of year to be a seller of a boat, bad time to be buying, unless you're willing to really do your homework (sounds like you are) or pay a premium. I purchased end of June last year, from a dealer. There wasn't a lot to pick from, and the dealer didn't budge a bit on the price of the boat (used, and selling on consignment). However I did purchase a new trailer from them (not one of the name brands mentioned in multiple other posts on this forum) and they negotiated down 25% on the trailer. I still feel like we got a pretty descent deal, based on work I was willing to do fo myself, and what you can/can't find out there for sale today. You will have to decide if you're willing to pay asking, or wait until the end of summer to get a possible better deal.
Good luck to you, and keep us posted on what you find.

Finding the right boat can be daunting. We started the search for our 263 in July last year. At that time, we could only find seven for sale nationwide (on Craigslist and the boat sale websites). We live outside of the San Francisco Bay Area and our options were Seattle, Michigan and the East Coast. Interestingly, Seattle prices were $15k more than Michigan and the East Coast. Between July and December, no additional (acceptable) 263s came up so we committed to buying ours, a consignment at a boat shop in Michigan, for $45k. Honestly, I wanted one of the 263s located in Seattle--it was VERY clean, had everything mine has plus stainless steel windshield frame, cockpit heater, transom shower, and the 496 HO with Captain's Call--but, at the time, I could not justify the additional $15K (+9.5% State & Local sales tax). So, instead of driving 1700 miles RT to Seattle, I drove 5100 miles RT to Grand Rapids, MI...through record winter storms that forced me to drive all the way down south to avoid a Wyoming ice storm. In retrospect, that $60k 263 in Seattle looks like a pretty good deal!

Just saying, we do some crazy stuff to have what we want. Best of luck in your search for the perfect boat!

Has anyone here used an aftermarket extended swim platform?
I’d much prefer OE, but that aint gonna happen since they no longer exist.

https://swimplatforms.com/platform/coba ... -platform/

DFWdude wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 7:36 am Has anyone here used an aftermarket extended swim platform?
I’d much prefer OE, but that aint gonna happen since they no longer exist.

https://swimplatforms.com/platform/coba ... -platform/

I wish they'd make those with the flip down swim step. If they did, I'd consider replacing my factory platform on my 24SX with one. I'm not sure why they can't or don't offer that feature. It's not an exclusive design to Cobalts. Chaparral has them. The other nice thing about Chaparral swim platforms is built in cupholders.