VX20 8 Month Review

[unpaulie]

Ride: Had it on Lake Ontario in June and it was blowing. It was great on the trolling motor and running in the rough stuff was no issue. Runs Upper bay and Potomac with ease. Still shocked how shallow the boat will go. Hole shot always good loaded or unloaded. Top end loaded or empty around 69. I broke 70 the other day (6200 rpm) which tells me I need to play with trim and jackplate height and maybe prop size. Have 52 hours on the motor.


Storage: I can carry to many rods, baits and plastics. Have 16 bait casters in port rod box, 8 spinning rods in starboard box. Center compartment....Well you would have to look at it 20+ 3700 boxes. The boxes behind the seat are enormous. Co Anglers that have the bags with giant tackle bags 7 3700 boxes fit with ease and they have room for rain gear etc.


Cooler is the real deal. Spent a week at St Lawrence and put 2 7lb bags in the first day and 1 7lb bag each day after.


Fit and Finish: Top notch. I added second units to bow and console and very pleased with how easy it was to pull cables(large rigging tubes from stern to console and console to bow). Had power blocks at each location. The power blocks use ring terminals.


Rigging: They think it through. Cables on the stern each of a path and are neatly rigged with proper bulkhead fittings NOT clam shells. They took the time to run the side imaging transducer through the hull with a water tight fitting so the cable would not route over stern.


Trailer: Build is top notch. The storage compartments are useless to me. I have the 2 step trailer step and the first step is a bit small.

OVERALL: Love the boat and would buy another one without hesitation.


Negatives:
1. The co-angler v shaped holder for the mid section of rods was useless and I removed it. They changed in 2022 models.
2. The spare tire holder on trailer is not ideal. Had to remove the spare and I had to raise via the trailer jack.
3. Had to move the start button and jackplate gauge because it was blocked by dual graphs. Not a big deal and turned out well.
4. Had to install AMP wedge at trolling motor to level motor. That was pretty annoying.

[wdubuis]

Where did you move the start switch. I keep thinking about doing the same thing. I assume that these was enough excess wire to move it
i would really like to move it to the switch panel but I do not think there is any open space.
I wonder who at Vexus is eft handed, that has to be the reason for the start switch location.
I think that they have thought of everything except what happens when we add dual 12” or larger units at the console
The only negative I have is you can’t use the “tray” in the cooler for anything that needs to be kept dry.

[unpaulie]

20210920_195816155_iOS.jpg

[Rick McFaul]

Did the AMP trolling motor wedge make the trolling motor sit a little lower while in the stowed position? I noticed they sit very high without the wedge and thought the angle may be the issue.

[unpaulie]

It does sit lower in the back when stowed.

[gatorz]

It does sit lower in the back when stowed.

Would you mind posting a pic of stowed and deployed with the wedge? Thanks

[wdubuis]

When I installed the 5 degree AMP in my boat & think I had to cut approximately 1 1/2" off of the Minn Kota brace tube.
I have done this on 2 different VX 20's.
It did not deem to affect the cover fit

[520runner]

Where did you move the start switch. I keep thinking about doing the same thing. I assume that these was enough excess wire to move it
i would really like to move it to the switch panel but I do not think there is any open space.
I wonder who at Vexus is eft handed, that has to be the reason for the start switch location.
I think that they have thought of everything except what happens when we add dual 12” or larger units at the console
The only negative I have is you can’t use the “tray” in the cooler for anything that needs to be kept dry.

Whats wrong with the sandwich tray in the cooler?

[Koma]

Ride: Had it on Lake Ontario in June and it was blowing. It was great on the trolling motor and running in the rough stuff was no issue. Runs Upper bay and Potomac with ease. Still shocked how shallow the boat will go. Hole shot always good loaded or unloaded. Top end loaded or empty around 69. I broke 70 the other day (6200 rpm) which tells me I need to play with trim and jackplate height and maybe prop size. Have 52 hours on the motor.


Storage: I can carry to many rods, baits and plastics. Have 16 bait casters in port rod box, 8 spinning rods in starboard box. Center compartment....Well you would have to look at it 20+ 3700 boxes. The boxes behind the seat are enormous. Co Anglers that have the bags with giant tackle bags 7 3700 boxes fit with ease and they have room for rain gear etc.


Cooler is the real deal. Spent a week at St Lawrence and put 2 7lb bags in the first day and 1 7lb bag each day after.


Fit and Finish: Top notch. I added second units to bow and console and very pleased with how easy it was to pull cables(large rigging tubes from stern to console and console to bow). Had power blocks at each location. The power blocks use ring terminals.


Rigging: They think it through. Cables on the stern each of a path and are neatly rigged with proper bulkhead fittings NOT clam shells. They took the time to run the side imaging transducer through the hull with a water tight fitting so the cable would not route over stern.


Trailer: Build is top notch. The storage compartments are useless to me. I have the 2 step trailer step and the first step is a bit small.

OVERALL: Love the boat and would buy another one without hesitation.


Negatives:
1. The co-angler v shaped holder for the mid section of rods was useless and I removed it. They changed in 2022 models.
2. The spare tire holder on trailer is not ideal. Had to remove the spare and I had to raise via the trailer jack.
3. Had to move the start button and jackplate gauge because it was blocked by dual graphs. Not a big deal and turned out well.
4. Had to install AMP wedge at trolling motor to level motor. That was pretty annoying.

I'm 6 months in with my VX21 and would agree with most of what you said.

Boat rides excellent. I have a Merc 300 Pro XS and have seen 74.3 once, runs 72.5-73 consistently.

Storage boxes are crazy big and I do tend to carry to much gear because of the size.

Cooler holds more than I need it to hold and does hold ice well., Wish the sandwich tray went deeper to keep water bottle from hiding under it but not a big deal.

Trailer on my boat is a solid trailer and pulls great, I ordered mine without the step boxes because I couldn't think of anything they'd be good for, not being water tight. The only issue I have with the trailer so far is that where the brackets that hold the tie down ratchet straps on the back, rust is coming thru the trailer coating, I noticed this at 4 months and my boat is in a climate controlled building when not in use. This kinda scares me looking at the next year or so, wondering if it'll start in other places. Boat has been with the dealer since the end of October correcting the gel issues and they can't get the trailer coating from Vexus to do those repairs.

A couple of things I'd add to your negatives:

1. The hyd lines for the power poles has a nice clean look the way they basically go straight into the hull and not having a lot of hose exposed BUT I can't see any good coming from the cover strap winching down on the lines as you tighten the cover down. Not sure how Vexus could fix that other than running the lines into the splashwell area like every other boat company?

2. Add some kinda liner to cover, at least around the rub rail/top cap area. I'm afraid to use my cover traveling down the road, the material feels rough, like it could scratch the crap out of it.

3. I ended up running Seaclear harness in my boat. I couldn't carry enough voltage with the stock wire. I'll will say Vexus has the right idea and it's a clean install, just needed heavier gauge wire in my opinion.

[wdubuis]

Whats wrong with the sandwich tray in the cooler?

If the cooler has water in it, it will come through the hole in the bottom of the sandwich tray or over the top & get everything in the sandwich tray wet.
My boat did not come with a plug for the cooler (like every other boat that I have had) so maybe it is meant to have the water drain from the cooler as soon as the ice melts?