Vexus VX20 weekend good, bad, and ugly

[boarder1995]

I had a weekend fishing out of my Vexus VX20 (not a tournament) and had a good variety of experiences - good, bad, and ugly.

First the ugly - my CoastKey battery "suddenly" died after launching at the ramp. Boat started, no battery warning on the fob initially, no beeping from Coastkey. But once off the trailer and among the docks idling/maneuvering I get beeping. But initially I don't know the source or reason. Of course, it kills the outboard after several beeps. But it does it at the most inappropriate time - when I'm trying to pull up gracefully to a dock in windy conditions! QUICK restart and saved the fiberglass - WHEW! After tying up to the dock safely I start investigating the issue. Battery red LED on the fob. Crud. Now how do I restart without the fob? Manual says safety recover man-overboard mode. That'll get me to a safe docking location. Then I take the vehicle to go get a stinking 2032 battery. Buy TWO! That fixes the fob issue and it's back to working like a champ. Lesson learned. Kinda would prefer a traditional key though after this.

The bad - fishing was only so-so productive on Friday. Some good size, but no quantities. I've got a cousin that's not been fishing for a couple decades that I was taking out on Saturday, so I was hoping to figure things out for maximizing his positive fishing experiences. Saturday was horrible fishing for the two of us, and not just for us - but other guys saying the same. Wind changed overnight, conditions changed and only one fish in the boat. Pretty pathetic. But still enjoyable on the water with him.

Now the GooD - a couple items.
First off, my cousin is ~6'8"+ tall and he LOVED the space in the VX20 cockpit. And the comfy large seats. And the legroom. And not sitting so low to the floor like most traditional bass boats. Plus, the decks are big enough to not feel crowded with his height. He also loved the appearance of the boat (maybe being nice to me? haha).
Another good was the comfort while running on a very windy/choppy day. This could have easily been a bad or ugly, but not in the VX20. Wind was howling on a big lake. We had a good distance to go to get back to the dock/ramp. Boat was comfortable in the 50-60s mph and even better in the mid to upper 30s when it was really rough. Drove so nice. Kept us dry. And the air-ride seats added to the comfort. He thought it was going to be painful coming off a few of the big wake/surf boat rollers, but easy landings!

So far I'm really happy I joined the revolution!

[John B.]

This weekend was my first fishing trip in the VX21 and I agree with your ride and space comments. The boat rides and drives great and eats the chop up like it isn’t even there. I found it fished very well too. Very Ranger like when fishing but a different and more pleasant riding experience when running. Smoother and way drier.

[Rubrail]

Took my vx21 out on lake Oconee for a few hours this afternoon, cold front came in today with wind blowing 15-20 with nice white caps on the open water at the dam, it handled it very well and kept me comfortable while doing it. The large cockpit and legroom was the deciding factor for my purchase, I made the right decision for me without any doubt! Now if I could just get the fish to bite……

[ifishinxs]

I had a chance to crawl around a VX 20 yesterday. OMG! What an awesome boat. The cockpit area is huge. Layout, fit and finish were first class. I didn’t have a Spare $100,000 to bring her home but if I did this would be the boat.

[dougie442]

I agree with keeping an extra FOB battery or two in the boat, but you do realize you do not need to use the FOB at all right? It sounds like you were a little confused on how to start the motor without the FOB. Also, remember to punch in your 4 digit code and turn off the Coast Key pad on the console or else it will constantly stay in touch with the FOB and kill the FOB battery.

[boarder1995]

Ok - I’ve read the instructions, perhaps hastily, but didn’t catch how to not even need the fob… I punch in my dash code and hit on and all lights up. Then hit start and the outboard starts. But then I get the beeping and red light on the dash. I hit a fob button and it’s connected and the beeping stops and green light comes on. How do I avoid the fob all together? Time to go research and reread CoastKey instructions I guess.


2. Enter the PIN code (Factory Default Code is 1-2-3-4) (LED blinks green every 3 seconds).
3. Press the ON/OFF button to energize the ignition (LED lights ORANGE).
4. Press the START button to sequentially start the engines.
5. If your FOB is not detected the LED will blink ORANGE and a beeping noise is emitted. This is to alert you that the wireless engine cutoff is not engaged (since the system does not detect the FOB).
6. Press any button on the FOB to start communication.
7. The LED on the Start Panel will turn GREEN and the beeping will stop.
8. If you don’t have your FOB with you, the beeping will stop after approx. 2 minutes and the LED will continue to blink ORANGE. <—this is where I’m not sure about how mine functioned. Because I think I got my weak battery on the fob to temporarily connect and then die, so the engine gets cut off (likely sensing an out of range man overboard scenario)
NOTE: The wireless Engine Cutoff function will not be active, but the boat can still be used as normal. Be sure to use the manual
Lanyard switch.

[Rubrail]

The sequence above is correct. I learned about the fob battery dyeing quickly if left in the boat so now it stays in the truck unless Im on the boat. The fob battery lasts a lot longer keeping it seperate from the boat when not in use.

[boarder1995]

I've always left my fob in the truck. However, it's been in the front console where I have inductive charging. So that may have caused it to drain faster (possibly by keeping it active?). Who knows. Or it's just an old battery.

[Boat4Life]

I agree with keeping an extra FOB battery or two in the boat, but you do realize you do not need to use the FOB at all right? It sounds like you were a little confused on how to start the motor without the FOB. Also, remember to punch in your 4 digit code and turn off the Coast Key pad on the console or else it will constantly stay in touch with the FOB and kill the FOB battery.

So if I forget my fob and leave it at the house, how do I crank my outboard?

[Rubrail]

Enter the code on the dash module, press and release the on/off button, press and hold the start button until the engine starts. It will beep for a couple of minutes to alert you that the fob is not connected.
Press and hold the start button to turn the engine off when needed.

[dougie442]

So if I forget my fob and leave it at the house, how do I crank my outboard?

As posted by Rubrail above.
I would add that at the end of each use of your boat, enter your 4 digit code and press the On/Off button. You will hear a beep and the center light will flash and go off. This turns off the Coast Key system. Turning off you master power switch or the main breaker will NOT turn off the Coast Key system. Not doing this may be a reason some have issues with the FOB batteries. By not turning off the Coast Key system at the dash, the FOB and the Coast Key console button stay in constant contact with each other between uses of the boat.

[nodnarb007]

I changed factory code for coast key, and didn't sync fob to boat. I was able to start with out fob working by just using switch at console. Enter code and good to go.