Vexus Boats

Can't find a thread on Vexus boats. Was looking to see if anyone had any experience or good/bad things to say about Vexus. I heard that "Ranger is not the same Ranger" and that Vexus is a new company also in Flippin AK that is making high quality boats.

Thoughts?

Thanks!

did not like the one I have seen up close here at fork.

the arch in the gunnels and some other features didn't do it for me.

the chrome 6" letters on the side didn't help either.

Very nice quality boats most of the engineers that are with Vexus came from Ranger boats.
Go to BBC and read all you want about them in the Vexus thread

I like the looks of the aluminum rigs a lot. I just am not a fan of the fiberglass model. Does not mean its a bad boat, just means it doed not appeal to me.

Looked over one of the bigger models in a showroom. Remembered seeing some thoughtful features but coming away with a feeling that I'd prefer literally any of the other big brands sitting next to it without hesitation.

I think they are going to be a great aluminum boat company. Not so much on the bass boat side.

the one I saw was a glass boat, all aluminum look about the same to me anymore.

I agree. They are having a few growing pains on the aluminum boats but they seem to be doing good in that department. I think their fiberglass boats will be a niche market only, kind of like allison.

The metal boats are cool. The hull is Aluminum. The whole interior is fiberglass, consoles, compartments, everything inside the boat. You feel like you are fishing out of a fiberglass rig. Very innovative design.

IMO, they missed a Golden Opportunity on the fiberglass side. With Ranger being bought by Bass Pro, the old Ranger team had an opportunity to hit a homerun and they miss it. I've climbed around in both FG models and there is no doubt it is a well made product with lots of cool features. It is just gaudy.

From the big fake metal "scoops" on the sides of the boat, the pickle-fork bow, the handicap handrails, to the billboard-like letters on the side, they are just too gaudy to garner mass appeal from the bass fishing guys that are well heeled enough to afford a $90K bass rig.

Three of my friends went to last years Bass Classic specifically to buy a new FG Vexus. None of them could pull the trigger. One of them bought a Bullet, one bought a Skeeter, and one bought a Ranger. My guess is that Vexus will pick up maybe 5% of the FG bassboat sales. I think there were a lot of perplexed people standing around when they unveiled the first one at the Classic last year. Shame too.

I consider it an honor that you call me a friend Having fits with the bullet, I think it is an engine / lower unit /prop issue, in other words a set up issue, maybe the engine is not getting to WOT, have a couple of tournies left then I will bring it in to Sartin to try and figure out what the problem is. You are spot on with Vexus , really nice boat but gaudy looking.

they hyped an hyped their glass boats up so much an said the other bass boats would be obsolete when they pulled the tarps off at the classic it was just another bass boat that was more expensive than other high end bass boats well will see how it goes wish them good luck.

I personally love the exterior lines of their glass boat especially when it’s sitting in the water. Kinda has the look of a sports car to me but I just wouldn’t spend that kind of money even if I had it. I’d rather have 2 boats at that price: a nice bass boat and a pleasure boat.

I was expecting more of a performance boat, thought it would be more like a Triton with Ranger bells and whistles.

Vexus has a strange bass boat line up. $40k-$50k aluminum boats and a $90k+ glass boat. Niche market

$90k...I can buy a house for that it some nice places. Definitely geared towards those with disposable income or comfortable with living in debt. I’ll stick with my 32 year old Ranger.

It's a [censored] sandwich of a poor business plan

They won't survive after this covid deal shakes out, aluminum boats with engineering issues and glass boats that have the worst looks in the industry.

You and about a million others Roger

I was at the glass boat test ride day last year on lake Arlington

I like them a LOT and I had been shopping with a buddy looking at every brand available.

The pickle fork works really well get a lot more usable space without a giant boat.

I asked prices and they quoted mid 70s... Which was dead nuts same as about every other major brand

The vx20 is almost 80k not even loaded. That’s a 20 foot boat from a unestablished boat maker for $80k.

The boats i looked at loaded were north of 90K

The Vexus plant is state of the art and all new. It's Forrest Woods family that owns and runs the company. They were operating Ranger when the holding company that owned Ranger sold it to Johnnie Morris who promptly ran them off. After a non compete agreement expired they started Vexus. I think they built the plant during the non compete timeframe. Its located just down the road from the Ranger plant. So they basically are the former Ranger company with the same leadership and design engineers pre Johnnie Morris. Now that Ranger has decided to no longer make their own trailers and laid most if not all of those people off, Vexus will be the closest thing to Ranger of the past as far as quality/customer service. Ranger this year also closed their refurbish/warranty shop and laid all those people off as well. There were Ranger owners that had their boats on the waiting list as much as two years to have either warranty work on their hulls or at the owners expense getting major refurbishing done. For a lot of buyers, being able to get a factory refurbish was one of Rangers top selling points. Ranger notified them "we're sorry, we don't do that work at the factory anymore." That was even with boat owners that had firm orders/dates from Ranger to drop their boats off. I assume people who had already dropped off their boat at the factory had to go and pick them up and were not worked on. As far as the price of the Vexus glass boats, $90 K is not unheard of. I was looking at a 2018 Legend that was decked out at Ron Hoover Marine in Katy that listed for $103 K. That same year Johnnie Morris bought Legend and shut them down. No more lifetime haul warranty for Legend owners as well.

This was last year at launch basically... I'm just telling you what they showed us that day

Maybe a low number to get buyers early?

VX-20 starts at $76,435
VX-21 starts at $77,856
Like anything else, add options and the price goes up.

Yep, Ultrex or Ghost, two if not three 12 inch graphs, power poles, boat cover, there is an additional 15K real quick, I am sure I am missing a few options like hydraulic jack plate, 300R, etc, I am speaking from experience, lol.

I just rehabbed all my electronics to garmin, 3 9", force 57", livescope, all self installed came to just under 8k total retail value (I got a deal on 2 93sv plus and saved about 400 or so on livescope).

up the screen size to all 10s and you have 10k in electronics

I'm loving the high new prices, my ole 95 champion 202 is paid for, outfitted with all the latest greatest except for a repower in the near future, 200 xri efi now and want a 300xs or a 250.
used prices are reflecting new prices going up too I think.

Pretty much priced in line with everyone else. Add the options and they all can push 100k or more.

I'm loving the high new prices, my ole 95 champion 202 is paid for, outfitted with all the latest greatest except for a repower in the near future, 200 xri efi now and want a 300xs or a 250.
used prices are reflecting new prices going up too I think.


[/quote]

👍🏻 That’s my thinking as well.

True but you would expect a brand new company to start out below the top of the line boats, much like Triton, legend, and Phoenix did, get a few skins on the wall before you claim you are the second coming. Don't get me wrong, the boats are awesome but they look gaudy, I think they missed the boat on capturing a market share, I think they have a long road to hoe, if not for the tin boats they would be in big trouble, jmo.

I would also add this about Vexus. The depth of the hull is excessive for 99.2% of the water bass anglers fish. From the top of the gunwales to the bottom of the vee it is massive. It doesn't look so out of proportion on the 21' boat but on the 20 it does. I happened to be at a dealer when a nice gentleman was picking his up.

I snapped a pic. Notice how the boat dwarfs the new V8 Merc 250 and the man standing in the boat. It has the looks of a multi-species boat for the great lakes. I am not saying this makes it a bad boat. It has some great innovative features. I am just saying I do not think the overall look of the boat will appeal to the masses like Ranger, Skeeter, Triton, etc.

They will be gone in 3 years

I don't think so. They have a lot of money behind them and the folks at Vexus are not stupid. The Vexus is a good product. It is just misplaced. My guess is they realized their gaffe by the end of last year's Classic.

That hull needs to have a multi-species layout for the Great Lakes. Their metal boat lineup is awesome. If they will listen to some of the guys that fish for a living they will increase sales dramatically. I would be surprised if they have sold a dozen FG boats in Texas since March 2019 and this is a huge market for high end FG boats.

I want to see them do well. I was anxiously awaiting their arrival. Who wouldn't want to see all the old Ranger guys (and gals, Forrest Wood had 4 daughters) hit a home run after Johnny Morris raided them. I will always root for the underdogs.

I think they will only grow... Lots of money, the right contacts and unique

Like I said in my post above, this is the Forrest Woods family that is running Vexus. They ran Ranger so why are people surprised that they are making high end boats. Same people that designed the high end Ranger aluminum series are the same people designing and building Vexus's tin boats. They started off with the tin series because it was the easiest for them to get that line started. I have a 2012 Ranger and if I buy another boat it will be a Vexus. You might not like the looks or the price and Im not to crazy for the name but the quality and the reputation of standing behind their product is definitely there.

Agreed

Who ever was on the designed staff for the Fiberglass Boat has made a career and probably company ending mistake.

What a major letdown to see the Vexus Glass boats in person.

Reminds me of when the Edsel came on the market.

DAYYUM!

Maybe not THAT bad. They are better looking than a BassCat.

This whole thing started when the holding company sold Ranger to the professional quality-ruining, image-ruining, profit-maximization-only Johnny Morris. Since there was family to carry on at Ranger, I had missed the move when Ranger came to be owned by a holding company. Can someone please recount the circumstance that caused that to happen? (I wasn't watching the business news then, apparently.) That event was the chess move that started this whole sequence of events. The family should have avoided letting it get out of their control if at all possible. I've never seen such a move be good for a company.

As best I've been able to observe, everything Johnny Morris touches goes low - for the cheap. There's not a brand he bought that has been the better for it. He's getting up in years; I wonder when he will quit buying good companies so he can ruin them over time?

Fishing Holdings owned Ranger, Triton & Stratos.

https://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_123/bass-pro-ranger-triton-121114.html

https://www.platinumequity.com/news...quity-portfolio-company-ranger-boats-ann

Bass Pro acquired Fishing Holdings in Dec 2014. Randy Hopper left Ranger a year after BPS took over and took several key people with him. Randy is one of Forrest Woods' four SIL's. Keith Daffron is now president of Vexus. He is one of Forrest's grandsons.

Has anyone purchased a Ranger since the acquisition and noticed a decline in quality? Or that will admit to a decline in quality?

the holding company wanted to sell an johnny morris was the high bidder thats the way it works in the real world if you cant be a viable business someone with the funds takes over tries to streamline the operation to make it a profitable business.

that looks like the one I saw at fork

I agree with the disappointment in Vexus, I think they counted on a lot of Ranger guys jumping ship blindly.

The holding company that sold Ranger to Johnny Morris is the second holding company to own them. Forrest Wood sold Ranger to a earlier holding company around 2000 or so. The last holding company bought Ranger in 2010 timeframe. The first holding company cut corners and it showed especially in their trailers. They switched from UFP and purchased their trailer stuff from Tie Down Engineering. Big mistake. Lots of axle failures. Bad hubs, cheaper made boat covers, etc. Forrest Woods family was still basically running the company, but not calling all of the financial shots. When the last holding company bought them, they let the people running the factory call the shots and quality really improved. Trailers, etc. These people are now running Vexus. I will say that customer service was always there even though the first holding company Forrest Wood sold to lowered the quality of stuff they added to the boat. Always stood behind the customer. Ranger is not the same company and will never be that again as long as Morris still owns it. But he or his group is the owner and they need to do what they think is best for them. And they will.

I don't know about blindly but I'm pretty sure they felt like a large percentage of Ranger-faithful would follow them.

I like the air ride seats and open floor plan around consoles but can’t get past the looks

Pretty sure they started the tin boats because the non compete on the glass boats had not expired. I think they did it all wrong from the get go, sure hope they get it all worked out, don't see that happening with what they have done with the glass boats unless they make some big changes. I hope they do, I would probably be a customer, great folks, met them all at the Classic, had dinner with them.

I agree. I watched the video of them bringing out the fiberglass one for the first time and he was boasting a lot about it being the best bass boat "ever" He kept talking about their new innovative design never before seen when it has been out for a while on other boats just turned me off to his presentation. I thing the side of the boat is too large and it is just too plain ugly for me. The windshields are a "flow through" design so what is the point of having a windshield? I would never even consider buying one. Many other better bass boats on the market in my opinion. It is FAR from being the "best bass boat ever made" like he says in the video.

Look how much the air ride seats move while he is sitting in it and describing the features in the boat. How well do you think it will hold up like in 10 years?

Maybe they designed the sides of the boat so that it would be used in the Gulf Of Mexoco.

True but they use them in walleye boats and other multi species boats and hold up for years. Not sure what video you’re referring to but the prototype boats they were demoing were not the final product. I rode in the demo boat and yes, the seat seemed loose

Any idea why FLW would get in bed with a holding company? If Ranger was doing so well and "printing" money why would they give up equity and control in exchange for cash? Everyone likes to blame JM but these brands made themselves an acquisition target years ago when they started trading equity for cash. And everytime it happened they lost a little more control until they had none.

Maybe they were the greedy ones?

Or maybe they just lived their American Dream by building something with hopes that someone, someday, would pay them a lot of money for it?

Who knows, but congrats to them all and God Bless America!

Price VX20 and a Z520L and I think you will see that they are almost identical in price
In my opinion the biggest problem that Ranger has is that Cabela’s is their dealer in north Texas
When Diamond Sports gave up Ranger, Ranger lost me.
How can they be a premier product and have Cabela’s as their only dealer in north central Texas
I tried hard to to over look my last Ranger purchase from Cabela’s. I tried to talk to a salesman in Ft Worth,
Phone rang for 5 min and then it stopped ringing.Went to the store and rawer all over a Z520 for 15 min. There we 2 “salesmen” I guess they were to busy talking to each other to notice a customer
I called the Allen store and talked to a nice teenage boat salesman. When I told him what I was looking for, he replied SWEET. Unfortunately he could not give me any useful information on the oats they had in stock
Ranger will continue to sell boats but I’m ordering a VX20 next week
I test drove one last week and it was different behind the helm but at the trolling motor I was as good or better than my Z520
Say what you want about Vexus but I believe that it is a very well thought out boat with a good dealer network, something Ranger Does not have at this time

Speaking of a very well thought out boat,,,check out the Caymas. Awesome boat.

The Caymas boats do look good!

I think the only knock on the Vexus are the looks, I am sure the quality is second to none, I do look forward to riding and maybe fishing in one.

I have road in he 20 foot model and its has a great rough water ride due to the dead rise and "V" design continues to the seats. . I have a new 520C and the Vexus rigged the same is about 3miles an hour slower. It's a different ride and little heavier. I bought ranger for fishing not 80 Plus mph as I have had that, light boats blow around.

I don’t understand putting the emblems, logos and angle design on the side of the boat. It gets torn up fishing around structure.

What structure do you get up against?

I wonder what the weight difference is between your 520C and the Vexus 20? ....I get that the V costs some speed, just wondering how much as weight plays into it also.

Johnny Morris took a failing company and tried to make it profitable. Now where are those that ran ranger down oh right Vexus lmao .

Here’s mine, best rig I’ve had.

I ask the Vexus rep and he said it wasn't but couple hundred pounds but I feel its just in hull design. The ride feels kinda like an old champion due to boat runs deep in the water compared to a flatter Ranger ride that runs Higher in the water on pad. Maybe its just me. I really liked the Vexus and is extremely well built but I got a super buy on a new Loaded Ranger.

Yep, The old man still makes a awsome boat!! Nice RIde!!!

Structure like wood , brush, willows, etc that rub against the side of the boat that rip off stickers, emblems or fancy looking wakeboard boat designs

The caymas is really growing on me. ThTs color scheme with the pins is beautiful !

I was guessing that is what you would say. ALL of those things are COVER, not "structure" if you adhere to the status-quo definition of what "structure" is and what "cover" is.
Cover most often grows - it's organic.
Structure is generally the geography under the water - humps, ridges, ledges, flooded creek channels, submerged bridges and roadbeds, etc.

Flipping-Out where would this forum be without you correcting everybody's posts that you view needs correcting. Thanks for clarifying Fordntriton"s post. I sure was confused on what he meant to say.

Fished out of a 2019 Ranger 520L this weekend at Fork and all I can say is all other boats are simply pretenders.

So the quality isn't bad since the Bass Pro acquisition?

The best there is "period".

I have looked at junk baits ranger, mentioned above, up close and personal. It is a work of art. It needs scratching and he wont let me drive it but I'd say ranger is just fine. Have you noticed that every boat is compared to ranger. There is a reason for that.

Lol, yep. You could ask a generic question like what is the benefits of a hydraulic jackplate vs manual. He will tell you no one can answer correctly with out knowing your boats top speed, rpm at wot, holeshot time, trolling motor brand, size of batteries and boat color

He did win angler of the year one time, just ask him.

Fordntrition thinks he so smart, but actually he's so uninformed he has never known the difference between structure and cover. I seriously doubt he meant to say "cover". If he had, he would have defined structure correctly. But, he did not, revealing he's not as smart as he thinks he is. It's not the first stupid thing I've seen come from him - he seems quick to jump in with all his "expertise". He's a legend in his own mind.

rj, what regional AOY have you achieved?

Who gives af

Boy if I did not know better, some of these posts could be construed "as the pot calling the kettle black".

Very funny. You added "color" to the list. Funny thing is that the people with the performance knowledge to answer such a question will need some of that info, though you've comically added to it. Do you believe that setback and height have a one-size-fits-all solution? The peanut gallery should go learn a little bit and spend less time throwing peanut shells.

Seems that most boats built for the last 10 years use a lot of molded aluminum and plastic sheeting bolted, screwed or glued to the consoles, interiors, bows, gunnels and sterns. Some of it is for looks, but to me it looks like a short-cut to cover up imperfections from poor quality rigging of the steering, gauges, switches, etc..... I still like the clean look of fiberglass with minimal bedazzling.

Where did i say setback or height. I said benefits of hydraulic. Such as adjusting in rough water. Running shallow water. I was making a joke and you still did it. Lol

And I have no idea about setting up performance boats. I've never owned anything bigger than a 14ft jon boat

That's pretty good right there.

She's a beauty!

If you ever get over toward Sam Rayburn and need someone to fill the back deck just let me know!

Nice!!

Will do sir, hadn’t been over there since TTT in June, love that lake.

That shut him up, at least for a bit

That's not going to happen.

Very funny. You added "color" to the list. Funny thing is that the people with the performance knowledge to answer such a question will need some of that info, though you've comically added to it. Do you believe that setback and height have a one-size-fits-all solution? The peanut gallery should go learn a little bit and spend less time throwing peanut shells.[/quote]
Where did i say setback or height. I said benefits of hydraulic. Such as adjusting in rough water. Running shallow water. I was making a joke and you still did it. Lol[/quote]

That shut him up, at least for a bit [/quote]

I guess he is busy playing with his peanuts

With Vexus new Infusion process i would bet the weight is about the same, with infusion you can build it lighter and stronger.

Those Caymas boats look sharp! There are only 8,000 new fiberglass bass boats sold each year. Great to see some new manufactures entering the market. Hopefully that'll help put some downward pressure on price.

The Vexus glass rigs are the Pontiac Aztek of the boating world.

Ha, good one Cameron.

Maybe we'll see one getting towed by a Lincoln Blackwood

That is what Chevrolet used as a model for their new 1/2 Ton trucks.

Someone post a picture of the Walter White in a Vexus

Prices ain’t NEVER coming back down. They can’t be made in America any cheaper than they are now.

Thats what they should have done. Looks like a lowrider pimp mobil of bass boats.

I seriously considered the Vexus VX20/21. Had a test ride. Rode well. I have had 5 Rangers previously. The last was a Z521C which is a very good boat. Went with a Bass Cat Lynx which was 10k less than the Vexus. Vexus dealer would not budge at all on the price and I had reservations on paint versus gelcoat and could not get good answers on boat weight and fuel tank access. Super satisfied with the Lynx. One the best rough water boats out there, very solid boat, premium materials and quality, and better on the troller than the Z521C.

Great choice!

There is a well equipped 19 ft Vexus for sale in the Boats for sale site here

I guess they are selling some, found this on their website, dream room https://vexusboats.com/dream-room/vx/

Looked at the Vx at north Texas marine. I think there are badazz.

I heard they are making some changes and maybe a new model, be interesting to see what they change.

Make it look like a Legend and I am in

the aluminum boats look similar

Get rid of the gaud awful handrail. Rest of the boat doesn't look bad.

And the big chrome piece on the side, gaud it looks like a hot wheels

Had to visit my Ranger dealer 2 weeks ago to pick up a part. Had a new Vagina on the lot. Not sure how long JM is gonna have a Ranger dealer selling the Vagina rigs on the same lot. Gave it a good looking over. Butt ugly. Handrail looks like moon ship [censored]. Only thing I liked is the fender storage compartment to store a rag. LOL

Sooooooo much going on here

What I’ve gathered from this thread: Ranger guys hate vexus and old guys hate anything modern/different. Got it.

Ranger will be gone soon...

Not the case here. You might consider me an old guy having owned 28 new bass boats since 1981 including 3 new Rangers. I like new & innovative designs. Vexus has some cool features that no other boat at this time is offering. Things like USB ports, adjustable air ride driver & passenger seats. I don't like gaudy, over the top bolt/stick on stuff.

A good example would be putting a two foot tall spoiler on the trunk of a Honda CRV.

Nailed it Ken. For me to be a buyer this is what will need to change, grills and rails gone, no painted hull ( this is one of the changes that I was told about ) , better performance, if I have to have a 300 R that is fine but the boat needs to be capable of mid 70's loaded.

folks said ranger would be gone when wrmg purchased it funny they are still selling a lot of boats an still according to registration numbers .

The vexus looks ok to me, the handle sure is not needed but its better looking than the handle on bass cat boats. I like the solid color but definitely would not want that louver on there, that would get snagged on all kinds of wood and branches. It appears its bolted on which is a bummer, de badged would look good.

I ordered the CX21Pro. I should have it next week. It will be on Fork as that where I play.

We will need to see pics when you get her!

Ranger made some cool hats...I can't picture a cool Vexus hat in my mind...they will never make it.

Sure will... It will be Platinum with Tungsten accents and Purple Onyx pins... I'll be driving to Alabama to pick it up. I Couldn't find a dealer in Texas that was willing to cut the deal I needed.

They will be out of business in 3 years

The hats are great so they’ll make it

I like a good patch hat

They are definitely in scramble mode, supposed to be some major design and build (as was mentioned with them going to gel coat instead of paint) changes.

My pos I pick up Saturday.

Had a 2018 521 L, now have a 2020 521L, Quality is the same if not better. Also has some new features.

Their aluminum rigs are the best I have ever seen, I think they should just copy that design and make a glass one, nice rig !

I agree. Mostly. Maybe not the “best”, but high up the list for sure. The glass boats are great boats, just ugly.

You do realize that Vexus is operated by the Forrest Wood family that ran Ranger until they were sold to Mr. Morris. Randy Hopper who is the late Forest Wood's son in law is the President. Many of the Ranger employees went to work for them. Ranger now no longer makes their own trailers so those people or many of them are now at Vexus. Also Ranger just closed their warranty/refurbish shop and layed those people off as well. The Vexus plant is a brand new state of the art facility just right down the road from the original Ranger plant. So they are going to have some issues Im sure, but if they properly educate their dealers about the people who are building the boats, the perception of them being unestablished should not be an issue. But that's just my opinion of course.