2012 Malibu 23LSV VS. MC X-30 w/ Build Pics

Travis, I would take a better built boat with a shaky tower than a lesser quality boat with a 'more sturdy' tower. The illusions and their past towers are not without their faults as well. Not to mention that although the wedge is a great design on paper, although I have not owned hundreds of malibus, my family and some of my best friends have had nothing but problems with power and manual wedges, which Malibu has hung us out to dry over (have not used floating wedge though). If you plan on buying a boat and keeping it for 10 years, that extra 10-20k (depending on dealer, options etc...) becomes quickly justified in my mind. My cousins MC made it to 1700 hours with only routine maintenance, while our malibu (650 hours) has been an absolute ****spreader, with obvious design flaws and construction issues.

Never said that Malibus fall apart, read my post again.

I am not a fan of the power tower either.

A comparably equipped x-15 is nowhere near 20-25k more, but if for some reason you are telling the truth, you made the right call with your VLX. 0-7k is more accurate.

The VLX is an awesome boat, but when Malibu and their dealers expect to sell them for $70-$80k without any major improvements over 7 years other than some fancy dash work and a power wedge, I feel like it should be mentioned.

Originally Posted by alans

The VLX is an awesome boat, but when Malibu and their dealers expect to sell them for $70-$80k without any major improvements over 7 years other than some fancy dash work and a power wedge, I feel like it should be mentioned.

how much was Mastercraft X-Stars for from 2004-2011??? I must have missed the huge redesign that happened between those years other than a fancier dash and interior.

Originally Posted by bruizza

how much was Mastercraft X-Stars for from 2004-2011??? I must have missed the huge redesign that happened between those years other than a fancier dash and interior.

Brian, he's a sales guy for S&W, pretty much anything he's going to say is complete BS. For him it's ok that the xstar didn't change for 7 years, because it's a mastercraft.... Any other boat maker does that and they are terrible. That boat dealer is a joke and only hurts mastercraft in the colorado area with their lack of knowledge and terribel sales tactics, they seriously are the best sales people for all the other good dealers here like Tommys and WWS.

Originally Posted by alans

Never said that Malibus fall apart, read my post again.

I am not a fan of the power tower either.

A comparably equipped x-15 is nowhere near 20-25k more, but if for some reason you are telling the truth, you made the right call with your VLX. 0-7k is more accurate.

The VLX is an awesome boat, but when Malibu and their dealers expect to sell them for $70-$80k without any major improvements over 7 years other than some fancy dash work and a power wedge, I feel like it should be mentioned.

Not sure where you are located but out here on the west coast the X-15 is $20-25k more expensive than a VLX. My local MC dealer was selling the X-15 for $85k+ taxes and fees. $20k more than I paid for my VLX. There was no negotiation, this was the price, the X-25 was $95k + taxes and fees.

The VLX in 2009 had a complete hull re-design, and body style change, in 2010 they introduced the G3 Tower. They also offer the VTX/VLX/LSV with two different hull designs (diamond hull), I believe your statement is not correct, the VLX has changed over the past 7 years other than a fancy dash and power wedge.

I have spent quite a bit of time in the X-15, great boat, but definitely has its problems and issues. My point was MC is not a "flawless, bulletproof design", they have design flaws like all the other manufacturers including Malibu.

I just felt your statements were inaccurate regarding the Malibu build quality. Its my opinion, and I can only speak for what experience I personally have with Mastercraft and Malibu on the water.

Originally Posted by hco

Travis, I would take a better built boat with a shaky tower than a lesser quality boat with a 'more sturdy' tower. The illusions and their past towers are not without their faults as well. Not to mention that although the wedge is a great design on paper, although I have not owned hundreds of malibus, my family and some of my best friends have had nothing but problems with power and manual wedges, which Malibu has hung us out to dry over (have not used floating wedge though). If you plan on buying a boat and keeping it for 10 years, that extra 10-20k (depending on dealer, options etc...) becomes quickly justified in my mind. My cousins MC made it to 1700 hours with only routine maintenance, while our malibu (650 hours) has been an absolute ****spreader, with obvious design flaws and construction issues.

Dan, I can only speak for what I have experienced after 142 hours in the 2011 VLX. Boat seems rock solid, but maybe I am in for future problems and surprises. Coming from a different builder, the VLX had obvious engineering improvements from what I had seen on my prior boat.

I am definitely not saying Malibu is a "perfect" design, my point and opinion was it is a quality boat, with a good price point value, and I feel Malibu does not "lack quality" in there build process. I would love for Alan to give some examples of what he is referring to "lack of quality" in there construction and build. I have climbed all through my VLX and dont see any build quality issues.

Originally Posted by hco

Travis, I would take a better built boat with a shaky tower than a lesser quality boat with a 'more sturdy' tower. The illusions and their past towers are not without their faults as well. Not to mention that although the wedge is a great design on paper, although I have not owned hundreds of malibus, my family and some of my best friends have had nothing but problems with power and manual wedges, which Malibu has hung us out to dry over (have not used floating wedge though). If you plan on buying a boat and keeping it for 10 years, that extra 10-20k (depending on dealer, options etc...) becomes quickly justified in my mind. My cousins MC made it to 1700 hours with only routine maintenance, while our malibu (650 hours) has been an absolute ****spreader, with obvious design flaws and construction issues.

What issues have you had with the power wedges? I've had zero issues with mine, and I really haven't known anyone who has either.
In the end, just like cars, some boats are going to run forever and some are going to have issues. This is true across all boat makers.

Originally Posted by cjh1669

What issues have you had with the power wedges? I've had zero issues with mine, and I really haven't known anyone who has either.
In the end, just like cars, some boats are going to run forever and some are going to have issues. This is true across all boat makers.

My issues have been they flat out don't work. Also, nothing like being stranded in your lake late at night because the power wedge won't come all the way up, so the boat wont turn on (one hell of a safety feature right?). Also have had issues with the actuator's constantly breaking. On my friend's boats with power wedges, we just don't use them anymore.

Originally Posted by hco

My issues have been they flat out don't work. Also, nothing like being stranded in your lake late at night because the power wedge won't come all the way up, so the boat wont turn on (one hell of a safety feature right?). Also have had issues with the actuator's constantly breaking. On my friend's boats with power wedges, we just don't use them anymore.

Are you taling that they mechanically don't work or that they don't do the job they are supposed to?
Like I said mine has never had a problem, and I haven't heard of any real problems other than people breaking them off, and not calibrating them correctly. I honestly think they do a great job of adding a lip to malibus rampy wake.