what boat to go with?

Hey guys/gals! Been shopping around for my first v-drive for the past few months. There are so many options out there and so many manufacturers putting out good products that its pretty hard to make a decision. I am looking to spend between 40-50k and am looking for something with as low of hours as possible. The local mastercraft dealer has a couple of used x2's in imaculate condition around that 200 hour mark for 47-49k, and the local malibu dealer has a couple used vlx's with 100-150s for around the 50-53k mark. I have been putting most my attention towards either MC or Malibu but am finding it hard to decide which one to go with. Any opinions and information would be sweet! We do alot of wakeboarding, but have been getting into surfing more and more as well. But most of all we love to chill out on the lake with a bunch of friends relaxing and sipping on beverages!

Sean, (assuming you are up in northern Sask.) Alberta Marine in Nanton, AB, carries Sangers. They have a new V210 and a V215. It's a good time of the year to try to buy as their year end is December 31. Of course the test drive is impossible but the Mercruiser engine can be serviced anywhere and you don't have to import. The dealers personal boat is a green D215 that probably has minimal hours on it. You should be able to get a really good deal on it as he's had it listed for quite a while.
The Malibu and MC are easier to resell.

Yep, im up in Meadow Lake area of northern Saskatchewan. I have looked at Alberta marines website a few times checking out their listings, and have a couple of buddies running Sangers that love them. Another reason i am leaning towards MC or Malibu tho is because there is a dealer with a couple hours drive from where i am (saskatoon). From what i have heard both dealers have pretty good reputations and have been good to deal with so far..

Stick with the MC or Bu. Life is too short...

I would tend to lean towards the VLX because of the bigger stock ballast, wedge and more room between that and an X2. I might choose a new Sanger V215 over either though.

I will probably get slammed by the non MB guys but here is a dealer in Alberta that has 2 brand new 21' TWB's for ~55. They will be bigger inside then either hte X2 or the VLX, ride better in rough water then either, throw a better stock wakeboard wake then either, throw a better stock surf wake then either and from what people have said the quality is really good. The ballast is also gravity fed so it is much quicker to fill/empty.

http://www.gilligansboats.ca/invento...er=Price%20Asc

Being an MC owner myself I would go Vlx all day against an X2. Being north of border I am guessing a test drive isn't an option but I think if you drove both it would be no question on which and again I am an MC guy. Put an X15 against the bu this and that's a different story.

I would also encourage a Sanger 215 in the mix.

There are a few used X15's around in the 50's. Think Martin Motorsports has a couple.

There is an 08 VLX with 105 hours on it at wizard lake marine. The boat is absolutely MINT! They are asking 53900 for it and im sure a guys could get them down a bit more as the winter wears on. Ya that is the crappy thing about being up here in the great white north (although its not to white this winter) is that test drives are out of the question until early may. And by early may alot of the used boats may have been sold already. So probably going to be making my decision more based upon experiences of other peeps, and talking to dealers and doing research. Do like the sangers as well, but have kinda been leaning towards a MC or Malibu since the start. Plan on having this boat for a long time and want to make sure i do it up right!

will have to look into the sangers a little more closely tho! seems like there are a few guys that are fans of them on here, and i do have a couple of buddies that own them and are very happy with them as well.

Of you plan on keeping it the X15 will beat the pants off that X2 and is a much more comparable boat to the bu vlx size wise. I would classify the x2 as a recreational board sports boat. The Vlx and X15 along with the Sanger 215 are more core boardsport boats. With the wake characteristics rivaling the big boys ie the bigger boats.

Keeping the boat for a while means progressing with it. The X2 can leave some people wanting more of a wake in some cases......The other 3 are hard to outgrow.

Who would of thought i'd find you on this site. Yeah I was influenced from this site to get my sanger v215 and been a good boat put 50 hrs on this summer just doesnt have the bling or curb appeal of the mc or malibu. Wake to wake tho beats it for price, I was running 3000lbs at times this summer and havent seen a better surf wake around here.

My 2012 MB 23 TWB is for sale that is very close to that price

How many hours are on that 23 wb, Ian?

I would def go with the vlx. my first new boat was a vlx, i was really looking at MC,(nothing agaist mc) but in my area a lot of the mc owners had very little to say positive about there reliability, so bu it was. now i have moving into centurion, because we surf alot more now then in the past. Good luck the vlx is a great ride

22 hrs

Ya i am definetely leaning towards a VLX. I have never really spoke to anyone who had a bad thing to say about bu's. Probably going to wait till the end of january/early february to pull the trigger on anything tho. Keep shopping around and listening to what ppl have to say in the mean time.

Originally Posted by AC4life

I have never really spoke to anyone who had a bad thing to say about bu's.

Oh, never spoken to a MC sales rep then, ha ha.

haha, i was refering to people that arent on the MC sales team, But you are definetely right, im sure they would have different opinions

Nautiques are right up there with mastercraft and malibu I wouldnt rule those boats out either. Have such a solid reputation. All 3 of those boats with similar options price I would choose the boat with the lowest hours and best shape.

Keep MB in mind. They also rank up with MC, Nautique, and Bu, with several better features including better wake, huge ballast that fills in 60 seconds, and some of the better styling I've seen. They may not have touchscreens or lots of fancy buttons but that just means generally less problems. You'd love a F21 Tomcat.

Originally Posted by MChase

Keep MB in mind. They also rank up with MC, Nautique, and Bu, with several better features including better wake, huge ballast that fills in 60 seconds, and some of the better styling I've seen. They may not have touchscreens or lots of fancy buttons but that just means generally less problems. You'd love a F21 Tomcat.

Mb's are great boats but I wouldnt class them with nautique mastercraft or malibu. More the same class as sanger,centurion,moomba, or other boats in the same price range. (flame suit on)

I have looked at a lot of Nautiques over the past few months and they are beautiful boats, and i have always slotted them in the same class as Malibu and MC. I have heard lots about MB's but have never had any first hand experience with them. Not a huge fan of the way they look tho to be completely honest. And looks go a long way! There is also no local dealer which plays a part as well. Where did you buy your sanger brendon?

chase is back!!!!

Bought it in sylvan lake and the boat came from Alberta Marine in Nanton, AB. If your looking to spend 50k I would be going with the master craft, malibu, or nautique tho only reason I went with sanger is for the price I paid I would of been having to look at high hour 400+ 1999-2002's so i opted for a low hour (130) 2006 with less options, not as great looks but solid wake.

i am not familiar with mb, none in my area, but I think we all have our favorities, Its hard to make a jugement as to what is or is not equal in build. i.e bu is to mc is to nautique. or mooba is to centurion etc etc. They all have there specific specialties. The materials, fit and finish have alot to do with what you expect from the feel of the boat. so, i loved my bu's but i also love my centurion. different layout, plus's and minus's but still all great boats. Try and think about what you really want to do with it and where you will take it. the conditions of the water are u in (rough, glass etc) Its hard to bash any of them, but after you own it, you may wish you looked at all the options and what you really plan on doing with it. i ended up surfing alot because our lake is blown out by 11am. So while our vlx make an ok surf wake, it required bags all over the place and it was not forgiving in rough water, the enzo rocks for surfing and rough water. It still has a great wakeboard wake and I am not getting any younger, so the bling starts to fade. i just ordered an new 244 enzo just to have the extra space in the boat, not for any other reason, so as my needs change, so will the boat. Hope this helps good luck

Originally Posted by MChase

Keep MB in mind. They also rank up with MC, Nautique, and Bu, with several better features including better wake, huge ballast that fills in 60 seconds, and some of the better styling I've seen. They may not have touchscreens or lots of fancy buttons but that just means generally less problems. You'd love a F21 Tomcat.

You just keep telling yourself that. Classing a Nautique to an MB is Kia to Benz.

Originally Posted by Txjole

You just keep telling yourself that. Classing a Nautique to an MB is Kia to Benz.

You are about to be up to your elbows in MB pumpers.... Haha good luck. I agree though.

Originally Posted by Txjole

You just keep telling yourself that. Classing a Nautique to an MB is Kia to Benz.

Nautique is like a Kia and MB is like a Benz? Haha. I am sure that is not what you meant but still funny. That being said I would argue that you get more then what you paid with a Kia and far less then what you paid with a Benz. Benz owners must really love over paying for a car that is going to be worth 1/4 of what it was brand new in 5 years. You can get a loaded v8 Hyundai Genesis that is 95% the car the S500 is for half the price. In 5 years there is probably only a 20% difference in price. Who would want to do that though, Hyundai's are uncool.

Not to piss off everybody that hates to hear about MB but here goes. There is a lot of things the MB does better then Nautique.

Hull layups: I am guessing they use the same materials, similar techniques, thicknesses,etc.. Not sure either one has a significant advantage.
Drivetrains: both use PCM so no advantage.
Stock Ballast: hands down MB, twice as much in less then half the time.
Stock wakeboard wake: MB hands down.
Loaded wakeboard wake: pretty close to even.
stock surf wake: no doubt MB
Loaded Surf wake: edge to MB
Interior space compared to overall length of boat: MB by a huge margin. The 21 MB is probably closer in interior space to a 236 then a 210.
Rough water ride: MB
Seating options:Nautique although I don't care about that and would rather have a clean simple interior.
Bling:Nautique but it probably isn't as big a margin as most think.
Technology:the Nautique because of the LCD screen, not much else.
Reliability:yet to be determined but seeing how the use the same powerplants that part of it is the same. I would venture that the MB will be more reliable because it uses tried and true more simple ballast, guages/screen.
Price: 21twb around 60k loaded, 210 around 80-90k loaded. Huge advantage to the MB
Resale: probably about the same if you consider it in a % loss which is the only way to compare accurately.
Name recognition: Nautique
Fit and Finish: I am not sure on this but the edge would go slightly to the Nautique.
Tower/Racks: pretty even, just different designs but not sure either has a big advantage over the other.

In "my opinion" you get more boat then the Nautique at any price and to get it for 25% less is just a big bonus.

OP, sorry for that. It sounds like you don't have an MB dealer and having a local dealer is important to you. In that case I would lean towards a VLX over an X2 easily. As for a new V215 vs a couple year old VLX that would eb a tough call. I would probably go with the slightly used VLX because a big portion of the depreciation has probably set in. The boat will probably be a little plusher as well. I also like the wedge.

Originally Posted by Nick911

You are about to be up to your elbows in MB pumpers.... Haha good luck. I agree though.

Thats fine every year they pump another brand, next year it will be that aluminum one is the best thing to ever hit the water. I will stick with my 4th Nautique and the 85 years of company history behind it. Not all boat are bad, but not all boats are Nautique quality either. Warranty is one sign of that.

nick, forget "elbows deep", sean is has officially been MB'd and is now eyeballs deep.

Sean, I know you are set on a used bu or mc, but you really should get a sunsetter pontoon boat because there are a lot of things sunsetter does better than a nautique:

hull layups: sunsetter has no hulls, just aluminum pontoons, so no worries about hull defects, and aluminum is the new fiberglass
drivetrains: sunsetter has both outboards and inboard/outdrives with 7 motors to choose from, nautique only has one choice, inboards with 2 motor options
stock ballast: nautique has about 1k stock ballast, but I personally would rather have a bunch of fat chicks for weight better than pumps and switches and tanks, so sunsetter wins this category too.
stock wakeboard wake: nautique, but if you are a good wakeboarder, you do not need a wake.
loaded wakeboard wake: nautique
stock surf wake: nautique
loaded surf wake: nautique
interior space: hands down sunsetter, the 21 foot sunsetter is probably closer to a 55' school bus, or an aircraft carrier.
rough water ride: sunsetter
seating options: nautique has a lot of options, but I prefer the "no options" seating of the sunsetter.
bling: nautique, but with the money you save buying a sunsetter pontoon, you can load you and your chick up with a butt load of jewelry....bling bling.
technology: nautique
reliability: sunsetter, mainly because of all nautiques bling and pumps and switches and screens and moving parts and cool options.
price: sunsetter, hands down
resale: probably equal if we are using %'s
name recognition: sunsetter: everybody knows what a "sunsetter pontoon boat" is, not everybody knows what a nautique is.
fit and finish: nautique
tower/racks: even, personal preference.

objectively anyone can see that you get more boat with a sunsetter than a nautique.

oh yeah, I vote you go with a vlx. I get so distracted and excited thinking about and talking about sunsetter pontoon boats, i wish there was a forum for those boats so I could talk about them everyday :/

[QUOTE=polarbill;1722233]Nautique is like a Kia and MB is like a Benz? ETC ETC.../QUOTE]


Brett, normally you add a lot to the discussion, but you must have missed the part where the OP said he doesn't like the looks of the MB and I for one agree with him. They look like a four winns or other runabout. I won't argue where they may be better(or worse).

It is my opinion that you should get freakin STOKED just to look at your boat so I think we should allow this string to go MB-less from here on.

[QUOTE=lifetimewarranty;1722286]

Originally Posted by polarbill

Nautique is like a Kia and MB is like a Benz? ETC ETC.../QUOTE]


Brett, normally you add a lot to the discussion, but you must have missed the part where the OP said he doesn't like the looks of the MB and I for one agree with him. They look like a four winns or other runabout. I won't argue where they may be better(or worse).

It is my opinion that you should get freakin STOKED just to look at your boat so I think we should allow this string to go MB-less from here on.

My comment was more geared as a direct reply to the poster claiming that an MB is a Kia and The Nautique is a Benz. It wasn't really meant to sway the OP as I noted about not having a close dealer and that appears to be important to him. I forgot about the part where he doesn't like the look of them but again it wasn't really meant towards the OP.

No worries Bret. Your info is always right on point.

For sure having a dealer nearby is another super important detail...