Mastercraft VS Malibu 2001-2003

I am about ready to buy a newer boat and I need some help! Is there anyone out there that could help me compare the two boats during these years 01-03( my price range) Try not to be too bias I know there are some dealers that frequently push their Make and as long as you give pro's and cons of both that is fine. compare things like wake size, onboard ballast, boat handling, cost?? somebody step in here you guys are the experts. Any drivers out there?

Well without opening a can of worms, here it goes. I have an 02 VLX, my sister has an 04 X-2. I like both boats, but here's the breakdown for me. Both boats throw great wakes, but I don't like how fast I have to ride behind her's (26 mph @ 80-85') versus mine (22 mph @ 80'). We always put extra ballast in her's, but I ride mine stock w/wedge. Her's has better board racks. My interior has held up better. She's had a handful of minor problems, I've had virtually none. Her boat has more bling. My boat handles better especially at slower speeds. My boat is bigger inside. Her boat has removable carpet. Basically, I like my boat better, and now after a couple years of ownership, so does she.

I agree with shawn. Both are good boats. I have a MC and I love it. My buddy has an 04 VLX. I love it too. When it comes down to it you have to drive it and you have to ride behind it. So my suggestion is look around drive them both and you make the decision. You can not go wrong with either boat. Hope that helps.

It would help if you identified which boats you are looking at since each company produces about 15 different models. It would also help if you discussed how you will be using the boat, ie, how many people etc...

I used to have an 03 VLX, my buddy and 03 x-2. Both boats provided a lot of good riding. I think wakes were equal and loaded things fairly close, with the VLX having more bow rise than the x-2. I liked the interior and layout of the VLX much better. I will be on my 3rd VLX this year, my MC buddy is making the switch over to BU.

All good info this is what I am looking for. I don't really know what modles because I am buying used so I am looking at boats around 36,000 and trying to figure out which ones I want to pursue. I can't check out every boat at that price advertised or i will spend too much $$ traveling around. I have cetain things I want. PP, tower speakers & good stereo internal ballast v-drive. After that I am looking price hours garage kept ect.

You have been a member on this site since 2004 and you don't know about the "modles"

Go buy a bayliner and quite trying to start a boat bitching contest.

I don't think you understood my responce. I am looking at buying any boat that is priced around 36000. That would include a bunch of models X-9, X-2 so on and so forth. So I don't know what specific models to compare? I do know the malibu will probably be the VLX although I think the XTI 23' would be good for my family but there is not many of them for sale. So in other words I don't know which to modles to compare because I haven't picked the boat yet! Have 5 in the family tube and wakeboard mostly

Paul, give the guy a break. I wakeboarded behind an i/o for 5 years and knew nothing about any of the inboard boats until I started looking for an inboard a few months ago.

Tim, they are both great boat companies. I would recommend doing some searches on this site. There is a wealth of information. I just bought a VLX and it took me a couple of months to figure out what I wanted. You need to look at least look at the boats, if not drive and ride behind them. Good luck!

You probably know all the following, but anyways:

A good place to start would be to decide what size of boat you need. Generally you can look at the 21' boats or the 23-24' boats. For wakeboarding, that really narrows down your choices in the Malibu line to the 21' Wakesetter VLX or the 23' Wakesetter LSV. I am not as familiar with the entire MC line so I won't comment. But for 36k, I know you can get quite a nice used boat. The VLX from that time frame is the same hull as the current V-ride and throws a nice wake. The 2005 and newer VLX's are even nicer, but will be a little more expensive than 36k. The LSV hull changed in 2004 and continues on the same hull now. The old LSV hull was good, but the new one is even better. I paid 42k for my 2004 WS LSV with 107 hours last Sept. A friend paid 40k for another 2004 WS LSV with about 130 hours last November/December.

It really comes down to which one boat you can find a better deal on. Both are good boats, but they are different in handle, interior, and wake. I would think after you drive both, you will like one better than the other. I have owned both, and had no issues with malibus while I did have a few with MC. So, I prefer Malibu, but they are both a quality product.

Thanks guys for the input. My boat sells this week so in a month I will have a new boat just in time for summer..

Shawn, please explain how your sisters MC X2 has removable carpet in 04.

2004 X-2's has removable carpet just in the bow

I am not a fan of the XTi for wakeboarding. Friends of mine have the 21 and 23 versions, been in them a lot. They are difficult to weight, worse than a standard direct drive. The driver is also somewhat socially isolated from the rest of the crew. If you have a family with little kids, a standard V-drive layout is going to work best. You can keep an eye / hand on the kids a lot easier.

I agree with the above comments re VLX vs X2.

You guys are great thanks for all the input I have about a week until my boat sells so then I will pick out boats for sale and go drive them ect.