Tige or Malibu boat?

Check this out.

http://www.wakeorigin.com/general/is-malibu-developing-a-brand-new-model-for-2009/

If you can't beat em join em right... Look at the gel coat, looks awefully like malibu as well.

if you can't beat em' copy em'.

You boys are a little late. Perhaps you'd like to jump in on this thread instead!

http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/3183/593076.html?1214506294

FYI "Malibu's" tower was first offered to Tige over Malibu. Tige turned it down.

The only thing that bothers me about it, is that where I am from there are few Malibu's. It's nice to have a unique looking boat out there. Now I have more competition!!! lol!

I still don't like the new Tige tower but it looks better than the new Malibu tower...

Wow, just sad. I'm usually not a big fan of all the complaining that goes on around here about so and so copied so and so, but that is ridiculous. I saw the other thread with the tower, but the boat above is such a knock off it's sad. Even the bow and windshield is almost identical.

I HATE TIGE.

all they do is copy Malibu with the tower, and Mastercraft with the pickle-fork nose.

Jack...you are a grumpy 14 year old. You hate every brand. On the I/O thread you hated Chaparral, now you hate Tige...what do you like? Take a chill and enjoy wakeboarding and what every boat has to offer.

Well blame Tige for accepting the design. They didn't build it. Metcraft built it and pulled a fast one by offering it elsewhere without telling Malibu.

i like every company that can come up with their own ideas. like in 2003 Mastercraft had the first pickle-fork nose, malibu with their tower. moomba with their affordable boats. i dont like company that are just smoke and mirrors, chaparral puts a tower on a i/o and calls it a better wake boat that an inboard? to me thats not ok. tige cant come up with their own ideas?

i apologize Justin, i'm having a grumpy day.

This was the first similarity that I actually saw...right after the Malibu-esque tower...and the Malibu-esque gel coat scheme...heck, even the graphic is similar (and a complete departure from the graphic in their other look-a-like boat)-

2006 Centurion Elite-V

Scott, Tige's had that gel coat scheme shown above since 2006. Actually Tige had the same straight angle like shown on the centurion since at least 2003... I think it's actually from like 01.

(Message edited by Tanner on June 26, 2008)

And where did the owner of Tige come from?

Oooo oooo can I play?

Director of Sales and Marketing for guess who...

Skiers Choice (Supra/Moomba)!







But guess who else (since it never gets brought up here).....


MasterCraft, and Malibu

... hmmmmm something tells me he took what he liked about all these brands and put them into one boat. Sounds like a hell of a smart way to build something if you ask me.

(Message edited by Tanner on June 26, 2008)

VLX,

From my understanding, Metcraft offered the new tower to Bu first and the owner of Bu said that they would get other foreign interest to build a tower. So the owner of Metcraft went to Tige and that is when Tige said "yes". Don't blame Metcraft for doing what any other business would do.

Tanner- My apologies, you are correct. I don't pay a ton of attention to Tige so when we saw that pic at my shop we immediately thought of the Centurion since we have carried that line of boats up until recently.

Jack obviously knows nothing about boats by saying Tige copied MC on the pickle fork. sure MC was the first to come out with it for inboards. you might even consider Sanger to be the first ones with the inboard pickle fork with their old race style pickle forks. pickle fork boats have been around for a long time just not in inboards till MC brought it out in 03. as far as the tower goes. i love it. i can't wait to put my 09 on order. it doesn't move at all when a boarder is riding. the built in lights are great, the swivel tow peace and light is a great idea and the grab holes give it a good look and are just a good idea. there are a lot of people that talk bad about tige and i really don't care about it. everyone has their own opinion and i understand that. i personally dislike the look of the Nautique's and thats ok because that my opinion. you all should really take a look at the new tige's when you have a chance. there are a lot of changes that the customers asked for so tige made them happen. it'll give you a new respect for Tige.

i have been a tige hater for years and their new boats deffiantely has changed my opinions of them. i cant wait to get the chance to get out behind one and take a ride inside one as well

The Tige might look good but, There is a reason the Tige is 20K to 40K less then a Bu or MC

I don't want to sound like a boat snob.I mean no dis respect to anyone with a Tige.

Good for Tige to go towards a look that they know will sell.
I think the boats look pretty good.

This thread is getting dangerously close to a bash session. Yes I own a Tige and I have to say I love it. In 2001 when I bought mine, it was one of the BEST fit and finish boats out there- and BU and MC didn't even come close. Today is a different story in my mind though- MC has really stepped up their game- the X-Star ( again my opinion) is by far the best overall boat I have been in- of course the only one I have been in is Travis Moyes custom X-star ( which totally rocks). Malibu is probably the most over-hyped boat out there. They throw decent wakes, but to throw down the kind of cash they want for one is cruel and wrong. With that said- I am not really all that in love with the new Tiges either- haven't been since the introduction of the 22VE- that was a good boat, but the new stuff just FEELS cheap. Graphics look kind of half-way thought through and the interiors are weak. Tige builds one of the best hulls in the business but come on guys, hire some better graphic designers and look to leap-frog the competition- not just match it. Sorry- like I said-Bash bash bash...

One comment though- if you don't OWN a boat ( and I don't mean your parents) watch what you say- these are VERY expensive toys and I doubt very much if anyone would turn down a pull behind a boat they "hate" - right jason- your profile says it all!

Jason, if you have the chance, come out to the event that we are having on July 19 at Rollings Resevior if you don't hit the Spanky Beaver event that weekend. There will be a few models and on of your favorite professional riders there. The boat that we have chosen to tow the riders is probably going to be the RZ2 with 2.5k-4K of ballast in it.

will- if you think the new stuff feels cheap i'm guessing you haven't been in a 09 yet. they changed their upholstery agian. i forgot when company makes it but it is a 32oz. upholstery which is a lot better than the old stuff. the new dashed are great too with the new 3.5 inch LCD screen in the middle. it looks real nice. the bling factor was stepped up all over the boat too inside and out.

Anthony, what is that reason that Tige's and Supra's continually undercut Malibu and Mastercraft? All 4 make great boats.

Anthony yes there is a reason why Tige is less than MC or BU. Just like there is a reason why a lexus GS or IS is cheaper than a 700 series BMW. Does not make them •••••• cars. There is status in owning a 700 does it have more bling yeah does it make the lexus a piece of crap no its a GREAT car that lasts forever with a luxury ride. I think there is status in owning a newer X Star,VLX, or CC. Not everyone can afford that status and want to go out and have fun with their family.

I think Tige has really realized that they can basically make the same boat as MC and BU and sell it a decent price. I think that MC and BU should realize what's going on and in the next few years should try and compete with the companies that are starting to make nicer affordable boats for an economy that is looking to still have fun but doesn't want to fork over more than what they paid for their first house. I'm not partial to any boat, I like the one's that run all the time personally. I admit there are a lot of similarities in the looks department but that happens in any industry especially with cars and trucks. Try telling toyota that there tundra is a pos only bc they have making full size trucks for less than a decade. All in all just don't hate on what other people have especially if you don't have the joy of owning your OWN...

my opinions are mine and that's why i love this country

ok I just recently bought a 2008 23lsv bu and i think some of you are mistaken by the fact that tige is much cheaper... its not I compared prices between the two for a month and I spent less on my 23 than Rz4 and about the same as for the Rz2

these boats are still very expencive and tige forgets to tell you about the trailer that you also have to buy on top of the price shown for the boat. imo tige has progresed very fast but its almost like they are trying to move along with their boats so fast they are missing their own style to their boats

hey then maybe will have to recall all their boats too....

A tige is a tige. A malibu is a malibu. A mastercraft is a mastercraft. A nautique is a nautique. And so on.

Even if they look similar, their still not the same.

Cody,

Tige makes and sells Tige BOATS to dealers, not trailers. It's dealer preference whether or not the dealer wants to package the boat and trailer together. All our boats show boat, trailer and the total. If the customer does not want the trailer, as many dont, we will back it out.

Jason, I was with you on not really appreciating Tige boats for awhile. Man have they stepped it up! Copy Shmoppy! Their new boats are headed in the right direction. We took out a Z1 and loaded her up, that wake was a little wide for a long rope but damn it had good shape and a ton of pop.

It always blows me away how much people care about dissing other brands than what they purchased. It's a wake boat, there are only so many ways you can build em. The forward swoop tower is brilliant, it eliminates tower supports blocking vision. To say it's a copy is just dumb. I like the stuff I own, but to call it out and say it sucks because you bought something else is just close minded and sad. Share the stoke folks, you will make more friends and become a more well rounded rider if you branch out.

Ryan- I have NOT seen the '09 stuff yet- other than the pics that are circling around on this site. Frankly, our Tige dealer in the Twin Cities is pretty weak. They are an I/O dealer that got the Tige line a couple of years ago and I still wonder if they know what they're doing with it. I didn't make last year's boat show, but the year prior and the one before that was wierd. They had an RZ2 loaded up and were selling it for $ 72K!!!!!! That is INSANE!!!!!!! I don't think you can do enough to an RZ2 to even get within $ 10K of that price.

Bottom line for me is I believe you need to look at the boats that are well represented in the geography where you live. In Minneapolis it's MC and BU.

Will- i totally agree that 72 is out of the RZ2 price range. in 07 when the RZ2 was brand new i had one that was fully loaded that would of gone for 65 if i didn't use it at all. i think most people would agree that in the 65 range is a more realistic price for an RZ2.

I paid $60k for my RZ2 (see profile pic) out the door and the cheapest I could get a VLX or X-Star for was ~$75k ish in our market. $15k is a lot of money, that's a car! I think all of the wake boats are overpriced by at least 20% but if you want something new you have to pay to play.

(Message edited by timmyb on June 27, 2008)

timmy, you hittin the tooth sunday? i think i might bring the boat out for a little party action.

No, we are headed to McConaughy on Thursday so we're skipping this weekend.

2005 TIGE

I like the facts in these ridiculous debates. And occasionally rooting for the underdog.

Jack, do you hate this one^?

Took me a minute but eventually I noticed that there was a boat in that picture

I just had a thought.

What if you could buy a boat that looks alot like a malibu, but is built rock solid. Handles better. Can shape the wake. Has a similar but better and newer tower design and has a PCM engine. FOR LESS OR SIMILAR MONEY......

I guess i should not think so much. but to answer the question that started this post...I think I would buy the Tige.

nacho i dont hate tige, they are not my favorite.

i had a bad day, sorry.


(i do like the lady!!!)

so ron why not just buy a malibu and get it over with? i mean thats basically what you just said.

^^^^^^+1

Well you could try and say that, except he said built rock solid! Creaking seats that come loose probably doesn't qualify

My seats have never creaked or come loose, that one is new to me.

^^^^^^^^^^^^ +1

this is getting better every post

point is...customers have alot to choose from when buying a boat. if the worst thing tige has going for it is a little bit of "you copied" then they are going to be quite a contender in any persons buying decision.

in the end they are responding to what the consumer wants. which is what malibu has done so well to get to the top of the industry. (and yes the tower does look a lot like malibu's...great job malibu.)

a buyer could just go ahead and buy a malibu. but i guarantee that in the future, anyone who would have done that will now take a look and tige. when before they probably would not have.

and from that tige might just get a couple of those deals. this is known as market share, a bigger piece of the pie. and at that point, who cares if there was copying (other than people on ww) tige is getting paid.

thats my .02

nu bu,

How can that be a new one to you, unless you got your owners goggles on. The fact that BU screws there seats in, instead of glassing them in, has been discussed here many times. I know at least 6 Bu's all between 05's and 08's, that the seats move and creak in. On One of the boats, the screws holding the seats in totally stripped out.

Just figured I'd throw another log on the fire though!

Not my seats, so it's new to me. Unfortunately for you my boat has been rock solid and disproves your theory about malibu seats, if it hadn't been it would be back at the dealer or I would be in a different brand. Malibu has been a rock solid product.

Not unfortunately for me..... I would have to say fortunately for you! Always good when your boat makes you happy!

Personally I love Malibu's style. There's just two items in the way they are built that sends me running.

I personally have never met anyone that has had issues with the seats. I visit themalibucrew and I have never seen a thread about F'd up seats. I find if funny that you've seen 8 malibu's with f'd up seats, and I've never even heard of one .

There's been at least 3 threads on here that I can remember off the top of my head. The 6 I know are all personal friends.

But just because they aren't over at the malibucrew doesn't mean they don't exist. Not everyone gets online to bitch.

Heck when the metcraft Towers on the Tige's were falling apart, there were only two or three people over at Tigeowners with the problem.... doesn't mean there weren't tons more.


(Message edited by Tanner on June 28, 2008)

Alot of you act like 14 year old Jack and you're grown men!!! My junk is bigger than your junk, my dad can beat up your dad, ect...GMAFB! What's with the boat brand snobbery anyway? I've personally ridden in MCs and CCs for over 20 years and they are great boats. For those of you that can affort one...good for you. For those of you that can't afford one and buy one anyway on a 15-20 year note, I would encourage you to go buy one of Dave Ramsey's books on personal finance. As my wife(much more frugal than me) said "why would I buy an Escalade when I can buy a Tahoe for a lot less?" I guess it depends on how much you care about what other people think about you ie., keeping up with the Jones'. I personally haven't seen what MC and CC have to offer that warrants their prices at 20k more than the rest of the pack. I haven't ridden in a Malibu, so I can't say anything there. Just my opinion, not a knock against the quality of the boats. Just the price.

I just sold a 20 year old Century 2000 I/O that my Dad willed to me. He was anal about it as was I because I didn't want to dishonor him. When it was for sale NO ONE could believe it was 20 years old. Everyone thought it was about 5. So don't give me a bunch of crap about resale value, it won't last,etc., Some of us choose not to sell our stuff every other year. My Century had wood floor and 20 year old vinyl and it was immaculate. It all depends on if you're a spoiled brat who doesn't take care of their stuff or if you are a realist who values what he has worked so hard to gain.

Wheeew! Off my soap box now

Nice 5th post Todd . You make some good points though.

What does it being my 5th post have anything to do with it?

5th post talkin smack?

I lurk. I don't open my yap until I feel it's warranted. Besides, I got on this site to gain insight into various boats. While I have found good info from reasonable people, I have also been disappointed at the "mean girl" sniping that grown men do on here. So the fact that I don't have 350+ posts on here doesn't make my point relevant? So now you're a post snob, too? I'll bet you still don't think Fresno State is the real winner of the college world series either because they're not one of the major college ball clubs.

^^^^

I think the new Tige tower looks bad ass. Yeah it looks alot like my VLX's Illusion X but who cares? As someone posted above it's a good tower design. Why not put some different spins on it without worrying about someone on WW saying "He Coppied."? I think eventualy most towers will look like these. Now that Tiges given it a try hopefuly some of the other companyies will start experimenting with the design too. There's enough Malibu's on the lake I go to that I don't have to worry about my boat looking less unique because of it.

Oh and Todd, I know I posted without bashing or saying "My junk's bigger than yours" but my junks bigger than yours.

It is funny how people who make enough money to own really expensive toys aren't mature enough to refrain from smack talk online.

Not familiar with junior high text symbology

You humor me, is that better brownclown?

Kenneth,

I've NEVER had any complaints! The wife loves it and that's the most important opinion anyway!

I've had lots of complaints. A gf told me Mt. Dew would 'cause shrinkage. I've drank a ton of it and that hasn't seemed to help either. Finaly I just married a really tall woman. Problem solved.

OT: nu bu, I have seen people post their first one and talk a lot of smack. Like you have never talked smack before. You can get off your white horse and get back onto the topic of this thread vice giving ppl a hard time. $.02

Sorry scooter. Idiots like nu bu can be a problem from time to time.

Back to the topic.

Being a Tige owner myself I like the idea that Tige took on the new tower. Malibu was giving the chance to put the new tower on from Metcraft but chose not to. In todays market, Malibu is seeking to reduce costs and they might think that the new tower is too expensive for their taste. I wouldn't be surprised to see that Malibu steps up and finds a tower that will be better than the one they have now.

Sure thing Dbag.

Nice come back.

Grow up idiot!!!!

Didn't like it?

That's all you can do is call names on a keyboard, give me a break.

I like it... Just not original.

Just like your claim that Tige doesn't ever come up with something original.

Whoa I never said that.. Re-read the posts from me. In the link that was posted there was also a bimini covering the top of the tower and it looked exactly like the illusion X.

why does everyone bash me constantly?

Sorry, should have said like "a few" not "your".

What I am saying, instead of giving people a hard time for a 5th post or what they have to say, why not comment on something that would have a logical argument against it? That is what forums are suppose to do instead of arguing that one boat manufacturer is better than the other. All companies right now are trying to make it. The economy sucks right now and they are all trying to do something to earn money.

As stated before, the tower that Tige has on now (the Alpha Z Tower) was made by Metcraft. Metcraft gave Malibu the option to put the new tower on. Malibu turned it down. Why did they turn it down? Could be that they have a better tower design in the making, cutting costs, or just wanted to use overseas labor because it is cheaper to produce. Heck, I sure the majority of the parts in our boats were probably made outside the USA.

Jack, your 14 so you don't know any better. j/k he he he

(Message edited by dabell on June 28, 2008)

I was giving him a hard time, I thought that was obvious. Possibly I should have added more smiley faces or something?

I don't doubt Tige will make money with some of their new designs, it seems that malibu is trying to appeal to a lower price point concious market with some of their new boats for 09'.

I didn't see that you were giving him a hard time. $.02

Right now, I don't think anyone is going to make a killing this year or next. Economy is terrible.

Cutting costs are the best way to do. Unfortunately, with cutting costs also cuts quality of the materials that are used. I hope for the Malibu that doesn't do that but cut their profit margin. That would be better for the customer vice a new item in the boat that won't function as stated.

david until proven other wise we will just have to agree to disagree. i am not the only one that has the oppisite info about the tower. i heard it the other way around, that metcraft bypassed malibu. until the truth can be told it does not matter.

Well, I agree Bryan. Conflicting stories do not help the matter but again, Tige has had Metcraft towers on their boats before. Will definitely be interesting to find out the real truth.

hopefully this NEW ballast system makes tiges wakes better cuzz i know thats one thing they dont have on malibu... n fight with me all you want on that one ill put my bu against any of the tiges wakes anyday..oh ya the boats now look the same (tige graphics r fugly) but not wats churning up from behind them (wake)

and just to get it out there. i ride behind a tige occasionally and its a great boat. it happens to be a 2000 riders edition and it has 2000 in water and 1000 in lead ballast because the "taps" doesnt really make a difference but my point is its a great wake/boat. they make there boats just like the rest of them, buy hand in some big a-- factory. im all for a competitive market and i see your points but originality goes further in my book than biting someone's style.

and when the truth is told about the tower scandal i wont be p.o. if malibu denied the tower and it went to tige. i will p.o. because i am a malibu guy and that tower looks great. guess you could say im kinda jealous

each to his own. it should be flattering to malibu that the other companies want to follow suit with a foward swoop tower design like the illusion x. but remember that old thread when we proved that the cruiser boats have had that design for years before malibu so........

Damn come back in off the water for a few and lots of posts to come back and read.

Speaking of which... why aren't you guys out riding? ;)

There's one thing I would question about your info Bryan. Why would Metcraft do this? Bu' sells 3 times as many boats than Tige. So that would be a stupid move, as they'd lose tower sales.

Then you could argue, well... they are already selling to BU, so why not sell even more towers by picking up another brand. Well to that I would say that I could definately see Bu getting pissed and pulling away from Metcraft if they had got passed up on first dibs to a tower design (even if they didn't like it). Which once again... hurts the bottom line.

im with you tanner i dont get it.... i wish i could ride but im stuck at work until 0800 monday morning. witch at that time i will be heading for the Delta. i love monday mornings on the water, not a soul around!!!!!!! enjoy the weekend madness.