I've never been in a M5 boat so no comparison from me there. I trade boats every year so I look at it a little differently than you might. I'm more concerned with resale. I don't want an option or not have an option that will contribute to a buyer choosing a better optioned boat. I want the first guy to look at it to buy it.

A similar option is or was available on some of the bigger boats. I haven't looked at those options lately. I recall a discussion on a patent infringement on some of those options. Another discussion was about the Malibu extended transom seats blocking most of the swim platform causing some people to not favor that option. I have no experience with them though.

I was hoping some Axis owners out there can help me.  Does your depth finder display a depth in your driveway?  Even if it's wrong or is there nothing on the screen?  I bought this boat two years ago and the depth finder never worked.  I brought it in for warranty over the winter.  They did not want to touch it until they could water test it.  Come spring they said they replaced all the parts and to come pick it up.   My old Malibu would show 0.0 in the driveway and I thought it was weird the screen is just blank on the Axis.  I picked it up (4 hour drive) brought it home and tested it out in my driveway.  The screen is still blank.  I'm going to water test it tomorrow.  I have a feeling it's still not going to work.  The previous owner had to have the wiring harness replaced twice.  The last dealership forgot to plug a bunch of stuff in.  The ground for the surfgate and a few other things were unplugged and the tech fixed it right then and there..  I think the depth finder isn't plugged into the dash.  I checked the connection in the bilge area and when I unplug it the ticking of the depth finder stops so I know it has power.  Can anyone help me as to where to connect it to the dash.  I had the dash apart last season and I could not find a loose plug anywhere.  I'm trying to avoid another 4 hour round trip.  Thanks in advance.

Yeah I saw a noticeable difference when I tested the 20' boats vs my 22' when I bought mine and I feel the difference in the 23's... I really don't think my family and I need anything bigger than that nor would the extra coin really get us any extra joy hence what I'm comparing.

Any thoughts on the MD5 vs MD6 motors @Ronnie?  When they came out I was a bit skeptical of the MD5s having enough power and everyone seemed to suggest it was going to be great, now with a few years on the water I see more threads saying MD6 is a must just curious w/ all your experience what your thoughts are. 

In my book NO ONE will ever complain about having more power than they need so it's really just is the cost worth it or not...  My 23LSV test w/ the MD5 and with 4 adults on boat it planed up fine, but I felt it was spinning higher than my Axis.  Opened up it topped out about 36/37 vs 40/41 so to me it felt like they needed a higher torque prop to accomplish what my old boat already does which is then going to hurt top end and gas mileage (relatively as I know the MD is more efficient than my old 6.2).  I'll get to see the MD6 in action next week myself but with no real local BU dealer I don't have an immediate side-by-side comp.

One last question does Malibu have an option like supra dose for flip up back seats, my wife is in love with these:

Appreciate the replies. Goal is to add an additional battery to my house battery in parallel (to your point switch position doesn’t matter) so that I have more amp hours when running my stereo when parked. Indeed these are both AGM batteries and I’ve bought a third. Traditionally, leaving just one of these to play my stereo when parked does not give me adequate playing time.  

1 Dedicated under seat storage, usually the rear corner for us. In my LSV used to keep them in the rear center seat bin.