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Another "is this a good deal" post...


OTN

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All,

I'm pleased to announce I'm definitely going to be joining your ranks soon. After looking at tons of makes, Malibu was the answer as far as I was concerned. Hands-down. Preaching to the converted here, though, so moving on...

I'm maybe a couple of days away from buying the following:

2008 Malibu Wakesetter VLX. Diamond Hull. 340hp.

Power wedge, no bow ballast, tower, bimini top, one ski rack, one board rack- both swivel.

Heater, hot water shower.

Tandem axle trailer.

Double battery setup.

The boat and trailer are brand new. Never sold. Came from a dealer that went kaput. The price for the whole package is $53k, including transportation, etc.

I slalom ski a TON more than I wakeboard (so far), but I simply can't go direct drive at this time- not willing to give up the seating space, have friends who ride, etc. I'm slaloming at 32mph with a Connelly FX behind my 18' stern drive at this point, so I think I'll see the VLX with the diamond hull as an improvement.

Whaddya think? Looks like a great price to me. It was ~$49k before I started adding the bimini, racks, heater, shower, etc, so some of that extra few k is my fault.

Thanks- no matter WHAT I think I'm going with the VLX, so I look forward to being a part of The Crew soon.

t

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Welcome!,

If you must have a VD I'd recommend the VTX on the Cut diamond hull, the slalom wake will be much better. Of course the best advice is demo demo but wintertime does make that difficult. Just make sure you are on EDGE going through that wake or you'll be charged a landing fee... :)

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Learning to slalom behind a stern drive HAS had the benefit of teaching me to stay on edge through the wake, that's for sure. We've been skiing all winter in Missouri behind my buddy's high-performance bass boat, and those wakes have been a tad...interesting to say the least.

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I slalom ski a TON more than I wakeboard (so far), but I simply can't go direct drive at this time- not willing to give up the seating space, have friends who ride, etc. I'm slaloming at 32mph with a Connelly FX behind my 18' stern drive at this point, so I think I'll see the VLX with the diamond hull as an improvement.

I also Slalom ski more than anything else. I converted from an 18' outboard, and see a huge improvement. I would agree that the VTX is probably better (from the pictures I've seen) but I'm glad we got the VLX. I didn't realize how much I would get into the Wake sports (WakeSurf and Wakeboard) until I had a decent boat and a few other pieces of equipment. I think you'll be happy with the VLX.

It has mid and rear ballast...no bow ballast. Is bow ballast standard on wakesetters? I've gotten a couple of conflicting answers on that issue.

Thanks for your 2c.

Wakesetter-Center and rear are standard. Front ballast is an option.

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Welcome!,

If you must have a VD I'd recommend the VTX on the Cut diamond hull, the slalom wake will be much better. Of course the best advice is demo demo but wintertime does make that difficult. Just make sure you are on EDGE going through that wake or you'll be charged a landing fee... :)

You may want to see this guy ski before taking his advice Tease.gif

Good luck with your buy.

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All,

I'm pleased to announce I'm definitely going to be joining your ranks soon. After looking at tons of makes, Malibu was the answer as far as I was concerned. Hands-down. Preaching to the converted here, though, so moving on...

I'm maybe a couple of days away from buying the following:

2008 Malibu Wakesetter VLX. Diamond Hull. 340hp.

Power wedge, no bow ballast, tower, bimini top, one ski rack, one board rack- both swivel.

Heater, hot water shower.

Tandem axle trailer.

Double battery setup.

The boat and trailer are brand new. Never sold. Came from a dealer that went kaput. The price for the whole package is $53k, including transportation, etc.

I slalom ski a TON more than I wakeboard (so far), but I simply can't go direct drive at this time- not willing to give up the seating space, have friends who ride, etc. I'm slaloming at 32mph with a Connelly FX behind my 18' stern drive at this point, so I think I'll see the VLX with the diamond hull as an improvement.

Whaddya think? Looks like a great price to me. It was ~$49k before I started adding the bimini, racks, heater, shower, etc, so some of that extra few k is my fault.

Thanks- no matter WHAT I think I'm going with the VLX, so I look forward to being a part of The Crew soon.

t

I have had an opportunity to ski behind a Diamond Hull VLX and though it did have four people in the boat I've also had four people in my boat and the wake behind the VLX was more more brutal than mine. If your more into slalom I would go with a VTX if you have a choice. This is only my opinion! Enjoy your purchase anyway you go, you'll love the boat and will become a much better wake boarder :)

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For slalom, the VLX wake will be much larger than your stern drive wake.

Really? For sure? That kind of goes against what I've been reading in the forum. Some have been saying they/their kids have run the course in a VLX. DEFINITELY couldn't do that in my stern drive.

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For slalom, the VLX wake will be much larger than your stern drive wake.

Really? For sure? That kind of goes against what I've been reading in the forum. Some have been saying they/their kids have run the course in a VLX. DEFINITELY couldn't do that in my stern drive.

This forum? Really? Kids running the course? Below 32mph, on any hull, the VLX is going to be brutal. Above 32 it's only marginally better. If you ski a lot, you really need to be looking at a different boat. Make them give you a demo & get out there & try it, you'll see what we're talking about (take a GPS with you to confirm the speed, almost all of the speedos aren't accurate from the factory). $53k is a lot to pay for a boat that you haven't skied behind. If you still like it after the demo, buy it & enjoy it. :) But don't buy it with the mentality of "I can get used to this".

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For slalom, the VLX wake will be much larger than your stern drive wake.

Really? For sure? That kind of goes against what I've been reading in the forum. Some have been saying they/their kids have run the course in a VLX. DEFINITELY couldn't do that in my stern drive.

This forum? Really? Kids running the course? Below 32mph, on any hull, the VLX is going to be brutal. Above 32 it's only marginally better. If you ski a lot, you really need to be looking at a different boat. Make them give you a demo & get out there & try it, you'll see what we're talking about (take a GPS with you to confirm the speed, almost all of the speedos aren't accurate from the factory). $53k is a lot to pay for a boat that you haven't skied behind. If you still like it after the demo, buy it & enjoy it. :) But don't buy it with the mentality of "I can get used to this".

"Kids" may have meant teenagers- they can probably take more abuse than my 30-year-old body can. Good advice about the demo. I think I'm trying to talk myself into buying a boat without testing it out first. It's not working too well.

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For slalom, the VLX wake will be much larger than your stern drive wake.

Really? For sure? That kind of goes against what I've been reading in the forum. Some have been saying they/their kids have run the course in a VLX. DEFINITELY couldn't do that in my stern drive.

This forum? Really? Kids running the course? Below 32mph, on any hull, the VLX is going to be brutal. Above 32 it's only marginally better. If you ski a lot, you really need to be looking at a different boat. Make them give you a demo & get out there & try it, you'll see what we're talking about (take a GPS with you to confirm the speed, almost all of the speedos aren't accurate from the factory). $53k is a lot to pay for a boat that you haven't skied behind. If you still like it after the demo, buy it & enjoy it. :) But don't buy it with the mentality of "I can get used to this".

"Kids" may have meant teenagers- they can probably take more abuse than my 30-year-old body can. Good advice about the demo. I think I'm trying to talk myself into buying a boat without testing it out first. It's not working too well.

Exactly, we can provide all sorts of comments and opinions but only you’ll know what works for you. Demo demo demo demo…..

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keep us posted on the difference between skiing behind your stern drive, as compared to the vlx. I currently rec slalom ski behind a 1995 24' chaparral e/w a 7.4 310 hp V8 with a bravo 3 drive. As long as you stay on edge the wake doesn't seem that bad. I thought a v drive boat would have a much better wake but from what I am hearing , maybe not . I would love to have a malibu but I want it to be decent for skiing wakeboarding and surfing. Our lake also gets real rough at times so I pictured something bigger than a VTX .

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keep us posted on the difference between skiing behind your stern drive, as compared to the vlx. I currently rec slalom ski behind a 1995 24' chaparral e/w a 7.4 310 hp V8 with a bravo 3 drive. As long as you stay on edge the wake doesn't seem that bad. I thought a v drive boat would have a much better wake but from what I am hearing , maybe not . I would love to have a malibu but I want it to be decent for skiing wakeboarding and surfing. Our lake also gets real rough at times so I pictured something bigger than a VTX .

My previous two boats were a 1998 Sea Ray 185 I/O (V6 with Mercruiser Alpha outdrive and 5 blade SS prop) and a 2002 Chaparral 220 SSi I/O (V8 with Volvo Penta outdrive and Duo-prop). I now own a 2006 Malibu 21 LSV with the diamond hull (essentially a diamond-hulled VLX without built-in ballast; it does have Illusion tower and older manual wedge).

Let me assure you! The slalom wake, anywhere between low 20s to well over 30 mph, is way way better than my previous boats. Much smaller. Much softer. No foam/wash. Much less intimidating for any beginners. And, of course, the faster you go, the flatter it gets. Is it comparable to a DD? No, of course not. Is it comparable to the VTX on the cut-diamond hull? No again. But for recreational skiing, it's a significant improvement over any stern-drive boat I've ever skied behind.

Drop the wedge and add an appropriate amount of Fat-Sac ballast and this boat also serves up respectable wakeboarding and surfing wakes. Sure, serious wakeboarders will turn their noses up at it, opting unanimously in favor of the wake hull, but it's a far better wakeboarding wake, IMHO, than any stern-drive can produce.

I'm three seasons into this boat and I still love everything about it. But, don't just take my word for it. Be patient. Wait for the opportunity to demo. Only you can decide if the slalom wake is going to be good enough for you.

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And if you wait a little longer (not too long), you may be able to talk the dealer down in price some. I was in about the exact same position last year with my '07 VLX. It was brand new at the dealer, and I bought it at Christmas last year for just under $50k. It is almost identical to your setup except for the hot water shower, I got (2) standard (non-spinner) and (2) standard wakeboard racks, and I had them install the silent tip exhaust. I absolutely love this boat! I don't slalom ski that much, though. We wakesurf 90%, wakeboard 8% & slalom ski 2%. I grew up skiing behind a 21' Browning I/O (it was a beast; it had to weigh 4000+!), and the wake behind my VLX is much smaller and mellower. Don't get me wrong, it's not small! When I do ski, I usually have my brother-in-law pull me behind his '02 Sunsetter LXi DD.

As others have repeatedly said, you MUST demo it, and be honest with what you want to do with it. Spend a lot of time on the boats you demo and make a checklist of what you want to evaluate: Wakesurf wake, wakeboard wake, ski wake, handling, comfort, ease of use, storage, etc. If you want to evaluate for wakesurfing, make sure the dealer brings some extra ballast bags to mimic what you would do. I really do wish my boat had the bow ballast. I really don't like having to manually fill a sac in the bow. The room under the front seats is just not big enough to put anything of decent size, so I put a 400# on top. It helps tremendously for both the wakeboard and wakesurf wakes.

Anyway, my 2 cents. Hope it helps in some small way!

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