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1st time boat buyer


ortho23

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Appreciate any advice you can give

Never owned anything other then a john boat for fishing. Recently moved very close to water here in TN and have two boys that are 6 and 8. I love the outdoors and staying active and am seriously considering a boat.

I have watched e-bay and various sites for the past 2 months and am thinking of Malibu, Matercraft or Nautique ski/wake boats. I want to be active on water and prefer not to go out and tie up and sit in cruiser like some of my friends do. However, my cruiser friends tell me i will get beat to death in a wake boat due to all the cruisers and their wakes on the lake.

I am currently looking at a 2007 malibu bank repo LSV decked out for $39,900 which includes double axle trailer.

1) does that seem like a fair price? Boat is in good shape with low hours

2) Does this type of boat make sense for my skill level and kids or would you suggest something else? I do like the fact it is 23' which should help some with cruiser wake i would think and give me more room for boys and their friends.

Thanks for your help

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That seems like a very reasonable price provided boat is in good shape, has had all it's services up to date and interior is clean.

The 23' LSV would be the best boat for large lake/wake conditions provided it has the bow ballast.

A V-drive will give you all the room for guests and gear you could want. That boat is also excellent for wakeboarding and wakesurfing. Not sure how good a ski wake it will give.

So, sounds like a green light to me. I'd just have the boat inspected by a marine mechanic before closing the deal.

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That seems like a very reasonable price provided boat is in good shape, has had all it's services up to date and interior is clean.

The 23' LSV would be the best boat for large lake/wake conditions provided it has the bow ballast.

A V-drive will give you all the room for guests and gear you could want. That boat is also excellent for wakeboarding and wakesurfing. Not sure how good a ski wake it will give.

So, sounds like a green light to me. I'd just have the boat inspected by a marine mechanic before closing the deal.

I keep hearing about the bow ballast being so essential. Please elaborate more if you don't mind and how does bow ballast affect the ride in heavy wake conditions?

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If you're riding in heavy rollers/chop, you want to weigh down the front of the boat as much as possible to reduce "porpoising" Otherwise, the nose of the boat is gonna bounce up and down a lot and it's gonna be a rough ride. Just be sure not to take a roller over the bow, keep the bow high in rough water.

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1) does that seem like a fair price? Boat is in good shape with low hours

2) Does this type of boat make sense for my skill level and kids or would you suggest something else? I do like the fact it is 23' which should help some with cruiser wake i would think and give me more room for boys and their friends.

Thanks for your help

Welcome to the Crew! Would that be orthodontics or orthopaedics?

1) Probably a fair price. A list of all options would help to determine if it is better than fair.

Engine upgrade? Power wedge?

2) This type of boat makes perfect sense. You and your kids, I suspect, will take quickly to water

sports (wakeboarding, surfing, even tubing), and the LSV provides a far superior platform for these

activities than a "cruiser" can offer. Plus, inboards, even v-drive inboards, handle so much

better than the typical stern-drive bowrider . They turn on a dime, instead of the slow,

lumbering, leaning turn of an I/O. They scream "out of the hole" with very brief and

minimal bow rise (way different than an I/O). They are far more fun to drive, especially

in smoother water or on "glass," but they will handle mid-day chop sufficiently well. Maybe not

quite as well as a deep-V stern drive with trim control, but they do fine.

You may well find that you will spend much more time on this type of boat during the early mornings

and later evenings, when the water is nice, and less time at mid-day with the heavy chop. You may

occasionally take a wave over the bow, and you may initially have more trouble maneuvering in tight

quarters (no real directional control in reverse on these boats: they pretty much just want to back

to the right). But, once you've mastered how to deal with these minor drawbacks, I believe that you

will come to realize just how much more fun this type of boat is compared to a "cruiser."

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Welcome to the Crew! Would that be orthodontics or orthopaedics?

1) Probably a fair price. A list of all options would help to determine if it is better than fair.

Engine upgrade? Power wedge?

2) This type of boat makes perfect sense. You and your kids, I suspect, will take quickly to water

sports (wakeboarding, surfing, even tubing), and the LSV provides a far superior platform for these

activities than a "cruiser" can offer. Plus, inboards, even v-drive inboards, handle so much

better than the typical stern-drive bowrider . They turn on a dime, instead of the slow,

lumbering, leaning turn of an I/O. They scream "out of the hole" with very brief and

minimal bow rise (way different than an I/O). They are far more fun to drive, especially

in smoother water or on "glass," but they will handle mid-day chop sufficiently well. Maybe not

quite as well as a deep-V stern drive with trim control, but they do fine.

You may well find that you will spend much more time on this type of boat during the early mornings

and later evenings, when the water is nice, and less time at mid-day with the heavy chop. You may

occasionally take a wave over the bow, and you may initially have more trouble maneuvering in tight

quarters (no real directional control in reverse on these boats: they pretty much just want to back

to the right). But, once you've mastered how to deal with these minor drawbacks, I believe that you

will come to realize just how much more fun this type of boat is compared to a "cruiser."

Well put SRAB. Im on my second Malibu. I started with the traditional I/O but then the clouds aligned, the Red Sea parted and at the end was my first Malibu. Now on my second Malibu I couldn't see myself in anything less (not too many other boats compare). Good luck Ortho !!!! And use this site to it's fullest. Great info and great people. Oh and being a first time boat buyer. Please remember the fisherman. Always express your thoughts of how you consider them #1 at 6am when your out for your first set Biggrin.gif

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What part of TN? I am in Middle TN. Most of our lakes don't get as rough as some of the larger ones in other areas. The LSV will handle these with ease. Now maybe Lake of the Ozarks, I hear that type of lake gets very rough on a regular basis. Around here most have hilly terrain to knock down the wind and waves and don't have a lot of 30+ foot cruisers.

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Hi Ortho, you and I are in a similar boat, I just have the purchase under my belt plus a few more hours driving an inboard. One thing that really helped me was taking the time before getting the kids on the water is to take the time to give yourself a little "driver's education". If you haven't driven an inboard, these things handle totally different from anything that you have moved around the water. While the at-speed stuff and turns are a quick learn, the slow speed and dock manuvering takes a bit of time to learn. I have seen a few drives smack the docks!

Good luck with the purchase and welcome to the site, these folks are a great and friendly crew!

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Thanks to you all for your replies. I am in Knoxville, Tn and will be on Ft. Loudon Lake. Norris may be used occasionally but Loudon is where it would be docked.

I talked to a family that has two young 20 year olds who are national competitors in wakeboarding. They told me similar ideas in that you would typically go out on weekdays when not near as crowded and early morning/late evenings. they also pointed out we would find coves to ski/wake/tube in and not the main channels where the cruisers are.

One of the boys has also agreed to teach me to drive the boat as i will pay him for some lessons before venturing out with the kids and family

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Sounds like you've got the hook up there Ortho.

Yes, a marine mechanic will be able to tell if the boat has been winterized. The biggest tell-tale sign will be if the engine block was drained or not. There are other things to look at too like the raw water impeller.

There is a ton of info. about all aspects of boating on this site, all you have to do is buy a Malibu and our information is on the house. Thumbup.gif

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Thanks to you all for your replies. I am in Knoxville, Tn and will be on Ft. Loudon Lake. Norris may be used occasionally but Loudon is where it would be docked.

I talked to a family that has two young 20 year olds who are national competitors in wakeboarding. They told me similar ideas in that you would typically go out on weekdays when not near as crowded and early morning/late evenings. they also pointed out we would find coves to ski/wake/tube in and not the main channels where the cruisers are.

One of the boys has also agreed to teach me to drive the boat as i will pay him for some lessons before venturing out with the kids and family

Hey Ortho,

Are you orthopedics? Just curious since i am a PT. We just bought a boat at overboard watersports in Knoxville. We boat primarily on Norris. Talk to Brett at Overboard. He is a first class guy and will check your boat out and will steer you right. We ended up getting a 21' sunscape and have loved it for the small amount of time we've been able to spend on it. Welcome to the crew. I've learned in just a couple of months, these are the most passionate and helpful group of boatowners anywhere. Good luck on your purchase. Let me know if you want to ride on Norris.

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Ortho

Welcome to the crew.

Tennessee lakes are awesome - I drive 5 hours on the weekend to get to one!

Since this is a repo, you can't be too sure of what has been done, so i think a wise investment would be a visit to a Maibu dealer and pay for an inspection/evaluation. Would be the start of a good relationship with a dealer and get you peace of mind.

For the driving part, the lessons idea is excellent. I went from an I/o (25 years) to an LSV and it took me some time to get comfortable. The best way is just you and another person in the boat so you can practice and practice and practice. Tough to learn with a crowd in the boat and way different from an outboard jon boat.

Best of luck and some of our best family times have been on the water ---

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Thanks guys.

Soon 2BV the family aspect is really what has me looking into this. I am hoping that he kids friends will want to hang out on the boat so we get to have a better idea of what they are into and help them have some good healthy fun.

The part about getting a marine mechanic to look at it has me stumped a bit as the boat is about 3 hours away. I dont know how easy it would be to drive down in a day, have the mechanic look at it and then take boat back to seller. May be easier then i think just ignorant of the area but I suppose I could look it up on internet.

Why is it Malibu ranks behind Correct Craft and Mastercraft in JD Power and Associates yearly rankings and is there a big enough gap to worry about or all three are good boats? Similar to Mercedes, Lexus and BMW?

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Thanks guys.

Soon 2BV the family aspect is really what has me looking into this. I am hoping that he kids friends will want to hang out on the boat so we get to have a better idea of what they are into and help them have some good healthy fun.

The part about getting a marine mechanic to look at it has me stumped a bit as the boat is about 3 hours away. I dont know how easy it would be to drive down in a day, have the mechanic look at it and then take boat back to seller. May be easier then i think just ignorant of the area but I suppose I could look it up on internet.

Why is it Malibu ranks behind Correct Craft and Mastercraft in JD Power and Associates yearly rankings and is there a big enough gap to worry about or all three are good boats? Similar to Mercedes, Lexus and BMW?

Kind of a loaded question. I think it has partly to do with who is paying JD power to be part of their program. There is a post somewhere around here that goes into more detail. The difference is not likely to statistically signifant enough to matter anyhow.

They are all nice boats, often it is personal preference for the brand/model and getting a good dealer especially if buying new. If you test drive them side-by-side, there is a good chance you will like the way the Bu drives over the others because of the handling. Wake preference can vary, they will all throw excellent wakes if set up correctly.

For me, I would have considered Natique, but they are not as efficient with their layouts. Malibus have more interior room for a given length.

Edited by MalibuTime
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Ask JD Powers if Nautique or MC has ever replaced a 2 year old boat for a brand new one at no cost to the customer?

edit, found the JD powers thingy here.

Edited by Pistol Pete
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I keep hearing about the bow ballast being so essential. Please elaborate more if you don't mind and how does bow ballast affect the ride in heavy wake conditions?

If you're riding in heavy rollers/chop, you want to weigh down the front of the boat as much as possible to reduce "porpoising" Otherwise, the nose of the boat is gonna bounce up and down a lot and it's gonna be a rough ride. Just be sure not to take a roller over the bow, keep the bow high in rough water.

I'll just add to Pete's answer.

IMO....it's not as important on a 23' as it is on the VLX. Bowrise is not as pronounced on the 23' & up boats as it is at the 21' length. The other part to that is that weight in the bow is important for wake shape & firmness. Now, a 23' LSV has a rampier wake than the VLX (stock for stock setups), so if you put more weight up front it's just going to exacerbate that (weight up front makes a wake firmer, but shallower/rampier - weight in the stern peaks up the wake, but makes it softer). The VLX puts out a much peakier wake stock, so between that & the bowrise issue, the bow tank is essential IMO on that model. It's more of a toss-up in a 23' IMO, aside from the ride characteristics that Pete spoke of.

Hope that wasn't too confusing.

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