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New to Malibu looking for words of wisdom


Mercedes

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Hello Everyone,

I am new to this forum and new to Malibu Boats. I just traded my 2008 Mastercraft X2 and ordered a new 2011 VTX. This is my second wakeboard boat and I was hoping for any words of wisdom from a few of you experienced Malibu owners. I learned a few things about my X2 from other Mastercraft owners that I wish my dealer would have pointed out before I needed to learn the hard way.

Thanks.

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Hello Everyone,

I am new to this forum and new to Malibu Boats. I just traded my 2008 Mastercraft X2 and ordered a new 2011 VTX. This is my second wakeboard boat and I was hoping for any words of wisdom from a few of you experienced Malibu owners. I learned a few things about my X2 from other Mastercraft owners that I wish my dealer would have pointed out before I needed to learn the hard way.

Thanks.

:rofl: Words of wisdom from us :rofl: Sorry, I couldn't resist. :rofl:

I'm OK now. Read through the topics in the Resource section. There is a plethora of useful information.

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:rofl: Words of wisdom from us :rofl: Sorry, I couldn't resist. :rofl:

I'm OK now. Read through the topics in the Resource section. There is a plethora of useful information.

Thanks, I have been poking around here for awhile now.

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Forget that you ever owned an MC, no need to act like that any more :whistle: Congrats on the new ride :thumbup:

Thanks. I think the Malibu is an awesome boat. My son put together a nice analogy. The mastercraft was like a ricer (fast and furious) and the Malibu is more of a hot rod. We are excited to be part of the Malibu family.

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:rofl: Words of wisdom from us :rofl: Sorry, I couldn't resist. :rofl:

I'm OK now. Read through the topics in the Resource section. There is a plethora of useful information.

SacRiverRat always has the best wisdom and very helpful on every post. :rofl:

:werule::welcome:

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So, I'm curious. What are a few examples of things you learned the hard way with your Mastercraft? That may help steer the discussion here a little. Welcome to the boards!

haha you said steer and mastercraft in the same paragraph

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Forget that you ever owned an MC, no need to act like that any more :whistle:

:rofl: Another great quote from NDawg. Not quite priceless, but worth at least $10 Billion NDawg bucks.

Seriously, welcome to the crew! As others have mentioned you can find a lot of info browsing the forums. If you have specific questions feel free to just ask. There are a few people that will give you a hard time for not searching first, but then they will answer your question.

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Hello Everyone,

I am new to this forum and new to Malibu Boats. I just traded my 2008 Mastercraft X2 and ordered a new 2011 VTX. This is my second wakeboard boat and I was hoping for any words of wisdom from a few of you experienced Malibu owners. I learned a few things about my X2 from other Mastercraft owners that I wish my dealer would have pointed out before I needed to learn the hard way.

Thanks.

Welcome, You will love this Forum, I Personaly have, learned so much from these guys, They Hooked me up on my stereo system, Helped me install LED Lighting through out the boat , & Just finished with supports on the engine dividers. So a wealth of knowlage, & a few heated differing Opions LOL. Feel free to ask just about anything.

:yahoo:

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Hello Everyone,

I am new to this forum and new to Malibu Boats. I just traded my 2008 Mastercraft X2 and ordered a new 2011 VTX. This is my second wakeboard boat and I was hoping for any words of wisdom from a few of you experienced Malibu owners. I learned a few things about my X2 from other Mastercraft owners that I wish my dealer would have pointed out before I needed to learn the hard way.

Thanks.

Welcome to the forum and enjoy the new boat. I, too, am a former Mastercraft owner ('96 Prostar 205 LT1) - I loved that boat, but my Malibu is better in every way.

Like others have already asked, I am curious what lessons with the X2 you had to learn the hard way that the dealer didn't tell you about...what's the story there?

-- Mike

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So, I'm curious. What are a few examples of things you learned the hard way with your Mastercraft? That may help steer the discussion here a little. Welcome to the boards!

There were a few. Some simple some expensive. Two of the expensive one were:

1. When the boat is winterized the dual batteries MUST be disconnected from the boat. Evidently there is an issue with the X2 that will cause a very slow drain on the batteries even with the battery switch off. This was our first "big" boat and we had no clue. Neither did the MC dealer we bought it from and had it winterized by. The first time I was told it must have been a fluke. Guess what, the batteries weren't covered under the MC warranty. So I bought 2 new batteries. Second year same thing. At least I got a prorated exchange so it wasn't as bad but I still needed to pay. Talked to a few guys at the lake with MC and they said they learned the same thing.

2. The side panels in the engine compartment had issues. Really it was the screws. MC installed the plastic side panels with 3 inch bolts with wing nuts. No lock washers, no nylon threading. The wing nuts were on the inside of the side storage compartment. Well, boats vibrate. The wing nuts came off. The long bolt worked its way out of the hole. It was perfectly aligned with the rubber exhaust tube of the engine and got wedged between the exhaust tube and the side compartment panel. The bolt got real hot from the exhaust and melted a small whole in the exhaust tube. The hot exhaust melted the plastic separator panel and burned/melted the carpet. No fire thank God. The only reason I noticed this was the exhaust smell at the end of a long day of boating. Evidently this was a know issue at MC. They did not tell anyone about it except their dealers, who in my case did nothing about it. The only repair that MC authorized was replacing the exhaust tube. They never had replacement panels available and said just to run without them. The carpet was not something they would replace because it was not in a "noticeable" location of the boat. So I lost one entire storage compartment in the boat and the noise of the engine was much louder than normal. Finally I was able to have a new panel manufactured that worked but what a hassle. I bought the boat new and paid a bunch of money for it. I expected more from MC and the dealer.

Also to ice the MC cake, my dealer went out of business because they lost their showroom financing due to the economy. MC transferred to another big dealer in town that sells lots of boat brands including ski nautique, Tige, and Moomba. Their service is horrible and they treat all of the MC owners like second class citizens. In my case, I didn't buy a boat from them when I bought the MC and they continued to point it out every time I would call for service. The first time I called them for service they actually told me "well you didn't buy the boat from us so we aren't going to help you". The boat was only a year old and still under warranty. I called MC and they said they would take care of it. Well guess what, MC obviously doesn't care about its customers because they didn't do anything about it. The boating season in Nebraska is short in the first place. At the end of last year I had a few small warranty issues to get addresses so I called the dealer again. I figured maybe they got better or it was just a bad day last time I needed them. I wanted to have them winterize the boat and fix the few things. The few things were the forward facing docking lights quit working and the speedometer would float and spike under normal operations of the boat. They told me they were 4 weeks out on service (this was always their response no matter what you needed done) and my boat had to be on their lot or else we would loose our place in line. They also told me that they would not winterize it until they got the warranty work done so if the boat froze while on their lot waiting for them to work on it, it was my problem. I then took the boat to another dealer 3 hours away, had everything fixed and traded it in on a Malibu. I feel good about my Malibu dealer because I bought a pontoon boat from him at the same time I bought the MC and he has done a great job for me.

I couldn't believe that a company selling 80K boats would just not care about their customers. MC didn't in my case. I hope Malibu is better.

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There were a few. Some simple some expensive. Two of the expensive one were:

1. When the boat is winterized the dual batteries MUST be disconnected from the boat. Evidently there is an issue with the X2 that will cause a very slow drain on the batteries even with the battery switch off. This was our first "big" boat and we had no clue. Neither did the MC dealer we bought it from and had it winterized by. The first time I was told it must have been a fluke. Guess what, the batteries weren't covered under the MC warranty. So I bought 2 new batteries. Second year same thing. At least I got a prorated exchange so it wasn't as bad but I still needed to pay. Talked to a few guys at the lake with MC and they said they learned the same thing.

2. The side panels in the engine compartment had issues. Really it was the screws. MC installed the plastic side panels with 3 inch bolts with wing nuts. No lock washers, no nylon threading. The wing nuts were on the inside of the side storage compartment. Well, boats vibrate. The wing nuts came off. The long bolt worked its way out of the hole. It was perfectly aligned with the rubber exhaust tube of the engine and got wedged between the exhaust tube and the side compartment panel. The bolt got real hot from the exhaust and melted a small whole in the exhaust tube. The hot exhaust melted the plastic separator panel and burned/melted the carpet. No fire thank God. The only reason I noticed this was the exhaust smell at the end of a long day of boating. Evidently this was a know issue at MC. They did not tell anyone about it except their dealers, who in my case did nothing about it. The only repair that MC authorized was replacing the exhaust tube. They never had replacement panels available and said just to run without them. The carpet was not something they would replace because it was not in a "noticeable" location of the boat. So I lost one entire storage compartment in the boat and the noise of the engine was much louder than normal. Finally I was able to have a new panel manufactured that worked but what a hassle. I bought the boat new and paid a bunch of money for it. I expected more from MC and the dealer.

Also to ice the MC cake, my dealer went out of business because they lost their showroom financing due to the economy. MC transferred to another big dealer in town that sells lots of boat brands including ski nautique, Tige, and Moomba. Their service is horrible and they treat all of the MC owners like second class citizens. In my case, I didn't buy a boat from them when I bought the MC and they continued to point it out every time I would call for service. The first time I called them for service they actually told me "well you didn't buy the boat from us so we aren't going to help you". The boat was only a year old and still under warranty. I called MC and they said they would take care of it. Well guess what, MC obviously doesn't care about its customers because they didn't do anything about it. The boating season in Nebraska is short in the first place. At the end of last year I had a few small warranty issues to get addresses so I called the dealer again. I figured maybe they got better or it was just a bad day last time I needed them. I wanted to have them winterize the boat and fix the few things. The few things were the forward facing docking lights quit working and the speedometer would float and spike under normal operations of the boat. They told me they were 4 weeks out on service (this was always their response no matter what you needed done) and my boat had to be on their lot or else we would loose our place in line. They also told me that they would not winterize it until they got the warranty work done so if the boat froze while on their lot waiting for them to work on it, it was my problem. I then took the boat to another dealer 3 hours away, had everything fixed and traded it in on a Malibu. I feel good about my Malibu dealer because I bought a pontoon boat from him at the same time I bought the MC and he has done a great job for me.

I couldn't believe that a company selling 80K boats would just not care about their customers. MC didn't in my case. I hope Malibu is better.

Wow Unbelievable, I'm soo Blessed having A Great dealer to work with up here, Active Water Sports, And I'm Sure you Guys in Washington With Bake's marine too. I just Got Back from the boat show Last week. & I visited My Dealers booth. They treated me like a king. Scored a Box anchor for 100.00. + Alot More Great deals. And When I took it in for some warranty work fixed eveything I wanted and were great. Sorry to here about your last dealer. I would think malibu would do something if they had any complaints about a dealer. Edited by Wakesetter67
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....I'm soo Blessed having A Great dealer to work with up here, Active Water Sports....

Good to know....I'm 5 minutes across the River from AWS.

I haven't found 'my boat' yet as I'm still looking, but sounds like I'm headed in the right direction with Malibu. I too went to the Portland Boat Show and spent a bit of time looking at the MC's. While the boats seem great (if you like the Transformer look), there was something that turned me off about the crowd in the booth.....I just didn't get good vibes like the bu crew. Just my $.02.

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Welcome to the crew and congrats on the new VTX. Unfortunately your Bu probably won't be problem free but what is. The good thing is that Malibu has a great dealer network and if your local dealer wont take care of it Malibu will get involved. We love our VTX and our dealer is awesome. Paul at bakes is a great friend to the crew. Don't be afraid to ask any questions you have on here you might get ribbed for it a bit but it's like asking your big brother some times he's just gonna give you and hard time before you get the answer.

Edited by Malibuswany
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Thanks for the responses. It seems that there is a "type of people" associated with MC. I don't think we ever fell into that group or at least I hope we didn't, but I have meet a number of MC owners that do. I have posted and tried to become part of the MC community like this one and no one there seems like they want to help anyone else. There were the few helpful folks but most of the replies I received were from members that were telling me how their boat was so much better than mine. Really, like I need that? We all love our boats. We should for the amount of money we spend on this habit/pastime but don't put it in someones face. There are threads out there to show others what you have. I like and have looked through the members boat section of this site and can't wait to take a few pictures once my boat arrives. I have been very pleased with the "MalibuCrew" site and members. I look forward to being around for a long time. I am sure I will be asking more questions now than helping, but I will always return the favor of advise when I can. Don't worry, I know how to use the search function!

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Thanks for the responses. It seems that there is a "type of people" associated with MC. I don't think we ever fell into that group or at least I hope we didn't, but I have meet a number of MC owners that do. I have posted and tried to become part of the MC community like this one and no one there seems like they want to help anyone else. There were the few helpful folks but most of the replies I received were from members that were telling me how their boat was so much better than mine. Really, like I need that? We all love our boats. We should for the amount of money we spend on this habit/pastime but don't put it in someones face. There are threads out there to show others what you have. I like and have looked through the members boat section of this site and can't wait to take a few pictures once my boat arrives. I have been very pleased with the "MalibuCrew" site and members. I look forward to being around for a long time. I am sure I will be asking more questions now than helping, but I will always return the favor of advise when I can. Don't worry, I know how to use the search function!

I have a very similar experience as well with MC. MC has a hand in the website so they control it to some degree. That limits any derogatory comments, and the general feeling for most questions is to go talk to your dealer. Now if you have a 1985 direct drive, they will be in love with you.

Is this site free of any corporate oversight? I would guess so, based on the types of input I see.

Congrats on the new boat, and hope to see pics soon!

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Wow Unbelievable, I'm soo Blessed having A Great dealer to work with up here, Active Water Sports, And I'm Sure you Guys in Washington With Bake's marine too. I just Got Back from the boat show Last week. & I visited My Dealers booth. They treated me like a king. Scored a Box anchor for 100.00. + Alot More Great deals. And When I took it in for some warranty work fixed eveything I wanted and were great. Sorry to here about your last dealer. I would think malibu would do something if they had any complaints about a dealer.

that is great marketing from your dealer. Give customers a deal on something that you wouldn't otherwise get if you weren't a customer.

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that is great marketing from your dealer. Give customers a deal on something that you wouldn't otherwise get if you weren't a customer.

Yep Kinda surprised me. I have been looking on line and all over for those box anchors. I went up to the counter, I had the anchor, a ski rope & handle, an Anchor Buddy, a Malibu shirt, fleese jacket for my wife. all that for 175.00 Score!!!
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Thanks for the responses. It seems that there is a "type of people" associated with MC. I don't think we ever fell into that group or at least I hope we didn't, but I have meet a number of MC owners that do. I have posted and tried to become part of the MC community like this one and no one there seems like they want to help anyone else. There were the few helpful folks but most of the replies I received were from members that were telling me how their boat was so much better than mine. Really, like I need that? We all love our boats. We should for the amount of money we spend on this habit/pastime but don't put it in someones face. There are threads out there to show others what you have. I like and have looked through the members boat section of this site and can't wait to take a few pictures once my boat arrives. I have been very pleased with the "MalibuCrew" site and members. I look forward to being around for a long time. I am sure I will be asking more questions now than helping, but I will always return the favor of advise when I can. Don't worry, I know how to use the search function!

:lol: what a bunch of jokers over there. Congrats on the new boat, what an awesome feeling. I think Bu owners know how awesome all the BU's are.

It definitely seems that Malibu is the "Gentlemens Choice" for the more sophisticated, down to earth crowd. Enjoy!

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Congrats on the VTX.... You're going to love it compared to your X2.... I test drove the two back to back, and the VTX handles infinitely better!!! It's going to be like driving a sports car compared to a truck!

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