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What made you buy a 'Bu?


itsonlywater

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I know we're spoiled down here in Texas but these last few weeks of winter weather are killing me. I don't know how you folks up north stand this for months on end! So, in the spirit of pointless winter message board discussion I pose this question: "What made you buy a 'Bu?"

Try to give a specific, non-generic answer if possible. I'm trying to avoid having every answer be similar to this, "It's the best combination of price, fit and finish of all boats manufactured." While, this may be a valid statement, I'm looking for answers that may be a little less obivious. Maybe you grew up on a 'Bu, it was the first boat you were ever in, you saw one of those corvette red boats on the lake one day with 10 hot girls and said, "I want to be that guy", etc. You get the point. Also, state anything that you would have done differently.

For me, it was really a lack of options. I wanted as new of an inboard as I could get and didn't want to spend more than 15k. At the time, something about Malibu appealed to me and something about Mastercraft turned me off.Spring came up and I took the firt decent thing that wasn't way overpriced. Coming from an old I/O (and a long layoff from boating), I didn't know much about speed control, automatic ballast systems, or things like that. If I had to do it over again I would have spent a little more money and made sure to get a V-drive, speed control, and automatic ballast.

I'm thinking about upgrading to a V-drive but thought this topic would serve for better discussion than the typical Q&A.

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  • D-GOOSE

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I could go into a Mastercraft bash right now but I won't stoop to their level :whistle: Sorry if this is generic but I bought a v-drive manufactured by 1 of the big 3, only 2 years old, with a bullet proof motor, on a proven hull, all for around 30K.

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Price. No other boat offers as much for the money as a vRide does, at least in the market we were in. We shopped a lot of used boats, and nothing else came close to the value that the vRide offers.

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Similar to MolarBu, We got ours simply because it's the best damn ski wake of any v-drive. Shopped around a LOT, finally found one at a good price and haven't had ANY complaints yet! It ski's, it surfs' it wakeboards and it barefoots, and ALL VERY WELL!Thumbup.gif

ps. I'm shocked no ones answered "the mastercraft dealer"

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Great topic !

For me it was easy, I needed a chick magnet :rockon: Even though my crew is all girly's, I wanted more. And there is nothing or no boat at least, as sexy as a Malibu.

Second, the space layout of the boat I chose was exactly what I wanted. The other two simply dont design a boat's interior space the way my malilbu is.

My sister has a mastercraft and most of my ski time has been on nautiques. I had been out looking at boats for awhile, and I'm sure my sis assumed I was buying a mastercraft. When I came home with the 'bu, ha, you should have seen her eyes. :clap:

Steve B.

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i great up on Puget Sound, so the idea of inboards was strictly for large cruisers. everything else was outboard or I/O. when i first got a chance to ride in an inboard (Supra), i was hooked. The first time i saw a Malibu, i loved the unique look of the Illusion tower. then when i got serious, i looked hard at all the manufacturers and found Malibu's quality and style to be most appealing.

For my wife, it was Amy Muzy (sp?) from Malibu who listened to my wife's concerns about interior wall heights as compared to kid safety (ie, my wife had only ridden in the above supra, and did not like how low it was to the water). My wife was sold after that.

the real deal closer for me though, was that i am lucky enough to have Bakes just down the street from me! :thumbup:

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Having a snowboarding obsession and livin in KC not so good. Instead of up rooting my family and moving to CO or UTAH for my own interests, I shifted interested to wakeboarding, plus its something I can do with family.

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Ever since I started wakeboarding, I have loved/wanted a Malibu. Their styling IMO has always been ahead of the curve and everyone I talked to that had one LOVED it. To be honest, since I started shopping for a boat, I never seriously considered another brand. It has always been Malibu since the day I started wakeboarding until the day I bought my first boat (this past September).

The wake is phenomenal, the interior, the tower, the quality of construction, the extras, all make the boat.

I may have gone a little overboard this winter though...Malibu hoodies (one from Malibu and the other I had made for my crew (bu brothers)), Malibu visor, Malibu towel, Malibu this, Malibu that, it's everywhere! My wife is rolling her eyes at me right now :stupid:

:werule:

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I grew up skiing behind a Ski Brendella so I was already predisposed to a DD; so when my wife's uncle decided to upgrade to a 24 Sea Ray cruiser and unload his Echelon I snatched it from him and never looked back. I loved the echelon cause it threw a decent wave for wakeboard but also was a slalom machine. And it came in the right color...RED!!!

Add in that I was in working my way through college at the time and didn't have a ton of cash, so naturally when my then GF's uncle made me an offer on the best looking 12 year old ski boat I had seen, I couldn't resist.

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Simply put.... My wife made me do it. :rockon: If it were up to me I would have dwelled on the purchase of a boat for close to 5+ years and most likely would have ended up with a Malibu.... The is just something about it, when you sit\drive a Malibu vs. all the other boats, you feel like you are "driving" a super model :innocent:

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My reason was fairly simple...

I was looking at the used market, with a relative budget. I was waiting until a great deal popped up on either a 205 Mastercraft Xstar, Moomba Mobius LSV, or Malibu (vride or vlx). The VLX happened to show up the same time as a Mobius LSV, but I decided to go with the Malibu!

I like the styling and preceived quality of the interior a lot better than the other brands I looked at. When I was actually picking up my 04 VLX, the dealer I was doing the transaction at (private sale, but they had a lake), had a 09 Mobius LSV. The interiour on my 04 VLX was WAY nicer than the 09 LSV.

Other things I like:

Illusion XS Tower

Frameless Window

Dash Design

Not a big fan on tribal graphics, but overall styling of the boat is great!

Edited by Indyxc
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I started out driving an old outboard at age 12. That summer a couple of Mastercrafts and a Ski Supreme arrived on the lake. Those guys in their 20's would be out barefooting at 7am, while I was fishing off the dock. Big ol' engine roaring, it sounded so cool. Someday..... They'd hit it all day long in wetsuits on barefoot, slalom, big black tractor tubes (the ones with the big valve stem sticking out). They'd finish the night barefooting at dusk. Watched that go on for a few years. Then some neighbors went in together and bought one, and I got to ride in it. This is like 1985. Sitting on the engine cover, the driver hits it and I flew off the engine and into the back seat. Wow. We spent another 15 minutes zipping around, taking corners like it was on rails. Wow. Wanted one ever since then, as if I wasn't hooked before that. In college I worked over 100 hours one week during the summer, and got an old tri-hull outboard Glastron for a steal, paid cash for the boat with that big check. My first boat. Totally restored it. Graduated a couple years later. Got married and bought a house on a lake. Upgraded to an I/O, another steal, couldn't pass it up. I'd hang at my parents lake every now and then and check out the newer DD's. More Nautiques on the lake. Then my buddy gets into wakeboarding off his little SeaDoo jet boat. After 2 years he gets serious, and tells me to stop by and see his new boat, a 6 year old Malibu Echelon LX from Skier's Pier, he had them put a tower and wedge on it too. "Malibu? What's a Malibu?" He shows it to me, wondering if he made the right decision. I'm in love with it, and tell him "It's perfect, you let me know when you're ready to sell, I got dibbs." 8 years later, it needed an interior and some other work, and he was ready to upgrade. I bought it. It's awesome. And I'm making it awesomer!

post-8942-059473200 1297380381_thumb.jpg

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MasterCraft dealer was horrible and MasterCraft corporate didn't really care about the service I was getting on a 65K boat. I really like the Malibu dealer and made the switch. Boat on order and we can't wait for it to get here. Lake is still frozen solid, but that doesn't matter.

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money happened to burn hole in pocket before a different opportunity presented itself. Knowing what I know now, I probably would have gone with a different boat had I researched it a little better. Not that I'm not happy with the boat I have... but I'm cheap and probably could've spent a little less on something like a Sanger v215 (sanger/nautique being the only remaining "real" boat dealer in my area).

Really liked the styling of the illusion tower, though, and our friends that got us into boating also had a malibu, so that was the starting point for looking.

If we ever get around to buying a next Malibu, it'll prolly be an Axis (based on value and lack of electronic doo-daddery).

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money happened to burn hole in pocket before a different opportunity presented itself. Knowing what I know now, I probably would have gone with a different boat had I researched it a little better. Not that I'm not happy with the boat I have... but I'm cheap and probably could've spent a little less on something like a Sanger v215 (sanger/nautique being the only remaining "real" boat dealer in my area).

Really liked the styling of the illusion tower, though, and our friends that got us into boating also had a malibu, so that was the starting point for looking.

If we ever get around to buying a next Malibu, it'll prolly be an Axis (based on value and lack of electronic doo-daddery).

Dude I've been in sanger and I could go on and on about how Un-impressed I was with just about everything with the boat.

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It's all my brothers fault. He shows up with an 04 Wakesetter and I cannot believe my eyes!!! :surprised: I am use to an 18.5' outboard bow rider. This Malibu is the coolest boat I have ever been in. :drool: Had never really explored DD or VD boats but after that first ride I was hooked. Couldn't believe the fit and finish and loved the sound of the engine and holy cow you could fit 11 people in this thing comfortably. Not to mention the stereo. :woot: I knew then I needed one of these and soon. So my bro introduces me to the local Malibu dealer and just so happens they have an 06 VLX with a whopping 20 hrs on it (this is September 06). Added a few extra speakers and juiced the sound system, extra batteries, carpet saver etc and I was off to the races. Problem was it was winter...longest winter of my life. First weekend on the lake it was about 6 degrees celcius so we put on our coats and touques and hit the water. Never looked back. Liked it so much I ordered an 11 VLX for this spring. Just think the BU is superior to others in so many ways. I will be a BU owner for life. :biggrin:

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