Jump to content

Welcome to TheMalibuCrew!

As a guest, you are welcome to poke around and view the majority of the content that we have to offer, but in order to post, search, contact members, and get full use out of the website you will need to Register for an Account. It's free and it's easy, so don't hesitate to join the TheMalibuCrew Family today!

Our new 2012 VLX


Brett B

Recommended Posts

My wife and I spent a few years riding in friends boats and researching different brands. We looked very closely at Mastercraft and Nautique as well, and while they are very nice boats it became clear that the Malibu fit us best. It doesn't hurt that so many of our good friends are Malibu owners as well! We looked at Axis too, and while we liked the wake and boat overall, with their increasing prices I just didn't feel like I was getting as much value out of it. So here is our new 2012 VLX that we custom ordered. Picked it up about a week ago so here are a few pictures, I will post some more as we get them.

The V8 4-runner tows it great but will be getting rear air bags soon to help with the squat:

15703762_large.jpg

Demo with the dealer and some break-in hours, boy do I need a tan! The metallic flake looks great on the water!

15703763_large.jpg

It fits! Being able to store it at home (thanks to the G3 tower) was a big part of deciding to buy new:

15703765_large.jpg

Garage storage racks all done:

15703766_large.jpg

Interior pic. Just got the Exile XM9's bolted up, these speakers are awesome. We also had a custom "straight" hoop made which should arrive this week. That way I will not have to remove the hoop to fit under my 7 foot garage door every time we go out. I wanted the original hoop as well though since it works with the bimini which we will use on long weekend summer trips.

15703767_large.jpg

Got to take it out this weekend. I was really impressed with the stock wake with just a couple people in it. Overall we couldn't be happier with the boat, can't wait to spend all summer on it!

15703772_large.jpg

Edited by Brett B
Link to comment

Thanks for all the kind words guys, I'm in Columbus.

Your tower doesn't look like it is folded all the way? What are you doing to keep it up that high?

With the hoop removed and the speakers installed it pretty much balances there, you can set it all the way down or partway up like in the pictures. Without the speakers or hoop it would stand itself mostly up. For getting under the garage door it needs to be all the way down, so for now the wifey rides in the boat while backing in to make sure it stays down. With the new straight hoop installed it should stay all the way down on it's own.

Link to comment

I'm not sure what I'm more impressed with the boat or the sanitized room you keep it in. Looks like a clean room at an electronics factory. Impressive :thumbup: .

Link to comment

I'm not sure what I'm more impressed with the boat or the sanitized room you keep it in. Looks like a clean room at an electronics factory. Impressive :thumbup: .

Haha, thanks. I posted the garage picture on facebook and that got the most comments from the local boat friends as well. The oversized 3rd car garage was a big reason why I bought this house, this man has his priorities straight. :biggrin:

I did spend some time getting the garage cleaned up and ready. Cut down a tree that was in the way, moved out some stuff, touched up the walls and epoxy coated the floor. The neighbors of course thought I was crazy commenting on how ridiculously clean the garage was, I didn't tell them why. Then we brought the boat home and I'm sure it all made sense. :lol: The wife thought I was crazy too for putting that much work into the garage but now she thinks it's awesome.

Link to comment

I'm not sure what I'm more impressed with the boat or the sanitized room you keep it in. Looks like a clean room at an electronics factory. Impressive :thumbup: .

Ditto, is that an operating room?

Link to comment

When I built my house an oversized 3 car garage was first on the list. now i am adding a 24' carport on the side with 10' clearance so I can just back her in with the tower up. BTW although my garage is not an clean as the OP I can say it stays full of cars and not junk. Nothing bugs me more than cars or boats in the driveway and a garage full of crap so nice job with this one.

Link to comment

Sweet ride! Looks great! and ditto the other comments, thats the cleanest garage I have ever seen! You have wwwwwaaaayyyyy to much time on your hands! Do you have kids? :) LOL, If not, you need to have some to give you something to do!

And one other question on the straight bar, who did it for you? and will the bimini still work with the straight bar? I was also looking into this, I have to remove my tow ball on the tower to fit in our garage, good call on the straight bar... removing the bar every time you wanted to put it in the garage would be a PIA! its tough to line up every time.

Again, congrats! and enjoy....

Link to comment

How do you like the mirror mounted on the windshield frame? I also passed on the G3 twoer mirror mainly because I didn't want to fork over $500 or whatever it was for a mirror (personally, I'm kind of annoyed that you have to pay extra for a tower mirror). Also, I ready a thread hear about issues people were having.

So I'm curious how i will adapt to the windshield mirror. Do you like??

15703772_large.jpg

Edited by IXFE
Link to comment

IXFE, Bakes is listing the G3 Mirror for $549, and $599 if you want the stainless handle (which I recommend). For that price I dont think the mirror is worth the cost, I paid $349 for it and thought that was too expensive. I think you made a good call going with the windshield mount, and with the Malibu you have to always have the center window closed anyway because of the size of the window. It looks like it would break to me if you had it open and hit a few big rollers. My old boat had a smaller window and it was never an issue leaving it open while driving the boat, not the case with the Malibu.

That windshield mount looks like it does a great job of showing the entire rider even when cutting outside the wake, although I do think the tower mirror looks cool, but not $600 cool.

Edited by Fman
Link to comment

Very nice looking boat. I think your colours are more like what my wife was looking for..... before I convinced her to let me get the black hull.

Where did you get the straight hoop made? I too have a 7' door, along with a one week VTX that I have to take the hoop off.

With the hoop removed and the speakers installed it pretty much balances there, you can set it all the way down or partway up like in the pictures. Without the speakers or hoop it would stand itself mostly up. For getting under the garage door it needs to be all the way down, so for now the wifey rides in the boat while backing in to make sure it stays down. With the new straight hoop installed it should stay all the way down on it's own.

Once I took the hoop off I used some webbing to hold the tower down to the steering column.

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...