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Hard to see my VLX go... now time to pick something new!


IXFE

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Last week I sold my 2012 Wakesetter VLX to a great family in Reno, Nevada. It was a very smooth transaction for a flawless boat.

I noticed in the other thread about selling boats Shawn's recommendation to get all the money at the same bank... that's exactly what we did, and the transaction took literally 20 minutes (including having our bill of sale notarized, loan paid off, etc.). And yes, it helps if there is some trust between buyer and seller. :)

Here she is one last time before heading to her new home. Our first Malibu... She will be missed!

20130207_103926_zps2cf426aa.jpg

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Okay, so now that we've mourned the loss of the VLX, it's time to look to the future!

For those wondering why I'd sell that SICK boat, the answer is Surf Gate. I've demo'd it and I gotta have it. We are not expert surfers; we've only dabbled a little in our other boats, always with stock ballast. My wife hates it because of she doesn't like listing the boat over (makes her nervous, sea sick, etc.). Also, half the family is goofy, the other half is regular. So with all those obstacles we just don't do it much. The convenience of Surf Gate + PnP ballast should change all that. As we get older, we're anxious to surf more.

I've demo'd the following boats (all 2013's): VLX, LSV, SA, and G25 (just for fun). We are narrowed down to the VLX and LSV. Honestly the LSV is probably the right boat for us (family of 6 that often boats with others). But there are a few issues:

  • I test fit an LSV in the garage yesterday... it doesn't fit going straight in (too long). I'd have to put it in diagonal, which means my wife would have to park outside (at least during the summer... I'd store it in a warehouse during winter). She's willing to do it, but I can read her body language... she's not thrilled about it, and is worried about wear and tear on her precious Denali XL. Ugh.
  • The LSV is a little taller than the VLX on the trailer. The test fit was with 14" wheels and it fit under my 8' door by less than 1cm. You guys know I like my 18's.. especially on the bigger boat. Dealer says 18" will push the boat up another 1-2" which will make it too tall for the garage (I refuse to remove hoops, racks, etc.).

That's it... just garage issues.

I've gotta decide soon or I'll miss my window for an April build. Crap!! This is a hard. I really want the 23! Here's a pic of the LSV in the garage yesterday (lot boat).

20130215_105145_zps1d48c5f0.jpg

Edited by IXFE
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Looking for input on VLX vs. LSV as well as color ideas.

One more wrinkle... my wife likes the slalom ski, so I'm actually considering a Cut Diamond hull on either the VLX or the LSV. If anybody has the Cut Diamond on either the VLX or LSV please share your experiences (new hulls only).

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A diamond hull will make that boat harder to sell. As for trailer issues, call Owen shelton at boatmate and see what he thinks. I'm sure they could work some magic to make that boat sit a little lower. In many cases, it just means lowering the bunks a bit.

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I also struggled with the decision between a vlx and lsv. There are some other considerations that I weighed. Ultimately, I felt that the lsv was the way to go, because it just was not that much more coin for a noticeably bigger boat with a better surf wave.

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I would go with the LSV as well. More room, more storage, and a bigger wave. I personally wouldn't get the PnP. I would plumb in reversible pumps to the locker sacks. Makes filling and draining so much faster vs. a piggyback system.

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A diamond hull will make that boat harder to sell. As for trailer issues, call Owen shelton at boatmate and see what he thinks. I'm sure they could work some magic to make that boat sit a little lower. In many cases, it just means lowering the bunks a bit.

Awesome recommendation, Chatt. I will do just that.

I thought the same thing on Diamond resale, but I honestly wonder if anybody even knows the difference. For example, during my VLX sale I talked to several potential buyers and not one of them asked about the hull.

Edited by IXFE
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I would go with the LSV as well. More room, more storage, and a bigger wave. I personally wouldn't get the PnP. I would plumb in reversible pumps to the locker sacks. Makes filling and draining so much faster vs. a piggyback system.

Funny you say that... my dealer gave me the same exact recommendation. Should be much faster fill/empty times since they can go simultaneously.

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Looking for input on VLX vs. LSV as well as color ideas.

One more wrinkle... my wife likes the slalom ski, so I'm actually considering a Cut Diamond hull on either the VLX or the LSV. If anybody has the Cut Diamond on either the VLX or LSV please share your experiences (new hulls only).

So hears the deal, you will get so many opinions here on the diamond hull but my dealership out of california did a test day with 2 identical lsv's, one with diamond and other with wake hull with 4 professional wakeboarders and 4 skiers. They told neither which boat was witch. None of the wakeboarders(and these guys are pro riders) could tell any difference between either boats at wakeboard speed and said both were identical in wake. At 32 mph or above, which is were the diamond hull is designed to lift up at rear and flatten out wake all the skiers picked the diamond hull for the better ski wake. Surf wave was also identical. For this reason they only order their boats with diamond hull. I agree with you that most people out there don't even know there is 2 different hulls.

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So hears the deal, you will get so many opinions here on the diamond hull but my dealership out of california did a test day with 2 identical lsv's, one with diamond and other with wake hull with 4 professional wakeboarders and 4 skiers. They told neither which boat was witch. None of the wakeboarders(and these guys are pro riders) could tell any difference between either boats at wakeboard speed and said both were identical in wake. At 32 mph or above, which is were the diamond hull is designed to lift up at rear and flatten out wake all the skiers picked the diamond hull for the better ski wake. Surf wave was also identical. For this reason they only order their boats with diamond hull. I agree with you that most people out there don't even know there is 2 different hulls.

I just got off the phone with Idaho Water Sports. They order all their lot boats with Cut Diamond hull, and they told me essentially the same thing. They say Surf Gate wave is exactly the same either way.

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I sat in a 06 VLX and a 07 23LSV this past summer. IMO the VLX is too small. We would have min of 6 every time. Although we havent bought one yet, it would be a 23LSV just for the space and storage. As for the garage, I would imagine you can make it fit. The new Bu takes precedent over a Denali. It's not going hurt the denali being parked outside for the riding months.

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Here is my take on the VLX vs LSV. And this is just my OPINION.... so take it for what its worth. Both are awesome, and I could have bought either, I ended up ordering another VLX.

I recently demo'd the LSV with surfgate.... I have 250+ hours in a 2011 VLX.

The VLX will comfortably sit up to 10, you can pack 12 in but 6-8 is very comfortable. Personally, I have found after 5 years of boating anything more than 10 people and nobody gets to do much, and its a little bit of kaos. Maybe this is because I always took out a pack of teenage football, rugby players, cheerleaders, etc... those kids have a ton of energy! The LSV will seat 2-3 more people than the VLX and have more storage. The VLX is easier to store, tow, manuever around the dock, uses less fuel, and the Monsoon 350 in the VLX is a great powerplant. The LSV is a larger boat, while driving it you can feel it, but it still handles nicely for a 23' boat. Apparently the Monsoon 350 is still adequate for the LSV, it weighs 600+ more lbs than the VLX so I would personally not purchase the LSV with Monsoon 350 unless I saw it loaded with full hard tanks, 750's in each rear locker, wedge deployed and 6-8 people in the boat. I know the VLX with this load is MAXED out with Monsoon, I have used this setup before on my VLX (with ACME 1235). It was at the point where it was beginning to have a difficult time, so adding another 600 lbs I wonder about the Monsoon in the LSV. I am assuming Dave will be loading it up for surfing and this setup seems to be min. for surfgate, if not requiring more weight (another 750? or 1100's in each locker).

The VLX vs LSV wakeboard wakes stock are both great, however, the VLX wake is narrower, the LSV will have a wider wake. I noticed this during my demo with the LSV, however I will say the LSV wake still seems to be clean at lower speeds which was impressive. For kids and beginner/intermediate riders I feel the VLX wake is better imo for them to go wake to wake. For surfing the LSV will have a better wake. For Slalom skiing I have never seen the LSV wake, I can say I have towed a few slalom skiers behind my '11 VLX and it was decent and skiable at 32-34 MPH. Definitely not as good as a VTX or direct drive. I did have the wake hull on my '11, so not sure how they would compare with diamond hulls.

I chose the VLX for a number of reasons, our family is getting smaller, I have three kids, one out of the house, another leaving for college in 1.5 years, and we rarely ever take out more than 10 people. The VLX has never left anyone at the dock. My tow vehicle is pretty maxed with VLX, this was another factor. Storage would have been more difficult, the LSV sits another 4" higher so I would have had to make more modifications to fit in the garage. My 10 year old who rides the most in our family loves the VLX wake, he actually commented about ordering another VLX. The VLX just worked well for us over the past couple years, we never thought we ever needed a larger boat. If I had a larger family or planned on taking 10-12 people out more often I would have went with the LSV.

Dave, good luck with your decision! They are both amazing boats... you cant go wrong with either, looking forward to seeing your delivery pics of whatever you decide on!!! btw, that black and lsv looks sick!

Also, on diamond vs. wake... I ordered the wake hull again only because of resale. I did not want to scare any buyers off, but it sounds like it really does not make a difference either way for resale after reading peoples comments. And the wakeboard wake on the diamond hull for 90% of riders would probably be more than adequate.

Edited by Fman
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I sat in a 06 VLX and a 07 23LSV this past summer. IMO the VLX is too small. We would have min of 6 every time. Although we havent bought one yet, it would be a 23LSV just for the space and storage. As for the garage, I would imagine you can make it fit. The new Bu takes precedent over a Denali. It's not going hurt the denali being parked outside for the riding months.

FYI, the '06 VLX is smaller than a 2009+ VLX, they increased beam width in the newer models. Not a massive difference, but definitely a tad bit larger.

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Either way, they are both great boats. I went with LSV this time, Travis went with VLX. My garage wont hold either one and my truck can pull both so I had nothing to lose by upgrading. I can fully understand both of your situations.

Boatmate is a great shop, they will make it fit under that door if needed.

Edited by bamabonners
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Dave, can you still get the straight bar on the G3 as opposed to the hoop? Pretty sure the LSV with 18"'s will fit. Not my fault if it doesn't :)

I've followed all the straight hoop threads, and I don't think it's a good option for me. As you can see from the garage pic above, the racks are actually a little taller than the hoop. So even if I had the straight hoop, I'd still need to take the racks off every time. I don't want to do that. The platform is already hard enough (even harder now with SG).

I like Chatt's solution. I'm going to see if Boatmate can drop the bunks a few inches.

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In regard to the 350 in the lsv, with the right prop, it's awesome in that boat. I know because my best friend is a Malibu rep, he has a 13 lsv, and he runs the 350 with 750s full in the rear and lead in the nose plus the wedge and his lsv planes. Ill get the prop numbers from him and post them up. It's not the high altitude prop, but the bigger 15 and something inch prop, which is a factory option.

Actually, I've been told by a few people who test these boats as part of their jobs that the 350 does every bit as good in the lsv as the vlx (and maybe better when you are adding ballast), because the lsv naturally planes better due to the added length of the hull. I know for a fact this principal holds true because I've been in an axis a20 weighted the exact same as another a22 with the same motor and, while the a22 planed off, the a20 would not.

Just another reason I ordered an lsv.

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Ixfe I know you said that your wife wakeboards pretty slow... How fast does she ski? If under 30 it sounds like wake/diamond may be a moot decision except to the extent that a diamond hull makes the boat more or less attractive to a buyer. And we all know how long you keep 'em, so resale is probably a concern?

Not saying diamond will make it harder to sell either... Because they are rarer, You just might find the right buyer who is hunting for a diamond hulled lsv.

Oh and that trailer looks dope as-is. ;) save the money on the 18s and get a couple if really nice surfboards instead!

Edited by shawndoggy
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