247RX

[hookooehoo]

Hi There. The people at Malibu recommended I join this group. So far I like what I am seeing. I just sold my boat this year and its time to look for a new one. (well used) I stumbled across the 247RX the other day and like what I see. Now I am trying to find one for sale. I live out in CA, but am willing to travel if everything looks good. So my question to everyone is, does anyone know of a 247RX for sale? Or one that could be one sale?

Any leads, suggestions or anything would be greatly appreciated.

thanks

[JTech]

There are 3 on only inboards, but appear to be on the East Coast or MN. What draws you to the RX line?

[jtrovato]

I would be hesitant to buy an RX. They weren't around for very long and as you can see there aren't many out there. Resale value is probably not that great. Is there any reason you like the RX over the 247 LSV?

[Ndawg12]

I would be hesitant to buy an RX. They weren't around for very long and as you can see there aren't many out there. Resale value is probably not that great. Is there any reason you like the RX over the 247 LSV?

Their resale is about 15-20% cheaper from what I saw a few months ago.

Edited July 31, 2013 by Ndawg12

[TrickyNicky]

As stated, no a very popular boat, Whats your reasoning for going with the 247RX?

[hookooehoo]

Hi everyone. Thanks for the responses. I personally like how the DD Boats ride and handle. It has been a few years since I have spent any real time with a V-Drive, but I always seem to come back to a DD. I am replacing a '93 Ski Brendella, which i sold earlier this year. My wife likes the V-Drive seating layout better. So this boat seems to be a half way decent compromise between the 2. I also am wanting a bigger boat, which it is, over my old Brendella. I am not too worried about resale value. If this is the boat we buy, I plan on running it till it falls apart.

Honestly it has been some time since I have been boat shopping, so I am open to any suggestions pro or con to DD, V-Drive, Model sugestions or whatever. I know the boat market has advanced lot. Thanks again for any suggestions/advice

[Falko]

Only inboards is another site which deals with boat classifieds. http://www.onlyinboards.com/

We have the XTi in 23', which is very similar to the RX in layout. We love it, great division for kids/adults and plenty of room in the back. The RX is nice as it has more seating right there in the front. Storage would be my only complaint with our boat.

[hookooehoo]

Only inboards is another site which deals with boat classifieds. http://www.onlyinboards.com/

We have the XTi in 23', which is very similar to the RX in layout. We love it, great division for kids/adults and plenty of room in the back. The RX is nice as it has more seating right there in the front. Storage would be my only complaint with our boat.

thanks! checking it out now.

I originally found the XTi 23 when i started looking a few weeks ago. I know it is wider then my old Brendella, but our Brendella was a 21' boat, so i wasn't sure how much 'more' space 2 feet would really give me. I guess I would almost like to see a RX and XTi 23 side by side. But on the flip side anything is bigger then the Brendella and bigger than nothing. lol

[TrickyNicky]

By the sounds of it I think you should be looking for a 23LSV. Yes DD's handle better than V-drives, but malibu v-drives in particular handle very very well. I can only imagine a dd the size of the RX is going to handle closer to a v-drive than a dd anyway. I could very well be wrong. If you want a bigger boat than a 21' brendella, than a 23lsv would be a nice size. I'll go off the record to say that I bet it would FEEL as big as the RX anyways just due to the layout. If you really want size, I would go up to a 247 LSV. I have nothing against the RX, I think it is a very cool layout, but I honestly don't see ANY advantage to having an RX over a 247 or 23 LSV. I certainly recommend you test drive a malibu v-drive of your price-range vintage and see what you think.

Also a very important question, what do you plan on using the boat for?

EDIT: I'd be willing to put money down that our 20' V-drive handles better than an RX. Just to give you an idea of how confident I am in the abilities of newer (specifically Malibu) v-drives.

Edited July 31, 2013 by TrickyNicky

[Falko]

thanks! checking it out now.

I originally found the XTi 23 when i started looking a few weeks ago. I know it is wider then my old Brendella, but our Brendella was a 21' boat, so i wasn't sure how much 'more' space 2 feet would really give me. I guess I would almost like to see a RX and XTi 23 side by side. But on the flip side anything is bigger then the Brendella and bigger than nothing. lol

The RX is going to be noticeably bigger than my 23 XTi, but the room in the very rear is similar if not bigger in the XTi. But the XTi doesn't have that front seating. I'm a big DD fan, but I favor skiing so that made a difference for me. A big VD will throw more wake, not that a 247 in RX form wouldn't raise the water a bit as well. I liked the 247 RX when we were looking, but we didn't need that much room, I didn't want to have to lug around that extra weight, and of course the bigger price tag kept me from it as well.

The DD has different drive and bow rise than a VD, but some of the VDs have wider range wakes for different sports. Depends what you want to do. I'd recommend getting out on the different boats, but I know how difficult that can be.

[Nitrousbird]

That RX is going to handle nothing like your little DD handles, nor will it ski anywhere in the same universe as you small DD.

IMO the RX is only there to get someone into a big inboard at a cheaper price point. It isn't going to ski well - probably better than a 247LSV but nothing anyone is going to care about. On the flip side, the RX will have less storage and occupant space in a less desirable layout, while having a noticeably worse wakeboard and surf wake.

Other than price, I can't think of a single advantage to the RX over a 23LSV or 247LSV.

[WakeGirl]

White elephant.

[shawndoggy]

Other than price, I can't think of a single advantage to the RX over a 23LSV or 247LSV.

Easier impeller change.

[hookooehoo]

By the sounds of it I think you should be looking for a 23LSV. Yes DD's handle better than V-drives, but malibu v-drives in particular handle very very well. I can only imagine a dd the size of the RX is going to handle closer to a v-drive than a dd anyway. I could very well be wrong. If you want a bigger boat than a 21' brendella, than a 23lsv would be a nice size. I'll go off the record to say that I bet it would FEEL as big as the RX anyways just due to the layout. If you really want size, I would go up to a 247 LSV. I have nothing against the RX, I think it is a very cool layout, but I honestly don't see ANY advantage to having an RX over a 247 or 23 LSV. I certainly recommend you test drive a malibu v-drive of your price-range vintage and see what you think.

Also a very important question, what do you plan on using the boat for?

EDIT: I'd be willing to put money down that our 20' V-drive handles better than an RX. Just to give you an idea of how confident I am in the abilities of newer (specifically Malibu) v-drives.

It is sounding like i really should go test drive the 247 RX and 247 LSV. The LSV shouldn't be a problem, its finding a RX in CA to test. lol

As for usage, I primary Ski, kneeboard, and tube. I do wake boarding now and again. So usage isnt primarily just one thing. As my daughter gets older she might like one thing more then another. So for now its a little of everything. I haven't gotten into wake surfing. A bunch of friends that normally go with us do wakeboard. But none of them have boats, so at the end of the day they don't really care about it being a DD or V-Drive. They are just happy to be on the water. lol I also run around out in the SF Bay now and again. Also I cruise up the rivers to Sacramento from where I live. So i also want something that will cruise at low speeds pretty nicely and easy as there are a bunch of no wake zones i have to go through. So i guess at the end of the day, i will use it for everything from fishing, cruising the rivers, hitting the Bay to watch fireworks and ball games, but mostly for towing people on whatever they want to towed on. lol

[hookooehoo]

That RX is going to handle nothing like your little DD handles, nor will it ski anywhere in the same universe as you small DD.

IMO the RX is only there to get someone into a big inboard at a cheaper price point. It isn't going to ski well - probably better than a 247LSV but nothing anyone is going to care about. On the flip side, the RX will have less storage and occupant space in a less desirable layout, while having a noticeably worse wakeboard and surf wake.

Other than price, I can't think of a single advantage to the RX over a 23LSV or 247LSV.

I kind of figured the bigger boat would handle different from my old one. So i am expecting that. I know a lot of people like the complete wrap around seating setup of the VD, but I dont mind the seperation the DD created. Either way, no one is really that far apart in either boat. lol

I also work on all my own stuff, so it still seems the DD would be a lot easier to work on then a VD setup.

[WakeGirl]

....

I also work on all my own stuff, so it still seems the DD would be a lot easier to work on then a VD setup.

Not necessarily true in that 247RX (basically XTi) layout.

[Malibuzer]

Go try a 23 xti. At least it will be similar to the rx. If you like the boat, buy it. I have a vtx v drive and spend lots of time in two different years of the 23 xti. I like them especially with smaller kids. The wakes are much smaller at low speeds. Ie 13-15 mpb than any vdrive.

Regardless of what people say. If the boat suits your needs than it is the right boat for you. But try both and decide for.yourself. Remember the 247 rx and 247 lsv are big boats.

Good luck

Trent

[macdaddy]

Wanted to let you know there is a 247 RX for sale on ebay. Looks pretty nice. Go to ebay and type in malibu boats. It is there. Hope this helps.

Mac

[hookooehoo]

thanks everyone for the suggestions, input, personal thoughts and everything. I am 95% sure on the RX, just need to drive one or a XTi 23 at least along with a 247 LSV. And get the wife 100% on board now. lol

[hethj7]

My two cents - if you like the RX, go for it. Sure, it is less desirable and didn't last long in Malibu's lineup, but that also means you'll pay less up front to get into it, so to me the resale thing evens out. My buddy has one and I know this isn't a fair comparison, but it handles better than my 2000VLX, throws a great wakeboard wake, does great in rough water, and has tons of room on it We put 8 adults on it with boards, two full size coolers, and all our bags/gear for a 2-night trip and we had plenty of room for a 50 mile boat ride to our cabin. I personally would prefer the v-drive like many others, but the RX is a great boat. I can't speak for the slalom wake as we don't do that. I'd expect that it would be marginal at best just considering the size of the 247 in general. It handles well around the docks, especially given its size. It is also a beast to tow.

Something else to consider on its size though is that it sticks out of many slips on the water. For instance, we took it to Table Rock a couple years ago and even though we rented a covered slip, the 247 stuck out some. We watched the bow take a lot of water during a rain storm as the rain poured off the roof of the slip.

You mentioned wanting more room than your current (1993) boat. I'm not sure how much time you've spent around these newer boats, but I'm amazed how much interior space Malibu has in even their 21' boats, especially as the beam got wider over the years. The 247, whether LSV or RX is absolutely huge. You may find the 21 or 23' is fine. Whatever you do, try to go climb around a few and get a feel for them and as always, ride/drive them if you can. I know that will be tough with the limited number of RX's out there - if you're in KC I could arrange for a ride for you

[hookooehoo]

My two cents - if you like the RX, go for it. Sure, it is less desirable and didn't last long in Malibu's lineup, but that also means you'll pay less up front to get into it, so to me the resale thing evens out. My buddy has one and I know this isn't a fair comparison, but it handles better than my 2000VLX, throws a great wakeboard wake, does great in rough water, and has tons of room on it We put 8 adults on it with boards, two full size coolers, and all our bags/gear for a 2-night trip and we had plenty of room for a 50 mile boat ride to our cabin. I personally would prefer the v-drive like many others, but the RX is a great boat. I can't speak for the slalom wake as we don't do that. I'd expect that it would be marginal at best just considering the size of the 247 in general. It handles well around the docks, especially given its size. It is also a beast to tow.

Something else to consider on its size though is that it sticks out of many slips on the water. For instance, we took it to Table Rock a couple years ago and even though we rented a covered slip, the 247 stuck out some. We watched the bow take a lot of water during a rain storm as the rain poured off the roof of the slip.

You mentioned wanting more room than your current (1993) boat. I'm not sure how much time you've spent around these newer boats, but I'm amazed how much interior space Malibu has in even their 21' boats, especially as the beam got wider over the years. The 247, whether LSV or RX is absolutely huge. You may find the 21 or 23' is fine. Whatever you do, try to go climb around a few and get a feel for them and as always, ride/drive them if you can. I know that will be tough with the limited number of RX's out there - if you're in KC I could arrange for a ride for you

thanks! all good points! Not worried about towing. :-)

but i do think test driving any 247 is going to be tough right now. Stopped by my local Malibu Dealer today and they had no 247's on the floor at all. :-( the hunt continues.

[UWSkier]

247 is the right hull for you whether it's LSV or RX if you're going out on the bay with it. No way I'd want to be on that water in a '23.

I really do think you're going to have a tough time finding a 247RX with a closed cooling system though, which is preferable for running in salt...