96 malibu, 685 hours, how much is it worth?

[Woodski]

@dreamingbig: LX is the notation for the open bow version. That boat will not be the ideal wake or surf boat, it is clearly targeted at three event disciplines (slalom, jump, trick). It is a great slalom and barefoot boat, but will only offer a mediocre wakeboard wake and probably similarly poor surf wake (that boat was not really designed for either of those). I would think that an immaculate Response would be worth $12k. What engine does it come with, the Monsoon was the engine of choice in that time and it is fuel injected.

Edited March 24, 2014 by Woodski

[Michigan boarder]

My Echelon is pretty much the same boat as the Response, but mine is an open bow. We have a the Malibu Wedge on the back of it and that helps a lot to create a better wake. I'd bet with the tower his has a wedge too, you should check on that, they cost about $1k and would add value to that boat. I can do a lot behind it on a wakeboard, and get enough air to attempt inverts. We surf ropeless on ours too, my wife and our 3 kids. It's all doable - you can definitely wakeboard behind it, and definitely surf. Not the best boat for any of it, but it is definitely doable.

Here's where I am going to sound sexist, but please don't be offended. Does the guy selling the boat live on/near the same lake? How do you know him? Can you lean on him for help or advice if you have any problems down the road with the boat or trailer? If yes, then that means a lot. If it's just Joe Whomever selling a boat that you will never see again, not so much.

[Michigan boarder]

Surfing:

[dreamingbig]

The guy selling does live a mile away from where my parents house boat is and says he will be willing to help me whenever needed. To be honest, I am not that big into jumping on wakeboards, I can't quite go from wake to wake yet. No one I will ever ride with will be able to do those things either. As we all are aging, if the kids get good then well, I will upgrade as well.

There isn't a wedge on it :-(

Can't I put a couple of fat sacks in where the back seat is and surf away?

I really appreciate your alls advise. Thank you!

How about I offer him 11,500....This is my first time so I don't want him to throw me around. I don't make much money so he doesn't need to profit off of me.

[Michigan boarder]

Advice on wake to wake - shorten the rope. Ride with a 55' rope and the wake gets a lot narrower. Lengthen the rope as you progress. Or - forget about wake to wake altogether. Concentrate on surface tricks - 180's, 360's, etc. and save your knees.

Bummer with no wedge. That surf wake you see in the pics is with a 400# bag in the ski locker, a 750# bag in the rear corner, 420# of people in the boat, and the wedge down. I don't know if I could surf without the wedge, not sure how much more ballast would be required. But the more ballast, the more careful you have to be as a driver. I can take a wave over the front without any weight, driving by myself if I'm not careful. Load it up with weight and it's a lot riskier.

Offer $11.5, it can't hurt. Check out the other Responses on Craigslist, Onlyinboards, etc. before you talk to him so you have an idea of what the market is like.

[dreamingbig]

Surfing:

Is that behind your boat that is similar to a response?

Edited March 24, 2014 by dreamingbig

[Michigan boarder]

Is that behind your boat that is similar to a response?

Yes, behind our Echelon. Here's what the inside of the boat looks like - very similar to the Response:

[Steve B.]

So, we are all in agreement it's a closed bow response? It's probably a very nice boat, little pricey. Depending on accessories I'm thinking 12'ish.

I'd say look around and see if you can find a Sunsetter, or an open bow Response for the same price.

Keep us posted and good luck. Oh, send us links to boats you may be thinking about too !

Steve B.

[jhartt3]

if you're going to do wake and surf ... i'd hold out for an SV23wake hull... Remember that you buy the hull not the options on the boat. these do factor into price but the hull makes the wake/wave. a tower can be added... perfect pass can be added... ballast can be added. i've never seen someone reshape their hull affordably though.

Edited March 24, 2014 by jhartt3

[Woodski]

@dreamingbig: The difference between the Response and the Echelon is the top or above the rub rail. The hull is identical (for that year). Given the fact he lives close, shows interest in helping you with it and it is spotless, I would consider that significant value in your offer or purchase decision. It clearly sounds by your description to be a well above average boat with numerous new parts and related upkeep. If it were my boat and I felt $16.5k was my starting selling price, I would not go down as far as you are thinking given the condition you describe. The one question to ask him, how is the HDS and does it or has it leaked, that is the one trouble spot with those boats and if I recall correctly, the 96 had the HDS system. The stainless prop, which is probably a CVP, will need to be changed as they have a tendency to sling blades at inopportune moments.

@MB: you might indicate you total ballast conditions in the pix so she has a feel for that (weight / wedge).

[pook77]

If you want to surf I would seriously consider holding out for a V-drive.

[LS-One]

One year newer

http://fresno.craigslist.org/bod/4386014796.html

[85 Barefoot]

One year newer

http://fresno.craigslist.org/bod/4386014796.html

I love seeing 15 year old boats in condition like that! awesome.

[Vettesetter]

That is a sweet boat in awesome condition, you can sink a ton of money fixing stuff so condition sometimes is worth a few more grand

[Steve B.]

Yowie that there is a beauty !

Steve B.

[Slyexe]

You can easily wakeboard behind a Response, airtime and inverts are pretty limited as to the size of the wake, but do-able. Having a closed bow is like knocking 1000$ off the pricetag, trust me. It's a small boat to start and having the nose closed in will make it even smaller. You'll be very limited to the amount of passangers and accessories you can carry onboard, mine feels small enough having 3 people + myself and full of gear, I couldn't imagine with a closed bow.

I bought mine 2 years ago for $11,500 CAD with a double axle trailer, no wedge, few bumps on the outside, 320 monsoon engine with ~520 hours, and stock stereo. Thing's you will probably invest in (or I did alteast) - New stereo, perfectpass or stargazer, wedge, new prop (get rid of stainless in my opinion) and possibly a heater core - costing you ~2000-3000$ in extras. You can get a newer boat with most of those gadgets in 15,000's I'd suspect for that age of a boat.

If you're wanting to wakeboard and surf I'd definitely find a Sunsetter or a V-Drive in general as it makes things way easier and have a better hull to do the job.

It's possible to do it all with a response, you can watch my video I posted a few weeks ago to see.

Click here for the video

Edit: On a side note, this is a great starting boat to learn wakeboarding behind, not so much surfing. But because the wake isn't all that big it's not as frightening to commit, and you can learn alot from starting at an easy pace.

Surfing I had 2x 450# bags in the rear corner stacked on each other and one 450# beside the engine. Usually when I wakeboard I have the wedge down and a 450# on the back seat. I've tried with all 3 bags and the wake is bigger but it's to difficult for the boat to maintain the speed and starts to "bounce" because there isn't enough weight in the front. Once I have all 3 bags filled there's literally no room left in the boat after the beer cooler and 2 buddies. We have to climb over the engine and hop on the fatsacks to get around.

Edited March 25, 2014 by Slyexe

[Michigan boarder]

Nice Slyexe! What surf board is that?

[dreamingbig]

You can easily wakeboard behind a Response, airtime and inverts are pretty limited as to the size of the wake, but do-able. Having a closed bow is like knocking 1000$ off the pricetag, trust me. It's a small boat to start and having the nose closed in will make it even smaller. You'll be very limited to the amount of passangers and accessories you can carry onboard, mine feels small enough having 3 people + myself and full of gear, I couldn't imagine with a closed bow.

I bought mine 2 years ago for $11,500 CAD with a double axle trailer, no wedge, few bumps on the outside, 320 monsoon engine with ~520 hours, and stock stereo. Thing's you will probably invest in (or I did alteast) - New stereo, perfectpass or stargazer, wedge, new prop (get rid of stainless in my opinion) and possibly a heater core - costing you ~2000-3000$ in extras. You can get a newer boat with most of those gadgets in 15,000's I'd suspect for that age of a boat.

If you're wanting to wakeboard and surf I'd definitely find a Sunsetter or a V-Drive in general as it makes things way easier and have a better hull to do the job.

It's possible to do it all with a response, you can watch my video I posted a few weeks ago to see.

Click here for the video

Edit: On a side note, this is a great starting boat to learn wakeboarding behind, not so much surfing. But because the wake isn't all that big it's not as frightening to commit, and you can learn alot from starting at an easy pace.

Surfing I had 2x 450# bags in the rear corner stacked on each other and one 450# beside the engine. Usually when I wakeboard I have the wedge down and a 450# on the back seat. I've tried with all 3 bags and the wake is bigger but it's to difficult for the boat to maintain the speed and starts to "bounce" because there isn't enough weight in the front. Once I have all 3 bags filled there's literally no room left in the boat after the beer cooler and 2 buddies. We have to climb over the engine and hop on the fatsacks to get around.

I'm not too worried about the room as I have a house boat, well my parents do anyway, and we can switch people out. HOw much do you think I should offer him? I will have to buy a few fat sacks and maybe even a wedge....

[dreamingbig]

if you're going to do wake and surf ... i'd hold out for an SV23wake hull... Remember that you buy the hull not the options on the boat. these do factor into price but the hull makes the wake/wave. a tower can be added... perfect pass can be added... ballast can be added. i've never seen someone reshape their hull affordably though.

Sorry, I'm new to this, but what is a SV23 wake hull?

[dreamingbig]

@dreamingbig: The difference between the Response and the Echelon is the top or above the rub rail. The hull is identical (for that year). Given the fact he lives close, shows interest in helping you with it and it is spotless, I would consider that significant value in your offer or purchase decision. It clearly sounds by your description to be a well above average boat with numerous new parts and related upkeep. If it were my boat and I felt $16.5k was my starting selling price, I would not go down as far as you are thinking given the condition you describe. The one question to ask him, how is the HDS and does it or has it leaked, that is the one trouble spot with those boats and if I recall correctly, the 96 had the HDS system. The stainless prop, which is probably a CVP, will need to be changed as they have a tendency to sling blades at inopportune moments.

@MB: you might indicate you total ballast conditions in the pix so she has a feel for that (weight / wedge).

What is HDS system? And what do you mean by sling blades? sorry, I'm trying;-)

[85 Barefoot]

What is HDS system? And what do you mean by sling blades? sorry, I'm trying;-)

HDS is a proprietary vibratuion and noice insualtion system...you will find numerous trheads on it. It can leak.

sling blades means blade come off. Stainless steel not preferred blade type for inboards. Nibral preferred.

[85 Barefoot]

Sorry, I'm new to this, but what is a SV23 wake hull?

The hull that made malibu famous.

[dfarhood]

FWIW anything listed as an sv23 prior to '98 in the resources tab is a sv23 wake hull. The diamond varient didn't come out until 98, the "wake" is more of a label to distinguish the versions. So the current boat you are looking at is actually the same sv23 wake hull.

[Woodski]

HDS = Hydrophonic damping system, it was an innovative idea by Malibu to dampen any prop shaft vibrations. Responses had it from ~'96-'98 not exactly sure. As noted, they had a tendency to develop a leak and needed some repair to cure. this particular leak is more significant than the traditional direct drive (this type of inboard tournament ski boat) "drip" from the prop shaft seal which is normal and expected. The owner can run you through and point to all those details.

Sling Blades: sorry for the slang term, the CVP (brand) stainless steel propellors used by Malibu from ~'95-'99 had a tendency to crack at the hub to blade interface and eventually throw the blade off. The newer CNC cut Nibral (nickel/brass/aluminum) propellors from Acme and OJ are a recommended replacement. The Acme 515 is a standard replacement prop for that boat at sea level.

The SV23 hull was brought out in '93 and is what, as noted, put Malibu on the map as a top level slalom or three event (slalom/jump/trick) tournament ski boat. It also was the first fully fiberglass (no wood to rot) hull and the Malibu Echelon/Response won numerous boat of the year awards over the next 10 years. The SV23 hull has received subtle design upgrades over the years and added terminology to designate the differences. Just for clarity, the Echelon / Response (same hull) series riding on the original SV23 hull were not primarily designed as wakeboard boats but as slalom specialty boats. The Wedge, a patented Malibu innovation, was introduced to alter the wake to assist the wakeboarding wake needs.

As noted above, a closed bow tournament boat will not be ideal for multiple passengers but will offer a lot of storage under the bow and will be much better at staying dry as you go through rollers or operate on rough water (these boats are poor on rough water, just a byproduct of a nice flat slalom wake). When you are pulling a skier/boarder/footer due to the rope hooked to the pylon, you will not be able to have your passengers in the back seat. As I do, most hard core slalom junkies simply remove the back seat as that also helps the slalom and barefoot wake. So when pulling there is only seating for three (or 4 small) total people on seats in the boat, others will end up on the floor unless you buy some jump seats.

[Michigan boarder]

When you are pulling a skier/boarder/footer due to the rope hooked to the pylon, you will not be able to have your passengers in the back seat. As I do, most hard core slalom junkies simply remove the back seat as that also helps the slalom and barefoot wake. So when pulling there is only seating for three (or 4 small) total people on seats in the boat, others will end up on the floor unless you buy some jump seats.

It's got a tower though, so she should be fine. 2 across the back sitting sideways facing in, 1 driver, 2 in spotters seat is about it though for that boat.