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Buying used from Tommy's or Texas Malibu


DirtCity

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Hey all,

Has anyone done business with either Tommy's boats or Texas Malibu? I am looking at possibly buying a used Malibu from one of them, but I am unfortunately located a long ways from either. I would normally not at all consider buying a boat that I have not physically seen or driven, but in this case I have test driven the model years and would only consider this from a reputable dealer. There is of course risk with anything used, but I am hoping that quite a bit of that would be mitigated by purchasing from a dealer that has a good reputation. Trying to find a used Malibu in the year I want for a reasonable price in my location has been very challenging. I realize no one can tell me I won't end up with a lemon, but was hoping folks to possibly comment on the dealers and any past experiences that would give confidence I can trust them. 

 

As always, appreciate the info and feedback from folks on the forum. 

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I bought my boat from Tommy's.  Their service has really been outstanding.  And I feel they were very honest and forthcoming in the sales process as well.  My boat came from the Tommy's in Colorado.  What location has the boat in question?

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3 minutes ago, RyanB said:

I bought my boat from Tommy's.  Their service has really been outstanding.  And I feel they were very honest and forthcoming in the sales process as well.  My boat came from the Tommy's in Colorado.  What location has the boat in question?

Hi Ryan, I am looking at some out of the Florida location, which is of course about as far from me as you can get :). 

Just now, Ronnie said:

What model boat are you looking for, possibly the membership here can help with your search or even know the boats you are looking at.

Ronnie, I am looking at 23 LSV and VLX models. Given the budget I have set for myself I am probably going to be in the 2010 - 2012 (23 LSV) and possibly in 2010 - 2013 (VLX). 

 

Thank you both for the response!

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Bought my 15 from tommy's and was very happy.  So much so I traded in with them on a new 17!  I've dealt with both the Grand Rapids Mi store and the Wallon lake store.  No complaints.

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I bought my boat from Tommys in FL. It was our first inboard. Wes was awesome to deal with. Spent a lot of time with making sure everything was solid. Johnny their detail guy is phenomenal. Everyone there has been really great to deal with. Overall, I had  great experience.

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8 hours ago, DirtCity said:

Hi Ryan, I am looking at some out of the Florida location, which is of course about as far from me as you can get :). 

Ronnie, I am looking at 23 LSV and VLX models. Given the budget I have set for myself I am probably going to be in the 2010 - 2012 (23 LSV) and possibly in 2010 - 2013 (VLX). 

 

Thank you both for the response!

Where are you located?  Budget?  Colors you prefer?  Items you are really looking for (surfgate or no, additional ballast, etc) and I bet someone on the crew can find you one.

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I bought my boat at Central Texas Water Sports (CTWS) in Round Rock.  CTWS merged with the Texas Ski Ranch (TSR), formerly the local Mastercraft dealer, to become what is now Texas Malibu. 

Very solid dealership in my experience.  I've had my boat serviced at both locations, and I've met many of the people who work there.  I wouldn't hesitate to purchase another boat from them if I were ever in the market.

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2 hours ago, jwl019 said:

Where are you located?  Budget?  Colors you prefer?  Items you are really looking for (surfgate or no, additional ballast, etc) and I bet someone on the crew can find you one.

I am located in WA state on the Columbia river. I am trying to stay in the 50k range, if possible. As for colors, I am not all that picky, can't be really with used. Yellow is definitely not my favorite, but really almost everything else and even that is fine. I realize that with a certain budget you can be overly picky.  I would prefer surfgate, hence the reason I might be able to find a VLX but not an LSV. Thanks!

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17 minutes ago, srab said:

I bought my boat at Central Texas Water Sports (CTWS) in Round Rock.  CTWS merged with the Texas Ski Ranch (TSR), formerly the local Mastercraft dealer, to become what is now Texas Malibu. 

Very solid dealership in my experience.  I've had my boat serviced at both locations, and I've met many of the people who work there.  I wouldn't hesitate to purchase another boat from them if I were ever in the market.

Cool. That is excellent. They have a few good ones and were great to speak with over the phone. 

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33 minutes ago, DirtCity said:

I am located in WA state on the Columbia river. I am trying to stay in the 50k range, if possible. As for colors, I am not all that picky, can't be really with used. Yellow is definitely not my favorite, but really almost everything else and even that is fine. I realize that with a certain budget you can be overly picky.  I would prefer surfgate, hence the reason I might be able to find a VLX but not an LSV. Thanks!

Wow, you weren't joking when you said Florida is about as far from you as possible!  There are several guys on here from over in that area that I bet can help you find a closer boat if the ones you are looking at do not exactly meet your criteria.

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11 hours ago, ahopkinsTXi said:

Just a quick suggestion if you are hoping to get surfgate... have you thought about a used Axis T22?

Hey yeah I have, but the Axis boats seem to really hodl their value. I can get a 2017 T22 here for what a lot of people are sellling used 2015 / 2016 for. I was definitely surprised by that. I am not at all opposed to an Axis, just seemed to be really expensive unless you got a 2011 or 2012, in which case I might as well go Malibu. 

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Just a quick note on 2010-2012 boats.

 

If you recall, the industry went from making 10000 boats per year to about 3000 in a VERY short period...essentially overnight.  And it stayed that way for a while.

 

Don't get frustrated if you don't see a bunch of those years out there and available....the fact is they just didn't make a ton.

 

Don't forget to check out www.boulderboats.com 

 

Good luck!

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ahopkins22LSV
1 hour ago, DirtCity said:

Hey yeah I have, but the Axis boats seem to really hodl their value. I can get a 2017 T22 here for what a lot of people are sellling used 2015 / 2016 for. I was definitely surprised by that. I am not at all opposed to an Axis, just seemed to be really expensive unless you got a 2011 or 2012, in which case I might as well go Malibu. 

Gotcha. Prices do vary quite a bit across the country. If you are willing to travel and let the crew help you. I bet you can find a T22 or other Axis in your price range with surf gate. 

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On 11/30/2016 at 5:52 PM, DirtCity said:

I am located in WA state on the Columbia river. I am trying to stay in the 50k range, if possible. As for colors, I am not all that picky, can't be really with used. Yellow is definitely not my favorite, but really almost everything else and even that is fine. I realize that with a certain budget you can be overly picky.  I would prefer surfgate, hence the reason I might be able to find a VLX but not an LSV. Thanks!

As Ronnie said, it will be hard to find a Malibu with Surf Gate (i.e. 2013 or newer) for $50k. You'd have to increase your budget by about $15k  

This is about the cheapest 2013 Malibu you'll find in the PNW. Let me know if you want me to go check it out for you... it's literally across the street :cheers:

http://portland.craigslist.org/wsc/boa/5873072745.html

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34 minutes ago, IXFE said:

As Ronnie said, it will be hard to find a Malibu with Surf Gate (i.e. 2013 or newer) for $50k. You'd have to increase your budget by about $15k  

This is about the cheapest 2013 Malibu you'll find in the PNW. Let me know if you want me to go check it out for you... it's literally across the street :cheers:

http://portland.craigslist.org/wsc/boa/5873072745.html

Thanks IXFE. Yeah, definitely more expensive up here in PNW and understand that probably won't be able to get into something with surf gate. As previously mentioned, not at all opposed to Axis, just was shocked at how expensive they were given what I know I can get one for new. 

 

3 hours ago, ahopkinsTXi said:

Gotcha. Prices do vary quite a bit across the country. If you are willing to travel and let the crew help you. I bet you can find a T22 or other Axis in your price range with surf gate. 

Probably definitely some out there, I just have had a difficult time finding anything that seem to be reasonably priced. I get it though that when you are trying to go used with a specific budget, you are going to have to compromise. Just don't want new, given this is our first boat since having our Malibu Sunsetter (pre-kids) and want to make sure we really use it. 

Edited by DirtCity
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1 hour ago, DirtCity said:

Thanks IXFE. Yeah, definitely more expensive up here in PNW and understand that probably won't be able to get into something with surf gate. As previously mentioned, not at all opposed to Axis, just was shocked at how expensive they were given what I know I can get one for new. 

 

Probably definitely some out there, I just have had a difficult time finding anything that seem to be reasonably priced. I get it though that when you are trying to go used with a specific budget, you are going to have to compromise. Just don't want new, given this is our first boat since having our Malibu Sunsetter (pre-kids) and want to make sure we really use it. 

Have you looked at this one?  

http://seattle.craigslist.org/est/bod/5882859333.html

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1 minute ago, Pnwrider said:

Might be some wiggle room on that boat too. It's probably a consignment or trade in at nw inboards, so the seller is probably wanting to move it to order a new one. 

Yeah, I was thinking low-$50's easy and @DirtCity doesn't have to travel. Great colors too!  

This is definitely the time of year to buy. That boat likely won't sell until February (after boat show season kicks off). 

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I am on my second 23LSV from Texas Malibu and they are a great group of people, very honest.  I am up at the house in Austin every other weekend or so and would be happy to run by and look at any boat you are interested in and see it first hand.

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I bought my boat from Tommy's and was absolutely blown away with their customer service!  They totally rocked everything.  I bought a used 2013 24MXZ this spring through their Walloon Lake location in Northern MI.  The boat actually came from their Boulder Colorado location. We identified the boat we wanted based on pictures, specs, colors, options, hours, and they had it shipped all the way up here for me with almost no questions asked.  Our scheduled delivery date was in March and we just happened to have a freak snowstorm the day before my scheduled delivery.  The dealer is about 4 hours from home, so my wife and I both took the day off and had arrangements made for the trip to pickup the boat.  I was in constant communication with my salesman and told him I would not take delivery without having a chance to sea trial the boat, and we were concerned we would have to reschedule.  They made special arrangements to have the boat launch plowed out and we were able to sea trial the boat and keep our delivery date.  Since the boat came from high altitude in Colorado we found during the sea trial that it was propped WAY to low for our elevation.  We then took the boat back to their shop where they swapped out the prop, and re winterized the boat for me!  They have an excellent team of people at Tommy's!

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6 hours ago, IXFE said:

Yeah, I was thinking low-$50's easy and @DirtCity doesn't have to travel. Great colors too!  

This is definitely the time of year to buy. That boat likely won't sell until February (after boat show season kicks off). 

Thanks guys. I had not seen that one. Definitely worth a look!

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