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Today is spray day!


powderjay

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5 hours ago, RyanB said:

Will Malibu take photos of the boat for you during the build process?  I have heard that other builders would.

Come on summer!

They used to, I have heard lately it is harder to get them to do it unless your dealer really pushes for it.  You can spend the coin and pay extra for the cute little "newborn" book.

I personally think should be included to ANYONE that pays todays premium for a custom ordered boat. 

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Dealer told me no pictures unless I buy the book... and I am not willing to give them $200 for a few pictures.    Instead, if my schedule will allow it, once mine is sprayed I may burn some FF miles and take a trip to the DC area to meet my son, then drive down to TN, play a little golf, tour Jack Daniels, and tour Malibu and take my OWN pictures.   If I am going to drop a couple C-notes for pictures, I would rather add a little and make it fun.

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I can't imagine paying $200 for a book.  Especially when spending so much $$$$ on a purchase like this.  There isn't much cost for Malibu to do something, and it seems like it would be a great opportunity for them to build some brand equity.  I shake my head at some of these decisions.

 

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13 minutes ago, RyanB said:

I can't imagine paying $200 for a book.  Especially when spending so much $$$$ on a purchase like this.  There isn't much cost for Malibu to do something, and it seems like it would be a great opportunity for them to build some brand equity.  I shake my head at some of these decisions.

 

I was in agreement when we ordered our boat but wife talked me into it since this was the first boat we were ordering.  It is a hard cover with high quality pics.  I don't regret it now as I have now browsed through it 3-4 times this winter.  In this day and age, we have photos on phones, tablets and computers but rarely print any out so 40 years from now when my kids are cleaning out our house, I hope they find them and remember these days.

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1 hour ago, RyanB said:

I can't imagine paying $200 for a book.  Especially when spending so much $$$$ on a purchase like this.  There isn't much cost for Malibu to do something, and it seems like it would be a great opportunity for them to build some brand equity.  I shake my head at some of these decisions.

 

Exactly! You're paying so much for the boat, what's another $200. :)

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13 hours ago, Bawshogg said:

They used to, I have heard lately it is harder to get them to do it unless your dealer really pushes for it.  You can spend the coin and pay extra for the cute little "newborn" book.

I personally think should be included to ANYONE that pays todays premium for a custom ordered boat. 

Does Centurion or any of the other manufactures include it?

Edited by teamerickson
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@teamerickson Centurion will take a picture or two, but they don't offer books, etc. Malibu had a guy, Casey, who's job was pictures for the books and tour guide.   Casey is awesome by the way!

The Centurion tour is given by a member of leadership.  You are allowed to take photos, etc.  

The factories are VERY different, but they have to be based on production volume.  Malibu is pumping out boats, like 15 a day!  Centurion is no where near that, not even close.  Malibu start to finish is 7 days. My Ri257 took 25 days!  

Malibu's boat stays in one building the entire process, and snakes through the building.  Centurion has outgrown thier building, and has moved into the old Malibu buildings just down the street.  So they have to transport hulls down the street, roughly 1/4 mile.  They have now outgrown that and are working on more expansion.  Malibu is also expanding, now that they are adding engines, to thier repertoire.  Additionally Malibu expanded thier main plant last year.

The other difference is production method,  Malibu still bankrolls everything, Centurion is vacuum infusing everything.  Backrolling is more labor intensive but turns moulds over faster, vacuum infusion is less labor intensive, but ties up the moulds longer.  This is creating issues right now for Centurion as they don't have enough moulds to meet demand, of certain models.

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2 minutes ago, DarkSide said:

The other difference is production method,  Malibu still bankrolls everything, Centurion is vacuum infusing everything.  Backrolling is more labor intensive but turns moulds over faster, vacuum infusion is less labor intensive, but ties up the moulds longer.  This is creating issues right now for Centurion as they don't have enough moulds to meet demand, of certain models.

@DarkSide Please explain or provide links to different production methods.  I'm curious.  Thanks.

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29 minutes ago, teamerickson said:

If Malibu did this for every boat think about the new, expensive process they would have to create. 3000 boats a year? Expenses go up exponentially.  

I wouldn't suggest they do it for everyone.  How many custom ordered boats do they do?  Start there.  Or only for those that request it.  I can't imagine the true cost would be more than $50.  But the value to the guy like @JeffC, or the OP, would be very high.

To me, it is the little things that set companies apart.  I am 1K with United.  That means, among other things, I get a free snack & drink on a flight, and something that distinguishes my bag from others so it is the first up the carousel or the first one up when I have to valet it on a small plane.  And those things make me want to come back.  I think the same would apply to Malibu (or another manufacture).  But maybe I am alone on that.

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Just now, RyanB said:

I wouldn't suggest they do it for everyone.  How many custom ordered boats do they do?  Start there.  Or only for those that request it.  I can't imagine the true cost would be more than $50.  But the value to the guy like @JeffC, or the OP, would be very high.

To me, it is the little things that set companies apart.  I am 1K with United.  That means, among other things, I get a free snack & drink on a flight, and something that distinguishes my bag from others so it is the first up the carousel or the first one up when I have to valet it on a small plane.  And those things make me want to come back.  I think the same would apply to Malibu (or another manufacture).  But maybe I am alone on that.

You are not alone.    Having said that,  my experience with Malibu (and my dealer) has been VERY good.   But I will say that when I asked for a couple of digital pictures and was told the only way to get them was to buy the book, I did feel a little nickel and dimed.   Something as simple as an email with a couple of pictures attached taken even from a smartphone would have gone a long long way.    Not something I wanted to press the issue on, but just didn't feel right.   While I negotiated hard on the price, I am still spending a LOT of cash to get a custom boat.   

But... maybe if I really do get to tour the factory, that would not be so bad either...

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29 minutes ago, RyanB said:

I wouldn't suggest they do it for everyone.  How many custom ordered boats do they do?  Start there.  Or only for those that request it.  I can't imagine the true cost would be more than $50.  But the value to the guy like @JeffC, or the OP, would be very high.

To me, it is the little things that set companies apart.  I am 1K with United.  That means, among other things, I get a free snack & drink on a flight, and something that distinguishes my bag from others so it is the first up the carousel or the first one up when I have to valet it on a small plane.  And those things make me want to come back.  I think the same would apply to Malibu (or another manufacture).  But maybe I am alone on that.

Sure! Everyone likes free stuff. But it's hard to do the individualistic, time consuming things when they are trying to max production and efficiencies.

Let's say they do 600 custom boats a year. That's about 2 a day. Someone has to take pictures during the build process and make the books. I think they would need at least 2 full time people doing this, maybe more. Imagine during peak production! Seems like more then $50 to me. I would say at least 5 hours to produce each book?

I get it. I too like those little things that set a company apart. Just not sure how they could do this and keep the costs down. I feel you are asking everyone to pay for your book. ;)

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@teamerickson, I do like free stuff.  But I don't think requesting some sort of photos (maybe not in the form of a book) when I am spending $100k plus on a boat is requesting "free stuff", or "asking everyone else to pay for my book".  Honestly I hope that is not how it came across, as that is far from intended.  Actually, I am a little insulted at the suggestion.

I'd like to know the number of custom order they get.  I wouldn't expect it to be 600.  Maybe it is.

Either way, we are off topic here, and I am out. :)

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