Boatless- 2019 23LSV on order

[gregtay]

After 11 years of loving every moment with our 2008 23LSV we decided it was finally time for a new boat.  We really loved the new Supra's and almost went that direction this time around (Supra's new boats are really well designed, come with a ton of cool features and the technology on the 2019's is super impressive (we liked it better than what Malibu currently has.. I sort of feels like Malibu has fallen behind a bit in a few areas))  But.. in the end there was something just so familiar and beautiful about the 23LSV and the size is just perfect for our adventures.  So we went ahead and ordered up a new 23LSV and sold our 08.  The garage is empty and now we sit and wait :-O.  Huge thanks to @Murphy8166 and  @Ronnie (as well as a few other members) for all their help and advice as we put this together.

We bounced around on colors.. started with Azure/Brown then switched to a Red/Graphite build and finally landed back on Azure/Graphite.  We went with the new M5 which was a bit of a gamble since we have so little info but I am hoping it is closer to the 5.7 we had in our 08.  We also went with the Gx (garage clearance reasons... really don't need a power tower and really didn't want to pay the crazy upgrade price.)  We also added the new flip down swim step to make things easier for the kiddos when we are out swimming and hanging out.  We skipped both the wake view seating and the flip down rear entry seats... just felt that both added exposed metal in the interior in places we really didn't want it.  Good concepts... poor execution.  Anyway.. below is our build :).  No spray date yet.

Final build is Azure Flake/Gunmetal Flake/White w/ Graphite seats with light Graphite accents and Azure piping and stitching throughout the interior. ('cause how can you order a boat in 2019 without it being Azure??…. feels so 1985. :-O  My wife fell in love with that color and I made her Google "1985 Searay"... and sure enough a bunch of teal boats came up... told her we would have to sell this one while teal is still "in" or wait 35 years till it is back "in" again :-O.)

The team at Seattle Boat were pretty amazing at putting up with our crazy indecisiveness and scramble to order a new boat :-O I was sort of afraid at some point they were just going to tell us we were crazy and too much work.  Demo'ing boats with snow on the ground was a new adventure and the 36 degree air temp didn't really give you the feeling of summer boating but we still had fun. I was really concerned about the unknowns of the M5 motor and they had their Malibu rep reach out to me and he spent about an hour answering all my questions which was a huge help.

It is going to be a good summer!

Edited February 26, 2019 by gregtay

[ahopkins22LSV]

Congratulations man! That is a beautiful looking boat!

I wouldn’t worry too much about how the M5 will do. The M6 is is getting rave reviews and Malibu has been working with GM to develop these engines for a few years now. If it makes you feel better we ordered our vtx having never tested the engines, transmission or prop options. For 2019 they obviously went back to the GM from pcm (Malibu engine was ready yet for first builds last year), introduced two transmission options, and a new prop options. We demo’d a 2017 that had the 410 raptor, 1:76:1 transmission and the OJ 948 prop. It performed pretty good for skiing and surfing. I grew up skiing and while we decided to move to the vtx from the response for our family I still wanted it to ski as best as possible. So when I was told they are switching the engine (which I was happy about) and giving you new options for the prop and transmission (1:50:1 or 1:76:1) I was panicking. How could I decided?! Luckily the factory did some great testing and reached out to me (like with you) to tell me to go with the 1:50:1 and the new OJ951 prop, our boat performs great, better than the 17! I was so worrried that I wouldn’t be able to get to ski speed or if I could do that I wouldn’t be able to surf or I was worried that the prop and transmission would ruin the ski wake. I was going nuts waiting for the boat!

Sorry that is a lot of detail, but what I’m trying to say is try not to worry. It’s going to perform great. I feel Malibu has really done their homework for these engines and paired them with the best transmission and props they could for each boat. 

Oh and we also ordered azure, but had only ever seen iron the boat builder. We couldn’t be happier with that choice either!

Edited February 26, 2019 by ahopkinsVTX

[wdr]

For those who have already ordered and are waiting a spray date and were wondering about the time line. I arranged a factory tour yesterday for this Friday 01 March. The tour window is between 8:30 and 2:30. My spray date is tomorrow Feb 27th, rigging happens on Friday 01 March and final inspection and QC is Monday 04 March. I was kind of shocked about the build time, but they have built a boat or two. 

[gregtay]

3 minutes ago, wdr said:

For those who have already ordered and are waiting a spray date and were wondering about the time line. I arranged a factory tour yesterday for this Friday 01 March. The tour window is between 8:30 and 2:30. My spray date is tomorrow Feb 27th, rigging happens on Friday 01 March and final inspection and QC is Monday 04 March. I was kind of shocked about the build time, but they have built a boat or two. 

When did you place your order?  I did hear they really crank these things out but I guess if you are producing as many boats as they do with only one factory you have to be super efficient.  The only info I have been provided so far is that my spray date won't be any sooner than March 14.

[wdr]

49 minutes ago, gregtay said:

When did you place your order?  I did hear they really crank these things out but I guess if you are producing as many boats as they do with only one factory you have to be super efficient.  The only info I have been provided so far is that my spray date won't be any sooner than March 14.

16 January. The build date the dealer gave me was the next one they had available.

[Slayer]

@gregtaythat's a gorgeous boat!!!  I'm super pumped for you!!  Congratulations!

[dcarl]

Well done, sweet looking boat.

[gregtay]

1 hour ago, inlandlaker said:

@gregtaythat's a gorgeous boat!!!  I'm super pumped for you!!  Congratulations!

 

1 hour ago, inlandlaker said:

@gregtaythat's a gorgeous boat!!!  I'm super pumped for you!!  Congratulations!

thx! we are very excited:)  Our last 23LSV was beautiful but a little more timeless/classic colors (moonbeam, white, ruben).. this time my wife wanted some sparkles and some colors and i'd say she accomplished that.  

[gregtay]

5 hours ago, ahopkinsVTX said:

Congratulations man! That is a beautiful looking boat!

I wouldn’t worry too much about how the M5 will do. The M6 is is getting rave reviews and Malibu has been working with GM to develop these engines for a few years now. If it makes you feel better we ordered our vtx having never tested the engines, transmission or prop options. For 2019 they obviously went back to the GM from pcm (Malibu engine was ready yet for first builds last year), introduced two transmission options, and a new prop options. We demo’d a 2017 that had the 410 raptor, 1:76:1 transmission and the OJ 948 prop. It performed pretty good for skiing and surfing. I grew up skiing and while we decided to move to the vtx from the response for our family I still wanted it to ski as best as possible. So when I was told they are switching the engine (which I was happy about) and giving you new options for the prop and transmission (1:50:1 or 1:76:1) I was panicking. How could I decided?! Luckily the factory did some great testing and reached out to me (like with you) to tell me to go with the 1:50:1 and the new OJ951 prop, our boat performs great, better than the 17! I was so worrried that I wouldn’t be able to get to ski speed or if I could do that I wouldn’t be able to surf or I was worried that the prop and transmission would ruin the ski wake. I was going nuts waiting for the boat!

Sorry that is a lot of detail, but what I’m trying to say is try not to worry. It’s going to perform great. I feel Malibu has really done their homework for these engines and paired them with the best transmission and props they could for each boat. 

Oh and we also ordered azure, but had only ever seen iron the boat builder. We couldn’t be happier with that choice either!

Thanks, I figured they wouldn't sell the motors if they weren't confidant in them... but it would have been nice to at least demo'ed the motor before pulling the trigger.  I am sure we will love it.

[pauley71]

I also took the leap on the M5Di for 2019 for one reason .. everyone says it quiet.  Coming from the 6.2L ... it has to be quieter.  My 2016 was LOUD, my 2018 was better.  My dealer was super impressed with how Malibu did their homework on the Malibu motors and I trust them.  Great looking ship .. enjoy!

[gregtay]

11 minutes ago, pauley71 said:

I also took the leap on the M5Di for 2019 for one reason .. everyone says it quiet.  Coming from the 6.2L ... it has to be quieter.  My 2016 was LOUD, my 2018 was better.  My dealer was super impressed with how Malibu did their homework on the Malibu motors and I trust them.  Great looking ship .. enjoy!

That was one of my main reasons I went with it. We demoed boats with PCM motor and the Raptor and all of them were crazy loud and harsh compared to our old 5.7 Monsoon 340.

[eubanks]

Congrats and great looking boat!  We hope to pick up our 2019 23 LSV on Friday and also did the M5 upgrade with very little details.  I am hopeful it is all it is advertised to be.

[gregtay]

4 minutes ago, eubanks said:

Congrats and great looking boat!  We hope to pick up our 2019 23 LSV on Friday and also did the M5 upgrade with very little details.  I am hopeful it is all it is advertised to be.

Can’t wait to hear how you like it.

[gregtay]

 

19 hours ago, eubanks said:

Congrats and great looking boat!  We hope to pick up our 2019 23 LSV on Friday and also did the M5 upgrade with very little details.  I am hopeful it is all it is advertised to be.

I think that makes you the first person on the TMC to get the M5... I am glad we will finally have someone to answer all our questions:)

[SCMike]

Congrats man!  Great looking build!   I love most all boats, but I agree, there is just something about a Malibu.  The beauty of the boats, ease of use, and quality of the wake/wave just can’t be beat. 

Enjoy!

[gregtay]

On 2/26/2019 at 10:21 AM, eubanks said:

Congrats and great looking boat!  We hope to pick up our 2019 23 LSV on Friday and also did the M5 upgrade with very little details.  I am hopeful it is all it is advertised to be.

@eubanks congrats on new boat day! Can’t wait to see photos and hear about the M5!