What to look for- buying used 03 Wakesetter

[Slick334]

Hello all,

With spring arriving up here in the north,  I have begun my boat search.  I have my eyes on a 2003 Wakesetter with the 335 Monsoon engine.  I am totally new to Malibu (or V drive boats in general). I am coming out of a bass boat and also have an I/O SeaRay.  What should I be looking for mechanically on this boat and what should I be asking for regarding its service history?  It has 350 hours.

Also is $20,000 a fair ballpark for this year wakesetter given it is in good condition and everything checks out?

Thank you in advance for any input!

[MakeNWaves]

Sold my 2002 VLX last year for 16K with 400 hours.  Upholstery is big in this age of boat.  Mine was always stored inside, and the upholstery was in great shape.  Also check the ballast pumps.  I had mine replaced before I sold it.  Boat cover should be checked.  The trailer, often overlooked, from trailers to axles.  Mine was on an extreme trailer, which are notorious for burning out axles.  I had to replace the axles in 2015 at a cost upwards of $2000.  Check that the gauges all work.  Many Bu’s this age have gauge problems (mine would work, then zero out, all within minutes).  

[Slick334]

1 hour ago, MakeNWaves said:

Sold my 2002 VLX last year for 16K with 400 hours.  Upholstery is big in this age of boat.  Mine was always stored inside, and the upholstery was in great shape.  Also check the ballast pumps.  I had mine replaced before I sold it.  Boat cover should be checked.  The trailer, often overlooked, from trailers to axles.  Mine was on an extreme trailer, which are notorious for burning out axles.  I had to replace the axles in 2015 at a cost upwards of $2000.  Check that the gauges all work.  Many Bu’s this age have gauge problems (mine would work, then zero out, all within minutes).  

Thank you for your input.  Over the lifetime of your ownership, what major servicing did you do that I should ask this owner about?

[tex599]

Look for normal maintenance items, regular oil/filter changes, trans and v drive fluids, plugs and wires. When buying a used boat it’s good to go ahead and do all this as preventative maintenance, including impeller.  Before buying I would have a compression test done on the motor. Have not owned a Malibu of that year, but plenty of Mastercrafts. The one problem I had was the MDC controller for the gauges, not sure if Malibu used that or not. 

[MakeNWaves]

My gauge problem might have been the mdc, however, no one would guarantee that and I might have been out the $500.  I was told if the mdc was bad the gauges would be out completely, not intermittently off and on.

[dkscism]

For reference I paid $21.5k last year for my ‘04 vlx in good shape with the trailer. So I would say that given good condition, that’s a good price. I bought mine from the dealer that sold it new and serviced it throughout its life.

It depends on what you care about, but I’ve had to do a ton of work on the audio system. I started with basically stock speakers, head unit and no amps. I’ve upgraded the head unit, added 3 amps, a sub, and tower speakers. This is relatively expensive and a good bit of work if you do it yourself. IMO, a boat with audio system upgrades would be a big head start for you.