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School the new guy


BB16

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Hey guys,

i spent last summer surfing behind a friends boat, and looking to pick one up. I wanted to keep it around 30k to start. I found a 2005 LSV 23’ with 350 hours, and a 2007 21’ VLX with 240 hours. Both in great shape, good history, good sound systems etc.  What’s the pros and cons? Which would you go with and what would you pay?

itll be a wakesurf boat and probably have a max of 8 people on it. 

 

Thanks!

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Agree with @shawndoggy.  I have a 2011 vride21, same hull as the 07 vlx.  I love my boat and when weighted properly, will produce a nice surf wave and great wakeboard wake.  However, if I were in the market to purchase again, I'd lean toward the 23 ft size for room and abilility to produce a larger surf wave.  Both will perform exceptionally well.  Can't go wrong either way.  The vlx will take a little less ballast than the lsv to produce a solid surf wave.  Not sure, but I assume it will also be slightly better with fuel efficiency.  That, however, depends on many variables like wieght ratios, motor, prop, etc.

I'm somewhat limited on storage but think I could store the 23 if I removed swim platform.  That would be the only factor keeping me in the 21 to 22 ft range.

Pic posted of surf wave fully loaded with "suckgate." 20170928_172944.thumb.jpg.c5f36ea38139e681a8aa85eb8ae9fd8f.jpg20180703060507_IMG_0857.thumb.JPG.9d75259c0483a2dd00b2338cb5ca62d0.JPG

Links to the boats may help us give you more info and educated opinions on price, condition, options, etc.

Edited by bovhica
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Thanks guys, room isn’t an issue for me. I could easily accommodate either. I didn’t know if anything had changed from 05 to 07 (I know they’re different models). Or whether they’re relatively comparable boats. I think the 07 has the power wedge? 

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58 minutes ago, BB16 said:

Thanks guys, room isn’t an issue for me. I could easily accommodate either. I didn’t know if anything had changed from 05 to 07 (I know they’re different models). Or whether they’re relatively comparable boats. I think the 07 has the power wedge? 

Power wedge probably would make me lean toward the vlx, everything else being equal.  I have the floating wedge but really envy the versatility of the PW.  The only difference between the hulls are size.  Both will perform similiarly.  My initial questions would be what motor is in each boat? tower and its condition? Wedge type? Ballast options? You say both are in good shape so i assume interior, gelcoat, trailer....etc are both equally good?  Who has done the maintenance, any records?  These are just the beginning of my list of questions to narrow down which boat to buy so I made the best informed decision I could.  I would also have a mechanic check out each engine and water test for yourself.

No links to the boats you are considering?

Edited by bovhica
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1 hour ago, bovhica said:

Power wedge probably would make me lean toward the vlx, everything else being equal.  I have the floating wedge but really envy the versatility of the PW.  The only difference between the hulls are size.  Both will perform similiarly.  My initial questions would be what motor is in each boat? tower and its condition? Wedge type? Ballast options? You say both are in good shape so i assume interior, gelcoat, trailer....etc are both equally good?  Who has done the maintenance, any records?  These are just the beginning of my list of questions to narrow down which boat to buy so I made the best informed decision I could.  I would also have a mechanic check out each engine and water test for yourself.

No links to the boats you are considering?

That’s the kind of info I was looking for, thank you. Both are out of state, so I’m going to have it shipped up north to me. Unfortunately, no water test. The VLX is a two owner, well documented boat. The LSV is extremely clean from the up close pics and numerous walk around videos, but unsure on how many owners. 

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48 minutes ago, BB16 said:

That’s the kind of info I was looking for, thank you. Both are out of state, so I’m going to have it shipped up north to me. Unfortunately, no water test. The VLX is a two owner, well documented boat. The LSV is extremely clean from the up close pics and numerous walk around videos, but unsure on how many owners. 

Good luck and be careful buying sight unseen.  Pictures can be deceiving.  Maybe a crew member lives near the boats and would check them out for you?  Never hurts to ask and people here usually love to help out. I know I would if the boat was local.  Anyway, post pics or links!  Welcome to the crew!

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50 minutes ago, bovhica said:

Good luck and be careful buying sight unseen.  Pictures can be deceiving.  Maybe a crew member lives near the boats and would check them out for you?  Never hurts to ask and people here usually love to help out. I know I would if the boat was local.  Anyway, post pics or links!  Welcome to the crew!

I will second this. As someone who has bought sight unseen and flown to view multiple boat purchases, I say get keyed in on a specific boat via very specific questions and concernes...Then find a cheap ticket or make the drive to see it.

 

Not only can pictures be deceiving, but owners descriptions of condition can be worse. You can’t see mechanical condition in a photo... 

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Everything else being equal, I'd get the 23. I have a 21 now, and we have a crew of 4-8. I constantly am thinking of upsizing to a 23lsv, especially when we have 8 on board.

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I bought a 2005 23 LSV last summer!  Great storage, looks, waves! No regrets! I have worked through a few normal issues that the Malibu Crew helped with.

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On 4/6/2019 at 6:33 PM, BB16 said:

That’s the kind of info I was looking for, thank you. Both are out of state, so I’m going to have it shipped up north to me. Unfortunately, no water test. The VLX is a two owner, well documented boat. The LSV is extremely clean from the up close pics and numerous walk around videos, but unsure on how many owners. 

For a new(er) boat under warranty this isn't such a bad deal, but IMHO not seeing it in person by somebody and not doing a water test is a bad idea.  Don't let boat fever make a bad decision for you.  As @bovhica said, there is a very good possibility of a fellow crewmember to go check it out.  I have a very thorough pre-purchase checklist I can send you, just PM me with your email.

Edited by formulaben
bold for emphasis
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49 minutes ago, formulaben said:

For a new(er) boat under warranty this isn't such a bad deal, but IMHO not seeing it in person by somebody and not doing a water test is a bad idea.  Don't let boat fever make a bad decision for you.  As @bovhica said, there is a very good possibility of a fellow crewmember to go check it out.  I have a very thorough pre-purchase checklist I can send you, just PM me with your email.

This^^^^^^^

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I have the 05 VLX and the 07 will have a nicer Dash, and probably has the power wedge. Having never used a power wedge, I wouldn't know the difference, but I would guess that I could tune the wave a little better. If you are SURE you don't need the room I might go with the 07 VLX for the dash and power wedge upgrades, otherwise bigger is always better. Having done this search before, in our year ranges it's really condition you are looking for. The only other factor that could weigh in is whether one of them has a very high quality aftermarket stereo or not (wet-sounds, exile, etc) or other pricey upgrades like a full ballast system. 

When deciding also consider if they have an upgraded prop that is surf capable, and whether they have a custom cover or not (having a high quality cover is great). Other key wear items are trailer tires and brakes, steering cables, and especially interior vinyl and carpet. I just had all my main cabin seat bottoms done and it was a steal at 1400 bucks, the whole boat is usually around 4k to reupholster.

I am about to start season 4 with my VLX and I love the boat. 1300 hours and going strong. PM me if you want to know how to set it up for surfing when you buy it. Check out my "full tour" video where I talk about a lot of the differences between years and options/etc, I have lots of vids in my playlist. Unfortunately no great videos of a fully dialed wave, but plenty of videos with an OK wave. 23 foot shape should be very similar, but longer.

All of my VLX videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWumok3-D4qTF4thPtfIa4xSGPJ7g6amA

Tour: 

 

 

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6 hours ago, formulaben said:

For a new(er) boat under warranty this isn't such a bad deal, but IMHO not seeing it in person by somebody and not doing a water test is a bad idea.  Don't let boat fever make a bad decision for you.  As @bovhica said, there is a very good possibility of a fellow crewmember to go check it out.  I have a very thorough pre-purchase checklist I can send you, just PM me with your email.

I had my boat shipped across the country, but it came from a very well known and respected dealer who had a complete inspection report along with tons of pictures of every imperfection. I did not personally go and water test mine and that scared me. If I bought from private party I would have someone on this forum look at it, or drive/fly to run it first. Because it was December when I bought it that would have been tough as well.

  • Like 2
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