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An Interview With Jack Springer, CEO of Malibu Boats


Ronnie

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1 hour ago, hethj7 said:

What would you have rather seen?

And how do I get hired to be one of the 20-30 that just spend time on the water to develop ideas?  Or was he referring to TMC and we all work for free :)?  

Hahahahaha!! Post is the day, right there ^^^

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Honest question:  I think if there is anything we would all like to change about Malibu it would be their current state of "Quality Control" (or maybe stated another way.. simply not cleaning up boats and making sure the basic stuff (things are tight, connected correctly, etc.) is ready to go before shipping them out of the factory (I am talking about the obvious stuff that a simple walk-around would uncover.)  Do you think Jack knows the current state of things and is "okay" with it as long as production #/revenue goals are met or do you think he would be surprised by it if he want out and walked around and looked in a boat that was about to leave for a dealer? I work for a big international company with lots of complicated moving parts.. so I get that business and shipping a perfect product is not each and often not profitable (we ship our products with known issues every day and we have to balance what is "too impactful" vs the small stuff that "we will take are of later once the product is in a users hands.)  But I am a little curious how Jack would react to some of the issues that some new owners (and really the dealers) see on these boats when they arrive from the factory.  Would he think it is okay (meaning it is the right balance of profit, speed, quality) or would he be concerned that it could impact the impression of his brand in the long term.   And I really have no idea how Malibu compares to the other top wake boat manufactures since I have only owned Malibu's (so either they are all the same or I am just a little blind.)

 

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Interesting discussion and I don't want to get into bashing Malibu quality here, but I'll offer my thoughts.  

I think he'd be a bit embarrassed by some of the items that pop up, if he was in front of those individual owners.   But......I bet the overall mix is pretty good for Malibu.     I don't have the slides here, but I flipped through the last investor presentation and recall warranty claims being down year over year, so that is a good indicator of improving quality and the supply chain.   

For the number of users on this site, the number of complaint threads are fairly low.   And we are probably some of the more attentive owners in the industry.  And, I very, very rarely see reports of flat out failures on a Malibu or Axis - the type that renders the boat functionally inoperative.   So while we wish this or that was tighter or cleaner, whether through luck or quality, very few of us have had issues that affect the functionality of the boat.   

Yes, there have been batches of bad screens, and yes, actuators go bad eventually, but as I sit here and think of a systemic issue for Malibu, the only things that come to mind are the damper plate failures in the 2005 era and the Malivue screen in the ~2010 era and early 2016 builds.   For building the most boats in the towboat market, while growing aggressively, and being one of the best at innovation, I bet Jack is pretty proud overall.   

As for the other brands, I think the deeper you dig, the more they may be about all the same.   Nautique has fought computer issues recently and snapping driveshafts, etc.   I know of boats (again, in fairness to the other brands, maybe they are in the minority) that have experienced electronic shutdown while underway and needing a tow as well as a snapped driveshaft.   

For those that end up with a problem boat or lingering issues, I feel for you all and I'm not making excuses for Malibu.  But, when I step back and look at it wholistically.  

Screen Shot 2019-05-20 at 9.06.16 PM.png

Edited by hethj7
Went and found the investor slide on quality
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3 minutes ago, hethj7 said:

Interesting discussion and I don't want to get into bashing Malibu quality here, but I'll offer my thoughts.  

I think he'd be a bit embarrassed by some of the items that pop up, if he was in front of those individual owners.   But......I bet the overall mix is pretty good for Malibu.     I don't have the slides here, but I flipped through the last investor presentation and recall warranty claims being down year over year, so that is a good indicator of improving quality and the supply chain.   

For the number of users on this site, the number of complaint threads are fairly low.   And we are probably some of the more attentive owners in the industry.  And, I very, very rarely see reports of flat out failures on a Malibu or Axis - the type that renders the boat functionally inoperative.   So while we wish this or that was tighter or cleaner, whether through luck or quality, very few of us have had issues that affect the functionality of the boat.   

Yes, there have been batches of bad screens, and yes, actuators go bad eventually, but as I sit here and think of a systemic issue for Malibu, the only things that come to mind are the damper plate failures in the 2005 era and the Malivue screen in the ~2010 era and early 2016 builds.   For building the most boats in the towboat market, while growing aggressively, and being one of the best at innovation, I bet Jack is pretty proud overall.   

As for the other brands, I think the deeper you dig, the more they may be about all the same.   Nautique has fought computer issues recently and snapping driveshafts, etc.   I know of boats (again, in fairness to the other brands, maybe they are in the minority) that have experienced electronic shutdown while underway and needing a tow as well as a snapped driveshaft.   

For those that end up with a problem boat or lingering issues, I feel for you all and I'm not making excuses for Malibu.  But, when I step back and look at it wholistically.  

Screen Shot 2019-05-20 at 9.06.16 PM.png

I think that is sound thinking.  I know my 2008 have pretty much zero issues which is why I cam back to Malibu.  I also wonder what the warranty claim percentage is on a boat built in April vs one built in September.  My guess is in April they simply don't have the cycles to do much if they are going to get your boat to you.  In Sept they might have a few extra hands/time.

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7 minutes ago, gregtay said:

I also wonder what the warranty claim percentage is on a boat built in April vs one built in September. 

Dad always said "Never buy a car built on a Friday.  :)

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5 minutes ago, Eagleboy99 said:

Dad always said "Never buy a car built on a Friday.  :)

Well... i happen to know my boat when down the "finishing/rigging production line" on Thursday and Friday... so I laugh when I find an issue and just figured the guy wanted to get to his Friday night beer.

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The April vs. September debate is interesting, but I think the factory runs pretty much all out most of the year.   In the fall they are cranking out to get dealer deliveries for boat shows, etc.  In the spring it is to fill boat show orders.  In the summer, it is finish up the production run and swap over for the new year.    

What probably is different in April is they address some known issues during the production run.    I will say my 2016 was probably one of the last to roll off the line that year (took delivery in July and they typically shutdown around the 4th to get ready for the next year's model run) and it was basically flawless.   

When word of the M6 first leaked, I swore I wouldn't buy a first year in-house built Malibu engine.   Well, I bought it and so far couldn't be more impressed.  It is quiet and performs great.   Literally my only wishlist items I suppose would be to include the flush kit as standard and to put a real clip on the oil drain hose so it is easy to find.   

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1 hour ago, hethj7 said:

When word of the M6 first leaked, I swore I wouldn't buy a first year in-house built Malibu engine.   Well, I bought it and so far couldn't be more impressed.

Like Dad used to say "Even a blind sow finds an acorn every now and then".  :)  Seriously, Malibu  (and pretty much every other mfg.)has a track record of first year misses.  The auto industry is at least as bad.  Given all that, the first model year rule applies.  There is leading edge, and then there is bleeding edge...

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1 hour ago, Eagleboy99 said:

Like Dad used to say "Even a blind sow finds an acorn every now and then".  :)  Seriously, Malibu  (and pretty much every other mfg.)has a track record of first year misses.  The auto industry is at least as bad.  Given all that, the first model year rule applies.  There is leading edge, and then there is bleeding edge...

So far I am happy with the M6 even though I had coolant cap clearance issues. One reason I went with the M6 over the M5 is that I figured all the 25LSVs out there were the bleeding edge and my April build M6 had the super early issues worked out. I got the feeling I would have had one of the first M5s our of the factory and I wasn’t too excited about that.

Also.. in some ways I think the 2018 23LSVs might have been a little better built than the 2019s. This is simply based on a few observations. The 2018 was a ground up redesign so everything was designed to fit together perfectly. The 2019 has some new things/changes they had to work in to and existing design(like the new vinyl which is what I think resulted in the big gap on the sundeck panels.)

 

 

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ahopkins22LSV

The other thing to remember about issues is people typically only post when there is an issue. People who pick up bots and it’s all good typically don’t come on here to say hey everyone, just so you know I bought a new boat and I have no issues. Same with Facebook. Also the difference of boats malibu sells vs the amount of people on here or Facebook is a lot. We are probably like 1% of that and we are probably the most particular.

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As I sit here writing, with my boat at the dealership for an engine warranty issue... I pretty much have to agree with everyone. My 2010 had 1024 hours when I sold her and is still going strong. AFAIK. With the exception of the issues the dealership in Texas created (demo boat) it was pretty much about as reliable as one couldn’t possibly hope for. I saw the same build techniques for both my 2010 and 2019 and was very disappointed. I am kind of tired of hearing about how it is “a hand built boat and you have to expect some issues and just last week I was told, “well it is a hand built boat, built in TN by rednecks” QC deflection for Stevie Wonder findable fixes. Even at the norm of 22 boats a day and a max of 24, their numbers, I should not of found the trash and potential mechanical failure points that “I” found myself. I saw first hand the process, and what I saw was purely a lack of attention to detail. I don’t agree that it is the dealers responsibility to catch those items on the first service. Would I buy another Malibu most likely it has made for some great memories. Do I think the other manufacturers have the same issues, absolutely, we just don’t hear about them on here. JM2C

Edited by wdr
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interesting. I passed on an Axis because of the quality control. Windshield didn't close, fiberglass shards under the seat. It was the reason i didn't buy it. 

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