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1999 Sunsetter VLX


nube

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My family and I have been involved in boat clubs but have never owned ... we enjoy wakeboarding and just cruising & hanging out on the boat for pleasure.

We are looking to purchase our first boat and have a pretty limited budget ... I am seriously looking at a 2007 Moomba Outback and a 1999 Malibu Sunsetter VLX? Both have +/- 300 hours and appear to be well cared for. Asking prices are $20k on the Malibu and $28k for the Moomba.

What do you think? Anything to be looking for, concerned about or afraid of on either of these older boats?

I appreciate any intel / advice - thanks!!!

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23 minutes ago, nube said:

My family and I have been involved in boat clubs but have never owned ... we enjoy wakeboarding and just cruising & hanging out on the boat for pleasure.

We are looking to purchase our first boat and have a pretty limited budget ... I am seriously looking at a 2007 Moomba Outback and a 1999 Malibu Sunsetter VLX? Both have +/- 300 hours and appear to be well cared for. Asking prices are $20k on the Malibu and $28k for the Moomba.

What do you think? Anything to be looking for, concerned about or afraid of on either of these older boats?

I appreciate any intel / advice - thanks!!!

I can't speak to the moomba, but we love our VLX. Not many electronics to mess up, relatively easy to work on, and puts out a good wave. We surf, wakeboard, and slalom behind ours. $20k sounds like a great price too. There is a boat buying guide on this site that you could use to aid in your buying, talks about what to look for.

Things to look for in the bu? I'd check the fluid in the v-drive, make sure it is the color of oil and not milk. If it's milk then it was not winterized correctly and broke the internal heat exchanger. Assume you will need to put ~$1,000 in the engine for plugs, wires, cap, rotor, and maybe clean the injectors. 

There are lots of us that have this era of BU, so the support if you're inclined to do the work yourself ... . is here! 

Post some pics if you have some. You'll need to go to a site like flickr to upload them and paste the url here. Or become a supporting member of this site.

Edited by BlindSquirrel
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2 hours ago, BlindSquirrel said:

Assume you will need to put ~$1,000 in the engine for plugs, wires, cap, rotor, and maybe clean the injectors. 

Assuming the dealer does it.  Most of that is easy to do for much less yourself.

Depending on how well the 99 VLX was maintained, it might need  a new interior ($$$).  The original gauges (Kysor Medallion) are known to die - expect to pay through the nose for OEM replacements or dump the whole system for a modern retrofit from Ron Tanis - www.skiboatpartsonline.com

As for 20K?  Who knows if it is fair - it really depends on condition.  I am a bit suspect that it only has 300 hrs.  A dealer can check the  engine computer for the real hours/RPM ranges operating.

Lastly, there are lots of TMC members in south Texas - I am sure someone can help you on a test drive/walk-thru.  Good luck!

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Thanks for this information ... reading your comments makes buying a 21 year old boat less scary.  If anyone else has more to add, I’d love to read your comments!

thanks,

nube

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I bought my 1999 seven years ago.  It had 150 hours on it at the time.  The boat had apparently slept well for quite some time because I could tell that it had been filthy, but the original upholstery was in great shape (except for a few dog claw holes here and there).  I got a good deal on it (around $14K as I recall) and have continued to improve it with things like closed cooling, Perfect Pass, a heater, and a new aluminum trailer.  I have a list of things I still want to do, but in the meantime it's no less than fantastic.

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1 hour ago, jhartt3 said:

No need for a wedge. I sold my 99 vlx at the beginning of the summer it's not necessary for surf or wake. I don't even run it on my 2010 vlx. 

Great to know ... I was planning on putting some fat sacks on both sides of the V Drive in the engine hatch compartment and in the floor ski storage - definitely open to suggestions.  Also, any advice on a wake shaper for surfing?

Thanks to everyone for the kind remarks - the family and I are super excited!

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Yep, no wedge on mine either and it surfs fine. I have fat sacs in the locations you’re thinking but an additional one that makes the most difference. Under the front seats too. 
 

If you search “suck gate” on here you’ll see plans to make your own wake shaper. Turns out to be like $30 or so and works great. Or you can buy one for like $100. But either way you need one.

congrats on the new boat! Looks really clean!

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Forget all the sacks and nonsense.  Put a boom on it and learn to barefoot so you can have some real fun!  A boom is the only real reason I bought my boat.

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8 hours ago, nube said:

Great to know ... I was planning on putting some fat sacks on both sides of the V Drive in the engine hatch compartment and in the floor ski storage - definitely open to suggestions.  Also, any advice on a wake shaper for surfing?

Thanks to everyone for the kind remarks - the family and I are super excited!

The wedge makes a big difference on mine, and the after market surf gate does too.  You CAN surf without them but barely and certainly no one over 200 pounds.  The wedge and gate plus 4 bags makes it surf like a new boat.  Total cost for everything about $4K.  Well worth it if surfing is your intended use.

It will be a fun journey of incremental improvements.

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I ran twin ronix 1100s on either side of the engine 600 in the belly and 400 in the nose. Always fill the surf side full and the non surf side about 30-50%. And you can use a suck gate. I built surfgates on mine. And a custom controller. You can find it over at wakegarage. 

Again wedge is not necessary at all. Of course the suck gates help it's simple physics. 

Edited by jhartt3
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1 hour ago, jhartt3 said:

I ran twin ronix 1100s on either side of the engine 600 in the belly and 400 in the nose. Always fill the surf side full and the non surf side about 30-50%. And you can use a suck gate. I built surfgates on mine. And a custom controller. You can find it over at wakegarage. 

Again wedge is not necessary at all. Of course the suck gates help it's simple physics. 

Thank makes a lot of sense for surf!!!  Thanks!

 

how would you set-up / arrange the fat sacks for wakeboarding?

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2 hours ago, jhartt3 said:

I ran twin ronix 1100s on either side of the engine 600 in the belly and 400 in the nose. Always fill the surf side full and the non surf side about 30-50%. And you can use a suck gate. I built surfgates on mine. And a custom controller. You can find it over at wakegarage. 

Again wedge is not necessary at all. Of course the suck gates help it's simple physics. 

I have the same size bags in the same places and the wedge still makes a difference.  You'll end up plumbing them in anyway so you might want to do that right away .

I've seen the Wake Garage postings.   Also contact @martinarcher  on this site for gate controllers.  Compare features.   If you're a reasonably good DIYer building the gates is a 6 to 10 hour project.

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18 hours ago, minnmarker said:

I have the same size bags in the same places and the wedge still makes a difference.  You'll end up plumbing them in anyway so you might want to do that right away .

I've seen the Wake Garage postings.   Also contact @martinarcher  on this site for gate controllers.  Compare features.   If you're a reasonably good DIYer building the gates is a 6 to 10 hour project.

Agree to disagree on the wedge only thing it affects is your gas consumption. If your boat comes with one feel free to see how it affects your wave if you don't have it then do not waste the couple grand on it. Again I'm in a 2010 now and ran the wedge for half a season then tried it without and it was not significant except for gas consumption. 

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Was that a locking wedge?  Our floater that was added to our Sunsetter is a totally different story for surfing.  If we pull a rider up without it we immediately stop and drop the wedge.  The difference on our wave is night and day.  That said, the angle of attach on the foil is pretty aggressive and it noticeably drops the rear rub rail in the water when surfing.  

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48 minutes ago, martinarcher said:

Was that a locking wedge?  Our floater that was added to our Sunsetter is a totally different story for surfing.  If we pull a rider up without it we immediately stop and drop the wedge.  The difference on our wave is night and day.  That said, the angle of attach on the foil is pretty aggressive and it noticeably drops the rear rub rail in the water when surfing.  

I can see how it would help your older DD alot due to weight distribution. Never had one on my 99vlx. My 2010 is a power wedge and I've adjusted it every which way but it doesn't positively affect the wave enough to use it with a suck gate.  I'm building my own tab system this offseason so since that will provide lift I can see how it may help then but on an early 2000s era vdrive I don't think it's worth the cost 

IMG_20190907_074715872.jpg

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