Merced or Tennesse? Can You Tell Where Your Bu was Made?

[Gordo]

My friend has an identical (except for the color pattern) 2004 VLX, purchased about 9 months apart, from the same dealer here in Houston. However, there are some interesting differnences in the 2 boats. One difference is the ballast pumps: mine are "Pirhana", his are another brand. The holes for the "T" plugs are in slightly different places. There are some trim pieces in his interior that are different. The engine hoses are in slightly different configurations. My conclusion is that one boat was built in Merced and the other in Tennesse. Is there any way to tell where Bu's are manufactured???

[Ronnie]

Pretty sure that was discussed before. Seems like it's in the hull ID.

[doughickey]

Here's the official description of how to read the Serial Numbers. (See attachment)

For example. My hull is MB2Y8752E898.

I believe that equates to:

MB = Malibu

2Y = (I think) the Tennessee factory

8752 = the number of boats that Malibu had put serial numbers on as of the date of manufacture (I think)

E8 = Built in May of 1998

98 = Model year (1998)

I don't know what the Merced factory designation is. Anybody with a Merced boat know???

[NvBoarder]

mine is 2K and I know it was built in merced

[edwin]

FWIW, I was in Wateski America in Dallas last year. At the time, they were mentioning that Malibu was going to force them to start getting boats from the TN plant instead of Merced as it had previously been. No idea if / when that change took place. Maybe Houston had a similar cutover in 2004?

[Cbrown]

Also I believe the ballast pumps were a Mid Model Year change in 04, the later boats to now current boats received the Pirhana pumps. As for your other changes it sounds like the boats could be from different factories but is kind of odd that one dealer would be receiving boats from both factories.

[Gordo]

Good info!! I will check my hull number and my buddies to see if they were built in different places.

[SmoothWaterMan]

MB2 is the official designator for Malibu Boats West. (No plant information)

The next letter is the boat model.

Some of the more common models -

A = vRide

B = SLXi

D = Wakesetter or iRide

E/F = Sportsters

G = Sunscape 23

H = Sunsetter or Sunscape 25

J = Sunscape 247

K = WVLX

P = RLXi

S = W23LSV

U = Response

W = W247

Y = RLX

The middle 4 digits are the serial number of that boat.

There is no designator defining which plant a boat was built at.

Edited January 12, 2007 by SmoothWaterMan

[Gordo]

There is no designator defining which plant a boat was built at.

Darn....guess the mystery will linger

[electricjohn]

Will the brand of trailer under the boat tell you anything?

[SmoothWaterMan]

<<<<Will the brand of trailer under the boat tell you anything?>>>>

Depends on the dealer -

Some get trailers direct from the mfg (ie, Extreme/Boatmate/off brand)

Some get the same trailers through Malibu.

And a few get boats from the east coast and trailers from the west coast. (mfg. direct)

The simple thing is to ask the dealer where it was made (if you're curious). If you live east of Kansas and don't own a 25 LSV, there's likely a 99% chance your boat was built in TN.

[Ronnie]

MB2 is the official designator for Malibu Boats West. (No plant information)

The next letter is the boat model.

Some of the more common models -

A = vRide

B = SLXi

D = Wakesetter or iRide

E/F = Sportsters

G = Sunscape 23

H = Sunsetter or Sunscape 25

J = Sunscape 247

K = WVLX

P = RLXi

S = W23LSV

U = Response

W = W247

Y = RLX

The middle 4 digits are the serial number of that boat.

There is no designator defining which plant a boat was built at.

Peter,

Can we go with this then using the above Hull ID#?

MB2Y8752E898

MB2 = Malibu

Y = RLX

8752 = Serial #

E8 = May of '98

98 = 1998 Model

Tracie, If this is correct we need to get this in the Tech section with the Hull info.

[Chaabo]

On the boats with the teak platform you can tell the difference in the mounting of the wedge door.

CA boats come with teak platforms with wedge doors that opens towards the transom.

TN boats' platform doors opens away from the transom.

But I don't know anything about the fiberglass platforms...

[edwin]

On the boats with the teak platform you can tell the difference in the mounting of the wedge door.

CA boats come with teak platforms with wedge doors that opens towards the transom.

TN boats' platform doors opens away from the transom.

But I don't know anything about the fiberglass platforms...

My 01 SLXi w/ teak platform was built in TN and the Wedge access door opened toward the transom

[VinRLX]

My TN-built '03 does the same. I think it was a running change. . .there was some conversation about the access door quite awhile back, IIRC.

[dalt1]

My 06 TN boat swings away from transom.

[skicrave]

And the picture on the left is of my boat, which didn't have a door from the factory.

[SmoothWaterMan]

Peter,

Can we go with this then using the above Hull ID#?

MB2Y8752E898

MB2 = Malibu

Y = RLX

8752 = Serial #

E8 = May of '98

98 = 1998 Model

Tracie, If this is correct we need to get this in the Tech section with the Hull info.

Yes, that is correct.

Peter.

[skicrave]

Might be time to whip up a little dynamic "enter your HIN number" decoder for the site...

[VinRLX]

Might be time to whip up a little dynamic "enter your HIN number" decoder for the site...

[doughickey]

Peter,

Can we go with this then using the above Hull ID#?

MB2Y8752E898

MB2 = Malibu

Y = RLX

8752 = Serial #

E8 = May of '98

98 = 1998 Model

Tracie, If this is correct we need to get this in the Tech section with the Hull info.

Yes, that is correct.

Peter.

Peter, to take this 1 step further.

If the "serial number" of the above boat is 8752..... is that the 8,752 nd hull that Malibu had ever built as of that date, or the 8,752 nd Response that they had built... or or or.... is there any other info that we can pull out of that number?

Thanks

[BlastRlxi]

Since Malibu made about 4200 boats last year (according to the WSM BBG), I would assume that the 8752 would mean that this boat was the 8752 nd Response built as Doug indicated.

[SmoothWaterMan]

Doug, I'm not sure you can extrapolate that number. It's not the number of Response models built nor is it the number of Malibu's built since inception.

A pure guess would be that the HID data is a specified size as you showed earlier, just like 17 digits in a VIN for the automotive world, and it's a computer generated number.

As an example, there are Malibu's that have the same 4 digits - but they are not the same models. ie - Y8752 and P8752 is possible, one a RLX and one a RLXi.

Peter

[doughickey]

Doug, I'm not sure you can extrapolate that number. It's not the number of Response models built nor is it the number of Malibu's built since inception.

A pure guess would be that the HID data is a specified size as you showed earlier, just like 17 digits in a VIN for the automotive world, and it's a computer generated number.

As an example, there are Malibu's that have the same 4 digits - but they are not the same models. ie - Y8752 and P8752 is possible, one a RLX and one a RLXi.

Peter

Thanks Peter. I guess only their computer knows for sure.