Jump to content

Welcome to TheMalibuCrew!

As a guest, you are welcome to poke around and view the majority of the content that we have to offer, but in order to post, search, contact members, and get full use out of the website you will need to Register for an Account. It's free and it's easy, so don't hesitate to join the TheMalibuCrew Family today!

Opinions from current or past 2008 era VTX owners much appreciated.


shiftman

Recommended Posts

Hello. I have come across a nice 2008 VTX, but to be honest, the 20 ft. length concerns me a bit. I'm a speed boat owner(20 ft. Baja Outlaw) and the few surfboat owners that I know commented about avoiding anything shy of 22 foot. I have relocated from a smaller lake in East Tn., to a big lake in Western Ky., but the boat is in East Tn. As such, I cannot demo the boat where it will be used. I can tell you that on busy weekends on my new lake, my Outlaw can be a rough ride.

Thanks in advance for any responses.

Edited by shiftman
Link to comment

Depends on what you are trying to do.  Do you want to waterski and have a v-drive?  Great boat for that.  Do you want to surf?  The boat is going to need some help to get there.  Malibu boats didn't have Surf gates until 2013.  You'd need a suck-gate of some sort on the side of the hull.  I think the 2008 era had a manual wedge, but not certain on that.  You'll need quite a bit of extra ballast too.  A VTX isn't an amazing surf boat, but it can put out a decent wave.  On bigger water I agree, a 20' boat is going to get pushed around a bit.  

Link to comment
4 hours ago, Sixer said:

Depends on what you are trying to do.  Do you want to waterski and have a v-drive?  Great boat for that.  Do you want to surf?  The boat is going to need some help to get there.  Malibu boats didn't have Surf gates until 2013.  You'd need a suck-gate of some sort on the side of the hull.  I think the 2008 era had a manual wedge, but not certain on that.  You'll need quite a bit of extra ballast too.  A VTX isn't an amazing surf boat, but it can put out a decent wave.  On bigger water I agree, a 20' boat is going to get pushed around a bit.  

It will be an all around boat. The ride is my biggest concern.

Link to comment

Owned a 2008 vtx for 5 years. Loved the boat. Power wedge first generation on ours used electronic actuators and can be a headache long term as they can leak and short out. Rough ride in choppy water and needs a lot of weight to surf. After owning a 23 LSV for the last 3 years I wouldn’t go back. Better rough water ride, less likely to swamp or chilly dip on a busy day. We have alot of bigger boats on the lake here now and I’m thankful we are one of them when out for the day. The newer vtx boats with surf gate that sit higher are a “better” boat when it comes to all around. But I think alot is dependent on what your goals are for a day on the water. 

Link to comment

In my search for a new boat I landed on a VTX because I want to ski and surf. The VTX surfs better than a 21 wakesetter (from experience and polling watersports schools) and is in a different class all together for skiing. Something about the Diamond Hull creates a slightly better surf wake than the Wakesetter Hull on a 21 which is superior for wakeboarding. As far as rides (cruising) and pure surfing capabilities go a 23 or longer is the only way to go. 

Link to comment

We are happy with our 09 VTX with the diamond hull. Good all around boat. Skiing behind it is fantastic, wave is good with a nice pop for most your beginner to intermediate wake boarders. Surfing is doable as long as you have surf gates. Without the gates the wave never really sets up. We have factory ballast only, power wedge, and gates. With a few extra pounds of humans in the boat the wave is doable as you can see in the photo. A little driving technic you won’t dip the nose most the time 😉 but true it’s not the best rough water ride. 20mph the boat seems to ride the best through the chop. Not fast getting there but smooth enough all my friends can crack their beers, crank the tunes, and enjoy the cruise. Overall very happy with the VTX but like others have said depends on what your planning to do with it.

4DB0103E-A21C-4C90-A012-492016D2012F.jpeg

6925FF9E-D45D-4D40-B97A-DD6C4C1EFAE7.jpeg

Edited by IJM
Link to comment
ahopkins22LSV
11 hours ago, shiftman said:

Thanks for the info. I may end up going with a Moomba Mojo for the extra size, but the Wakesetter is my favorite....:yes:

If you care about skiing, I would most certainly ski that boat prior to buying. I'd surf it too.

Link to comment

If you are new to wake boats in general, go drive them for sure. A VTX on a rough lake is not going to be much fun. We are on a big open lake, with many large boats, the vtx was great for us at first, but as the lake got busier and the other boats got bigger, we found we went out less on weekends.

All wake boats from that era are going to be rough on a busy or rough lake. If skiing isn't a focus, i would for sure look for a 23 ft, and drive more than 1 brand before buying if possible.  You may not love the look of the 23 lsv from that era, but you might like the way it handles much better than the moomba mojo, to me that boat always seemed to ride very nose high.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
On 9/6/2021 at 7:41 AM, ahopkinsVTX said:

If you care about skiing, I would most certainly ski that boat prior to buying. I'd surf it too.

It will more of a lounge boat than anything else. My son may do a little water stuff, but I am 61 years old and primarily want a water taxi with more room than my Baja has.

Link to comment
On 9/6/2021 at 9:41 AM, asnowman said:

If you are new to wake boats in general, go drive them for sure. A VTX on a rough lake is not going to be much fun. We are on a big open lake, with many large boats, the vtx was great for us at first, but as the lake got busier and the other boats got bigger, we found we went out less on weekends.

All wake boats from that era are going to be rough on a busy or rough lake. If skiing isn't a focus, i would for sure look for a 23 ft, and drive more than 1 brand before buying if possible.  You may not love the look of the 23 lsv from that era, but you might like the way it handles much better than the moomba mojo, to me that boat always seemed to ride very nose high.

I am semi retired, so I have lots of through the week time where the lake isnt too busy. By and large,this boat will anchor in bay with my wife blasting her rap music. I wanted a vlx, but this vtx is a nice well kept boat.

Link to comment
4 minutes ago, shiftman said:

It will more of a lounge boat than anything else. My son may do a little water stuff, but I am 61 years old and primarily want a water taxi with more room than my Baja has.

Save a ton of money and buy a nice big bowrider.

Link to comment
23 minutes ago, oldjeep said:

Save a ton of money and buy a nice big bowrider.

Sometimes, you simply like things that are not the most practicle. Sports cars, etc.

I wont spend any more $$$ on a Wakesetter of that era than a bigger Baja. And the Wakesetter will still be roomier....)

Link to comment
30 minutes ago, shiftman said:

Sometimes, you simply like things that are not the most practicle. Sports cars, etc.

I wont spend any more $$$ on a Wakesetter of that era than a bigger Baja. And the Wakesetter will still be roomier....)

I'm talking about a real bow rider.  Crownline, cobalt, searay, etc.  Something in the 25ft range.  Lots of space and doesn't ride like a logging truck in the chop.

 

Link to comment
5 minutes ago, oldjeep said:

I'm talking about a real bow rider.  Crownline, cobalt, searay, etc.  Something in the 25ft range.  Lots of space and doesn't ride like a logging truck in the chop.

 

Got a buddy with a 25 foot cobalt. If we didn’t surf and wakeboard something similar would likely be on our lift. Fantastic boat. 
 

However, cobalt does offer “surf” series boats. Not sure how good they surf. 

Edited by SouthsideBoarder
Link to comment
22 hours ago, oldjeep said:

I'm talking about a real bow rider.  Crownline, cobalt, searay, etc.  Something in the 25ft range.  Lots of space and doesn't ride like a logging truck in the chop.

 

I never saw a wakeboard boat until 2015 when I relocated to East Tn. For some reason, I became very attracted to the 2007-2010 era Wakesetters. The only regular bow rider that I considered was a Bryant with the wakeboard tower and walkabout layout. Around here, they are called "fakeboard" boats....😉

Link to comment
22 hours ago, SouthsideBoarder said:

Got a buddy with a 25 foot cobalt. If we didn’t surf and wakeboard something similar would likely be on our lift. Fantastic boat. 
 

However, cobalt does offer “surf” series boats. Not sure how good they surf. 

My son would like to do some basic watersports like surfing. 

Link to comment
22 hours ago, UWSkier said:

You need to get yourself a big old tri-toon and call it a day.  Hard to beat one of those for lounging and hanging out.  Like a floating living room.

My wife said "hell no" to a pontoon, tri-toon or anything similar. She says that they are the boat version of a minivan. Keeping her content has its advantages...😁

Link to comment
7 minutes ago, shiftman said:

My son would like to do some basic watersports like surfing. 

I would again recommend a bigger boat then.  We out grew our VTX basically the day we really learned to surf.  It took a couple years for that to become completely clear to the Mrs. though.  She had already insisted on a direct drive to ski behind, and it took just one significant bow dip to change her attitude.  We started in a 2002 23 LSV, moved to a 2011 VTX, and now have gone the ski boat and surf boat route.  Since you have yet to mention skiing as a significant factor, why go for the VTX? Go bigger, be more comfortable and enjoy the benefits of the bigger boat.

FWIW we never dipped the nose of the 23lsv, and haven't dipped the 25 LSV yet.  But when we had a full VTX (9 people + ballast), with 6 inches of water on the floor, it was not a good situation.

  • Like 3
Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...