Newbie with questions - not new to boats, new to wake boats

[birddog5]

Hi Everyone - new to the wakeboat world and wanted to get into it while my kids are still around. Found a 2013 Wakesetter 21 VLX with about 400 hours on it. Looks like it's barely been used, interior and exterior wise and was professionally winterized and summerized? by the local marina every year - didn't even hit the lake last year.  I read about the screens and the surf gate actuators on a different post as well as a different propeller, but is this a good entry level boat? It's in that $60k price range.  

 

Anything else you guys can tell me about this year and model is all new learning for me! 

 

TYIA

[EchelonMike]

Welcome!

I had an older VLX and we always liked that boat (it was a 2005).  2013 will get you power wedge and surfgate tech so that's a great starting point.  

I can't comment on screen tech for that era boat, but I'd recommend that you take it for a test drive before buying.  Press every switch to make sure things work.  Page through the menu and make sure there are no active or inactive trouble codes listed.  Make sure surfgate and wedge work.  Make sure ballast tanks all fill and all drain.  Run  it up to wide open throttle.  Make sure the steering is smooth (if not might need steering cable replacement, they wear and corrode over time).  Make sure there are no strange vibrations when underway.

See if they know when the impeller was last changed (it's a rubber part that sucks water from the lake to cool the engine - most replace annually as a precaution).  Find out when the V-Drive and Transmission fluids were changed.  Oil is pretty easy to tell if it's clean or dirty on the dipstick.

When running the boat on the lake, open all the hatches and make sure there isn't any sign of water leaking from anywhere in the engine, from ballast, etc.  

That's most of what I can think of - good luck!

 

Edited April 24 by EchelonMike

[PNWoke]

On 4/24/2024 at 1:08 PM, birddog5 said:

is this a good entry level boat? It's in that $60k price range.

Short answer: Yes.  Pricing is all over the board depending on where you live.  Best advice I can say about pricing is test drive it for a good 30 mins and ask yourself if it feels like a $60k boat to you.  Hopefully you come away with the feeling that it’s even better, and in that case it’s a no brainer.  If you’re not getting that feeling then maybe check some other boats in that range, save up $10k more and see if you get a better feeling from the $70k+ boats right now.  Maybe you wait until after mid summer and pick up that $60k boat at a better price.  If I were buying right now I would make sure I felt really good about the value of the boat.  With all the turmoil in the industry, there’s a good chance for prices to trend downward over the next year or two.

[windy1]

If the boat has the original or original replacement touch screen it will fail. I have been through 3 screens on my 2011 and finally converted to wakeswitches. last I checked screens ran about $2,500-$3,000. The wakeswitch Garman screen is 1/2 that and should last forever.

Now that I have everything sorted out I love my 2011. Purchased it with 195 hours and now have 760 hours and have no plans to replace it. I agree with PNWoke that the market is trending down. I see sellers holding at $60,000 when it should closer to a $50,000 boat (and probebly will be in the fall). On the other hand fall is a whole summer boating season away.

[PNWoke]

New oem screens through Malibu are now in the $3500-$4500 realm, per screen.  Thankfully,  MTCscreens.com can refurbish your current screen for under $2k and the fix will likely be long lasting vs the oem replacement.  For my money, I would much rather have a screen that works well than have switches.  Most people who advocate for switches are minimalist types by nature or acquired a minimalist stance regarding the screens after they replaced 2-3 of them with faulty oem replacements.  

Edited Tuesday at 06:15 PM by PNWoke

[windy1]

I worked with Wakeswitches early on and have an early toggle switch screen replacement that works great. If I was replacing a screen today I would totally go with his Garmin screen replacement. 

[smeagol]

We are just now back in the Malibu family with a 2020 23 LSV.  We sold our 2005 VLX about five years ago, so have no experience with screens.  The seller of our new-to-us boat said he replaced the left screen under warranty.  Should I expect that the main screen will fail in the near future?  I am transferring warranty for the final year.

[Slayer]

25 minutes ago, smeagol said:

We are just now back in the Malibu family with a 2020 23 LSV.  We sold our 2005 VLX about five years ago, so have no experience with screens.  The seller of our new-to-us boat said he replaced the left screen under warranty.  Should I expect that the main screen will fail in the near future?  I am transferring warranty for the final year.

Great question.  I'm on season 3 with my 2022 25LSV and thankfully (fingers crossed & knocking on wood here) I've not had any screen issues. 

[windy1]

The screen problem we are talking about is on the 2011-14 Malibus with the touch screen to the right of the steering wheel. They all delaminate and eventually fail. Malibus solution is to sell you a new one for thousands of dollars and it will also fail. Malibu has made no effort to change the way the screens are made so this will not happen even though its not that hard. Third party companies have stepped in to fix the problem. I'm not aware of any consistant problems with newer screens.

[PNWoke]

Definitely extends to the 2015 and 2016’s too.  Any of them with the screen on the right seem to have a 100% failure rate.  As far as the big main screen goes, they seem like they’re better designed and don’t fail as often - at least judging off TMC posts that is.