2018 Malibu LSV - WTH

[GMLIII]

I felt the same way 2 years ago when I bought my 16 G23. I looked at MANY different brands. The ONLY 2 brands IMO that really had top notch quality control were Nautique and Mastercraft. Every other boat just had a "cheap" feeling to them. Just small things like above that constantly popped out to me. Supra and Malibu being the 2 biggest disappointments to me. I was really interested in those brands. The biggest failure IMO was the M235 that I saw at the boat show in Charlotte that year. I made a comment to many others and they all agreed 100%...that it just seemed that Malibu tried to rush that boat off the assembly line in order for it to hit boat show floors. SOOOO many quality control issues. Bad gel coat finish is areas, poor fiberglass edging like above, seats were hard to flip up, carpet just thrown in random places, etc, etc. To me, the only boats out that were even worth looking at were Nautique and MC, IF you weren't specifically looking for a budget boat. But speaking of budget boat...The one brand that has actually come to surprise me at the latest boat shows has been Moomba! They've come a long way from the 2007 Mobius LSV that I purchased for my first wakeboat years ago!

I agree. I friend of mine bought a Mojo Moomba last week from Webster's at SML, and I rode in it prior to him purchasing it and I was impressive. That brand really has come a long way in recent years.

[Soul_surfer]

Totally agree too. My first boat was a Moomba outback V 2008. they’ve come a long way since that. Always building up and up.
The main thing is they’re still really affordable and don’t chop on quality.
neighbor bought a leftover 2016 Mojo pro summer 2017 and seriously this boat is insane for a 93K fully loaded.
yet not in the same branch of ours but still i paid more for my 2017 Nautique 210 (totally understandable my 210 is every option checked lol.. not one missing. I wanted the Nautique fits/finish and i just love the NSS).

But I really like Moomba. they are rock solid boat with great style and h*ll of a price. And Axis is still more expensive lol..
i just don’t like the new line helix/Max. They’re just so ugly haha can’t stand it.
i understand their move to hit a young market with the surf hype. Cheap boat and space to put huge fatsac to create a monster wave but..
a budget line for a budget brand.. Don’t understand people paying for an Helix and don’t want to put the 5K more for a mondo. So much a better, sexier boat.

[72Miles]

My impression of the Moomba has been that they don't try to be Nautique. They forego some of the bells & whistles, but for what they do, they do it well.

[thejean]

I think the issue with Malibu as of late is they are struggling to keep up with MC and Nautique in the surf game. As a result, they have changed their hull nearly every year since 2013. When you do that you end up redesigning almost every aspect of the boat and in particular the items where fit and finish shows up most. You end up rushing the design and then everything else gets rushed as a result. They aren’t leaving enough time for quality control. When half of your model year is spent designing, when do you find time to build them? And for sure no time for QA QC. And what market share they are gaining from wave improvements they are losing more due to quality control I feel. But that’s what happens when you go public and share value starts driving all of your decisions. Coincidently (not) all of these bad decisions started around that time as well.

[nohlan_4]

Nautique and MC are the peak in terms of quality but I have never been an MC fan at all, guess thats why I am here haha.

[swc5150]

From the first Bu I ever saw back in the 80's, it was clear their quality was a rung or two below CC and MC, but at least so used to be their price.

[KTM525]

One of the main reason i did not bought a Malibu was the carpet, i had that in my supra and did not want that anymore. Its hard to get them dry when the boat is mooring the hole summer. The second reason for buying the G21 was the subfloor ballast, so i can user the trunk for boards and store a box for the wet stuff. The G21 is way better build then my old 2010 Supra 21V, but the G was twice that expensive too ;-).

[nyryan2001]

It’s no secret Jack Springer has done nothing but ride the bow wave of the great company that was in pace prior to his arrival.

yep they weathered the 2008-2009 downturn.... but it seems now that Malibu is what folks new to wakeboats buy thinking they bought a Lexus and got themselves a high end overpriced Kia.

probrably the absolute worst and most unethical dealer network of all the brands. Not honoring warranties, turning customers away, refusing service.

all these guys trying to sell their 1-2yr old Malibu’s they bought for $110-$120k can barely get $80k.

no one trusts Malibu to sell a quality product anymore. Sad really.