What to buy?

[CAL]

I have been trying to decide which boat to buy for more then four months. I love the look and design of the Moomba XLV but have spoken to several friends who have strongly advised against Moomba. The word is that Moomba has a poor maintenance record and that they use inferior materials compared to Malibu and Mastercraft.

Anouther concern is that the XLV's 320 HP engine is underpowered, any feedback?

I am sure that several current Moomba owners have gone thru the same process that i am going thru, i would be very interested in your perpective.

[Catdog1]

What are the prices for each?

[TheBeeZ]

I have a friend who has a Mastercraft X-Star. He paid $60,000.00. It has been in the shop for transmission problems, fuel injection problems, and a trailer problem. All this summer, the boat is one year old. I have another friend who owns the Mastercraft prostar. He also has had engine problems.

I have a 2002 Outback LS. I paid much less than they did and I have had no problems to date. They have spent more time in my boat this summer than in there own.

[jburnside]

CAL,
Have your "friends" owned a Moomba product or have they just heard rumors? From what I can gather there were some concerns with the quality of the boats before 1999. However, since then, the quality has been going nowhere but up. The knock I always see about Moomba these days is that their interiors are not as plush and don't hold up as well as the other major manufacturers. I own a 2003 Outback LS and the interior may not be as "plush" as a Malibu Response LX but it certainly is holding up very well. We regularly have 6 people on our boat and our 75lb chocolate lab. If the interior will hold up to my dogs paws and my kids all over it, then I say the quality is on par with the rest of the industry. As for the quality of the equipment Moomba uses, it is in many cases the same equipment that Mastercraft and Malibu use (Indmar engines, CCP Armor Flex, Teleflex, Beede, Perfect Pass...). Go over to www.wakeboarder.com and do a search for "Moomba XLV". I remember reading some posts that indicated that the 320HP engine is plenty for that boat. But if you end up still being skeptical on the 320, you should just upgrade and option the boat with the larger Indmar motor.

You should ask yourself if $10,000.00 is resonable for thicker cushions and a little more sound deadener. That's what we found when we looked. Our Moomba has been great thus far (2nd full season) and our dealer is very good.

What you really need to do is schedule a test ride with each manufacturer to see if you can feel a difference between the boats. Then look at each of the dealerships service departments, this is certainly one of the biggest factors to owning a boat. If you have to drop off your new boat for service, and you get treated like crap, or they keep your boat for weeks before looking at it. Then it won't matter how much you liked the boat when you bought it, or how much you paid for it. Make sure you have a good dealer available to you, regardless of what manufacturer you end up going with. Good luck.

[Wake Master]

I bought a 2004 Mobius LSV and took delivery late April. I have 109 hours on the boat just from this summer and have had no problems. The only issue I have is a small defect in the gelcoat under one of the seats and the dealer and I agreed to have that fixed in the off season. I also looked at Correct Craft and Mastercraft before buying when I compared the boats I decided Moomba was the best overall value. I very happy with the boat.

[waterboy]

I own a 2001 Outback LS. I'm completeley satisfied with the quality, performance and dealer service. The price was unbeatable, I could never have afforded a Malibu or Mastercraft with all the options I got with my Moomba. Never had any problems with my boat....it still looks new.

Brian

[Shoemaker Mobius]

Before we bought our 2004 Mobius LSV, I researched other manufacturers pretty extensively. We went with the Moomba, primarily because as the others have said, I couldn't even get close to the price with the options we wanted. Granted, the Malibu XLV and the Mastercraft X-2 are much plusher. However, the mechanicals on all three are pretty much the same equipment. We have approx. 60 hours on our boat so far and it has been to the dealer three times for repairs. However, all three problems were the PerfectPass, not the boat. It is the exact same PerfectPass that is on the Malibus and Mastercrafts, so I don't fault Moomba on these problems. I found the price discrepancy to be in the $15,000 range comparing the Moomba with options to the Malibus and X-2. I know several people with the Mobius XLV and they love it. However, in order to compare apples to apples, you would compare the Mobius XLV to the Malibu LSV and I think the Mastercraft X-10 - that way you are comparing 23ft boats to 23ft boats.

[J-Lawv]

When i bought my XLV the spring of this year..i was concerned about the same thing... So i talked to a dealer about it, he said that a while ago, moomba was getting lots of complaints and so on that there boats did not have good quality.... So they decided to step it up i guess and make them better since (i forget the year)...but ne ways... my point is that the quality of moomba now is as good as mastercraft and malibu in my opinion. You never know though... you could buy a moomba that outlasts a mastercraft or you could buy a mastercraft that outlasts a moomba...its all really a luck thing

[carsondoc]

Cal,

I went through the same thing last year. I researched Skier's Choice and the other companies. If you take a close look at the components of Mastercraft boats and Moomba you will find remarkable similarities. Coincidence? No. Look at the top brass from Skier's Choice. They came from Mastercraft about 6 years ago and bought the company and have made the changes that you see today.

Same engines, same windshields, same vinyl, same carpet, same controls, etc., etc., etc. Moombas don't have the "fluff" that the Supra's, MC's, Malibu's have. i.e., crome knobs and leather wrapped dash and stuff like that but you can get most everything as an option if you desire. However, all the important stuff is there--all glass boats, great power plants, tournament controls, great trailers, great customer support, high performance, good gauges, all the options.

As far as performance goes, I have absolutely nothing bad to say about my Moomba. It's great. Comes down to bucks and ego gratification really.

Tough decision. Good luck.

[waterboy]

Very well put.

Brian

[Goodtimesjeff]

Hi,
I just bought a 2004 Mobius LS yesterday. I to looked at all the ski manufacturers.
What i got compared to the other brands. I saved at least 6 thousand or more. I went out on a short test drive with my boat ,,it was great cant wait till this weekend.

Keith

[ddviv13]

Cal,
I spent 8months of research and decided on the 2004 Mobius LSV. I ski regularly with Supra, Nautique and Mastercraft pals. The other models have nothing on the Mobius relative to performance and quality (my friends have commented as such). Plushness (chrome treatment, grab handles, etc...) yes . But I don't need that stuff to slalom. You cannot beat the VALUE of Moomba! And yes, when people ask what kind of boat I have and I tell them a Moomba - many reply "what is that?. I tell them to look on page two of SKI Magazine and then take them for a ride. NOW they understand - and I think question why someone would pay $15K more for the other brands. It's like buying a car - you can buy the Nissan or the Infiniti, image and ego.. Go for it!

[clark]

For those of you that have a Moomba LS or LSV... tell me more. Do you like them? How is the slalom and wakeboard wakes. How is the fuel mileage. What comes standard?

thanks, Clark

[wakeboard dad]

I bought my 04 LSV in April and have about 90 hrs on it. Other than problems with the Perfect Pass, which was corrected at the 20 hr check up, I have had absolutely no problems with the boat. I bought it primarilty for wakeboarding but its solem(SP) ain't bad. I previously owned a '92 MC Pro Star, so to compare wakes is a little unfair to both. The LSV is a wakeboard boat with a different hull design. BUT the skiers I have pulled said that while it isn't as flat as my MC it's still not bad.

I got my NEW Moomba for about the same price that I see 2-3 year old MC's and others selling for with 200 - 300 hrs on them.

As far as all the other comments you read about Moomba quality remember a lot of those come from Malibu, MasterCraft and Nautique owners who paid $10 to $20K more for their boat. Moomba puts a great boat on the water at an affordable price.

Remember it's JUST a boat to have fun and enjoy. I find that much easier everytime I look at the money I saved.

[lowdrag]

Clark,

I've got an '03 Mobius LS and I love it. Not a single problem so far. I'm not a big slalom skier, but compared to other boats I've been behind it has a very flat wake with no ballast and running at anything over about 25 mph. If you check the hull measurements, I believe the beam width is 95" which is several inches wider than most other brands, meaning less wake when running at speed. At wakeboard speed with the gravity games ballast and another 300 pound sac between the rear seat and engine cover, it throws a very nice wake, but I plan to add a little more weight in the future. If you're looking to buy and want the best of both worlds it's a great boat, but make sure you get the wake plate. I wish I would have. As far as economy, I'd guess its about the same as any other boat of this type, since they basically use about the same motors. Since these boats were designed to pull, they tend to compromise a little in the efficiency area when it comes to cruising.

[Bushwacker]

I bought a 2004 Mobius LS this summer. I live in the Orlando Florida area so I had the chance to test and ski behind all of the big names. I went with Moomba primarily for the bang for the buck and the fact that most of the parts were the same as the other guys like others have stated. I almost bought a Malibu but in the end couldn't bring myself to spend the extra money just for the name. The only thing I liked about the Malibu better was the quality of the interior but like someone said is that really worth thousands of dollars? I have a family and every thousand matters to me.

I skied 3 event for about 13 years so I'm pretty familiar with a good ski wake. Although the Mobius LS isn't a perfect tournement slalom wake it's really not too bad. I have the wake plate on the back and it really helps to shape the wake nice for slicing through at full speed. At 36 mph tournement speed it's a better wake then I used to ski behind in the early 90's for sure.

Since the LS is an inboard and not a V-drive it's a good mix of both worlds. With the front and rear bags full and wake plate up it has a great wakeboard ramp. Don't get me wrong the X-Star boats blow the wake away but if you're into slalom forget it, you'll break your legs. The LS is a good all around boat.

Another thing I really like is the size inside the boat. Moomba did without the side rail comparments running from the front to rear seat which gives a lot of extra walking room. The bow rider is much bigger than the other guys and has great grab handles and speakers. The trailer is very nice and the boat is perfectly balanced for high speed rides to and from the lake. All and all I think I made the right choice and will be happy for a long time.

Here's another comparison, Harley vs Honda. Everyone knows a Honda will outlast a Harley with no problems at all but people still buy the Harley for the name and status. I am one of those guys that spent almost $20 on my bike while my buddy spent half the amount on his Honda. Although it's fun to brag and make fun of the Honda, I sure would rather have his payment book then mine. I often wonder it the status is really worth the money.

It's your choice, I suggest just getting a boat and getting on the water, life is too short...

Good Luck.

[waterboy]

Bushwacker, what lake do you ski on? Ever been on the Clermont chain?

Brian