Malibu Sportster LX

Pros: Competition ski boat for a reasonable price. Excellent for wakeboarding.
Cons: Uses a lot of gas, V-8 is quite loud

I was in the market for a used boat in the spring of 2001. I am an avid wakeboarder and was looking for a ski boat that would be sufficient for wakeboarding without being overly expensive. I experienced some serious sticker shock when I looked at used...

Pros: Incredible power, affordable, great wakes, flat table for barefooting.
Cons: Needs zincs in brackish water.Malibu isn't much help in telling you which to use.

I bought mine new and have had no problems. It is a great ski/barefoot boat. Wakeboarders would want a fatsac or wedge as the wakes are nice and small. If you want to cruise around on a big lake or in chop, do not buy ANY inboard ski boat - go get some runabout v-hull boat. This boat has one purpose - to ski, not to cruise around. All true inboard ski boats, Mastercraft, Nautique, etc. have a bad ride in rough water and have loud V-8 engines. The trade off is incredible performance in good skiing conditions. The Sportster is a base model boat, if you want bells and whistles, go buy a Response or something else (and pay at least 10 grand more).

Pros: size, weight, price, resale, dependable,better quality than Mastercraft
Cons: loud, rough rididng, lack of storage, hard to find one that has not been abused.

Good all around boat. Great price and resale value. Dependable and easy to maintain. Poor big lake boat. Rides rough in chop and is too loud for all day.