Malibu Boats, a well-known brand in the recreational boating industry, is currently dealing with a proposed class action lawsuit after a significant safety warning and a heartbreaking fatality associated with some of its older boat models. These boats, which range from model years in the late 1980s to the 2010s, are now being examined for a potentially lethal design defect that the plaintiffs allege the company has overlooked for an extended period.
What Happened?
In July 2023, Malibu Boats issued a safety alert revealing that certain models were “particularly susceptible” to bow swamping—a dangerous incident in which water crashes over the front of a boat, endangering passengers and compromising stability. The alert advised owners to stop seating passengers in the bow, effectively reducing each boat’s capacity by at least two people.
This action followed a prominent wrongful death lawsuit involving a 7-year-old boy who was taken from the front of a 2000 Malibu Response LX during a swamping event and tragically hit by the boat’s propeller. In 2021, a jury in Georgia granted the boy’s family $200 million in damages, highlighting Malibu’s negligence in alerting users to recognized safety hazards.
What’s Alleged in the Lawsuit?
The class action lawsuit claims that Malibu Boats intentionally sold boats with design flaws, lacking adequate testing and failing to provide clear warnings to consumers. Court findings indicate that in the 1990s, Malibu incorporated bow seating into its closed-deck Response model to remain competitive but did so without proper engineering advice or safety assessments.
Instead of structurally reinforcing the boat for the added bow weight, the company allegedly just “cut a hole in the deck, added seats, and sold it,” according to court records. The evidence put forth in the wrongful death lawsuit revealed that Malibu disregarded numerous alerts from customers, staff, and distributors over the years—failing even to inform older boat owners with updated safety labels once the defect was broadly acknowledged.
Despite knowing that “every Response LX ever made had an identical swamping defect,” Malibu reportedly only added bow weight limit labels to new models starting in 2011 and never warned previous buyers. Boat owners, beware: the following models were named in Malibu’s 2023 safety alert and are now central to the litigation:
- 1986–2002 Sunsetter
- 1989–1994 Euro-f3 Sunsetter
- 1990–1993 Mystere 215LX Euro-f3
- 1993–1998 Echelon LX
- 1995–2014 Response LX
- 1998–2003 Sportster LX
- 1999–2006 Sunsetter LXi
- 2002–2007 Sunsetter (23) XTi
- 2003–2008 Sunsetter 21 XTi
- 2003–2011 Response LXi
These models may be particularly prone to bow swamping due to their low-slung, downward-angled front design—a stylistic choice, plaintiffs argue, that prioritized looks over safety.
It is estimated that at least 200,000 boats could be affected by this defect. For many, this issue transcends financial concerns—it revolves around safety, transparency, and accountability within the marine industry.
