2018 Cobalt R35

[Sheik]

We recently had designed and built a custom 2018 R35 Cobalt Boat. Have owned Cobalts for 23 years; 200, 220, R5 and now R35.
Loved the first two and had 22 years of family enjoyment from them. In fact, 5 years ago we totally redid our 1997 220. Hull repainted, total interior restoration, custom sound system and many other tweaks. As we got older and have more grandkids the desire for a head became more pressing. Enter the 2017 R5. Had the boat for two months and hated it. Plagued with mechanical problems that the dealer could never get fixed for us. Was lead to believe the head actually had a holding tank but rather it was just a porta potty. Every time we removed the sea foam flooring to clean, the snaps kept breaking. The flooring just didn't stand up to any traffic. Marked very easily and always looked dented and dirty. The boat came with an only limited set of options. After a summer of only frustration we decided to custom order a 2018 R35 to our exact design and liking.

We were so excited to get her that we bought $1000 worth of swag from the Cobalt pro shop so we could look the part when she arrived. In addition we purchased $2200 worth of various Cobalt wines to christen her. The timing coincided with my recent April prostate cancer surgery, which if successful, we hoped to be convalescing this summer on our new yacht! Needless to say this joy and pleasure was ruined for us. Our experience was like awaking on Christmas morning and all our presents were already opened, scratched and dented!

Received her May 16, 2018, delivered and put into our yacht harbor as promised by the dealer. By May 28th we had a full 3 page word document started to list all the deficiencies and imperfections that a Cobalt owner would never expect! The craftsmanship and overall fitting of our new pride and joy is simply appalling. Windows installed incorrectly, table installed crooked, cabinet doors not fitting correctly, all upholstery very poorly sewn and installed, stainless steel rail had worn marks, boot prints through the boat under the seagrass flooring, hole and imperfection in the sun shade, cabinet cushions two different colors, no 12v plugs to run the purchased air compressor, plug missing in the rear cooler, transom shower was full of oil and stained the teak wood when the dealer turned it on, purchased lighting key fob missing, ordered small table bracket in the bow not installed, storage bag for the small table top missing...the list goes on and on. Hence the word doc.

When we purchased our first two boats we received framed artist renderings of our boats with our serial numbers on them. These two pictures still adorn the wall of our home. We thought what a classy company. Compromise Nothing! We recently received one towel for our new $433,000 boat.

Reached out to the dealer many times and they seemed to be at a loss dealing with Cobalt. Have reached out to Cobalt directly and we are awaiting a reply from corporate. Could the change in ownership have impacted the poor build of our vessel? Filled the mailed survey out weeks ago and was never contacted by Cobalt. We had to hound the dealer repeatedly to finally get a response last week.

It saddens us to even repeat, in a limited form of writing, what our experience has been.

Compromised,
Douglas & Teresa White
Bigfork, MT

[tgrace98]

man that is crazy to hear. I don't have a new boat but I am on a dock with several r5/7/30's and I have yet to hear one of them complain about the quality of the build of their boats. I know table rockin has had a few issues but his seems to be more volvo related than Cobalt.

[Ytmsn]

Very sorry to hear about your troubles. There are lots of owners on this site and this is the largest amount of issues on a single boat we have heard.
There have been several individual instances on different boats, including one that caught fire on delivery! But nothing with as many problems as you have listed.

Most of us are very proud Cobalt owners, myself included. My boat is 17 years old and every weekend someone asks if it's new. The build quality is evident.

Maybe some of the guys with new models will chime in.

Hopefully you'll get some answers and resolution. That's what warranties are for!

[sailor55330]

That is truly unfortunate. For the kind of money Cobalt asks, those simple things should not have happened...on any size boat. My frustrations so far have been more with VP than Cobalt, but I will say Cobalt does not get in a big hurry on anything.

I sincerely hope that you get the resolution you seek and deserve.

[Tuscany]

The two issues we've had was the head door jamb, which I personally fixed. We also had issue with the wrong Bimini top installed that we are still dealing with again and again, it tries my patience. My dealer just doesn't have the perfection/thorough gene that I think most Cobalt owners have. They had it once in March to install it, but it's way off. Now they want it for a week...WTF. Just give me the parts...

Having said that, I think I'm a pretty capable mechanic and very handy with just about anything that can be fixed with tools. When dealing with Cobalt directly on my Bimini issue the dealer already "fixed", I found their people to be a little snobbish, and when pressed on specifics, they like to stop talking , and push everything back onto the dealer and end the conversation
That's fine, but telling.

Trust me, if I ever buy a 400k+ boat, it will be a Formula. I think they are fine with simple bowriders, but when you get into the big stuff....... I have my doubts.

Other than those isolated issues, I think the rest of the boat is truly premium every way.

[sailor55330]

The two issues we've had was the head door jamb, which I personally fixed. We also had issue with the wrong Bimini top installed that we are still dealing with again and again, it tries my patience. My dealer just doesn't have the perfection/thorough gene that I think most Cobalt owners have. They had it once in March to install it, but it's way off. Now they want it for a week...WTF. Just give me the parts...

Having said that, I think I'm a pretty capable mechanic and very handy with just about anything that can be fixed with tools. When dealing with Cobalt directly on my Bimini issue the dealer already "fixed", I found their people to be a little snobbish, and when pressed on specifics, they like to stop talking , and push everything back onto the dealer and end the conversation
That's fine, but telling.

Trust me, if I ever buy a 400k+ boat, it will be a Formula. I think they are fine with simple bowriders, but when you get into the big stuff....... I have my doubts.

Other than those isolated issues, I think the rest of the boat is truly premium every way.

The part about being pressed on specifics and not talking-----nailed it.

[cmattj]

Tough read.. but very well written Sheik.

I’ve said this before , but the recreational industry has no grasp. Do they assume the selling dealer will handle the poor rigging and just bill them in a warranty process. Sure maybe, and yes that happens. But here’s the kicker....it’s the same crew rigging the A40 and the cs series.

We haven’t even got to how it runs yet and the the assembly is so shoddy but acceptable by Cobalt and the delivering dealer. Geeze PDI means what the dealer bills Cobalt for.

Ok I’m calm. But these are big $$$$ investments and I’m tired of the recreational companies not realizing the wow factor needs to be there.

I vote for Dealers with low survey scores loose out on incentives.. hold back money...And special new model ordering.. open the new boat sales market to purchase Cobalts coast to coast and then you’d put the wow factor back in the Dealer and the recreational industry.

[Tuscany]

My son says” dad, this door won’t stay closed”.

This is what I found on on the bathroom floor 10 minutes into our maiden voyage.
Not a big deal, but someone at Cobalt didn’t take the time to do the job right, and passed it on for me to discover....in an embarrassing way in front of 3 couples joining us. I had to block the door from constantly slamming with a cooler bag.

A small issue others may think as petty, but a clear indication that they have a larger sales workload to meet, things are not getting the required attention, and they are indeed compromising. Moreover, the floor assembly guys clearly D G A F. Small stuff like this quickly turns into large stuff if the “no compromise” culture slowly starts to shift from schedule pressure or poor employee attitude.There was no chance the assembly person missed this, or assumed it was ok.

Our R7 is simple compared to an R35. The rest of our boat was assembled perfectly. But, I can imagine your dilemma with a much larger and extremely complex and detailed build like an R35.

[AsLan7]

.
Sorry to hear that Sheik. At the risk of being flamed, I’m a big fan of the Cobalt runabouts that were manufactured under the leadership of Paxson St Clair. Once his son took over in the late 2000’s coupled with the cost cutting measures taken during the Great Recession, I’ve noticed quite a change. Was hoping the Malibu purchase of Cobalt would improve things but I’ve not seen that yet based on a general pattern of user’s experiences. Time will tell.

...and like Tuscany said, at your price point I’d be in a Formula.

In any event, I’ll still welcome you aboard...remembering a time when Cobalt compromised nothing.

.

[2ridgebacks]

I’ll tell you this. The quality of my 2012 is not what I expected. Kind of like an oak tree with a few dead branches.
The bimini broke. The swivel fitting at the end is swaged onto the frame. Either formed Incorrectly or through wear (unlikely at 300 hrs), the joint separated. Then the tubing made like a pogo stick on the gel coat.
There is a hole worn through on the interior side trim panel where the cooler cushion was fitted incorrectly. I’ll probably have to Terrill the holes to fix it.
Walk through windshield fit. It’s probably a 1/2” low on the driver side.
Gel coat worn through to glass on the engine cover. Misalignment causes rub on the wet locker door at the walk through.
Bubble is gel coat on swim platform. About the palm of your hand. Now cracking.
Same door over the walkthrough. Gel coat flaw has turned to spiderweb. Coming up now.
Lots of loose screws on anything that moves on the interior.
None of this super major, but unexpected for a brand that compromises nothing. I figure a couple grand this winter and everything will be good as new, but why at 300 hrs?

[2ridgebacks]

And let’s not forget the undersize power wire to the amp. The amp would go into safe mode at a volume level that you couldn’t hear when underway.

[MikeBo]

Wow, I am new to the forum but I had no idea ...is this a regular occurrence or an anomaly?

The build quality on my 2000 is unbelievable, the boat constantly gets mistaken for new.

[Big Block Power]

Wow, I am new to the forum but I had no idea ...is this a regular occurrence or an anomaly?

The build quality on my 2000 is unbelievable, the boat constantly gets mistaken for new.

I don't know there's lots of new owners here and too me this is not the norm.
Ive seen $100000 vehicles with lots of issues. It happens but you really hope the dealer can fix it. If not then the manufacturer has to step up. We got the manufacture involved all the time.

[Cycleman6]

I took delivery of my build 2018 in May and I've not had any problems.

[cmattj]

It’s the delivery..that’s what had me.

Of course all things have their bugs to work out that’s why we have service departments to resolve them with the MFG . I’m sure my previous owners had some issues to sort out as well. I’m in love with my 282 and it gives me a smile every time I walk up to her.

But to read sheiks intro that was just a horrible Delivery . So preventable to insure the customers WOW factor was exceeded. And regardless of what model Cobalt, I believe you need to be loosing sleep over the joy and excitement... Not the shoddy sloppy delivery.