New 2019 R3 Delivery: POOR Workmanship

[NautiGirl]

That's awesome to hear. Way to Go Cobalt!

But since I know Cobalt is reading this thread...

I hate your new docking lights. And I REALLY REALLY need a pink color option... If this unicorn ever gets to build her a boat it's going to need to be pink! Thanks in advance!

Make it happen Rick... I know you remember me... The one with the gopro in your face!

[jnn13]

UPDATE!! We finally had all our issues resolved BEFORE Memorial Day. We just had four great days (including Friday) out on the water. Got the boat up to just shy of 50mph. Fueled up for the first time at our local fuel dock (got 100 miles on 26 gallons, lots of no wake, though...). Docked in our new-to-us slip a few times without any physical damage. Just having a great time out there!

I was recently contacted by Rick at Cobalt. (Thanks, Rick - that couldn’t have been a fun call for you to make!). I was happy to hear about some of the quality assurance testing that takes place at Cobalt and how impressive the Volvo Pentas are.

All told, we lost about three weeks of (cold) boating, hauled the boat in and out a couple of times ($200 a pop at our marina), got stranded on a busy waterway, and met a lot of really cool mechanics doing their best to get us out on the water during their busiest time of the year.

Thank you for the call, Rick. It was a nice gesture and fitting closure for our delivery ordeal. Now that boat’s fixed, we are putting it up for sale so we can upgrade! (Not really!)

Josh

[AsLan7]

UPDATE!! We finally had all our issues resolved BEFORE Memorial Day. We just had four great days (including Friday) out on the water. Got the boat up to just shy of 50mph. Fueled up for the first time at our local fuel dock (got 100 miles on 26 gallons, lots of no wake, though...). Docked in our new-to-us slip a few times without any physical damage. Just having a great time out there!

I was recently contacted by Rick at Cobalt. (Thanks, Rick - that couldn’t have been a fun call for you to make!). I was happy to hear about some of the quality assurance testing that takes place at Cobalt and how impressive the Volvo Pentas are.

All told, we lost about three weeks of (cold) boating, hauled the boat in and out a couple of times ($200 a pop at our marina), got stranded on a busy waterway, and met a lot of really cool mechanics doing their best to get us out on the water during their busiest time of the year.

Thank you for the call, Rick. It was a nice gesture and fitting closure for our delivery ordeal. Now that boat’s fixed, we are putting it up for sale so we can upgrade! (Not really!)

Josh

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That’s great to hear Josh. Rick and all of the Cobalt crew are a class act. Nice to hear customer service is still alive and well.

I’m sure you must have taken some pictures. Please post ‘em if you got ‘em.

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[Big Block Power]

Way to go Cobalt and Rick. He has answered many emails from all of us at one time or another. He was our tour guide. Just a great guy.

[jnn13]

Funny enough, I was so focused on setting new dock lines, tying up fenders, startup procedures, maneuvering, navigating, right of way, engine flush, scrubbing off salt, and shut down procedures, just about the only thing I didn't do was take photos or video!!

Thanks for all the support, feedback, and the tight network of Cobalt owners that earned me a call from the factory!!

I can only hope to pay it all forward as I gain more boating experience.

[tgrace98]

Glad to see you got everything taken care of! Also great that you received a call from customer service.

[Ytmsn]

BAM. Just made my (already high) Cobalt respect meter go up a few more notches. Would somone please poor me another glass of koolaid?

Glad you got it sorted out Josh. And how cool is it when the factory tracks you down and calls to fix any issues you might have? Pretty Cool Beans I'd say.

[akorcovelos]

That is unheard of in pretty much any manufacturing market, way to go Cobalt! Glad you got your issues ironed out and get to enjoy that beautiful boat!

[Bamabonners]

I take delivery of my R5s Monday and this thread makes me nervous. I haven’t bought a cobalt in11 years and this new Malibu ownership makes me cautious.

I've owned several malibu boats and an axis... Let me just say that I sure hope Malibu QC stays away from Cobalt.

So far, my CS22 has been great!

[Big Block Power]

I take delivery of my R5s Monday and this thread makes me nervous. I haven’t bought a cobalt in11 years and this new Malibu ownership makes me cautious.

How did yours look? Monday has come and gone.

[Todd]

Hey I’ve been receiving the exact same “shift actuator” warning behavior. If they fixed the issue for you what did it end up being?

It’s happened twice right after tubing for 30-60 min each time. Both times was able to fully turn off power to boat, wait a little while, ‘reboot’ and get it to crank... still almost caused us to hit the dock, then another boat drifting without power...

2020 Cobalt R7 w/ Volvo 380

It’s at Singleton Marine now, we’re being told they can’t reproduce it...
They were able to fix a bilge pump issue and leak (another thing wrong week 1) and now want us to pick it up...

[AsLan7]

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Hey Todd. Welcome to the Cobaltchat forum. So glad you found us!

Sorry to hear about your steering woes. Surprised the dealer Maintenence Specialist did not see a history of this issue when he read the codes off your ECU. It’s one of the first things they’ll do if nothing obvious stands out.

Keep us apprised.

Any pics of your Cobalt R7?

Again welcome aboard mate.
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[Table Rockin]

I know your situation was frustrating and rightfully so. I would have been extremely disappointed myself. However i will say for us third parties this is actually very comforting to hear the lengths cobalt took to get this right. Glad your back up and running!

I will say I've always wondered if boat mfg read user forums. Seems like it would be a great centralized resource for customer feedback. TRUE customer feedback. Nice work Cobalt.

[Lifelongbtr]

I searched “shift actuator” on here and this is the only thread that came up.

Recently purchased a 19’ R7 and day one (after test drive) had about 15 “check shift actuator” faults, I can idle around all day but cannot actually use the boat or the engine dies.

I found what I think is the problem, a short in the wiring harness at the actuator, can’t tell right now what side of the harness, or the harness itself. VP didn’t do a very good job with this setup I can tell you that.

Anyone else that’s resolved this issue have any feedback?