2020 Cobalt SC25 Bowrider - 100 Hour Review, Observations & Ratings

[Titaniumboy]

BlackStick Shade – OMG, this is a life changer and worth every dime spent on them. Well made, sturdy and unbelievably useful for providing shade. Ours came with the back unit in place and it holds up at cruising speed (25mph) + and does not whistle or make noise while using, you simply do not even notice it.

That looks really interesting. Was it an option from Cobalt? It looks like Blackstick fits into fishing rod holders, but Cobalts don’t have them?

[Marco4Ever]

Local Dealer tried to be helpful, however, after contacting Cobalt I received a very nice 2 page "Certificate of Limited Warranty" form email with the following line highlighted. . .

"7:Damage, deterioration (for example:fading oxidation, corrosion) of surface finishes, vinyls, fabrics, aluminum and stainless steel finishes."


Bottom Line: the minute you take delivery of your Cobalt, rust stains on your interior seating, rust bleed through on your gelcoat, rusted rub rail screws and assorted bolts is your problem.

Word to the Wise: before you spend over $100K on your new boat, ask to see the Cobalt Boats Certificate of Limited Warranty and ask some simple questions and for gosh sakes - look over every single bolt, washer, nut etc because once you take delivery, you get the screw...

[MoRiver]

Great, detailed review of your boat. Nice boat too. It's a shame about the rusting stainless fasteners.

[jusmakinit]

I have a 2019 25SC in cape coral. Issues to date:
Front option jump seats fall out when running - waiting on a response
Lamination loose in cockpit floor. Sounds like sticky floor. - waiting for a response. Dealer recommended sending boat back to cobalt! Ugh!
Broken bushings on swim step - parts ordered months ago
Stbd side front seat shock pulled out of fiberglass - new seat ordered months ago, just arrived
Rusty screws in swim step area - maintenance item.
Fading of gray swim platform, and I am indoor stored - non warranty issue according to cobalt
Rockford Fosgate stereo helm unit and main unit replaced under warranty. Both failed separate times.
I also list to port. Annoying because trim only handles part of it with full tab down.
I added a $6 vent and hose in my fw tank to drain the overfill out the transom not in the storage compartment.
I had to add thru bolts on windlass in order to give it support.
Bimini top rattles. Added insulating washers to keep it silent
Windlass did not have hoop to prevent anchor to flip up - added under warranty.

Overall, we love the boat, but when buying quality, these issues should not be there. My 17 year old OceanHawk hasn't had this many issues since new.

Ride quality and fuel efficiency is awesome with suzuki 300, although I did have to re-prop it with 16 inch Prop.

Boat house has been good to deal with but response from cobalt has been very slow...

[AsLan7]

I have a 2019 25SC in cape coral. Issues to date:
Front option jump seats fall out when running - waiting on a response
Lamination loose in cockpit floor. Sounds like sticky floor. - waiting for a response. Dealer recommended sending boat back to cobalt! Ugh!
Broken bushings on swim step - parts ordered months ago
Stbd side front seat shock pulled out of fiberglass - new seat ordered months ago, just arrived
Rusty screws in swim step area - maintenance item.
Fading of gray swim platform, and I am indoor stored - non warranty issue according to cobalt
Rockford Fosgate stereo helm unit and main unit replaced under warranty. Both failed separate times.
I also list to port. Annoying because trim only handles part of it with full tab down.
I added a $6 vent and hose in my fw tank to drain the overfill out the transom not in the storage compartment.
I had to add thru bolts on windlass in order to give it support.
Bimini top rattles. Added insulating washers to keep it silent
Windlass did not have hoop to prevent anchor to flip up - added under warranty.

Overall, we love the boat, but when buying quality, these issues should not be there. My 17 year old OceanHawk hasn't had this many issues since new.

Ride quality and fuel efficiency is awesome with suzuki 300, although I did have to re-prop it with 16 inch Prop.

Boat house has been good to deal with but response from cobalt has been very slow...

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Hey jmkit. So glad you found us.

Sorry to hear about your Cobalt woes. Unfortunately we are receiving more posts like this since the acquisition of Cobalt by bu. Hopefully you can get these items addressed by your dealer. Any pics.?

And welcome aboard mate.




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[Marco4Ever]

212 hours of pure fun on SWFL waters.

Other than cost for (2) 100hr maintenance (done on water on lift) - My Cobalt 25SC is still a pure joy to own and operate.

I have replace a lot of the Chinese junk/crap stainless screws than snuck into Cobalts manufacturing (it is not their fault). Once replacing and cleaning out the rust stains (3M Rust remover), we are looking really good.

The dual console glass display still has its limitations with respect to integrations with other 3 party products, (Garmin discontinued this unit)

Of major note - while Cobalt did not cover under warranty the Rust Stains, they came onsite and replaced 3 black panels that faded really quickly.

BoatHouseH2O in Naples Florida Service Department rocks - BTW.

If you are looking at Cobalt vs other brands, take a ride on the Cobalt and cut through a couple of wakes and experience the difference over competing brands.

Yamaha 300 is a workhorse and with 10 adults, we have flown at 40mph +

The interior is holding up amazing and I have found that if you use Nautical 1 Xtreme Mildew Remover, the Black-Dot problem on interiors and other stains simply wipe away with minimal effort. Check other post with Pictures.

I installed a NightWave Video system and FWIW it is amazing product at its price point.

Pulling together a simplified installation video and simple trick to running wires to the wake tower. 60 minute installation including pulling wires.

Biggest problem right now is trying to convince wife to upgrade to 30 with twin 300's. . .

Cheers

[Titaniumboy]

Nice update. It is terrible that you had to deal with the fake stainless steel fasteners on your own with no support from Cobalt.

Can you tell me more about the Blackstick shade and how it is installed?

[Marco4Ever]

At the time, on a one year old boat, you betcha a small bag of stainless screws would have made my day.

BLACKSTICK

https://www.theblackstick.com/

My 25SC came with dealer/factory installed rod holders on the back.

I simply slide the black stick into the rod holders and use the screen clips to connect to the Bimini.

The nice thing is that you can pull the blackstick apart & unclip from the Bimini when you want the back end of your boat wide open.

FWIW - A quick google search will also surface a number of DIY approaches that look really good as well.

HOWEVER - I had an idea while sitting on a sandbar sipping a cold one. . .

SeaSucker suction cup holders combined with Shibumi Shade

I already own a Shibumi for the beach and I just shoved the ends into the rod holder and with the breeze, it covered a pretty large section of the boat and my dog stretched out and took a nap.

I was thinking that using the SeaSucker you could temporary mount the Shade from the front or back.

Apologies I did not take any pictures when I was messing around with this.

SeaSucker

https://www.seasucker.com/collections/v ... uction-cup

Shibumi Shade

https://shibumishade.com/

[Gus208]

I am considering one of these boats as well. I love the lines and prefer to have an outboard.

I have a couple of questions for those with these boats as I have not yet purchased or looked at them. We do not have a cobalt dealer in Cayman where I live but this boat will be for my cottage in Canada on fresh water.

Is there a place to attach a wake board rope?
Is there a place to attach a ski/tube rope (usually lower)?

If I find one with a 300 Yamaha, is there enough power to pull up a skier or wakeboarder?

Thank you,

[AsLan7]

I am considering one of these boats as well. I love the lines and prefer to have an outboard.

I have a couple of questions for those with these boats as I have not yet purchased or looked at them. We do not have a cobalt dealer in Cayman where I live but this boat will be for my cottage in Canada on fresh water.

Is there a place to attach a wake board rope?
Is there a place to attach a ski/tube rope (usually lower)?

If I find one with a 300 Yamaha, is there enough power to pull up a skier or wakeboarder?

Thank you,

.
So glad you found us Gus208.

Hopefully others will chime in shortly with answers to your questions.

Be sure to post pics if you do find one.

And welcome aboard mate.
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[cvx16]

I am considering one of these boats as well. I love the lines and prefer to have an outboard.

I have a couple of questions for those with these boats as I have not yet purchased or looked at them. We do not have a cobalt dealer in Cayman where I live but this boat will be for my cottage in Canada on fresh water.

Is there a place to attach a wake board rope?
Is there a place to attach a ski/tube rope (usually lower)?

If I find one with a 300 Yamaha, is there enough power to pull up a skier or wakeboarder?

Thank you,

I have a 2019 SC25 w/ 300hp Yamaha. No issues pulling up a wakeboarder or skier.

For towing, it will depend on how the boat is equipped. There are factory options to tow anything. Most boats will come optioned with a tower of some sort (mine did) and can be used for towing wakeboards/skiers. There are also options for a skier/tuber pylon, installed on the stern. Mine did not have that. I added a Turbo Swing (https://turboswing.com/) for pulling tubes, but haven't tried using it yet.

Good luck with your boat hunt! Bring back pictures when you find one!

[Tgarris]

Gus, our 2019 SC25 is avail and gorgeous located in NJ.

[cvx16]

I have a 2019 SC25 w/ 300hp Yamaha. No issues pulling up a wakeboarder or skier.

For towing, it will depend on how the boat is equipped. There are factory options to tow anything. Most boats will come optioned with a tower of some sort (mine did) and can be used for towing wakeboards/skiers. There are also options for a skier/tuber pylon, installed on the stern. Mine did not have that. I added a Turbo Swing (https://turboswing.com/) for pulling tubes, but haven't tried using it yet.

Good luck with your boat hunt! Bring back pictures when you find one!

We finally put the Turboswing into use this past weekend. Worked perfectly. Great addition to our 25SC for towing tubes!

[AsLan7]

I have a 2019 SC25 w/ 300hp Yamaha. No issues pulling up a wakeboarder or skier.

For towing, it will depend on how the boat is equipped. There are factory options to tow anything. Most boats will come optioned with a tower of some sort (mine did) and can be used for towing wakeboards/skiers. There are also options for a skier/tuber pylon, installed on the stern. Mine did not have that. I added a Turbo Swing (https://turboswing.com/) for pulling tubes, but haven't tried using it yet.

Good luck with your boat hunt! Bring back pictures when you find one!

We finally put the Turboswing into use this past weekend. Worked perfectly. Great addition to our 25SC for towing tubes!

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Great to hear cvx16. Post a pic or two if you can with this turboswing. I like the name.

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[cvx16]

I realized I didn't get any good pictures of the TurboSwing in action, but found a couple shots from when I installed it. I'll try to remember to get better pics later.

The brackets are mounted at the motor mount bolts and are "permanent." The swing bar itself easily slides in and out of the brackets and is held in place with a couple carabiners to just keep it from popping out of the brackets.