Avon 5.8 open adventure with F150

ryza00 · 03 July 2008, 13:39

Hello,

I'm looking for peoples thoughts and opinions on the problems I've had with my rib mainly due to poor workmanship by the supplier who will remain nameless.

I was at the London boat show back in 2006 when I saw the new Avon 5.8 open and was impressed by it and basically ordered one a month or so later to the same spec as the boat show.

I did'nt take delivery of the rib till early summer 2007 through my own choice. When we gave it the once over we noticed there was a lot of small annoying things wrong with it which where all down to the workmanship of the supplier. The vents on the console were all cracked where they had tightened the screws, the sealing around the fuel cap looked as if it had been done by a 4 year old, the control lever was too close to the steering wheel which i kept jamming my fingers against at low rev and some other niggles, nothing major but all the same annoying for a brand new boat i'd been wating on for months.

Anyway we took it out for its first go to run the engine in and doddled about. When we took it back out we noticed that the inner hull was completely flooded, we did'nt think anything of it at the time just thought that the bung hadn't been tightened properly. So we continued to run the engine in and each time we put it in the water the hull flooded which is rather annoying!!! Another thing whilst running in we noticed that the control cables were getting proggresivly stiffer to the point it is was a bit of an effort to move the throttle forward. We took the engine for the 10 hour service and asked our local service dealer to have alook at the control cables as well. When we returned to pick it up he told us a section of the cable was crushed nearly flat which must have happened before they were installed again poor quality control!!!

We contacted the supplier and after several e-mails and telephone conversations they said they would take it back and fix the problems we had. About a month or so later we got the boat back and in a passing e-mail he mentioned they had completly changed the hull due to some minor cracks!!!! Which I dont think was causing the leak but Avon decided it should be changed because it was a brand new hull. His comment on this was that they were just going to grind out the cracks and refill them with Gel coat but Avon decided to replace the complete hull. Which i think we should have been informed of before they changed the hull rather than tell us in an e-mail when we were taking delivery of the boat again.

So fingers crossed we hoped everything would be good and sound and we took her out for a spin........ NEW HULL FLOODED !!!!! Turns out they didn't bother to seal the bung plate so again we phoned them up and we decided to fix it ourselves after a few angry conversations. Not the kind of customer service you'd expect when paying a hefty sum for a new boat.

Now after app. 70 hrs of use the throttle cable has jammed and after talking with our local service dealer again he says the way the have routed the cables is not clever. The cables come out of the control box and turn almost 90deg and go straight into the console which he says is causing them to be so stiff. So this will be the third set of control cables in the space of a year.

Dont get me wrong i have no problem with AVON i think the rib is absolutly brilliant I love it to bits, it performs really well but the centre that fitted it out have made an ar#e of it.

I'm thinking of going back to them and asking them to pay for the new control cables and possibly control box if its broke.

Bit of a long winded story but had to get it off my chest !!!

Does anyone have any advice on the matter any comment would be appreciated!!

matt h · 03 July 2008, 16:11

i imagine it uses outhill consols, really when a new boat is "Rigged" it should done with you there, so that YOU can specify where you want particular components, it really sounds like it was "Rigged" by an unprofessional, you possibly could do a better job yourself, its not a difficult job to re route the cables,

Andy Moore · 03 July 2008, 17:16

Who rigged it?

Downhilldai · 03 July 2008, 22:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andy Moore

Who rigged it?

Exactly!
Why post all this if we don't know which dealer to avoid as a consequence of your experiences?

Poly · 03 July 2008, 23:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by Downhilldai

Exactly!
Why post all this if we don't know which dealer to avoid as a consequence of your experiences?

Read his post again - he is not trying to say "don't use this dealer" or "don't buy an avon". Posts like that are rarely useful as they rarely present a "fair story". The OP is asking if he is reasonable to expect a high standard of workmanship.

So to answer the original question:

Not sure why you are so concerned that they swapped the hulls. most people would be pleased.

Don't let Avon completely off the hook. Its their name on the product, they appoint the dealers and agents and its their responsibility to ensure they do their bit of the deal properly. And its their responsibility to protect their Brand through good customer service. I would expect them to train/advise their fitters on cable routing.

I don't think its particularly unreasonable to expect cable replacement after less than a year of use and would hope they came with a 1yr warranty - but bear in mind that cables are a wear and tear part. But - is it worth the effort?

I think its very unlikely your control box is damaged through stiff cables (unless you have been stupidly forcefull with it).

Downhilldai · 03 July 2008, 23:29

A hell of a lot of backgound info and undirected criticism to lead into a question on control cables.

I agree with Polwart's advice on the cables though.

OP has anonymised the seemingly deficient dealer/rigging agent, but made no secret of the hull manufacurer, who he is happy with, despite the hull having to be replaced in the first year of use due to cracks in the GRP.

ryza00 · 04 July 2008, 08:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Polwart

Not sure why you are so concerned that they swapped the hulls. most people would be pleased.

Don't let Avon completely off the hook. Its their name on the product, they appoint the dealers and agents and its their responsibility to ensure they do their bit of the deal properly. And its their responsibility to protect their Brand through good customer service. I would expect them to train/advise their fitters on cable routing.

I don't think its particularly unreasonable to expect cable replacement after less than a year of use and would hope they came with a 1yr warranty - but bear in mind that cables are a wear and tear part. But - is it worth the effort?

I think its very unlikely your control box is damaged through stiff cables (unless you have been stupidly forcefull with it).

I'm not in anyway concerned that they replaced the hull it was the lack of communication and the attitude they showed towards us that concerned me!

If it saves me upwards of £100 then the effort is worth it!!!

ryza00 · 04 July 2008, 08:36

I didn't post the suppliers name incase it was agianst the forum rules but as it doesn't seem so. It was Barnet Marine who supplied the rib.

I have read a few posts praising them for the workmanship and customer service but I did not get this expierience from them.

ryza00 · 04 July 2008, 08:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Downhilldai

A hell of a lot of backgound info and undirected criticism to lead into a question on control cables.

I agree with Polwart's advice on the cables though.

OP has anonymised the seemingly deficient dealer/rigging agent, but made no secret of the hull manufacurer, who he is happy with, despite the hull having to be replaced in the first year of use due to cracks in the GRP.

The criticism is firmly pointed at Barnet Marine. I am happy with Avon as they had no hesitation in replacing the hull and i do think it is a fantastic rib.

appoligies for the long winded story i just wanted to put across my situation.

Poly · 04 July 2008, 11:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by ryza00

If it saves me upwards of £100 then the effort is worth it!!!

If you paid over a ton for two cables, I would be changing my chandler/dealer!

Poly · 04 July 2008, 11:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by ryza00

The criticism is firmly pointed at Barnet Marine. I am happy with Avon as they had no hesitation in replacing the hull and i do think it is a fantastic rib.

Interesting that you chose not to use the local Avon rib dealer.

ryza00 · 04 July 2008, 11:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Polwart

If you paid over a ton for two cables, I would be changing my chandler/dealer!

I was quoted £50 each for the higher quality lower friction cables is this dear?

ryza00 · 04 July 2008, 11:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Polwart

Interesting that you chose not to use the local Avon rib dealer.

In hindsight that would have been the best idea but at the time we were impressed by the boat barnet had on disply at the boat show and they offered a better package than the loacal Avon dealer.

Poly · 04 July 2008, 12:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by ryza00

I was quoted £50 each for the higher quality lower friction cables is this dear?

sounds it to me.
IIRC I bought genuine Yamaha cables for mine about three years ago - I think they were about £15 each. I replaced them after a few months with red teleflex ones(the first ones were too long so hard to move) which I am sure was about £40 for the pair (I think the "red ones" are mid range rather than "top of the range") and obviously they cost more the longer they are. My prices were just popping into the local chandler/engine repair shop not shopping around.

Downhilldai · 04 July 2008, 12:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by ryza00

I didn't post the suppliers name incase it was agianst the forum rules but as it doesn't seem so. It was Barnet Marine who supplied the rib.

I have read a few posts praising them for the workmanship and customer service but I did not get this expierience from them.

Thanks for this - it will hopefully help other forum members.

Barnet Marine occasionally post on here, so we may get some reaction....

BumbleAbout · 04 July 2008, 14:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by ryza00

I was quoted £50 each for the higher quality lower friction cables is this dear?

I have used eBay for Teleflex 33c supreme control cables in the past and found them to be far smoother than the standard 33c cables - but you do have to be careful that you are not exceeding the bend radius (6-8" from memory) and certainly not crushing them ! They seem to be about £30 for a 5m length, so unless you bought Teleflex extreme cables, then I think £50 is a little expensive ...

Chris · 04 July 2008, 22:37

Its is well worth paying for some of the hi quality cables, I use the Teleflex Extreme ones and they are excellent and if you are having problems then they will really help.

Downhilldai · 04 July 2008, 23:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris

Its is well worth paying for some of the hi quality cables, I use the Teleflex Extreme ones and they are excellent and if you are having problems then they will really help.

Yep - I've got the same ones, but they didn't cost £100