Commander 28 Cat

[FIREMAN]

Has anyone heard anything about Commanders new 28 Cat? Is there a need to look. I have a Commander 24 Signature now. It's got the step Vee, it's got a 496 mag ho. it's been a good boat for 2 years.
Just need some feedback before I upgrade..
Thanks, Dusty

[Craig]

Personally I don't think they're bad looking cats. Haven't seen a lot about the efficiency of the bottom though compared with other cats. There's a guy on this board sometimes that has one with a blower motor and a Number 5 drive. Nice looking set up.
[ March 10, 2003, 10:28 AM: Message edited by: Craig ]

[bigq]

just talked to steve in the sales office yesterday about the 26' cat. They have a good deal on it, said about low 60k with the 496HO. The 28' was only 4k more. From what I understand they run pretty good. If you do a search on the speed test section it pulls up the 28' and the 26' cat. I like the integrated swim stepsand the look of them, there nice. I had that same 24', I think mine was the 3rd one thay made and used it at the show. Sold it to buy a bigger house. I just don't know about a cat for family use though still trying to decide. A lot of people say it is no problem.I didn't think I would consider a Commander again, but after all the stories and what not with other manufacture Commander seems like a good deal at least Sy always bends over backwards to make the customer happy.Wow this was a long response. :D

[Havasu Luvr]

FireMan, I was a Commander owner twice. 25' then 10 months later I up grade to the 2600LX. I was looking to up grade again middle of last year and Sai gave me a "GREAT" quote for his 32' Signature, a quote no one in their right mind would walk away from. Now? I am having a 29' Shockwave built. Do your homework and shop around. Sometimes alittle more $$$ is worth it. Good luck on your Up-Grade
[ March 10, 2003, 11:27 AM: Message edited by: Havasu Luvr ]

[bigq]

Havasu Luvr:
FireMan, I was a Commander owner twice. 25' then 10 months later I up grade to the 2600LX. Now? I am having a 29' Shockwave built. Do your homework and shop around. Sometimes alittle more $$$ is worth it. Good luck on your Up-Grade Were you able to sell the 26LX. The new Shockwave looks nice I love the colors. :D

[Havasu Luvr]

Bigg...it solded to a guy from LOTO last week. A low boy should be arriving any day now to transport her back to Missouri. Looking forward to my new Shockwave.
If you see me on the water, stop by and have a cold one with me

[Sandbar Mike]

I test drove the 26 & 28 cats at the Commander Barbque at elsinorte a few years ago. Nice boats, unforunitly the 26 had a 500DPX Volvo Double prop, It still ran around 70mph, but handled well.
Unfortunitly my buddy Havasu Luvr had nothing but problems with Commander when they couldn't repair his Volvo Problems. He had the drive unit break away from the engine at about 60mph with a full load in the boat, sending the enigine about 6"'s up into the bottum of the engine cover. Very scary situation. For a 2 yr old boat I would think that shouldn't happen. Getting screwd by volvo and commander and being the great repeat customer that he was it cost him 8K to repair. Aftert it was (repaired) it broke agian,it wasn't close to right. Then taking it somewhere else paid for a new starter & head gasket it finally ran well. Shit Dave I hope your buyer doesn't read this. wink j/k I know hes knows everthing.
HL your to good to Commander after what they put you through. Especially knowing I only listed 50% of the problems you had.
Things are probably different as long as they're stayn away from Volvo
My 2 cents, Just venting for HL :D

[STV_Keith]

Dusty, Bill in the LVHB group has one. If you would have been out yesterday, you could have seen it. :D

[bigq]

Sandbar Mike:
I test drove the 26 & 28 cats at the Commander Barbque at elsinorte a few years ago. Nice boats, unforunitly the 26 had a 500DPX Volvo Double prop, It still ran around 70mph, but handled well.
Unfortunitly my buddy Havasu Luvr had nothing but problems with Commander when they couldn't repair his Volvo Problems. He had the drive unit break away from the engine at about 60mph with a full load in the boat, sending the enigine about 6"'s up into the bottum of the engine cover. Very scary situation. For a 2 yr old boat I would think that shouldn't happen. Getting screwd by volvo and commander and being the great repeat customer that he was it cost him 8K to repair. Aftert it was (repaired) it broke agian,it wasn't close to right. Then taking it somewhere else paid for a new starter & head gasket it finally ran well. Shit Dave I hope your buyer doesn't read this. wink j/k I know hes knows everthing.
HL your to good to Commander after what they put you through. Especially knowing I only listed 50% of the problems you had.
Things are probably different as long as they're stayn away from Volvo
My 2 cents, Just venting for HL :D Damn!!, I had the same drive VP415 with the DPX drive, never had a problem, well except for the time I tried grinding down a rock with my props. I had a few other problems with the boat, but never had a challenge with getting it fixed, eventually.

[Havasu Luvr]

posted 10 March, 2003 11:42 AM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I test drove the 26 & 28 cats at the Commander Barbque at elsinorte a few years ago. Nice boats, unforunitly the 26 had a 500DPX Volvo Double prop, It still ran around 70mph, but handled well.
Unfortunitly my buddy Havasu Luvr had nothing but problems with Commander when they couldn't repair his Volvo Problems. He had the drive unit break away from the engine at about 60mph with a full load in the boat, sending the enigine about 6"'s up into the bottum of the engine cover. Very scary situation. For a 2 yr old boat I would think that shouldn't happen. Getting screwd by volvo and commander and being the great repeat customer that he was it cost him 8K to repair. Aftert it was (repaired) it broke agian,it wasn't close to right. Then taking it somewhere else paid for a new starter & head gasket it finally ran well. Shit Dave I hope your buyer doesn't read this. j/k I know hes knows everthing.
HL your to good to Commander after what they put you through. Especially knowing I only listed 50% of the problems you had.
Things are probably different as long as they're stayn away from Volvo
My 2 cents, Just venting for HL Thanks Mike for cleaning it up

[FIREMAN]

I'm thinking on going with the 28 Cat with the 496 mag Ho Bravo 1 set up. It won't pull off the 80's like the volvo but it sure is alot more reliable.. Turn key is the way to go for me , seeing I have 3 year old and a 5 month old boys.
Not to mention the wife. It's gotta start every time.... NO problems. You know what I mean!

[FIREMAN]

Here's my 24 Signature. I love it, and it runs close to 70 if not 70 in perfect conditions.
But the 28 Cat just seems better all around. http://C:\Documents and Settings\d1140c\My Documents\My Pictures

[THOR]

http://www.lasvegas***boats.com/iB_html/uploads/post-6-82320-

[THOR]

try this Dusty
http://www.lasvegas***boats.com/iB_html/uploads/post-6-31477-my_boat.jpg

[FIREMAN]

There ya go. Thanks THOR

[beach gomer]

fireman that 496 mag won't push you over 65 if you are lucky.then your next problem will be coming out of the hole.It will take forever to plane.If you run that boat you need at-lest 600 to 700hp or mire or you won't be satisfied.

[THOR]

There you go Dusty. Get that new promo Whipple package and AWAY you go. That will be turn key also. A buddy has that on his 454 MPI and it never has problems. Just regular maintainance and it runs 72-74 mph all day long. You will dig it.

[FIREMAN]

Now I'm poached! They have a 2001 28 Cat on Consignment with the volvo package. The say it will do high 70's and maybe 80. Probably with 1 gallon of gas and no seats...They only problem is then I would have to sell my own boat rather than just trading it in for the upgrade.

[bigq]

FIREMAN:
Now I'm poached! They have a 2001 28 Cat on Consignment with the volvo package. The say it will do high 70's and maybe 80. Probably with 1 gallon of gas and no seats...They only problem is then I would have to sell my own boat rather than just trading it in for the upgrade. Which Motor the 500? Are you going open or closed? just remember with the Volvo package upgrading the power is a challenge. The DPX drive is a great drive just not a lot of upgrades. I guess it depends on what you have in store for the future.
[ March 10, 2003, 08:27 PM: Message edited by: bigq ]

[THOR]

Fireman,
Check your PM!

[FIREMAN]

I'm gonna make a special trip down there on thursday or friday this week. Probably stay in our summer house in Dana Point. I would love to talk Sy into a test run out of Dana Point Harbor. I know that's gonna be out of the question , even for Sy. MOst likely will be at Elsinore on Friday to test the 28 with the DPX.
THOR , Thanks for the info. I'll be calling upon you in the near futrue.
Dusty

[h2oski2fast]

My buddy has one (with the Volvo 500hp and duoprop). I've been around Parker/Havasu all my life and have driven just about everything under the sun (110mph flatties, to 42' Fountains to 12' Bobcat tunnel race boats), and I must say that the Commander 2800 handles GREAT! I was very impressed! The biggest drawback was dealing with the incompetense of Commander Boats. It was nothing but a nightmare, which after a year still hasn't gone away. I did designed all the graphics for it, met with them twice, and still they screwed it up. Then when they tried to fix it, they screwed up something else.
I'm not the biggest fan of Commanders rigging. Personally I think it sucked on that boat. Having been in the stereo industry for 10+ years, my buddy asked me to do a fairly good size stereo in his boat. Well, after pulling the panels on that boat, I was amazed that things actually worked. The wiring and power steering line to the helm were just hanging there. There were wires hanging out of the loom that were just cut off. So I put in a call and Steve (who is the owner's son) came out to look at it and told me "Commander was rated the best rigging by HB mag". I about fell over laughing. He told me this while we were looking at the butcher of a rigging job done on that boat.
I did like the way it handled though, great for someone getting into their first cat. But, the rig job turned me off completely. If my buddy had to do it all over again he wouldn't go with them again.
Here,s a pic.
http://home.socal.rr.com/signfx/DSC01127.jpg

[bigq]

WOW! that's nice looking. That is the problem with Commander. On my 24' I removed all the panels and redid most of the wiring and the routing of the cables and such.Also found a beer can in there with all the loose nuts and bolts. :D Maybe that would explain the shabby job. I must say though that Sy always fixed anything till it was right, no questions.

[Havasu Luvr]

WOW! that's nice looking. That is the problem with Commander. On my 24' I removed all the panels and redid most of the wiring and the routing of the cables and such.Also found a beer can in there with all the loose nuts and bolts. Maybe that would explain the shabby job. I must say though that Sy always fixed anything till it was right, no questions.
bigg, Really?? Let me enlighten you to one of 14 problems (currently) I have experienced with Sai. As Sandbar mike says $8,000.00 for a new Bellhousing, Drive yolk and upper gears case (DPX Dou Prop). His "Great Crew" aka. Bill & Mark left my bell housing & starter loose (ask Nashvillebound & Chaddyshack)which snapped the starter housing @ Piru Lake. After Sai hears about this he has the balls to call me and explain for 10 minutes that Bill says they did nothing to my boat which would leave the bellhousing loose. I then explain to him that I have an Invoice from him 2 weeks old charging me for a new bellhousing. Sai says he needs to call me back...which he does 1 hr later and procedes to tell me that Commander has done everything they could to make it right. Not even an apology on this and tells me basically that he hopes I will be happy with another boat manufacture. Also, they left the water induction hose off while in test tank (which I did get an apology) which burned up during the Fall Poker Run which in turn overheated taking out the heads ($1,200). All this after I purchased 2 boats in 10 months, personally selling 2 2600LX's and my buddy buys one. My buddies new 2600LX, Sai messed up from the mold, 1.Wrong Gel Coat, 2. Forgot to install front cabin door (open bow mid cabin), 3. Forgot to install 2 Floor ice chest. Needless to say Sai gave him Silent Choice, Electric Bolster seats, 2 yr warranty on uhpolstery, $1600 up graded sterio, $500 off his PO, Free 20 hr Service, Extra SS Bravo Prop, 2 Aqua Steps, Gaffrig Instr, etc....You are right, Sai does take care of a few customers. I will give you 1 guess what I did. Shockwave Attitude 29 Magnatude
Glad to hear you're one of the luck one. Count your blessings and Knock on wood :D
[ March 11, 2003, 03:15 PM: Message edited by: Havasu Luvr ]

[bigq]

Well HL I guess I was lucky in some aspects. I would not trust the guys in back to tie my shoes, probably trip over the laces they forgot to tie.Nonetheless I guess I was lucky that Sy took care of it all.I had nothing as bad as yours, but here it goes. I owned one of the new 24 like Fireman so it was a new design, but they decided to put an insert in for a delta pad in front of the step they just forgot the Gel coat before they put it in,so the second week I had it back at Commander to finish the Gel on the bottom. They used wood self threading screws when they advertise through bolted, so I had them change them all. When the boat got to around 60 it would flop like a fish out of water. So Bill decieds to add some funky ledge to the outside chine, didn't help. So then they decide after a couple months that they need to remove the inside strake behind the step so they grind it down and re gel the back bottom of the boat. well after having the boat for a year and a half with Commander having the boat more than me they finally fixed it to the point it was safe to drive, to me the boat was tainted so I sold it. It did run good after that though and I'm sure the boat is still doing fine. I think Sy needs to get rid of the pin heads in the rear, but maybe that is why how he keeps the boats cost down.
BTW I love your gel so much I'm gonna pull a "Tobtek Charlie DCB" on you and copy it to a 25 Shockwave :D J/K
[ March 11, 2003, 03:43 PM: Message edited by: bigq ]

[h2oski2fast]

Sounds to me like Sy needs to take a long hard look at his way of doing business. IF more people get ahold of threads like these, he could lose a bit of business. I must say that I have taken some money out of his pocket, by doing some graphic designs for his boats.
After Sy had the boat for 2 months, to fix somethings that needed to be fixed (the silent choice still freezes up), we told them what day I was going to pick up the boat and gave them a 3 week notice, at which time we were told that everything was finished. Well, a few days before Labor day weekend, I called to see if I could pick the thing up and I was told that it wasn't finished. I called my buddy, who owns the boat, and told him the situation. He called Sy and Sy told him the same thing, the boat wasn't ready. Everyone knows the rest of the story it was a mad thrash for Commander to get it ready. They delivered the boat 2 hours after they said it would be at the Corona facility. When I got the boat home, I was gonna finish up putting in the 4 new battery holders (which were for the batteries that supplied the stereo). I climbed in the boat and had to spend 6 hours putting the boat back together. Needless to I wasn't the happiest person at this time. So, now I put the boat in the water and there are more problems. I got most of it fixed, but it still has to go back to Commander for more repairs. It just sat in storage since then. I'm affraid to take it back to them.