Sweet, I love it!!!!!!

are great looking tubs, had a close look at them at the boat show.

Having seen them on Adventure Bound and Al McGlashan's Strikezone with the removable side door (awesome) I wonder why they don't all have them? The models at the boat show didn't. Are they an expensive optional extra???

They'd be high on my list if I was in the market

Not sure I would not want the side door. It stops you having rods down both sides and means you have a gap in the thigh cushion, not ideal if you jig. However, perfect for diving and dragging big fish onto the deck.

 Nice rig. Now only 5 weeks or so before it can be properly christened.

enjoy

thats a nice looking boat you got there

Nice tub mate very jealous

 yeah Ollie I own one too (6 metre/175 Etec), just come back from 5 months at Canarvon (Pelican Point) . Handled it well in Shark Bay, got some good fish onboard too.. Enjoy cheers nev

Now that is a sexy boat. it just needs some blood stains all over it.

Have the same issues as the bloke over east..

tell us the full story

 their head going WTF ?
PART 1
To say this boat has been a test of Finances, relationship's & patience would be an understatement. I have previously posted that a true measure of customer service is how the fault is rectified not who is to blame for the fault let's face it as soon as humans are involved there will be issues "Most Monday's and Fridays"
We upgraded to our Evolution 552 X Gold 2011 Trailerboat magazine boat of the year this past January the Guys at Coastal powerboats did the deal and all was looking good. Being a new dealer for the brand we had a few issues setting up props engine heights ect but together we worked our way through the issues that we faced all in all I was very happy with the response from Kieran at coastal to rectify any concerns I had with the fit up.
Fast forward a few mths and 100hrs you could imagine my disappointment to find cracking in the gel coat of the floor area between front seats where it met the front bulk head. A call to the guys at coastal no probs keep an eye on them and we will check it out at 100hr service. Each trip after that I watched the cracks grow in length to the point of WTF is going on under the floor, closer inspection revealed some screws holding the bulk head to the floor pulled out as well?
Spoke to Coastal and we both agreed time to speak direct with Manufacture in Melbourne as this is why I bought an Aussie made boat. Rest assured Richard there is no structural issues with boat it is a quick fix just an issue with gel coat We have seen it before it is a simple fix! Phew thank god for that I had visions of explaining to wife how her deck extension is now needing to be replaced.
One of the main reason we chose the 552 over other brands was the fact all the advertising material including the manufacturers DVD claimed no timber is used in the floor area !!!
So upon request of manufacturer i took boat to a local boat builder to have cracks inspected and work out a plan of attack, When the local guys asked me what is going on under the floor as well alarm bells started to ring, the local guy then spoke to the manufacturer re repair and politely declined the offer to repair as per manufactures advice "Grind out cracks from the upper surface and lay new Glass down " I questioned the local guys reason for not wanting to repair and he told me without knowing what was happening under floor they would not touch the repair "fair call I thought"
So when i phoned manufacturer back you could imagine my shock when he stated I will find someone to fix it that knows what they are doing, My question was fix it as it should be fixed or how you want it to be fixed ?
The line of communication broke down over the next week I wanted the boat repaired back in Melbourne at factory at their cost, manufacture wanted it repaired local he just didn't know who buy. The boys at Coastal have a glass guy but he was away on leave & I didn't really want a third party involved in what was shaping up to be a shit fight.
As my background is in mechanical engineering and not boat building which the manufacture so kindly pointed out on many an occasion I engaged an independent Surveyor to inspect the boat for structural integrity and sea worthiness. Best $500 i have ever spent. Waste of money the manufacture told me.
You could of knocked me over with a feather when the surveyor showed me piece by piece of unsealed timber in the floor and rear transom battery shelf area. 8 page report later I was pissed and wanted some answers. To the manufactures credit he made time to visit boat during the Brisbane boat show & agreed on more than one occasion they have carried out poor and unchecked workmanship in the manufacture of our boat.

OK I WANT MY MONEY BACK AS THIS BOAT IS NOT FIT FOR THE PURPOSE I BOUGHT IT FOR AND IT HAS UNSEALED TIMBER WHEN YOUR DVD STATES NO TIMBER IS USED IN THE FLOOR

What can we do to make you a happy evolution customer i was asked ? MONEY BACK was the answer ! So we went around and around until a compromise was made, The Manufacturer who refused to ship boat back to his factory at his cost agreed to rectify all issues with boat both his and fit up left over's plus any niggling issues I had with boat. What's the catch you ask ? I had to transport boat to Melbourne and back.
So a list was made and it was emailed back and forth a date was set the time period given for repair was as per estimated repair time that manufacture wanted, an offer of taking it down a week early was made but due to staff restrictions they declined.
I planned to drive down leave ute there fly back return 10 days later as they needed 4 days to repair. Working out my cost was well over $1k for relocation costs so i wanted a win out of all this shit, a request was made to remove the advertised Ice box in the floor "which was as much use as a chocolate tea pot ice lasted 1hr in it " to allow inspection of subfloor under cracks rather than glass icebox back in the 150L fuel tank was to be replace with 200L unit taking up void the Chocolate teapot took up.
Another upgrade was to remove seat pedestals and replace with simple CC style stainless frames to allow twin Evakool eskies to be fitted as we now no longer had the advertised ICEBOX in the floor.
The manufacturer pointed out a few other issues that he pointed out where fit up issues that they didn't do, Trailer roller set up, tinned wire in wet areas, single water pick up for deck wash and bait tank these where noted and added to list.
Full of confidence and the wife's words still ringing in my ear "don't bring that F@#king thing home unless its fixed" the road trip began. It was an un eventful trip other than roo's with Japanese flag head bands playing chicken with the Dmax.
Upon arrival in Melbourne the boat was quickly taken away for disassembly and inspection before we flew out, we enjoyed a tour of the factory and the build process. One of the things i pointed out to the manufacturer was the same trailer roller faults which he said where fit up issues where on his own demo stock as well ? Plot thickens ! People in Glass houses !
We returned the next day after checking out the home of IFISH and Lee Rayners tackle shop to find the boat dissected. I was not expecting to see an 1 1/2" gap between the floor pan and the LH stringer support below the main cracking and stripped screws. It was agreed it was a manufacturing fault and was nothing that couldn't be fixed I was glad that I made the decision to drag it down to Mexico than let them do the bodgie job local.
I was told the wet area wiring would be replaced with Tinned wire along with new plumbing for deck & bait wash pumps to allow factory set up. Hard plumbed tap for bait tank which would allow easy access for isolation which would mean glassing up bait tank and relocation of spray nozzle.
Feeling confident we flew home anxious to see outcome, progress pics slowly filtered through not leaving me busting with confidence of completion, I called 2 days before departure to check dates the floor manager said he had buckly's of being finished yet the manufacturer said no problems it will be done.
Now I'm not known to be one to let an opportunity to pass an opinion go by and do enjoy a good stink like the next opinionated individual but up until what happened next i reckon I had been more than civilised and cooperated above and beyond what most end consumer's would have done.
Picture this if you will I arrive on the morning of my drive home to find at least 4 guys crawling over boat bolting shit down in every cnr of the boat WTF ?
Where is the Boss I ask, oh he is out doing a water test !!!! Not like I have travelled far.
As i look into boat I notice RH seat frame on the piss & mounted 30mm higher than the LH frame even though a full set of plans and mounting holes had been marked out now I have more holes to fill, wiring is hanging out everywhere, led strip lighting hanging down, shit over the boat everywhere $300 Suzuki engine cover covered in shit INSERT VERY BAD SWEAR WORDS NOW. Pull that twisted piece of shit out my boat now I requested.
Why is my old deck wash pump fitted back in there ? Why hasn't the wiring been replaced as stated in email ? Why is the lighting hanging down ?
I had to leave as bad shit was about to happen, I received a call shortly after from manufacturer and i returned to factory and was given a whole heap of bullshit excuses including do you know what repairing this boat has cost me this week Richard WTF ? You could imagine my surprise to find timber still unsealed other repairs covered 1" thick in silicon leaving me wondering if they had been sealed correctly ? I was even offered to take boat as is and I could have transducer that now fills a water pick up hole free of charge.
I explained this was totally unacceptable and would not take hand over of boat and they could keep boat and transport it back to me upon satisfactory completion of agreed faulty workmanship repairs and modifications.
What happened next still leaves my blood boiling today 2 weeks later. The manufacturer told me if I leave my boat it will probably get stolen being left outside as he was not willing to put it in his shed as he was done with it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So his staff have gone home it's lunch time sat he is about to leave for weekend and I'm standing outside looking at my $65K piece of shit trying to work out WTF to do next. So that's it i ask ? we are done hey ? Pissed off doesn't come close to what I felt at that minute, I had to remove myself from the situation as things where closing in around me, I felt betrayed to the point of F@#k Australian made should of bought a Noble.
I hooked up the boat pissed off worst than i can ever remember left Melbourne 3pm sat arrived Brisbane nthside 3pm Sun.
The mrs asked me where the RH seat was and started to wind up when i looked at her and she said i will go get dinner. I slept for the next 15hrs and started to inspect what i was in for, I had covered the boat in shade cloth to prevent stone chips you could only imagine my rage when i cut zip ties holding shade cloth to find the front rollers nowhere near the hull after the experts adjusted the roller spread and forgot to jack post back up to make rollers touch hull. Melbourne to Brisbane isn't that far on the rear rollers and winch eye roller !
I apologise for this being so long winded I only wanted to state the facts not here say or fabricated stories, even though I have had over a week to cool down it still makes my blood boil. I need to go have some little brown stress relief bottles will try to bring up to date asap.
cheers
Dick
OH I forgot the F@#King cracks are also still in the floor

Oh Man,

not the sort of post the OP wants in his thread. 

But that's got to be one of the worst Customer Service and product quality stories I've ever read. 

The detail of that story is undeniably real and completely believable.

Even if it's a one-off case they deserve to be exposed and go broke for the treatment of that customer.

Another 6+m Evo has flipped also.  That makes 3 I think.  There is a bit of concern that it may be more than "driver error"

Jesus mate. I'm feeling your pain. Hope you've documented everything cause I reckon you can take the those turdss to the cleaners. Get a good lawyer is all I can say.

That's a weapon !!

Haha thanks for the negativity bomb spinksy.

If it rolls or falls apart then I'm happy to be "I told you so'ed". Right now no concerns on hull - yet to see a 550 roll over of fall apart story.

haha, i wouldnt stress about it. Every product has its bad days. Apparenlty my Trophy is going to fall apart in the water, or so i have been told !

Is that a 550 ? looks heaps bigger !

i went for a run in the 600 evo last week and all i ca say is "wow". unbelievably stable and very well built.

As for the above issue, I believe it takes two to tango....................

Hope you dont have any of the above issues with your boat..

 Haines V19r hull?

 There has now been 5 or 6 of the 650's roll or flip In last 18 months

I thought they were streaker associated??? 

Very well laid out boat . Since seeing Lee Raynor's on the SBT vid.  Impressed.

hope the rolling/flipping story's are just that.

 Im not 100% sure but i was told that the hulls were copied from the streakers but changed slightly  but also i think that was with there smaller boats 

Anyway they are an awesome looking boat