I am a first time boater looking to buy an old but clean Sea Ray within my budget.
I am looking for a cabin cruiser as I will have young kids on the boat and need a complete head to use while out on the water.
I found 2 deals:
1. 1987 Sea Ray 268 Weekender with 454 Magnum Mercruiser engine with 842 hours on it but also that Alpha One stern drive which every mechanic has warned me about for this model.
2. 1989 Sea Ray 268 Sundancer with a new Mercruiser engine and used Bravo Three stern drive.
Both are comparable structurally.
The Weekender is much better maintained and cosmetically as clean as you can get for this age. It has everything I need, even a built in HDTV, except not a shower, AC and water heater.
I understand generators don't come with this age???
The Sundancer is clean, 2 ft bigger, has the extra aft berth, wider seats at helm but ripped. No TV (lol) but also no shower, AC, water heater or generator and the fridge is very dirty. Always wonder about the maintenance when I see these kind of things?
Now both need around $3000 in repairs.
The Weekender needs new manifolds, mercathode, and battery charger. Trim Tab gage does not work even though trim tabs work. That's it as the engine overheated while on sea trial and they found the manifolds had a leak. Other than that, this boat will be ready to go.
The Sundancer has a leak at the transom. When they installed the Bravo they did not replace the transom plate and so now it is leaking. They need to remove the engine to fix it. Before that they had many new things added and the boat shut down on the water due to an electrical problem. They claim to have fixed it by repairing the ignition switch but have not taken it on water since the fix. So there could still be electrical problems with this boat. They claim only the leak is an issue now. But that seems a big one.
All else seems fine but I have not had it fully surveyed yet while the Weekender passed the bill.
The Sundancer needs the trim tab gage fixed also. It may need some cosmetic work, but with that new engine, I am very tempted. At least I should not have any issues tubing and going at good cruise speed when I like once the leak is fixed.
But the possible electrical issue concerns me. If these gremlins exist and the previous guy got rid of this boat so cheap, then what is to say anything else works on the water once I buy it?
So I am in limbo with which one to try an fix?
Any and all advice is well appreciated.
I have looked at over 20 boats physically since February. The season started this weekend and these are the 2 boats that fit my needs, the kids and the price but the possible dangers remain.
Thanks for any help with this process and review of these boats if you know any thing.
I am looking for a cabin cruiser as I will have young kids on the boat and need a complete head to use while out on the water.
I found 2 deals:
1. 1987 Sea Ray 268 Weekender with 454 Magnum Mercruiser engine with 842 hours on it but also that Alpha One stern drive which every mechanic has warned me about for this model.
2. 1989 Sea Ray 268 Sundancer with a new Mercruiser engine and used Bravo Three stern drive.
Both are comparable structurally.
The Weekender is much better maintained and cosmetically as clean as you can get for this age. It has everything I need, even a built in HDTV, except not a shower, AC and water heater.
I understand generators don't come with this age???
The Sundancer is clean, 2 ft bigger, has the extra aft berth, wider seats at helm but ripped. No TV (lol) but also no shower, AC, water heater or generator and the fridge is very dirty. Always wonder about the maintenance when I see these kind of things?
Now both need around $3000 in repairs.
The Weekender needs new manifolds, mercathode, and battery charger. Trim Tab gage does not work even though trim tabs work. That's it as the engine overheated while on sea trial and they found the manifolds had a leak. Other than that, this boat will be ready to go.
The Sundancer has a leak at the transom. When they installed the Bravo they did not replace the transom plate and so now it is leaking. They need to remove the engine to fix it. Before that they had many new things added and the boat shut down on the water due to an electrical problem. They claim to have fixed it by repairing the ignition switch but have not taken it on water since the fix. So there could still be electrical problems with this boat. They claim only the leak is an issue now. But that seems a big one.
All else seems fine but I have not had it fully surveyed yet while the Weekender passed the bill.
The Sundancer needs the trim tab gage fixed also. It may need some cosmetic work, but with that new engine, I am very tempted. At least I should not have any issues tubing and going at good cruise speed when I like once the leak is fixed.
But the possible electrical issue concerns me. If these gremlins exist and the previous guy got rid of this boat so cheap, then what is to say anything else works on the water once I buy it?
So I am in limbo with which one to try an fix?
Any and all advice is well appreciated.
I have looked at over 20 boats physically since February. The season started this weekend and these are the 2 boats that fit my needs, the kids and the price but the possible dangers remain.
Thanks for any help with this process and review of these boats if you know any thing.
. The Bravo 3 is a much better drive but, if the boat is missing what you want... then why? BTW, drives can be replaced/upgraded in time.