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Sea Ray / Mercruiser reliability?

I'd like to get a motor boat.

The local dealer mainly sells Sea Ray.

I have read about problems with the Mercruiser motors as well as corrosion and wet wood on the boats. Is this really a problem, or was it just the unlucky guy? (http://www.docksidereports.com/boatreviews/searay_250_sundancer.htm http://www.everythingboats.com/ryob/ryob_search.pl?type=view&boat_id=1041 )

This is for a fresh water lake in Switzerland, and I am thinking of either a small open boat (some 20 feet) or a cabin cruiser around 30 feet.

TIA

Marc

May 11
Consider me an exterminator. in high demand to control the infestation of vermin ...such as yourself.. Don
May 13
Donny,

Could the same be said about you? Aside from following Harry like a little puppy what have you contributed?

Dan
May 12
I've owned a 2002 SeaRay 270 Sundeck since the beginning of the year and have put about 50 hours on it so far. I know the original owner. It has always been used in salt water, stored on a boat lift and kept covered. I've had one relatively minor issue with the Mercruiser engine involving a defective oil pressure sensor. Other than that it has run flawlessly. My old 24 ft runabout had a Mercruiser engine which lasted nearly 30 years in saltwater. It did require quite a bit of maintenance toward the end however. The quality of the trim and fittings is well above average and there are no signs of corrosion. The upholstery still looks like new. On balance I like it a lot and it seems well suited for its intended purpose as a day boat/runabout. There are a lot of nice details which seem to be well thought out.

I think Pascoe sums it up rather well:

====== On the outside, the overall quality is pretty good. Not much chintzy hardware, and the basic structures are holding up well. With care, it still looks good. The rub rails aren't all loose, dented and falling off, and stress cracking is minimal. As a used boat, it offers excellent value. As a new boat, they're still hard to beat quality wise, but the quality margin over the competition can be a pretty thin line at times. ======

You might want to take a look at Crownline and Cobalt which are also decent boats of a similar type.

Wayne.B
May 12
I agree with the review that they are better than average boats, at much higher than average prices. Are they worth the price, that's up to you. As far as the Mercruser engines, their good engines, if maintained properly. Do what your supposed to, prop the boat correctly, and it'll last many years.

John

Capt
May 11
If you are going to trailer it then these are not issues. If you plan on leaving it in a slip on the lake then I would recomend a real inboard instead of a mercruiser i/o. Boats get most of their "wear" sitting in the water exposed to the elements. If you trailer it and keep it properly covered then it will last a long time. jamesgangnc
May 11
Two observations:

That's a David Pascoe review, and he has been known to make errors & sensationalize.

The boat he's bashing is a 1995 model.

You might ask your Sea Ray dealer if there is wood used in any structural portion of the model you are considering. You may be surprised at how much technology has advanced in the last few years.

Mercruiser is owned by the same corporation that owns Sea Ray. The Mercruiser will be no more or less reliable in a Sea Ray than if it were installed in any other boat brand, and Mercruiser is probably the most commonly used gasoline engine in the industry.

Sea Ray is a high quality product. If you like the boat, you can own one with confidence.

Here's a link to a page with a video of the mechanized production process used by Sea Ray.

http://www.searay.com/content/videos.asp?movie=Tech56K

Chuck
May 11
Chuck,

Before anyone accuses you of Spamming, let's just be honest. Don't you get paid $100 every time you mention a specific boat brand? After all, talk about sending your message out to a very large audience, there must be 50 to 100 users who read rec.boats.

I followed up with a few of the major mfg'ers and they will only pay me $50 to mention them in rec.boats, do you have any suggestions how I can increase my pay check?

Reginald
May 11
Keep shopping. For what you pay for a SeaRay, you can do a lot better. They are overpriced substantially. HK
May 11
SeaRay consistently ranks at the top with J. D. Powers Qaulity Index.

http://www.boaterslife.com/sea-ray-cruisers-jdpower-award.1425.3.6.htm

Reginald
May 11
Hmmmm, let's see ... for the year 2006 there were 57,990 messages posted to rec.boats by 2,252 different posters. That doesn't in any way count the lurkers, which I would guess numbers in the many thousands. Check it out here: http://netscan.research.microsoft.com/Default.aspx

By the way, looks it like Netscan will be taken down at the end of the month. Too bad.

Larry Weiss "...Ever After!"

Larry
May 11
I would guess that 2,200 of those 2,252 different posters are Reginald Smithers and his various alias's. ;-) JimH
May 11
The a**hole faked one of my IDs here for months. HK
May 11
Powers must not know about Parkers. Hell, Harry's boat was on the market for only three plus years, and look what he got for it! Oh, sorry. It hasn't sold yet. John
May 11
Which of your *many* id's did he allegedly fake? John
May 11
Harry it should be very easy for you to find that post where i faked your ID, but which one of your ID's did I fake? Was it the one where you were talking about your Lobster Boat with a "new User".

I have changed my handle, the same as you have, but I have never pretended to be anyone but myself.

Reginald
May 11
Johnny... is your life that meaningless and bleak that you have nothing better to do than harass legitimate posters? Don
May 11
You're calling, "The a**hole faked one of my IDs here for months" a legitimate post? Do you mean 'Canadian legitimate'? Have you no standards other than "Harry's right, no matter what he says"?

To me, this is another of Harries myriad tales. I think a few of them may have been true. The rest...well, you know the story. But, he's your hero, so I can understand. Hell, you've gotta have *someone* who loves you!

John
May 11
   

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