Official 280 Sundancer Thread

you'll have to post more details about the boat to give any advice.

(options, engines, drives, electronics)

65 hours seems like it was a dock queen for a 2002. Survey is a must.
 
I do not see a genset listed nor AC/Heat. No genset = no microwave, stove (if electric) when away from a dock with shore power. I noticed the horsepower is less than current model MPI... Did the EFI boats have less power or is this thing carb'd? The steering wheel looks like it has seen a lot of sun (look at the fading) additionally the top sides are not showing a shine... so you may have some compounding and polishing work ahead of you should you choose this boat. Surface care/restoration is fun... and well worth the effort if you are able to get the boat for a good price that you are comfortable with.
 
The boat looks to be carb'd with the 190hp 4.3's. If you look in the features tab it does list a gen set. A/C and heat.
 
Hello, Im a newbie here. My name is Mark, Im looking at buying a used 02 280 Sundancer. I think its a good buy. But know next to nothing about boats. It has 65 hours on the motors and there asking arounf $65,000.00 for it. It looks to be in pretty good shape. They started it up and sounded nice. We were actually looking for a used 260, but found this instead. We live in Clearlake TX, right out side of Houston. We hope to be spending the weekends on it either out in the bay & ever once in a while taking it into galveston. so it will be in salt water most of the time, but will probably need to think about dry storing it when not in use as i dont have a place for it. I have read some about the 280 on your site and am looking forward to hopefully getting it. Looking forward to hearing more storys good and bad about the 280.

We own a 2002 280DA that looks like a sistership to this one. One difference is we have the 4.3MPI 220HP engines. Overall it's a fine setup for us. We're mainly day trippers, usually 30 miles or less per trip. The setup works well with 4 to 6 adults on board for "happy hour" trips or to the local cove to raft up with friends. SeaRay says it sleeps 6, but in my opinion, you best be really good friends and 2 of the 6 need to be little kids. Our boat stays in a dock behind our house, so we seldom spend the night out. We just hop in and go when the mood hits us. The A/C keeps things cool below and the fridge will keep the beer cold. We get around 1.3 mpg most of the time.
If you do make the purchase, check with MarineMax and see what type of extended warranty they have available. I don't usually go for extended warranty's, but it is a boat and there is a lot of stuff to break. Last year we had a problem with the gen set and the IAC sensor on each engine. A couple of weeks ago we replaced the computer on the starboard motor. Those 3 repairs have paid for the cost of the warranty, so I guess it was a good investment. Good luck....
 
If we get approved and do this deal, They are suppose to detail the boat for us and they said in included waxing and polishing the outside
 
Oh yeah, and thanks for the info. We will check to see if there is any kind of a warranty that we can get as what money we have left, we hope to be able to spend on gas
 
does this boat come with a trailer?
 
The boat looks to be carb'd with the 190hp 4.3's. If you look in the features tab it does list a gen set. A/C and heat.
I would question if the boat has carbs on it. One thing I learned after looking for and purchasing 2 boats in the last 2 years is that none of the adds ever match the boat. Looking at the dash it does look like twins but the HP rating would say it was the 496 single. You just never know till you actually look at it. My 280 supposedly had a trailer which it did not and the dealer purchased. As said before a good marine survey and watch the low hours. Good luck in your search.
 
We got our 280SS through a repo auction from our credit union. Boy was that a risk thinking back. It had low hours which translated into light wear on the boat in general but also very little maintenance had been done. Some of what you can expect with a boat of that age and low hours is having to troubleshoot the little things once the big things are working. We went through a lot of $100 repairs and fixes because the boat had set for so long. Then we moved on to the bigger ticket items. Electronics, canvas, inverter upgrades etc. If you do buy this boat have all of the systems checked out from windlass to trim tabs and all of the plumbing the list just goes on. A boat that was not used tends to just ware out all over. We have ours up to snuff now but it took at least 9 months and we did not have any real drive problems.
 
I would question if the boat has carbs on it. One thing I learned after looking for and purchasing 2 boats in the last 2 years is that none of the adds ever match the boat. Looking at the dash it does look like twins but the HP rating would say it was the 496 single. You just never know till you actually look at it. My 280 supposedly had a trailer which it did not and the dealer purchased. As said before a good marine survey and watch the low hours. Good luck in your search.

I was just going by information provided...and since the carb'd 4.3 is 190 hp =380 and the MPI 4.3 is 220 hp=440 the ad listed the boat at 375 hp which granted is the hp rating for the single engine but is only 5 hp off from the carb'd 4.3 and 60 hp off from the MPI 4.3.

I do disagree that all adds are wrong. I just purchased my 280 last fall and the ad was spot on. But then again it wasn't a MM ad either...
 
I was just going by information provided...and since the carb'd 4.3 is 190 hp =380 and the MPI 4.3 is 220 hp=440 the ad listed the boat at 375 hp which granted is the hp rating for the single engine but is only 5 hp off from the carb'd 4.3 and 60 hp off from the MPI 4.3.

I do disagree that all adds are wrong. I just purchased my 280 last fall and the ad was spot on. But then again it wasn't a MM ad either...
I figured that was the reasoning. According to the Sea Ray archives they would be MPI. I agree with you on the MM adds.
 
Well after a lot of thinking and heartache, ive decided not to buy a boat. With the price of gas and the storage fee, i would be leaving myself kinda tight every month. As bad as i want this boat im afraid that dream will have to wait a year or two.
Well, at least i can still dream,,,LOL
 
Has anyone replaced the gold-colored vinyl moulding on a 280DA? On ours, the gold color is partially deteriorated, and I'd prefer to just replace it with black. I haven't pulled any of it up yet, but my first thought is that it looks like "vinyl T-moulding", which is inexpensive and readily available.
 

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Has anyone replaced the gold-colored vinyl moulding on a 280DA? On ours, the gold color is partially deteriorated, and I'd prefer to just replace it with black. I haven't pulled any of it up yet, but my first thought is that it looks like "vinyl T-moulding", which is inexpensive and readily available.


What year is yours? That sucks... It might be the cleaner your using....
 
Ours is a 2001 with Twin 4.3 EFI w/A1s. The deterioration seems to be underneath the vinyl, not actually on the surface. It is as if the gold color has flaked off or dissolved underneath somehow. We just purchased the boat this summer, and it was already like this.

The new models don't have this gold trim anymore, and I thought it might update the look of ours by switching it to black. I just don't want to pull it all off only to find out is isn't a standard, replaceable moulding I could buy at a cabinet store (or even Home Depot or somewhere similar). I've noticed lots of office furniture has this same type of t-moulding used to cover the ends of particle board on shelving and table edges.
 
I used my '04 280 for the first time this weekend and I have a couple of questions. In the tambor cabinet over the sink there is some type of a rotary switch mounted to the right. What is this used for? Also the shade on the hatch will not retract all the way in. Is there a fix for this and if not is replacing it a big job? I spent the weekend in Newport R.I. and we really enjoyed the boat. Newport always brings you back to earth as we were docked adjancent to a brand new mega yacht named Chevy Toy. The good news is you can rent Chevy Toy starting at a only $140,000.00 per week plus expenses like fuel etc. The really good news is that the people on Chevy Toy were doing exactly what we were doing and nothing more. Thanks for your replies.

KV

KV
 
The switch is for the Glomex antenna. counter until it clicks sets it to cable which the hookup is in the transom. clockwise is the gain adjustment. It's junk, you haven't missed anything.

Can't comment on the screen, mine has worked fine.
 

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