1991 Parts

[joegag]

I'm having trouble locating spare parts for my 31' Sea Ray Sundancer...I've got a parts catalog, but when I call my dealer, they simply tell me they are no longer made. Then they have to get w/Sea Ray and cross reference the part #'s and go from there...is there anyway I can "bypass" the system and go directly to Sea Ray for the information? I don't believe it's so hard to locate parts?

 

[fwebster]

Understanding the system will help you grasp why sourcing parts is sometimes difficult.

Sea Ray sells parts to their dealers only. They do not include much od a description and almost no vender parts numbers in their parts list. The reasona are to honor their dealer agreements to protect the dealer as the parts source for the boats and beccause Sea Ray uses a lot of proprietary parts for the boats.

Having owned Sea rays for 20+ years, I can tell you that finding what you need is not very difficult as long as you don't break something that Sea Ray made in its own factories or shops. It helps to maintain a freindly relationship with the parts guy at your local dealer and ask 2nd and 3rd level question on parts that are no longer available......Is it available from Sea Ray? Can you help me find the original source?

The truth of the matter is that most parts departments are staffed with folks who really don't want to hunt up a part for you and the factory folks know that getting you a single part takes more time thaan the margin on it is worth. I have found that almost always, the local parts guy and Sea Ray will just give you the OEM vendor contact and let you have at it yourself as long as the boat is no longer in production.

Keep working on the old boats............they are worth the effort.