2003+ 340 vs. older 370/380

[chesapeakecruiser]

Hello all....i am looking for some advice on the advantages of the newer 340's over 370/380's...and figured i'd post in this group. I was orginially looking for a older 370/380 (my wife loves a 97 370), but i boarded a newer 340 this week and thought it was an incredible boat.

I plan on boating with 2 kids (both under 3), and am hoping to spend plenty of weekends on the boat.

I know most of the post preach buying the biggest boat you can...but i also want to be reasonable....and it might make sense to buy a newer 340 vs. a few year older 370/380. Any advicee on advantages of this model for our family would be great.

 

[fwebster]

Add 3-5 years to each kid then figure how small the 340DA interior is going to be.............heck, I'm not even sure a 380 is enough boat!

The 370 and 380 are different boats. The 340DA, the 370DA and the 380DA are all great designs and have no problems other than the infamous water ingestion issue, but it affects all 3. The larger boats will have a better ride, handle seas better and will be easier to maintian since the engine room is bigger. The larger boats will be a little more expensive to maintain but only on the stuff you use or buy priced by the foot.

In fact, I can't find a lot or reason in this case not to buy the biggest boat you can afford.............

 

[330DA]

I agree with Frank about the size of your kids. Ours were 11 and 8 when we bought our '97 330DA. Both kids slept in the mid-cabin with one's head to the feet of the other in sleeping bags. They fit in there great, and putting away the sleeping bags was a breeze.

My kids are now 16 and 13. Last year my son moved to the salon couch. This season he didn't fit in there very comfortably. He's tall for his age. We moved up to our '97 370DA a couple of months ago. The extra room in length and, particularly, beam is a huge difference.

We have friends with a 1999 380. The Admiral likes our head design better with the separate shower separated by the bi-fold door. They have a full size refrigerator, but we have never run out of room for a long weekend with the smaller one. Their electric mid-cabin seating that flattened to a bed was nice until it broke. The 380 is a little more plush in the seating materials in the cockpit. There is no comparison in the extra room in the engine room between the 340/old 330 and the 370 or 380.

 

[waterlogged]

My .02

There really isn't a lot of difference in length or beam (on the current models, it's 6" beam and about 1 1/2 feet of length). A few extra thousand pounds in weight for the 380. Also, since 380s are part of the sport yacht vs. cruiser line up, the quality of a lot of the hardware (fixtures, etc.) seems to be higher end on the 380 than the 340.

2 things that may make a difference for your are (1) the forward berth has a door on the 380 versus a curtain on the 340. My wife and I are the only ones who overnight on so it wasn't a concern for us, but with 2 kids the privacy might be nice. (2) 380s have a separate shower for the forward berth. I'm sure there are more differences and others will chime in.

 

[Alex D]

My .02

There really isn't a lot of difference in length or beam (on the current models, it's 6" beam and about 1 1/2 feet of length). A few extra thousand pounds in weight for the 380. Also, since 380s are part of the sport yacht vs. cruiser line up, the quality of a lot of the hardware (fixtures, etc.) seems to be higher end on the 380 than the 340.

2 differences that may make a difference for your are (1) the forward berth has a door on the 380 versus a curtain on the 340. My wife and I are the only ones who overnight on it wasn't a concern for us, but with 2 kids the privacy might be nice. (2) 380s have a separate shower for the forward berth. I'm sure there are more differences and others will chime in.

The three things that continue to bring me back wanting to trade to a 410 or so are in ranked order ...
1. Separate shower stall
2. Bigger galley with bigger fridge
3. Bigger cockpit

Fact of the matter is, if we could get no. 1 the seperate shower stall on our 340, we would probably not be interested to trade up ... the 340 cabin suffices us very well as it is with one dog and one child.

 

[comsnark]

I use smaller boats, but there is another major factor: New vs Used.

First, bear in mind that your "New" boat will be a 1 year old used boat next year. You will take a nice depreciation hit in year one.

Second, I think you have already figured out that a used boat is cheaper to buy than a new boat. BUT. . depending on age, the maintenance will go up substantially.

I bought a 9 year old boat last year. I now have a two mechanics and two boat haulers on speed dial. I have been having a small PILE of mechanical issues. Lost one or two weekends each of the last two seasons due to maintenace issues. But. . .thinking about it. . . . while the absolute dollars spent on maintenance look high when writing checks, they are still much, much lower than the capital I saved.

You need to be aware of these simple compromises, and walk in with eyes open.

 

[J Levine]

Agree on the comments on used and maintenace. These larger boats are like taking care of an old house with even more systems to keep an eye on. Unless you have an endless budget and dont mind the down time waiting for mechanics or are a die hard DIY'er taking care of a bigger older boat is not going to be easy.

 

[J Levine]

Agree on the comments on used and maintenace. These larger boats are like taking care of an old house with even more systems to keep an eye on. Unless you have an endless budget and dont mind the down time waiting for mechanics or are a die hard DIY'er taking care of a bigger older boat is not going to be easy.

 

[Quint]

There are significant advantages of smaller, newer boats:

1. Reliability
2. Less expensive marina slips
3. Will use less juice
4. Easier to handle when docking, beaching, etc
5. Cheaper to transport (if you ever might do such a thing)
6. More sporty handling
7. Higher top end speed

There's another advantage as well. The '03 and up 340 DA has the latest "swoopy" styling, nd while the older styled Sea Rays are still a great looking boat, they just look dated compared to the latest ones. Companies like Four Winns and others are only just starting to catch up with the 340's styling (see the 358, 338 and 318 in their range).

If it were me and I had two young kids, I would get the 340 hands down. It's well and truly enough boat (people with your sized family make do with 240 DAs!) and it will cost less to run, be more reliable and probably retain its value better as well.

Of course, this is all just my opinion... :wink:

 

[ylwjacket]

there isn't a whole lot in the way of "systems" or "maintenance" on a 380 that isn't on a 340. the engines are even the same if you get gas.

other than 4 extra feet for storage cost, i wouldn't expect anything significant.

the biggest differences are frdige with freezer, separate shower, and door on the main stateroom.

also, the extra beam is hug in terms of interior space in the cabin.

 

[osd9]

there isn't a whole lot in the way of "systems" or "maintenance" on a 380 that isn't on a 340. the engines are even the same if you get gas.

other than 4 extra feet for storage cost, i wouldn't expect anything significant.

the biggest differences are frdige with freezer, separate shower, and door on the main stateroom.

also, the extra beam is hug in terms of interior space in the cabin.

Don't forget TWO sepeartae HVAC units. I've owned two 330DAs and a 380DA. All Gas.....7.4 carb, 7.4 MPI and 8.1S....honestly, the difference in fuel consumption, from a yearly dollar standpoint, wasn't much different. Sure it was more for the 380, but not by enough to make your boating season any more $ainful...

 

[RubberDuckeeToo2]

370DA, all the way. Of course, I would say that because we bought one last fall. The boats we looked at were exactly the same - the 340, 370 and 380. We moved up from a 32' sedan bridge to a 'dancer so I won't go into the differences in design that were important to us.

However, we found the 340 too small and the 380 not big enough to justify the extra cost. Our boat is docked next to a 380 and during a recent dock party, visitors said that our 98 370 looked newer and nicer than the 380. We have the maple interior which looks fresher now than the white or the cherry.

Four issues that decided it for us:
1. Saving $30K on the price (all boats had the same engines and hours).
2. Bench seat at the pilot station and single seat opposite.
3. Galley, galley, galley. The bigger fridge was in the way.
4. Salon seating was nicer.

Even a year later, we stiil look at other DAs and we haven't found anything we like better. Our son was 5 when we bought our 32' and now he is 20. He's bigger than I am and his friends are too. The 370 holds them all nicely. Remember, kids grow too quickly.

Gene

 

[goblue]

Our 370 express leaked lots of water that caused stains down below from day one. We spent a lot of money trying to trouble shoot this issue and never solved the problem. The dealer thought the deck flexed in heavy seas and let water in at the joint. We bought the boat brand new and kept it for 11 years. The cockpit was a nice place to hang out. The A/C worked really well. The bed and sofa were not too comfortable. Maybe a newer boat will have fewer issues although I've had no experience with the newer model that you mentioned.