2004 220 sundeck

[darrendbeck]

I am currently working towards the purchase of a new to me 2004 220 sun deck and have spent hours on this site as it is very helpful! I’ve found a boat through a dealer that really appears to be in good shape and the dealer has agreed to correct most of the small cosmetic deficiencies we’ve found. The boat is a 220 sundeck with a factory wakeboard tower, 5.0 MPI, bravo 3 outdrive, 370 hours, all freshwater use, good canvas, only a single battery, non pump out head, etc. I’ve really tried to research the sea ray brand and have looked at hundreds of boats online during this process. I’ve never owned a sport boat or deck boat, always fiberglass fishing boats and I’m admittedly ignorant in the pitfalls that could be lurking with buying a used boat. The price with a tandem axle trailer is between $24k and $25k. From what I can tell this appears reasonable for a good boat in good cosmetic shape. I’ve found better prices but it doesn’t seem like the quality compares to sea ray and other sea rays in this year that are priced less just have more cosmetic deficiencies. No rips/tears or holes in vinyl, no stains, great gel coat, no oxidation, the dealer will detail, etc. if anyone has any advice or comparables I would appreciate you putting my mind at ease if possible. We still have a lake test to do and compression testing before anything is final. Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[Stee6043]

The first bit of advice you'll get from most everyone around here is to get a survey. Spend a few hundred on a good marine survey as part of the purchase agreement. They'll check over many of the more expensive systems generally not looked at by the average buyer.

Outside of the engine you've got a lot of money hanging off the back of this boat. You'll want to make sure the bellows, gimble, outdirve, etc have all been well taken care of. Does the boat have service records? Hopefully the outdrive has been serviced regularly.

 

[randmhall]

Welcome to the site! If you have read the treads on the 330, you have already been told what you need to know. Price seems reasonable, for my area, but prices vary around the country.

Tower - NICE
good condition - Nice
lowish hours - Nice. Used but not over used. boats wear out just sitting.
Single battery - not a problem: add 1 if you anchor and swim with the radio on.

My shop (others are different) includes pilling the drive, greeting and checking the bellows, etc, every year with the winterizing.
The only major repair that I have had is replacing the cone clutch at 600 hours.

 

[techmitch]

Make sure the hull and engine survey are done by an independent 3rd party surveyor that has no connections to the seller or dealer.

 

[ColoSR]

Overall, it’s a great boat. I got a 2003 220 Sundeck 6.2L with bravo III. Lots of useable space, good call on the wake tower, we are adding one this year. I have heard that the 5.0 with the alpha drive is underpowered, but 5.0/B3 is okay, so make sure that it has enough get up and go during your trial.

Engine parts and miscellaneous parts availability is good. Does your 220 have the peanut pads for the blower/horn/bilge pump/ lights/ accessory switches? If so, these are attached to an old computer processor called the EIM which is not trivial to repair since the company that built the EIMs and pads is out of business. If one of the switches on the pad isn’t working, I would ask the dealer to fix it. They can wire in a normal toggle switch. My 220 came with a lowrance 3500 depth finder the display for which is not repairable either.

I would take a look in the bilge during the trial to see if it is taking on any water. A leak at the transom assembly is a real pita. I would would also pay the money to have a mechanic pull the drive off to see the condition of the u-joint and back of the engine. Work back there requires you to pull the engine out and they didn’t think much about maintenance access on this boat.

 

[darrendbeck]

Thank you for the advice. We will call a few shops to find someone independent to do a complete inspection. Another random question for anybody with experience. How important is it to have a pump out head? We don’t anticipate using it much, or at all if it can be avoided, but if necessary how much of an inconvenience is the non-pump put model?

 

[Espos4]

Overall, it’s a great boat. I got a 2003 220 Sundeck 6.2L with bravo III.

That must be a lot of fun with the 6.2!

 

[Buckeye Boater]

How important is it to have a pump out head? We don’t anticipate using it much, or at all if it can be avoided, but if necessary how much of an inconvenience is the non-pump put model?

Use of the pump out head will be dependent on how you boat. In the 12 years we have had ours, it has not been used once. We typically boat where we can use facilities on shore. In fact, we have removed the head completely to create more storage space.

Welcome aboard.

 

[Espos4]

If you find that you really need the pumpout head, it’s not too difficult to Install once you have all the parts.

 

[randmhall]

Our 240 has the pump out. When the kids were younger, we let them use it. But we disconnected the pump out and just used it as a removable port-a-potty. It was easier to just take it out and dump it in the toilet at home. We trailered at the time. Now that we keep it in a slip at the lake (and the kids are older), we took it out for more storage, and just use the marina.