99 480 Sedan Bridge?

[MadDog]

I called the number as suggested, and spoke with a very well informed and extremely helpful guy. If any of you have questions about your boats, SR customer service is an awesome resource.

Four suns, your information is correct.

 

[J Levine]

The 480 DB is also a boat I would like to move up to some day but the cored thing has always concerned me. Gary, is it your understanding that the latter 480 DB's like 02-04 may have superior construction techniques to avoid problems with the cored hull issues on the earlier 99-01's? Every time I think to myself that this issue is not worth being concerned about I come across somthing like this 96 40 DB (cored hull) on Yacht World listed with "high levels of moisture and Delamination":

http://www.yachtworld.com/core/list....jsp&n=1%3A1%3A31110%3A46794%3A30&searchtype=

or this very interesting article about a study Sea Ray comissioned to determine the structral strength of wet balsa core that indicates "Sea Ray has a lot of experience repairing hulls with wet cores":

http://www.proboat-digital.com/proboat/200508/?pg=28

These is of couse also Mr Pasco's infamous commentary on his site plus the series of articles that appeared in power boat reports in 2002 and 2003 on the subject. Even so I have yet to hear much on the internet about ANY problems owners of these boats have had, and Sea Ray has built A LOT of them.

My problem is that by the time a boat of this size will depreciate to the price point that will fit my budget (10+ years old) it will long be out of warranty. Mechanical problems like engines and transmission I can accept but some sort of major structural failure that may make the hull economically unjustifed to repair I can't handle. Even though I love the 480 DB, Right now I have my sights on a 2004 - 200? Silverton 48 or now 50 Convertible, and only for this one issue. It also seems like the CAT 3196 is worth staying clear of in favor of the Cummins motors.

And yes, even though the powerboat guide incorrectly indicates that a 1995-1999 370 DA is fully cored, they are not, which I verified with Sea Ray customer service years ago before I bought my current boat.

I dont want to stir this subject up with owners of these boats, I just value the knowledge of the guys on this site and am curious on your thoughts on this subject. I would love to buy a 480 DB some day, I just am not comfortable enough with this issue yet to do it, plus I dont have the money so it is all day dreaming for me right now anyway.

 

[Bill Gillespie]

J: There are two tests that a reputable surveyor can perform that will located hidden sub-surface moisture. There is no question that it happened on a few boats but it was very limited to a couple of errors in the construction phase. As for the 3196, folks love them or hate them and seldon is there anyone on the fence. I considered both of these issues before I purchased. However, I have learned that Marinemax could sell a row boat and make it drawn out and challenging.

Bill