Anything to look for in 2005-2007 280 DAs?

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goblehipcom

New Member
Oct 16, 2008
5
Seattle
Boat Info
2006 Meridian 411
"Splash Dance"
Cummins 380-QSBs
12' AquaPro with 30hp Tohatsu
Engines
Cummins 380-QSBs
I'm helping a friend look for a 2005-2007 280 Sundancer. Looking for twins...most likely the 4.3s, but he's open to the 5.0s as well.

Anything specific we should be looking out for as we start to look at some of the local offerings? (we're in the Seattle area)

Thanks for any info,
-Brian
2001 Regal 2960 Commodore
Twin 5.0 Mercs with Bravo 3's
 
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Find one that looks like it has been well maintained by the owner and then pay for a marine survey - structural and mechanical.

It's a great boat - one thing I would definitely recommend is that if possible you find one with an after market installed depth finder (usually a transducer on the Raymarine unit or similar) - the one that comes factory installed is hard to see and when you really need to use it you won't want to be fumbling with the smartcraft :smt119

Is this your friend's first boat?
 
Thanks Skippy. Yes, it would be my friend's first boat. :)
-Brian
 
An excellent first choice for a first boat IMO

Reliable and popular (easy to get independent service / parts etc) and the boat is nicely powered with the T-4.3 Alphas - I refer to my boat (a little unkindly I grant you) as "The Ford Taurus of the Sea" which is sooo unfair b/c I love Ladybugs and we have great family time aboard - but you get the point.

Understand that they all have little annoying rattles and flaws but with a good survey you should be fine. There was a long thread in this forum that debated the need for a genset a while ago - my strong opinion is that it is not necessary unless you plan to sleep on the boat a lot - many folks do it but we do not because for a family of 5 it's not nearly big enough, so we have never needed one - it adds to the cost and the weight of the boat (less mpg) and you will rarely use it.

Just my $.02
 
Hello fellow PNW’er. The 280 Sundancer is one of the finest boats in that size range that exists anywhere for any price. I enjoyed my 2003 280DA (496-B3) for three and a half seasons and though she has been gone for two years, (traded to 2007 320DA) I still miss her.

My only advice is this: get one with every single option available especially the generator. Do not take any short cuts here as you will regret it. The option my wife and I enjoyed best (aside from the genset and HVAC unit) was the camper canvas; it made late fall through early spring usage so much nicer. We had the single engine which for lakes and rivers is perfect, for you, maybe twins would be better.

If I still had her today the only upgrades I would have done are a bowthruster, radar, GPS, fishfinder, Tempur-Pedic mattress, better stereo in the cockpit, underwater lights and dual spot lights.

You may want to avoid the 2006 280 due to the interior hard surface color was not well received. It was a matte maple color and for some of us it just looked inexpensive and trailer-house like. Most people prefer the cherry or dark cherry (I liked the dark cherry gloss myself).

I notice there is a great 2007 used one for sale at Trudeau’s Sea Ray in Portland, maybe you should drive down and take a look at it. http://www.trudeaus.com/ 888-506-5459

Good Luck,

Marqus
 
Thanks for all the input Marqus.
-Brian
2001 Regal 2960 Commodore
Twin 5.0 Mercs with Bravo 3's
 
marqbloq said:
Hello fellow PNW’er. The 280 Sundancer is one of the finest boats in that size range that exists anywhere for any price. I enjoyed my 2003 280DA (496-B3) for three and a half seasons and though she has been gone for two years, (traded to 2007 320DA) I still miss her.

My only advice is this: get one with every single option available especially the generator. Do not take any short cuts here as you will regret it. The option my wife and I enjoyed best (aside from the genset and HVAC unit) was the camper canvas; it made late fall through early spring usage so much nicer. We had the single engine which for lakes and rivers is perfect, for you, maybe twins would be better.

If I still had her today the only upgrades I would have done are a bowthruster, radar, GPS, fishfinder, Tempur-Pedic mattress, better stereo in the cockpit, underwater lights and dual spot lights.

You may want to avoid the 2006 280 due to the interior hard surface color was not well received. It was a matte maple color and for some of us it just looked inexpensive and trailer-house like. Most people prefer the cherry or dark cherry (I liked the dark cherry gloss myself).

I notice there is a great 2007 used one for sale at Trudeau’s Sea Ray in Portland, maybe you should drive down and take a look at it. http://www.trudeaus.com/ 888-506-5459

Good Luck,

Marqus
Click to expand...

Just a point of clarification... 2006 had a couple of interior finishes available... not just the maple :smt001 I have a 2006 with a glossy cherry interior. I completely agree with Marq..... get the extras. We ordered everything extra with the exception of the "premium" sound system... as it is not that premium :lol:. Interestingly enough the wiring for sub will be there (behind the starboard mid-cabin wall) in a boat ordered without the premium sound system.

The genset is a requirement for us after having one on our boat. In actual use your wife (and/or you) will want hot coffee, popcorn, a cool place to relax, a hot shower after a night on the hook (without running the mains for 20 min) when you may not be plugged in at a dock. The genset makes it unnecessry to have to be at a certain place to some of the amentities on the boat.

HVAC is great when you have had enough sun for the day. Go down in the cabin..... it is 68 in no time... and watch a movie. The HVAC is also very effective at removing humidity from the cabin. We live in a pretty arrid climate... but showers, dishes, my heavy snoring :lol: all add a little sticky-ness to the cabin which is quickly removed with the HVAC unit. I leave the HVAC unit on full time (68 degrees) when the boat is in the slip.... so my chocolate chip cookies do not melt :grin:

All three power options on this boat work fine.... I spent several hours driving 3 variations prior to making my decision. I personally liked the little advantage twins gave me around the dock.... I personally did not care for the extra space (where you stand in the engine compartment) the 5.0's took.... so I opted for the 4.3's.... which seemed to be a little better in the fuel department.

The boat is solid.... runs nicely and has most of the same amenities of home. The only issues I found was the requirement for fuel booster pumps too be added as the rise on my twin 4.3 setup was giving the port engine fits. Booster pumps installed by SeaRay factory (Knoxville) techs after reviewing problem with Merc.

If your friend is a hose (and I literally mean hose out valve completely open) out the cockpit weekly type guy he will find 3 potential leak areas. I have resolved all of them and have pictures and instructions (let me know if you would like them). If you are a light mist.... spray and wipe.... or an annual cleaner type... you will never have the problem.
 
Thanks for all the great info everyone. My friend has also considered new, thinking he could probably get a great deal at this time of year and due to the current economic climate. A fully optioned 280 comes out to $197k MSRP on the SeaRay web site. Any input as to what a new boat typically sells for compared to MSRP?

280_SeaRay, yes, if you can pm me the info about the leaks, that would be great...my friend is a bit of a neat freak and hopefully that will transfer over to the boat.

-Brian
2001 Regal 2960 Commodore
Twin 5.0 Mercs with Bravo 3's
 
I agree with everything Marqus said in his post. We also went from a 280 with the 496 single to a DA320. The 280 is an excellent boat and options such as the camper canvas really come in handy, especially when boating early or late in the season. I would save some money and look for something in the late model range, 04 thru 07 range. The thing about the 280 is it will get you hooked, and sooner rather than later you are going to want to move up.
 
Just playing devils advocate here. We own a 280 Sundancer and like the boat. All boats are a compromise and the 280 Sundancer is no exception.

Please do not read into the below that we do not like the boat. We do like it a lot. I’m simply stating gripes.

Some 280 Sundancer gripes:
- Fuel tank is too small. 100 gallons is small. It should be 150 gallons or at the very least 125. Plan to fill often.
- Helm / dash issue. Simply put, they engineered this boat just before the big LCD screens for chartplotters / radar became so popular. There is no good spot to put them. I have my radar screen on top of the dash but I wish there was a big flat unused area at the helm.
- Swim platform is a bit too low. This may be less of a problem if you are not weighted down with twin 5.0’s and Bravo III drives + generator. We call the swim platform the blowhole, you know, like a whale. In anything but very calm conditions at anchor water will shoot up thru the blowhole in the swim platform.
- I’ve read many times that some people hate the steps that are built into the cabin door. To get to the bow you need to have the cabin door shut. One time we had it closed but it was not ‘clicked’ closed. My wife did not know it was not clicked. She was carrying stuff and as she stepped on the cabin door to come in from the bow. The door opened. She fell on the windshield and grabbed at the isinglass during her fall causing a rip and she got a big black and blue area on her cute bottom.
- Cockpit storage is limited. I wish there was storage under the rear section of the port lounge. I’m talking about the area behind the area that is used in the mid birth. This would be above the water tank if you are familiar with the boats layout in the engine compartment. Seems Sea Ray left several cubit feet wasted there. When you don’t have much storage, even a little more goes a long way.
- Head toilet to floor setup. This one is hard to explain, you just need to try it and you will understand. It’s hard to wipe your bum. Also each and every time you need to get more toilet paper that stupid door closes so you need to hold the door open to get your next supply.
- If you plan to sleep onboard, get a memory foam topper and cut it to fit in the V birth area.

All this being said, 5 of us slept onboard 35 nights this past summer (summer of 2008) and we had a great time.

We use this boat in a mixed way. We water ski, I can pull my wife up on one ski, also, knee board, we pull the kids on tubes, we fish, anchor and swim, added a magma grill and use it on average more then once a day when we are staying on the boat.

We added supports to the cockpit table storage device in the engine compartment. These supports allow us to keep water skis onboard yet out of the way.

We typically keep the forward table down, made into a V birth, we keep the port table up until bedtime when it gets converted to a birth for our daughter, the cockpit table is up most of the time and the rear seat is dropped down most of the time but I usually raise it up and make it into a seat when we have guests onboard or if we are anchored and eating.

We spend most summer weekends onboard. Again, we often have guests onboard during the day. Of course, when you participate in a variety of activities you need lots of stuff. This means our storage compartments are full. This all adds weight so given how we use the boat the bigger 5.0 twins becomes more important. If you don’t run as very weighted down as us the other engine alternatives would be more economical both in purchase price and maintenance.

I agree with the above about getting a loaded boat, it really makes the experience more enjoyable.
 
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A note from another local Pac NW'er...

There are quite a few 280's that are lightly used - available for sale between Seattle and Portland.

Lake Union Sea Ray has some 280s that are new, but I believe they all had the single 496 engine package.

If it were me, I'd find a nice, lightly used with the twin 4.3's. There was even one on Craigslist recently for less than 100k.
 
You could alleviate a few of these issues by going with a 290 Amberjack. Carries 230 gallons of fuel. Smallest motors offered are the twin 5.0 MPI (no V-6's offered), and the same quality boat as the 280. Has a bigger helm for mounting RADAR, GPS, etc. Although it is a slight bit more utilitarian then the SD.
 
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