Creating a monster

[brunooliviero]

Hello Sea Ray lovers
I came on to your forum last week about buying the 320 Sundancer. Well everyone that was kind enough to reply said the same thing. Go bigger if you can.
I can!!
I spent about another 20 hours probable on the weekend searching bigger.
On the 410 and 420 Sundancer I was not aware that the second bedroom had a seperate closed door and not just a curtain. This is important for my kids or people visiting.
I would be having my Canadian friends coming down to visit and privacy was a concern.
The used 320 (2001-2006) ranged in price between $80,000 to $160,000.
The 410 and 420 (1997-2003) were around $125,000 to $200,000.
When I was at the Sea Ray dealer here in Ottawa looking at the different boats including the fly bridge he told me to go with a diesel.
So my question to all of you is at what point is a Sea Ray considered too high milage, or hours on a diesel?
The speedboat appearance of the Sundancer looks amazing. They look the same between 99 to 02.What is the big differance between those years? Is there a specific year that was considered better than another one?
I don't want a fly bridge since I love the shape of the Sundancer.
At around $150,000 I think I can get myself a sweet boat for my winters in Florida. Anything else I should consider with the 410 or 420 purchase?
(Very important)Have to have the satillite dish installed so we can watch hockey as not many of the bars in Florida were carrying the games. Any preferance on the type of dish to buy?
I don't leave till Nov so I have lots of time to research this.
My brother lives in Orlando so I have him setting up appointments and viewing Florida boats for me, and there are a lot of used ones for sale.
Next friday is the Tampa boat show which he will go to for me.
Thank you all again for the feed back. What would you do without the internet.
Bruno

 

[Hampton]

Diesel - Excellent Choice. I wouln't bat an eye even if the boat has over 1000 hours, which isn't very likely. The key is to get a certified engine mechanic to do a complete survery of the motors, including oil samples, which will not be cheap, but well worth it. Good decision to get big and diesels.

 

[Big Al]

"...The 410 and 420 (1997-2003) were around $125,000 to $200,000..."

Do you mean you found a 200x 420 for around $200,000 , in good condition ?

If it is the case, jump on it !

 

[Alegria]

Oh OHH well I would go diesel with a boat that size. Now here come the Cummins vs. Cat discussion. Search around and you will see the many debated benefits of both engines.

I would not judge a boat by hours alone. I would look at how it had been maintained by the previous owner (PO) and then get a certified Cat/Cummins Mechanic to survery the engine in addition to a structural survery of the boat. You want to make sure you know up front of any issues or soon maint items on the engines. While they are very reliable and very powerful they can be extremely expensive fast if things need to be done.

I really like the 410 sundancers and the 420's. I've seen some 410's with a pullman style drop down berth in the aft cabin that looks very appealing to me! Make sure you verify the style 410 you are looking at on line.

There were two models in the years you are looking at. A sundancer (aft cabin with V-Drives) and an express cruiser (NO aft cabine, straight drives) The express cruiser had a forward small cabin with bunk beds and a large L shaped lounge in the salon. The expresses seem to be plentiful and priced a bit less then the sundancers... So be aware of that if you are not interested in the express. Or look at both an express and a sundancer and see what you think suits you better.... There are benefits to both layouts!

Overall Best of luck to you and there are a LOT of folks on here from Florida so they can give you feedback on the boat, surverys, mechanics, etc... Heck I would bet some may have first hand knowledge of the boat themselves!!!

Take Care!

 

[Vince_nj1]

If you are going to spend your winters in Florida you need to forget about hockey and take up Bingo!

(PS, I am just jealous)