Fair purchase price on 2006 Sea Ray 260

Cycleman07

New Member
Jul 29, 2014
9
United States
Boat Info
2013 South Bay 524 E
150 4 stroke Mercury
2011 GMC Sierra 2500 Duramax
Engines
150 4 stroke Mercury Outboard
I am the current owner of a South Bay Pontoon boat but have always loved Sea Ray, mostly the 260 Sundancer. I found a boat located a few hours from me and was wondering what the fair price was. It is a 2006 260 Sundancer with 100 Fresh Water hours. The boat has the 6.2 L mercruiser and 5000 KW Generator, full canvas, trailer etc. What would be a fair price to pay for this boat? Thank you in advance for your responses.
 
It will depend on the condition, maintenance, and whether or not it's the "right' boat for you. There are many here, including me that did not like the ride (too tippy and required constant adjusting) of the '05-'08 260DA models. I test ed(sea trialed) an '05 and loved the boat, except for the ride. I rethought my decision and am very happy I did. I found a used 2000, that needed some cleaning and TLC, but has turned out to be one of the nicest 260DAs out there regardless of year.

10519566_10203040209983901_7948758437948558654_o.jpg
 
That is a beautiful boat. The boat is immaculate inside and out and looks like new. Here is the boat trader link to it. http://www.boattrader.com/listing/2006-Sea-Ray-260-Sundancer-102312519

How did you feel the 2005 you looked at handled chop? A pontoon boat can get easily overwhelmed when in choppy water so this is part of my reasoning for wanting to go with a bigger boat.
 
2006 260DA's are going anywhere from 40K to 60K depending on location, hours, options, and w/trailer or not.

Good luck and welcome to CSR!
 
Thank you. From the ad you posted, that looks like a very nice boat, and I like the look and layout of the '05-'08s. The ride is unpredictable when coming on plane and will dramatically list to one side, unless you're on the tab controls aggressively. I have to trim mine slightly coming on plane, but nothing like the '05 I sea trialed. I know that many with the '05-'08s have figured out the tab thing while underway, but I don't like to adjust the tabs constantly while cruising.

Don't get me wrong, I love the look and features, but just not the ride. The deadrise on the '05-'08s is 19" and the older ones are 21", which give the ride more stability. The newer ones may chop through the waves a little more aggressively, but I'll take stability over that.
10402572_10202841287290958_7154891866906579240_n.jpg
 
1 things I noticed was the specs do not match the pix. From experience, a 21* deadrise on an 8'6" beam is not going to be friendly at anchor.
 
I definitely want to stick to an 8'6" beam as I will be trailering every where we go.
 
I have had a hard time selling my parents 290 Amberjack for a year, we have had some really low offers and one I shouldn't have turned down that I would take today. What I have found make a reasonable offer and add some buffer for negotiation. Seems like a pretty fair price for the boat. But an offer in the upper 30's would not be insulting.
 
A generator is a 5k+ value option. A trailer is a 5k+ value option. Boat looks to be in pretty good shape - anything in the low-mid 40's seems like it would be a great deal. What kind of shape is the canvas? That looks to be about the only item that could cost a few thousand if you need to re-do it. Maybe you have some leverage there?
 
A generator is a 5k+ value option. A trailer is a 5k+ value option. Boat looks to be in pretty good shape - anything in the low-mid 40's seems like it would be a great deal. What kind of shape is the canvas? That looks to be about the only item that could cost a few thousand if you need to re-do it. Maybe you have some leverage there?


Thank you for your responses. I have to determine what they are willing to give me on trade and find out if I want to try and sell our current boat outright or not. Im just glad i finally got the wife on board with the bigger boat. She loves our South Bay but hates getting our butts kicked on larger lakes. I have a feeling this boat would hold its own much better.
 
I have an 06 260 and am quite happy with it. As Todd said though, it does list while getting on plane. I mostly have that figured out now to where it's not an issue.
I did have it in some pretty rough water last summer and it handled it very well I thought, I even had a 24' Bayliner fall in behind me as his boat wasn't taking it as well.
I like skolbe's advice, you can always come up in price but they may just take the low offer.
 
We bought the exact same boat w/o the bottom paint and with a 350 mag. We have had it since June and love it. If you will search for a thread by "Dave S." you will find a lot of discussion around trim tabs, listing, and bringing the boat on plane. I studied the thread and have had no issues whatsoever with the listing that is described by others. On our first outing, I did not know what to expect and was a bit nervous having never operated a boat this big. We have been out 6 times or so and no issues. I never have to use the tabs. Maybe necessary with more than 4 people, but as of now, have played with the tabs, but found no need for them. We wanted and got everything in this boat. It was the perfect one for us. I would strongly suggest a good surveyor. I found one that had to be the best. He bought in a certified mechanic to, among other things, checked compression on engine and generator. Ours had 173 hours on it and after the compression check, the mechanic said that the engine was barely broken in. You will not be happy trying to pull it with a 1/2 ton truck. I pulled it home with a 1/2 ton and vowed never to pull it again. We bought a 3/4 ton Duramax to pull it with and it does great. I have pulled many trailers before, but never this much weight. Surveyor found a couple of issues, nothing major, but I did insist on an outdrive service with new bellows, shift cable, gimbal bearing, etc. and this was part of the negotiation. I installed my own TV and was glad there was not the TV in the ceiling as they were analog if OEM from '06. We have just replaced the stripes on the sides and done a lot of other small things. I do my own maintenance and there is a lot to learn. This site and the people here have been more help than I could have ever imagined. We love the boat and are looking forward to many good times. If the survey comes back clean or you can negotiate any repairs into the selling price, anything at or below the asking price would be a good deal. Welcome aboard and good luck!
 
I found BUC values to be a pretty good indicator of price when I was looking. My surveyor showed me all the 330's that had sold in the last year and for how much. (as others have said things like location, condition, etc will affect price of course)
 
We have a '06 260 and love it. You do have to manage the list when coming on plane, but easily manageable. Great option for a pocket cruiser.....
 
I found BUC values to be a pretty good indicator of price when I was looking. My surveyor showed me all the 330's that had sold in the last year and for how much. (as others have said things like location, condition, etc will affect price of course)


I see you are on Keystone Lake. We live in Sand Springs and are there every weekend!
 
Would the auto tab controller from Bennett take care of the manual adjustment on the tabs? That may be an option. Check with the Tabman.
 
If that 260 Sundancer is fairly represented, then $45K is a very fair price. Just make sure you really want a 260 Sundancer.

If you are strictly a day boater on an inland lake, you might like something like 240 Sundeck better. Since I own a 2006 260 Sundancer and previously owned a 2002 240 Sundeck, I can tell you the 240 Sundeck was actually a more comfortable boat on our inland lake when there was a lot of boat traffic like you encounter on a weekend. The reason for this is you sit much higher in the Sundancerand so when the boat starts to rock side to side you feel the roll a lot more.

I guess what I am trying to say is make sure you understand why you want a 260 Sundancer before you actually buy one. I can tell you they are solid boats as I have owned mine now for 8 years. But no boat is without faults and a lot of people make the wrong choices in boats and then regret it afterwards. Since you don't like your pontoon boat then I would really make sure that a 260 Sundancer will be the right choice for you.
 
Thank you for your input. I was able to walk aboard a 240 a couple of weekends ago and the cockpit deck area seemed small as far as seating goes. We regularly boat with 8 people. 4 Adults and 4 kids under the age of 9. The big issue with the pontoon boat is water over the front in a lot of chop. The side to side rocking is not a huge concern, but feeling overwhelmed in chop may send my wife to an early grave. It stresses her out quite a lot to the point that she doesnt like going. I would go even bigger than a 260 if they made a longer boat with an 8'6" beam. It is crucial that we are able to trailer the boat since we have 4-5 really awesome lakes within about an hour and a half of us.
 

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