Possibly purchasing 270....need advice!

A

aoranges1

New Member
Aug 11, 2014
5
South Shore of Long Island
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boatless....for now
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Hi everyone. I wanted to follow up to a post from early August about thinking of a 240 or 280. After looking around for over a month, my wife and I have settled on narrowing our scope to 270's. The reason we went 270 was for the room it offers inside and out, with only 1 engine it will (hopefully) cost less $ on maintenance and gas, most 270's have all the goodies that SeaRay has to offer (Vaccuflush, AC and heat, etc).

We have looked at a few 270's but nothing that struck us as being really well maintained and that was in our price range....until we came across a 270 that LOOKS to be very clean. We are going to look at it this weekend and if all goes well, make an offer. I am curious as to what everyone thinks about a 2001 270 with ~410 hours on it. I was originally told that anything over 300 hours is a lot but I feel as though a boat that has been really well taken care of with more hours is better than a boat with lower hours and not well maintained.

This past spring the current owner also replaced: Genuine Mercruiser manifolds, elbows and risers, Complete cylinder heads/valves replacement/refurbishment, Genuine Mercruiser cap, rotor and wires. It is propelled by a Bravo 3 drive with dual counter rotating stainless props. This drive was installed brand new at the end of the 2012 season.

Thoughts, comments, suggestions?

Thanks again for your help!
 
Whoever told you that 300 hours was a lot should be drawn and quartered. That's absolutely ridiculous. Just think about it logically - if you do the math, that engine had only 29 hours put on it each season!! Absolutely agree on your thought, though - maintenance is much more important than actual hours. Although this is not exactly 'apples for apples', if that boat were a car it would have about 12K to 15K miles on it. Can't imagine that anyone would say that's high mileage, right?

Other than that, can't really comment too much on the condition, obviously. As is always recommended, a mechanical survey (at the bare minimum) is a good idea.
 
They all look good in the pics......look it over real good. The new B3 outdrive is a plus although it was replaced because they must be properly maintained in salt water.

I agree, low hours is not a plus on a 13 year old boat. Sounds like it did a lot of sitting at the dock and rusting. Perhaps they have brought it back to good shape to sale......but I would keep the emotion out of it and proceed cautiously.

Lots of 270s out there.......look at 280s and 290s also.
 
Quint4 said:
I agree, low hours is not a plus on a 13 year old boat. Sounds like it did a lot of sitting at the dock and rusting. Perhaps they have brought it back to good shape to sale......but I would keep the emotion out of it and proceed cautiously.
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I actually just meant that the comment that someone made to him about "anything over 300 hours is considered high" is completely bogus. But, you bring a good point that sometimes it's better to have more hours than less. But it all comes back to how it was taken care of.
 
I actually agree with Dennis as far as hours. But, why are there so few hours? It could be anything, the owner just used it as a condo at the dock (like my neighbor at my dock....), or is was broken often, who knows. You definately want to have the engine completely checked out by a marine mechanic. I’m talking about a full leak down test, read the computer, everything, maybe even oil analysis (I know it doesn’t say much on a gas motor like it does on a diesel....)

Then have the boat fully surveyed. Make sure you are there with them if you can. And finally take it for sea trials, and really look for flaws. They may not be there and that would be great, but it will be the final thing, how it feels, runs and drives out.

As far as a single engine costing less to maintain and run, that will probably be a definate. Only one engine to tune, oil change, one guzzling engine, etc. But would the added cost of twins be of value to you? Where you boat and how you boat should dictate that. If one engine fails, you will be needing a tow and you may be stranded for a while, not fun if the weather is looking ugly. But with twins, you can limp back in on one engine. Only you can make that call.

It is a great boat! Good luck with it. Keep us all in the loop!!

Matt
 
Our 270 is a 1990 and only has 850hrs....runs perfect. We only get three to four good months per year up here, Mike. Get a survey done.
 
My post also agreed with Dennis.
 
If looking at a 270, then consider one from 1999 or 2000. These years SR made in a wide beam in the 270. They are a 9ft 2in beam, which in cubic feet equates to quite a bit more room both in cockpit and cabin. We looked and found plenty in excellent shape before we bought one. Zero regrets. An excellent boat.
 
CSR has members/boats that burn one tank a fuel a year, small ones to 50+ footers. They aren't racking up hours that's for sure but their boats are still being run regularly during their season. I don't understand the fear of low hours....if that's all one knows then you don't know much. The whole picture needs to be taken into consideration, especially location and season length. Lots of these low hour boats are running to the nearest sandbar, maybe up or down the river a couple miles to sip some wine while on the hook a couple hours, then back to the marina. Do your due diligence, there's gotta be some real nice low hour gems out there.
 
I agree with Woody. A 15 year old boat, operated only a few hours per year but maintained is a gem. But, if its a 15yr old boat that has sat undisturbed for 15yrs...then you might have some issues. As we all know, an engine is not made to sit for long periods of dormancy.
 
The 98-01 270 with the 9'2" beam is a great boat, but IMO the sleeping spaces are particularly small. The front V-berth is pretty tight for 2 adults; and in the aft-cabin, the stairs intrude into the space for 2 people. And the dinette is really not suitable for an adult. If you haven't already done so, you might want to really lay in the berths if you plan on regular overnighting before you pull the trigger. If the berths suit you, that 270 is a great choice.

I think a 10-15 year old boat with around 400 hrs is just fine. Should be plenty of life left in that engine as long as it was reasonably well maintained.
 
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Ours is a 1984. We love it and it has a 10foot beam. Its been lots of work but we have a head turner now with more space than some larger boats! works great
 
Yep, its impotant to actually climb on as many boats as you can. But, there is no doubt that beam width can play a major role. As some would agree, the wider the better.
 
Woody said:
...They aren't racking up hours that's for sure but their boats are still being run regularly during their season. I don't understand the fear of low hours....if that's all one knows then you don't know much. The whole picture needs to be taken into consideration, especially location and season length. Lots of these low hour boats are running to the nearest sandbar, maybe up or down the river a couple miles to sip some wine while on the hook a couple hours, then back to the marina. Do your due diligence, there's gotta be some real nice low hour gems out there.
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Have to agree with Woody and others....the number of hours is not a definitive indicator. My Cobalt is 17 years old and had 404 hours when I bought it this spring. That's about 24 hours per season -- or about 1-2 hours per week during the boating season here in MN. It has low hours but was used regularly and maintained regularly and runs like a new boat.
 
A lot have stated that a low hour boat is fine if it has been maintained. The red flag for me is all the work the owner did earlier this year. To me a low hour well maintained boat would not need an outdrive, cylinder head replacement/refurbishment. Risers maybe but I still wouldn't feel comfortable. Just my 2 pennies.
 
Craigalan said:
If looking at a 270, then consider one from 1999 or 2000. These years SR made in a wide beam in the 270. They are a 9ft 2in beam, which in cubic feet equates to quite a bit more room both in cockpit and cabin. We looked and found plenty in excellent shape before we bought one. Zero regrets. An excellent boat.
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I have to agree....like our 9ft beam = more room!
 
Greetings, everyone. I'm also looking at a Sundancer 270 and have similar engine hour concerns, although from the opposite end of the spectrum. I'm considering a 1997 270 with around 800 engine hours. I plan to have the boat surveyed before purchasing, but I wonder about the life expectancy on the engine. The boat has been in fresh water its entire life and appears to have an impeccable maintenance record. Thanks in advance for any guidance.
 
Kap'n Kev said:
Greetings, everyone. I'm also looking at a Sundancer 270 and have similar engine hour concerns, although from the opposite end of the spectrum. I'm considering a 1997 270 with around 800 engine hours. I plan to have the boat surveyed before purchasing, but I wonder about the life expectancy on the engine. The boat has been in fresh water its entire life and appears to have an impeccable maintenance record. Thanks in advance for any guidance.
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Welcome aboard, Kevin. It pretty much all comes back to the same things mentioned above. While 800 hours might be a little higher than most small cruisers will have for the year, I certainly wouldn't be afraid of looking at it because of the hours. A well taken care of 350 or 454 (or even a 4.3L for that matter) is no where near it's life expectancy at only 800 hours. Do your due diligence and get it surveyed and then go from there. To put the hours in a better perspective, that would be the equivalent of 24,000 miles on one of our shop trucks that is used primarily for towing (I recall that at 33,000 miles it had 1,100 hours). It's not a true 'apples to apples', but it at least helps to make it make a little more sense.
 
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If you can, Visually inspect the vessel as in-depth as you can with a knowledgable friend first. You may find some majors issues yourself that will rule that boat out. In this case, saving you some good green otherwise spent on the survey. Also, if the boat looks good to you, dont forget a mechanical survey in addition to the pre-purchase survey. Typically a pre-purchase survey will only visually inspect the engine. Its nice piece of mind to have a mechanic take things apart and deeply investigate. Money well spent in my opinion.
 
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