Saying Hello

N

NaCl H2o Livin

Member
Oct 27, 2014
42
Long Island
Boat Info
370 Sundancer 1995
Engines
7.4 454ci, Mercruisers, V-Drives
My name is Bill and I live on Long Island, NY. I am not new to the boating lifestyle, my father had a 42 footer (which I used every now and then) and my brother had multiple boats, where he just sold his recent boat, a center console 26 footer. My fiancee' and I just put a deposit on a 1995 Sea Ray 370 Sundancer. I am working on obtaining a Surveyor for the pre-purchase inspection. Should be done by next week.

I hope that the survey goes smooth and we receive positive news. Then I have to wait till the spring (sux). Hopefully NY does not receive the brutal winters like we been having.

In closing, I am looking forward to retiring within 3.5 years, at the ripe age of 50. Then I will really be able to be my screen name.

If anyone has any suggestions on my pre-purchase please post away.
 
Good luck on the purchase and welcome to CSR!
 
Welcome aboard! This is the place to be, to get assistance and help you. My only advice, if you can, be there with the surveyor and shadow him. Learn as much from him about the boat and boating in general as you can. My surveyor was very familiar with SR’s and it was helpful, since he ended up surveying 2 boats for me! Good luck, keep us informed!

Matt
 
Welcome aboard! Enjoy!
 
+1 with what Matt said. Shadow the surveyor and since it sounds like you have been around boats a while it isn't entirely new to you. So ask questions and listen for an answer that makes sense.
Good luck with the purchase.
Joe
 
Hifirush said:
Welcome aboard! This is the place to be, to get assistance and help you. My only advice, if you can, be there with the surveyor and shadow him. Learn as much from him about the boat and boating in general as you can. My surveyor was very familiar with SR’s and it was helpful, since he ended up surveying 2 boats for me! Good luck, keep us informed! Matt
Click to expand...

Thank you all for responding and welcoming us to the forum. I am setting up the pre-purchase survey as I type. It looks like it will occur on Monday, November 3, 2014. I am making this day one of my RDOs for the week, so i will definitely take your advice, shadowing and asking him questions.

Just curious, would anyone be able to tell me what is the average price for a survey on a 37 footer?

Thanks,
Bill
 
I will say, I learned a lot from the guy inspecting our boat. He didn't mind a few questions. He will tell you about the boat and things wrong as he goes.
 
Welcome and all the best with your deal.
 
I shadowed my surveyor every step. He would point out things, answer questions, and tell me everything. I even talk to him today about problems, possible fixes, and who to contact. Great guy that loves his work. The PO for my boat then used him for his next purchase.

Bennett
 
We had a very rainy day today. I visited the dealership to check on my potential purchase for any leaks...couldn't see any. Checked all the windows and even went into the engine bay. Dry. Here are a couple of pictures of the exterior.



 
Welcome aboard.
 
I received my Survey report. There are a number of items that needs to be discussed. I have a meeting with the dealer on Friday. The discussion/negotiation begins.

For instance, the generator was the not the model advertised (not a biggie), but it does not put out adequate volts, plus the fuel line are cracked and deteriorated. The windlass does not function. The starboard motor expels a slight amount of fuel through the exhaust - we believe a quick tuning of the carburetor should take care of it. The macerator did not power up. The cutlass-shaft bearings needs to be replaced. The rudders are a bit loose (no affect on the sea trial though). Most of the fuel lines needs to be replaced (no smell of fumes or leaks though). A tank vent fitting has been pushed through the hull (slight fiberglass damage). Two gauges not working/working properly - port volt meter and starboard tachometer respectively.

Those mentioned, I consider are the major items that needs attention. I am not sure if the dealer will work with me on those issues. Thoughts?

There are other issues that I can deal with on my own.
 
That kinda seems like alot to me. My advice would be to get a mechanical inspection too. And also...dont fall in love too quickly. It may be hard, but keep looking at other boats. With all those issues, chances are a mechanial inspection is going to turm up other issues as well. It will be well worth your money. I could be wrong, but it somewhat sounds like this previous owner was somewhat lazy and not on top of boat maintainance. There are plenty of owners who loved their boats and who exhibited pride of ownership...thats the boat you want to buy.
 
Sounds like the PO wasn't in to spending money to do things properly. Maybe he bought the boat in pristine condition and then let it slide. Don't stop looking. Even if you view a bunch of other boats and then still buy this one you will have made the decision based on information instead of feelings and emotions. We've walked away from a lot of boat deals during the last stages of inspection. I know it's disappointing but it beats the heck out of buying the wrong boat and then suffering the consequences. Good luck.
 
Welcome,


Guess I am going to buck the trend that is usually to run Forest run... But you seem to know you are buying an almost 20 year old boat that needs some work for sure. I would recommend more research based on the survey and now you have negotiable items to talk about with the owner of the boat. Everything is negotiable. I negotiated in new canvas, new props, and some minor repairs on the engines in my negotiations.....

My thoughts...

Generator - Look at model, age. The low voltage could be a governor issue if there is a mechanical governor on the generator. Or if could be more. If it's been sitting perhaps it needs to be worked. Generators like to run and I run mine as often as I can through the season, but it too has fluctuating voltage after winter lay up.

Fuel lines if original, you are at the time frame to replace them. I am there too with our boat. Something to do and work into the deal

Starboard motor - Well incomplete combustion of fuel could be several things. I would think maybe work in a tune up and carb rebuild into the deal and see if the issue goes away. If not then this could be a stop red flag. Let's face it the engine is a big item and you want to use your new boat with confidence your first season. Did you check compression on both motors. Not exactly a red flag and might raise more questions. It's more of finding do you have a dead cylnder or very low pressure that might send up another red flag around other internal engine issues... It's was pretty inexpensive for me added about $175 to the cost of the survey...

Macerator - I can't use it so I don't even know if mine works. Unless you are going to be offshore the minimal distance it's not a big item to me. Also for me I would have to be offshore, crawl over my hot engine, burn myself, to even open the through hull to use it... So for me not a dealbreaker at all...

Cutlass/Rudders. Cutlass not a huge thing yeah good to be done if no record of when they were done last. Rudders yeah they need to be repacked had to do it on mine due to leaks not an issue

Vent on hull. Well now we are looking at a place where water could get into the hull and degrade the core. If the Survey says it's dry I would proceed to get an estimate to fix it. Don't know how your ER is laid out but I have hull vents that need a lot of sweat and labor $$$ to reach.

Best of luck. The 370 is a great platform and hopefully you are getting a great deal on her.
 
Last edited:
NaCl H2o Livin said:
I received my Survey report. There are a number of items that needs to be discussed. I have a meeting with the dealer on Friday. The discussion/negotiation begins.

For instance, the generator was the not the model advertised (not a biggie), but it does not put out adequate volts, plus the fuel line are cracked and deteriorated. The windlass does not function. The starboard motor expels a slight amount of fuel through the exhaust - we believe a quick tuning of the carburetor should take care of it. The macerator did not power up. The cutlass-shaft bearings needs to be replaced. The rudders are a bit loose (no affect on the sea trial though). Most of the fuel lines needs to be replaced (no smell of fumes or leaks though). A tank vent fitting has been pushed through the hull (slight fiberglass damage). Two gauges not working/working properly - port volt meter and starboard tachometer respectively.

Those mentioned, I consider are the major items that needs attention. I am not sure if the dealer will work with me on those issues. Thoughts?

There are other issues that I can deal with on my own.
Click to expand...

Your surveyor sounds like he did a thourough job. Did he do a mechanical inspection beyond basics? Did he do a compression check for example? If he didn’t, you may want to consider having one performed, but I would talk to the dealer first.

I’m not sure what price point you are at, nor if this boat is priced correctly to have to deal with these kinds of things. Its a 20 year old boat, and some of these things are bound to happen, like the fuel lines needing replaced, but I am no expert.

If the generator isn’t pushing the needed voltage, thats a problem. The gas coming out of the exhaust seems to me is a problem, but not sure. Cutlass bearings are an easy repair (the delaer shouldn’t have any issues with that...) not sure about the rudders. The macerator needs to be addressed, but that seems like an easy one for the dealership too.

As mentioned above, don’t fall in love yet. It is hard, believe me I understand that. But you can’t let emotion get into a purchase decision on a used boat (anything), simply because you just don’t know what else could be wrong and what the cost is. Problems don’t bother me, but when the cost outweighs the value, you can’t rely on emotion.

The first 330 I looked at I had already taken delivery of it in my head and heart (youthful mistake... even though I’m part of the gray hair club!) when I went to visit in Tampa. Looked good in the photos and the dealer and seller seemed to be straight up. There was no genny, even though there was supposed to be. My surveyor came out and the first thing he told me was the boat had sunk to the starters! One engine had bad compression and I haulted the survey right there. I knew in my heart that this was the wrong boat, too many flags.

My next was 310, perfect mechanicals (this is where I met my surveyor) but cosmetics were iffy. When I got back home and put pencil to paper, it just didn’t make sense and I surprised my surveyor and the dealer by declining.

My point is, pursue this until it doesn’t make sense or you simply get a bad feeling about it. It looks like a nice boat, and maybe if these issues and anything else that turns up can be addressed and work in your favor.

To me, a bargain is getting what I want, not neccessarily the best price, sometimes that can be had with some work. Let us know how it goes at the dealership. Good luck, this is exciting!

Matt
 
WOW! The responses from you all are awesome. Great advice. Depending on the dealer response this Friday will either kill or save the 1995. There is another 370 for sale at this marina/dealer. It is 1998.

To answer your post, Matt, my surveyor was thorough. I was watching everything he was doing, so I got to see just about every inch of the boat. Here are some more pictures of the survey.

After the sea trial:




Interior pictures:












 
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