Thinking about a 185 for 1st boat

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pdx tony

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Jun 22, 2010
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Hi,

I'm thinking about buying new but wondering what would be a good price. Does anyone know if the Costco deal is good or can I do better? Also, should I go for a bigger motor than the 135HP? I expect we'll be pulling people on toys/skis/boards. I also plan to fish. Anything else I should think about getting?

Thanks in advance,

Tony
 
Absolutely get the bigger engine. I just bought a 185 this year with the 190 hp and I'm glad I did. I went through Costco pricing.
 
I absolutely would recommend going with the larger 4.3L 190hp even if you weren't going to pull skiers. If you load the boat up at all, you will want the additional hp to get up on plane and maintain cruising speed.

Also, not that you're looking to sell anytime soon either but I beleive the resale with 190hp is a much larger market than with the smaller 135hp - I just sold my 185 last month and everyone that called was looking for the larger engine.

Good luck and enjoy your boat!
Mark
 
I agree with getting the 4.3 engine, it will pull just about anything. have you looked at any used 185s? there are some really clean boats out there with low hours. I just got my 2006 a few months ago and love it!
 
I'm curious. Seen lots of first boaters going for the 185 and not the 175. Is it because you all are getting it for water sports and want the extra horsepower from the 6 cylinder option? I did detailed measurements of the floor space of both models before I purchased and basically the difference in elbow room is negligible.

However, I mostly cruise with two people total onboard so the four cylinder/gph benefits drove my purchase. Never really run into any situation where I wish I were drinking more gas - I mean had more horses.
 
185 is a good size - plenty of room for a couple of adults and kids. Not to hard to tow or to fit in the garage / driveway. Tows skier, wakeboards and tubes well.

Definitely go the V6 - do the figures but the fuel savings of the 4 cyl do not really add up. Is 10 or 20 bucks a day difference all that muchfor the extra ponys?

I find the V6 adequate but certainly not overly powerful - reckon I would be disappointed with the 4 cyl.

Look around for a good used boat - there are plenty of low hour toys that have hardly been used. Sounds rough but let someone else suffer the depreciation of a new boat.

When I got my boat the original purchase receipt was in the glove box. On depretciation alone it cost the first owner around $250 an hour to run the boat. Add in registration insurance, storage, fuel, servicing etc they took a big loss.

My 2 cents ........
 
I'm just over 200lbs and my old VIP 3.0L would drag me at least 10 yards before I came up on skis. That was the major reason the 4.3 was the minimum engine I was interested in when I started shopping.

Also agree on used. My 185 Sport has 42 hours on it when I got it. Pay a fraction of the cost for a several year old boat. Third party warranties are available if that's a key decision factor.
 
For me, with a family of 5, the 175 was not even a consideration. I had a 18' Baja Islander with a 4 cylinder and we basically outgrew it. "Everybody go to the front" finally wasn't good enough get the boat on plane with a skier, etc. - we were ready for more power!

So, we upgraded to the Sea Ray Sport 185 with the 190hp and it is AWESOME - no issues with power whatsoever.

ZZ13 said:
I'm curious. Seen lots of first boaters going for the 185 and not the 175. Is it because you all are getting it for water sports and want the extra horsepower from the 6 cylinder option? I did detailed measurements of the floor space of both models before I purchased and basically the difference in elbow room is negligible.

However, I mostly cruise with two people total onboard so the four cylinder/gph benefits drove my purchase. Never really run into any situation where I wish I were drinking more gas - I mean had more horses.
Click to expand...
 
ZZ13 said:
I'm curious. Seen lots of first boaters going for the 185 and not the 175. Is it because you all are getting it for water sports and want the extra horsepower from the 6 cylinder option? I did detailed measurements of the floor space of both models before I purchased and basically the difference in elbow room is negligible.

However, I mostly cruise with two people total onboard so the four cylinder/gph benefits drove my purchase. Never really run into any situation where I wish I were drinking more gas - I mean had more horses.
Click to expand...

We do a fair amount of water sports. Also, it ia a rare day when I have less than 5 people on board with me. We looked at the 3.0 engine, but lucked into finding a used 4.3 with only 55 hrs on it. :smt038
 
We purchased the 2003 185SRX with the 6 cyl sterndrive and more fun with that boat, plenty of power to pull a tuber on the Gulf. There was the 2 of us and then we'd have my daughter, husband and grandson, my son and then grandma some days it got crowded but when we left grandma home we had room and had lots of fun.
We moved up to the 220 Sundeck with the 8cyl and that was really nice, but again cost a lot more, only because the family increased. We went 2 more boats, 2 foot itis before stopping at a 260 sundancer for overnights. If you are going for just the zipping around and pulling someone on a tube or skis go with the 185 V6, if you're family is growing you can always trade up to the next size like we did. Good luck1
 
I purchased a 2010 185 with the 4.3 v6 and LOVE it! We just got back from Aquapalooza a little bit ago and had a blast.

I admit that having one of the larger cabin cruisers would have been nice to just sleep for the night there but I really like the 185 for its size and ease to trailer at the end of the day.

I also purchased mine through the Costco deal. I felt the price was good for a brand new boat.
 
What is the typical costco price for a 185? I am in Hawaii so i'm sure mine will be higher but it might be worth spending the $50 for a costco card.
 
The costco price took little over $2000 off the boat I believe, I'd have to look at the paperwork to be sure but I believe it was at least that much.
 
Sorry this is my first post I should have intoduced myself first but this topic is exactly what I was looking for. Im in the market for my first boat. I want a 185 with a v6. marinemax quoted me 25,900 for a '10 185 with a v6. I have NO idea if this is a good deal.
 
Thanks everyone for your replies and advice, I actally landed on a 205 Sport with the 4.3 MPI. There's more room with the seating plan I found and I figured the arrangement would be better for fishing. Best I could figure out the Costco price is supposed to be 13% above the dealer's cost.

Tony
 
on the 2006+ 185 sport -- is there ANYONE that has it inside a std garage - id love to see that. Someone on here was posting that the 175 and 185 is close, but i thought it was like 18" difference -- i have yet to find anyone with it inside the garage.. help.
thanks
 
My garage is 25' x 25', which I figure is bigger than the normal garage you'd find on a typical track home. My 185 fits easily into it with room to spare. My best guess is you'd need at least 22' of garage depth to pull straight in and have clearance. This also assumes a swing away trailer tongue.
 
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