Unsure whether to buy 240 sundancer or a 280.

Georgia SeaDog raises a great point about personal comfort--I'd test out the sleeping arrangements just like if it was a mattress store. Get into both the v-berth and the mid, with and without your wife. If you're not comfortable, well....do you want separate sleeping quarters? And do you want to sleep with a dog and/or a kid regularly as the family expands?

And CV-23 raises a great one, too: although plenty of recreational boaters never get bit by wide/oversized permit requirements when trailering, it's a risk once you exceed an 8'6" beam. http://www.boatus.com/magazine/trailering/2012/march/interstate-trailering-tips.asp. If you plan to trailer often, a smaller boat = a smaller beam = lower risk of authorities doing courtesy checks!

Mine has an 11' beam so I consider it lake-locked and pay slip fees year round--had to calculate that into my budget when shopping.
 
We just traded our 06 240 for an 01 340. One of the biggest reasons we changed was because of space. Its just me, the admiral and the dog and the 240 just got cramped for us very quick. We owned the boat for about 15 months and traded. We ended up enjoying staying out so much that we were out 2-3 day every weekend.

Like others have said, buy the biggest boat you can afford to own and drive. Just be aware of the added costs when going bigger, I see a lot of "dock queens". If its feasible the 280 would be a great boat. If I had gone that route instead of the 240, I'd probably still have it. You'll also love the twins! loving them on my 340.
 
Hi everyone. I wanted to follow up since my last post. Thanks again for all your comments/suggestions and thoughts, truly invaluable!

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!
 
Any Sandy damage? Did the previous owner submitt a claim for damage, and what was replaced... 400 hours is not a lot... Also, I assume the exhaust was replaced after they failed, causing the head damage... Do a compression check... When was the last time all the rubber, trim sender, and RW pump changed? That is about 2K in LI if it needs to me done...
 
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***Edited because I hadn't read that you decided on a 270****

Since you decided on a 270 here is what I have to say about only having 1 engine. With a wife and two small kids, I would rather have 2 engines, just knowing that I can limp back home if something happened would help put my mind at ease. This weekend I had an incident with a crab pot that had me super concerned since it was pitch black at night. Turned out no damage occurred so I lucked out.

If you make an offer be sure to make the offer contingent on a satisfactory survey. Even if a survey costs you a few hundred dollars, it can possibly save you thousands. I just watched a youtube series on a long time boater who didn't get a survey on a SeaRay... Bought a boat then found he had water damage throughout the stringers in the entire boat. He had to completely rebuild the entire boat essentially. While this was in his skill level, it was not something that would have happened had he gotten a survey. Big problems can be easily hidden to even people who know what to look for.
 
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+1 for a good competent surveyor. Wife and I bought an 06 260DA this past May. Found the "perfect for us" one after looking hard for 6-8 months. Low hours(173) with good maintenance can be good or not so good. I have all records of oil changes and other maintenance. Boat is in the shop right now getting an oil pan change. Thus far, after 28 hours additional, that is our only problem. We had a full OD service done as part of the negotiations along with the few things the surveyor did find. We had an excellent surveyor that also brought in a certified mercruiser mechanic to check out the engine as well as the generator. Compression checks on all along with oil analysis and other things. Having a "buyers" surveyor that knows what he is doing and that you can trust is worth every penny. We spent a good 10 hours including sea trial and all looking things over. I asked him a million questions and got good answers to everyone. I had a note pad and took good notes the whole day. The PO was so impressed with this surveyor, he used him to survey his new boat. I have always had "go fast" bass boats, this being my first "big" boat. Your initial challenge will be docking. Take it slow. Practice where there are few to no distractions or objects-just a dock. Have your fenders out and just take it slow. I am no expert by any means,but I definitely have gotten the hang of it. Read and study the threads and posts on here and ask questions. I have asked 100 questions and have received 1,000 answers. Everyone is willing to assist with whatever you may ask. It made no sense to me to reinvent the wheel when I had access to 1000s of years of experience that was willing and able to help. Good luck on your search!

Bennett
 
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