Would you be afraid to buy an 02' 320 with a rebuilt engine

C6 Doberman

New Member
Jun 10, 2009
106
ga
Boat Info
2004 320 Sundancer
Engines
Twin 350 Mag. V-Drives
I am looking at an 02' 320 that Marinemax has. They are asking 79k for the boat w/ 270 hours on one engine and a new engine on stbrd side. The wife is concerned that the boat is old. I don't really consider an 02' that old but you know how women can be since we currently have an 05' boat that is much smaller. I plan on having a survey before I purchase but do you think it is a waste of time to even consider the boat? They want to move it bad because they have had it since the end of 07'. Any input would be great or if anyone knows the boat. It is in Pensacola, FL

By the way......Hello!
 
I am looking at an 02' 320 that Marinemax has. They are asking 79k for the boat w/ 270 hours on one engine and a new engine on stbrd side. The wife is concerned that the boat is old. I don't really consider an 02' that old but you know how women can be since we currently have an 05' boat that is much smaller. I plan on having a survey before I purchase but do you think it is a waste of time to even consider the boat? They want to move it bad because they have had it since the end of 07'. Any input would be great or if anyone knows the boat. It is in Pensacola, FL

By the way......Hello!

We just purchased a 2002 320 that looks like new inside and out. It had 209 hours on it when we bought it. We were extremely happy to find this boat in such great condition. We love it!

Unless you have deep pockets, 79K for a 2002 320 is a steal as long as the boat is in great condition. Remind the wife purchasing such a boat, if you have a successful survey, will leave enough money for her to pick out a new car of her choice. Perhaps there would be still some money left to go clothes shopping and also to buy numerous pairs of shoes.

Always remember the "smile factor". If the boat makes you smile and the deal makes you smile, then you should buy it.
 
There are many things that can fry a motor. Neglect is usually a huge contributor.

in this case I would be concerned because the "other" motor probably had the exact same maintenance history right up until the moment the first motor failed.

Nobody is going to tell you the TRUTH on why the first motor failed. They will probably tell you "it spontaneously overheated and died". . . .but they won't tell you that the water impellers had never been changed. They might tell you it had a manifold leak and the engine injested water. . . but they won't tell you that the existing motor still has the original risers, manifolds and gaskets and is probably ready to fail 20 minutes after you fork over the money.

If you do proceed, you need not only a SURVEY but a MECHANICAL SURVEY. The Mechanical survey would be performed by a Mercruiser Tech, and would include compression tests. Exhaust inspection by dissassembly is also not a bad idea, but at the age of this boat, the risers, elbows and manifolds are probably due for replacement regardless. See if you can't get this into the sales price (it is a bit more than pocket change)
 
Most likely, this one experienced a water in the engine mishap due to the exhaust manifolds. MM in Pensacola is suffering just like all the other dealers with big floor plans.....higher interest rates and loan calls on old inventory. The conditions are right to steal this boat since they most likely have to pay off their floor plan immediately.

The interesting part of all this is that you are close enough to a very good Sea Ray dealer (90 miles in Panama City) with technicians that have completed all schools and are certified, not only that, they absolutely know their stuff. If this were my boat to survey, I'd pay the 3 hour travel time to get the mechanical survey done by pros.
 
I live in Atlanta, Ga so it isn't that far for me to go and look at the boat. I told the salesman that I wasn't going to waste my time or money to go to Fl. unless he could show me the service history of the boat. MarineMax has put about 21k into this boat. Appears that the manifolds have been replaced along with anything that seawater has touched. The original customer had the first problem with the engine in 04'. Stated that the engine had no power and would not rev past 4000 rpm. The list continues down the road to valvetrain noise and blue smoke. At that point MarineMax rebuilt the engine that was a cost of $5900. Several get coat repairs. Been issues with the Genset overheating. I really want a 320 and this one is prices right but I don't want something I am going to be working on all the time. I'm just curious if it is worth having the survey done.

Here is the boat



http://www.marinemax.com/Page.aspx/diid/1193432/list/InventoryList/pageId/85/view/Details/2002-Sea-Ray-320-SUNDANCER-EXPANSIVE-CABIN-AREA.aspx
 
Is it new or rebuilt??? The president of Jabsco said something like the biggest problem the rebuild biz has is finding rebuildable blocks. Get a 36 month or 500 hour guarantee signed in blood.
 
Dude.............get in the car!



Is there a better way to spend a weekend than going to the beach? I think this boat is cheap for what it is and its equipment. I suspect the only reason its priced this way is that MM needs to get it off their floor plan now. Also, some boats had aluminum manifolds that were sea water cooled. They lasted 2-3 years in salt water. When they failed, the engine got water in the cylinders. If it stayed in there a week the usual fix was a valve job and perhaps a ring job. The engine doesn't bother me at all, as long as you get a full mechanical survey including a compression check before and after running under load.
 
Last edited:
Concur with Frank...that boat looks to be nicely optioned for an '02. Looks to have a Raymarine C80 and radar, and likely a Raystar 125. Also looks to have a cockpit fridge. Seems clean.

Things to ask about:

FWC or Raw water cooled (I'm guessing the latter)
Condition of the canvas

Even if you have to replace all the canvas, that looks to be a great price. FWC/RWC might be a bigger deal - get a survey. No Smartcraft but it is easy enough to add if you want it. Tell your wife all 320's no matter what year differ only in trim and minor options like flatscreen TV's in the later boats.

Good luck!

-CJ
 
Keep the ideas coming. These are the things that I want to hear. I'm no electronics guru since my 05' crownline has nothing. When you say radar do you mean GPS or weather radar? I'm going to submit an offer tomorrow on the boat. I want to make sure I can get the numbers where I want them before I drive 7 hours to fall in love with a boat that I can't get where I want numbers wise. The hard part of the deal is my trade since I owe about what the market will allow for resale. Tried hard to sell but no luck. I know they are already losing money on their boat so what would you suggest as a starting point for an offer?
 
....When you say radar do you mean GPS or weather radar? ....



It’s neither. It’s a gizmo that makes objects like buoys, land or even other boats appear as a blip on the screen.

This gizmo is often on boats.

Its primary purpose is collision avoidance.

It can also be used for navigation, looking at weather and fishing via finding where birds are miles away from you. The theory behind using radar for fishing follows the logic that birds eat fish. Find birds and you will find fish.

Personally, I use radar only for collision avoidance. Oh and to keep up the illusion that I am inteligent,……intellegant,……smart!
 
Last edited:
Thanks for clearing that up! I don't think I would use that much on my lake in Georgia. It would be fun to play with though!
 
I think you could get it cheaper. Down in south florida I got 2 different guys 34 searays. one was a 2005 200 hrs for 95k. and the other was 2006 80 hrs for 115k.
also the 350 mpi's never had aluminum manifolds on them. the 8.1's had them. I can find out exactly what was done to it, just pm me.
 
Sorry - as Presentation already explained the radar, I won't cover that, but the C80 is a very nice chartplotter (displays radar/charts/other stuff) and the Raystar 125 is the GPS (sends position data to the chartplotter and VHF radio). The VHF looks to be a Ray215 - had one in my 320DA from the factory, didn't care for it but on a lake it should be more that enough.

You can use the radar to "see" weather (rain), but it's not TV news quality - if you want that you can add an XM weather module that will display weather info on the chartplotter.

-CJ
 
I am using the weather on my blackberry now so it can't be any worse than that. Anything is better than nothing. Not really an issue on the lake though. It's never too far to run back to the marina! I hope they will get the price right so I can run down this weekend to take a look at it. I would love to make a stop in Ft Walton Beach to grab some seafood!
 
sorry to hijack this, but CJ, what VHF did you put in place of the 215? That's what came on my 2005 320 and I want to replace it but not sure which radio to get...

Barry
 
I swapped in an Icom 504 unit this spring. First unit crapped out Memorial Day weekend. However, since I had bought the unit from BOE, Jim took very good care of me. So far the second unit is working fine. Sound quality is vastly better than the old Raymarine unit. In talking to Icom, it seems the failure I had was very rare.

Be aware the hole size is different. I was cutting new holes in my helm anyway to put in a new C80 chartplotter, so it was no big deal. In fact, it is what pushed me to upgrade - I couldn't bring myself to cut a hole for a radio (the original Raymarine unit) that I didn't care for.

-CJ
 
As Frank says, get a mechanical survey. If you know why that one engine failed, you can look for those causes in the other engine too. See if the new engine has a warranty and for how long. As previously stated, i'd imagine the older engine needs manifolds and risers by now. I'd also make sure that new belts and impellers are on both engines (i'd hope they would be on the new engine, but you NEED to be sure). If you are mechanically inclined, you can purchase the riser kits and do it yourself if the older engine needs it.

270 hours wouldnt scare me at ALL. You just need to know what you are look at as far as maintenance records and the results of the engine survey. Look for cylinders with low compression. For the price they are asking, if you got a clean (or even mostly clean) survey, i'd buy it. Well worth the smiles you'll have all summer aboard her.

Good Luck!
 
I doubt they're going to be interested in a trade that you're nearly upside down on.
From what Frank says, they're probably making little or nothing on the boat to begin with and just need to move it.
I'd ask the question before making the trip.
 
They know about my trade. Made me an offer I can almost live with. I know I am going to take a hit but its ok since this boat has some room for negative equity.
 
C6 first I would take up FlFlatRates offer and PM him.

Then if you are close in price I would recommend the following. Get a good structual and mechanical survery. Compression minimal maybe some oil analysis if you want... Get records on new impellers, risers, elbows. Check the hoses and belts, etc...

Use the results of the survery to have MM correct any issues that come up and do any maint items that would affect you this season. You then get to keep their price and you get some more items fixed that you would have had to pay out of pocket.

As others have said I too would never consider an 02 too old!!!! The boat looks to be in great cosmetic shape from the pics. I am sure there are some items to be taken care of.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
112,943
Messages
1,422,703
Members
60,927
Latest member
Jaguar65
Back
Top