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Older Sea Ray boats???

Old 07-22-2020, 09:25 PM
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Default Older Sea Ray boats???

This is a question for you boat owners out there. My brother in law and I are looking into a very used boat. We have a family property on a river in Illinois and want something for pulling the kids skiing and tubing. Right now all we have is a pontoon boat (my parents) and a sea doo wave runner. Every boat we’ve liked on boat trader the last few days has been bought before we could get to it.

Anyway, there is a 1998 Sea Ray 190 Bow Rider for sale that looks decent. My bro-in-law said at one time Sea Rays didn’t have a very good reputation, and I was thinking it was Bayliner that had the bad reputation back in the 80’s and 90’s. I’m not asking for anyone to solve our dispute, but does anyone have any good reliability information about late 90’s early 00’s Sea Ray boats? It has a 5.0 liter, mercruiser EFI engine and looks well taken care of from the pictures. They’re asking over $12K which is high according to NADA. I don’t want to waste anyone’s time negotiating the right price though, if I’m setting myself up for a headache.

Does anyone have any experience with 20ish year old Sea Ray boats, if so I’d love to hear it. Feel free to PM me or post here. Thanks.
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Old 07-22-2020, 09:38 PM
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I've owned a 1997 190 quite a few years ago and it was good to me. Currently have a 2004 Sea Ray Sundeck 240 love the boat. Won't ever have anything smaller.
Make sure that it was serviced regularly and winterized if you live in a region that it gets cold. Ask if the impeller has been changed recently. Could still have the original and you would want to change it out. Hook it up to a good set of muffs and water and run it.



Originally Posted by Big E 757 View Post
This is a question for you boat owners out there. My brother in law and I are looking into a very used boat. We have a family property on a river in Illinois and want something for pulling the kids skiing and tubing. Right now all we have is a pontoon boat (my parents) and a sea doo wave runner. Every boat we’ve liked on boat trader the last few days has been bought before we could get to it.

Anyway, there is a 1998 Sea Ray 190 Bow Rider for sale that looks decent. My bro-in-law said at one time Sea Rays didn’t have a very good reputation, and I was thinking it was Bayliner that had the bad reputation back in the 80’s and 90’s. I’m now asking for anyone to solve our dispute, but does anyone have any good reliability information about late 90’s early 00’s Sea Ray boats? It has a 5.0 liter, mercruiser EFI engine and looks well taken care of from the pictures. They’re asking over $12K which is high according to NADA. I don’t want to waste anyone’s time negotiating the right price though, if I’m setting myself up for a headache.

Does anyone have any experience with 20ish year old Sea Ray boats, if so I’d love to hear it. Feel free to PM me or post here. Thanks.
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Old 07-22-2020, 09:43 PM
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Originally Posted by JSDL View Post
I've owned a 1997 190 quite a few years ago and it was good to me. Currently have a 2004 Sea Ray Sundeck 240 love the boat. Won't ever have anything smaller.
Make sure that it was serviced regularly and winterized if you live in a region that it gets cold. Ask if the impeller has been changed recently. Could still have the original and you would want to change it out. Hook it up to a good set of muffs and water and run it.

Thanks! I appreciate the info.
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Old 07-23-2020, 12:57 AM
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Originally Posted by Big E 757 View Post
This is a question for you boat owners out there. My brother in law and I are looking into a very used boat. We have a family property on a river in Illinois and want something for pulling the kids skiing and tubing. Right now all we have is a pontoon boat (my parents) and a sea doo wave runner. Every boat we’ve liked on boat trader the last few days has been bought before we could get to it.

Anyway, there is a 1998 Sea Ray 190 Bow Rider for sale that looks decent. My bro-in-law said at one time Sea Rays didn’t have a very good reputation, and I was thinking it was Bayliner that had the bad reputation back in the 80’s and 90’s. I’m not asking for anyone to solve our dispute, but does anyone have any good reliability information about late 90’s early 00’s Sea Ray boats? It has a 5.0 liter, mercruiser EFI engine and looks well taken care of from the pictures. They’re asking over $12K which is high according to NADA. I don’t want to waste anyone’s time negotiating the right price though, if I’m setting myself up for a headache.

Does anyone have any experience with 20ish year old Sea Ray boats, if so I’d love to hear it. Feel free to PM me or post here. Thanks.
I have a 2001 Sea Ray 185 bow rider. You are correct, it was Bayliners that were/are suspect, I wouldn’t touch a Bayliner. PM sent.
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Old 07-23-2020, 03:25 AM
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Seems very high for a boat of that age, but if it’s been well maintained, and as you’ve found out boats are hard to come by right now. Seems to be the Covid activity of choice.

Getting it surveyed would at least let you know what you were getting into.

If it comes with and you need a trailer, that can be a huge pain too. Not as bad in fresh water, but i’d still make sure all the lights work and ask when the bearings were last changed.
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Old 07-23-2020, 03:55 AM
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Originally Posted by Big E 757 View Post
This is a question for you boat owners out there. My brother in law and I are looking into a very used boat. We have a family property on a river in Illinois and want something for pulling the kids skiing and tubing. Right now all we have is a pontoon boat (my parents) and a sea doo wave runner. Every boat we’ve liked on boat trader the last few days has been bought before we could get to it.

Anyway, there is a 1998 Sea Ray 190 Bow Rider for sale that looks decent. My bro-in-law said at one time Sea Rays didn’t have a very good reputation, and I was thinking it was Bayliner that had the bad reputation back in the 80’s and 90’s. I’m not asking for anyone to solve our dispute, but does anyone have any good reliability information about late 90’s early 00’s Sea Ray boats? It has a 5.0 liter, mercruiser EFI engine and looks well taken care of from the pictures. They’re asking over $12K which is high according to NADA. I don’t want to waste anyone’s time negotiating the right price though, if I’m setting myself up for a headache.

Does anyone have any experience with 20ish year old Sea Ray boats, if so I’d love to hear it. Feel free to PM me or post here. Thanks.
The kids are going to want to wakesurf, which you can't do behind an inboard-outboard. I'd only look at inboards, myself. However, if the river isn't deep enough (more than about 12 feet), you can't produce a very good wave no matter what boat you have...so that angle would be moot.
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Old 07-23-2020, 04:16 AM
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Originally Posted by Big E 757 View Post
This is a question for you boat owners out there. My brother in law and I are looking into a very used boat. We have a family property on a river in Illinois and want something for pulling the kids skiing and tubing. Right now all we have is a pontoon boat (my parents) and a sea doo wave runner. Every boat we’ve liked on boat trader the last few days has been bought before we could get to it.

Anyway, there is a 1998 Sea Ray 190 Bow Rider for sale that looks decent. My bro-in-law said at one time Sea Rays didn’t have a very good reputation, and I was thinking it was Bayliner that had the bad reputation back in the 80’s and 90’s. I’m not asking for anyone to solve our dispute, but does anyone have any good reliability information about late 90’s early 00’s Sea Ray boats? It has a 5.0 liter, mercruiser EFI engine and looks well taken care of from the pictures. They’re asking over $12K which is high according to NADA. I don’t want to waste anyone’s time negotiating the right price though, if I’m setting myself up for a headache.

Does anyone have any experience with 20ish year old Sea Ray boats, if so I’d love to hear it. Feel free to PM me or post here. Thanks.
Bayliner's have the just derserved bad rep, not Sea Ray.

I'm guessing it is and I/O boat. If so, when's the last time the bellows was serviced/changed?

They tend to have wet transoms. Sea Rays are cored boats (fiberglass over some material - sea rays are glass over wood), they tend to rot from the inside out - especially their older I/O boats like what you're looking at.

Speaking of rot, the stringers - the things that run fore and aft along the hull (you'll see them looking thru a hatch or 2 below decks) - usually your engine will be mounted to them. Tend to rot as well on older sea rays.

12K is too much for that boat. NADA values for boats are just WAG.

If you're serious about it, low ball the offer and get it surveyed by a SAMS certified pro.
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Old 07-23-2020, 04:41 AM
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To me. That boat is worthless. You can get a brand new one for less than $40k. You can get one less than 5 years old in the low 20's. Having a boat break down every time you take it out sucks. Ruins whole day. Spend more money and buy something better.
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Old 07-23-2020, 04:52 AM
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Boat stands for
bust
out
another
thousand
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Old 07-23-2020, 05:08 AM
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Sea rays are fine, just very common and lower-end boats. You’re most likely looking at an alpha-one outdrive. They’re easy to work on and reliable at low (under 260ish hp) power levels. I’d definitely check the magnetic plug on the lower gear case for metal shavings (and water in the gear oil) before any purchase.

Also look for evidence that grease has ever been put in the driveshaft bearing (just in front of the transom, behind the motor at about the 2-o’clock position looking backwards). It’s hard to see and often missed in normal maintenance.

check that the trim gauge and limit switches function (that it stops trimming in the up direction with the trim switch, and needs a trailer trim to go all the way up. They’re fairly cheap but you have to basically remove the whole drive and gimbal to change them properly, so you might as well do a whole lot of other items while they’re out.

look for damage in the bellows (shift cable, exhaust, and driveshaft). Damage to the driveshaft bellow is a guaranteed gimbal bearing/u-joint job.

The other outdrive issues (gimbal bearings, u-joints, etc) are all fairly straightforward.

the 5.0 itself shouldn’t cause much problem if it’s running well and is well maintained. Hard to tell without seeing it, but if it doesn’t sound awful, looks clean, and runs strong during a test run... 🤷🏻‍♂️. bring a compression tester if you’re really worried.

Price seems pretty high, but if it’s in fantastic shape, I could entertain it
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