SeaRay boats

[torcano]

At my marina most of the other boaters have positive comments about my boat (240 Sundancer) and about SeaRay boats in general. Most of these other boat owners have Four Winns or Bayliners as these are the boats sold at my particular marina. I understand Four Winns is considered a quality boat as well. What are the factors that make one manufacturer considered to be superior to another? How does construction differ from these different manufactures?
RK

 

[oops!]

Re: SeaRay boats

a bizillion ways.....

materials.....even the resin they use is different from boat to boat.

as far as hull design, some are better than others, but in boats you gotta give somthing to get somthing.

im a big "ray" fan....the chaps and the cris crafts are also good.....

i think the one factor that really determins everything....is resale value.

the rays are constantly high...for a decently maintained boat.....

some manufactures...after a few short years, have boats with a very low resale value.......

i know im being vauge here, but we arent alloud to trash talk manufacturers, and any words said might be considered just that.....

i hope you love the ray as much as i love mine

 

[jaxnjil]

Re: SeaRay boats

i'v got a lot to learn about boats but i can tell you this; the fittings and apointments on my wifes searay are a lot better quality than the ones on my bayliner- stainless over aluminium and the ray has a lot better gelcoat than the bayliner also more features and wood on the ray and the fit and finish is better. i dont think this is a fair comparision the ray is newer. the bayliner is a "73" 1950 jamica tri hull 165 merc ib

 

[erlindbl]

Re: SeaRay boats

I know three people who have Sea Rays and all love them. Like was mentioned above they really hold their value. I would have bought one this past month but like a lot of manufacturers lately they no longer offer outboards on their 17-20 foot boats.

It makes no sense to me.....

 

[fishmen111]

Re: SeaRay boats

I agree. The larger Bayliners and Four Winns are good boats, but IMHO, SeaRay boats just seem to hold up better overall. Simple things like using the highest grade of marine wiring really come in to play a decade after salt water use when everything electrical still works. I have had several SRs over the years and they are just a better built boat in the I/O arena.

 

[freddyray21]

Re: SeaRay boats

I've got a 72 Sea Ray SRV 180 and it is still very nice. The stainless has held up much better than some of my friends chrome on their newer boats. Mine still shines up real well after all these years.

 

[oops!]

Re: SeaRay boats

I've got a 72 Sea Ray SRV 180 and it is still very nice. The stainless has held up much better than some of my friends chrome on their newer boats. Mine still shines up real well after all these years.

the boat in the hull extension thread is allmost identical to that one.

69 srv 190.....love the lines on the rays

 

[Mkos1980]

Re: SeaRay boats

My father has a 91 Ray and I have a chap. Sad to say but I think my dads ray is alot beefier and well built. Not that the chap is bad, but I see alot more through bolts vs screws and so forth

 

[j442w30]

Re: SeaRay boats

I have experience with several Sea Rays both good and bad. My grandfather owns a 1998 23 ft runabout with the 5.7 MerCruiser and Alpha drive. Nice boat for the money, a couple small problems mostly cosmetic, nothing that has prevented us from being out on the water. This is a freshwater boat BTW, the only major thing is the decals on the side have started to come off but this could be because the boat is in the water all summer and I think Sea Ray has gone to fully gelcoated solid colors in recent years in lieu of the vinyl decals.

My uncle has a 2001 240 or 250 Sundeck, not totally sure on the size or the year with the MerCruiser 350 MAG and Bravo 3. Awesome power combo and the boat has a very nice layout and they are very happy with it. I have to say that Sear Ray interiors are very well done, the vinyl and overall construction are high quality.

On the other hand my grandfather had a 280 Sea Ray Sun Sport cuddy in Florida for several years that was nothing but problems. It was actually a dealer "demo" that had almost every option and was powered by twin 350 MAGS with Bravo 1's. I am at a loss as to why they would even option this boat with Bravo 1's and not Bravo 3's other than price. There were numerous problems including the front deck rotting out which required Sea Ray to take the boat and rebuild the entire foredeck. The engines were constantly acting up and the wiring was an absolute mess. The boat was very stern heavy and it took a lot of throttle and heavy application of the trim tabs to get it onto plane but once it got going it would fly. My guess is since this was a dealer demo it was probably an early build model before Sea Ray could really work all of the kinks out. He owns a 26 ft Regal now that he loves.

I think Sea Ray builds good boats that are for the most part a cut above the average boat. I work for a company that does a lot of business with Sea Ray and we design a lot of items specifically for them that do not make their way to other boat companies within the Brunswick umbrella.

 

[torcano]

Re: SeaRay boats

Thanks for all your comments. I am very happy with my boat and I did notice that the thickness of the vynl seats is very thick and appears like new after 4 years. Also, the faucet in the galley sink is made by Grohe which is a top line manufacturer. Unfortunately, it is is dripping when closed. I just replaced the cermaic cartridge which I orderd from Grohe, but it still drips when the valve is closed. Does anyone had a similair problem? Any suggestions on how to stop the dripping?

 

[ovrrdrive]

Re: SeaRay boats

I just sold a Searay but the only reason I got rid of it was because we wanted to fish and the boat was just too nice to do that in.

When we were looking for boats, the only two manufacturers that had curves in the interior in their entry level boat was Montery and Searay. The rest just looked cheap and nasty to us. We finally settled on SR because of the fit, finish and reputation and we were never disappointed with the boat at all.


They make a very nice product...

We just replaced it with a Seapro which as luck would have it was bought out by the same company that owns Searay back in 2005 and they did a complete redesign of it at that time. Build quality appears to be on par with the SR and so far we really love it. I'm hoping that for us this new boat will be everything the old one wasn't.

 

[JCF350]

Re: SeaRay boats

IMO Better than the average mid tier. Never really been impressed with them but they seem to hold up pretty good.

 

[traderdavel]

Re: SeaRay boats

I'm not looking to start a war here, but the boats above are typically those mentioned. I am a new owner of a 1998 Monterey 276, (7.4 merc and bravo 3), and wonder what everyone thinks about them. According to my surveyor it receives high marks for fit and finish, but I do not see too many of them. Any thoughts? Again , not trying to bash any other boats, just wondering what the consensus was with my particular make.
Thanks,

 

[ovrrdrive]

Re: SeaRay boats

It came down to a Montery and the Searay for me but in the end I went with the Searay because of the reputation and resale. I was very impressed with the Montery boats when I looked at them and I almost bought one.