92 Searay 180 bowrider

[Mainiac Boater]

I am recently in the market for a general recreational type boat capable of carrying 6-8 passengers and capable of skiing /tubing. I have come across a 92 Sea Ray 180 bowrider with a 4.3L mercruiser. Owner claims it is in like new condition with less than 50 hrs of use and always maintained. Also, it has not been used since 2005. If claims are true, will this boat serve my needs and is it worth the $5000 asking price? Anything specific to look out for when inspecting the boat?

 

[sewerrat]

Re: 92 Searay 180 bowrider

Hasn't been used for 5 years??
In that case, hire a professional to inspect it for you

And I'm guessing it won't suit your needs if you want 6-8 passengers, because I believe the capacity is only 7, which means 6 passengers. For 6-8 passengers you should be looking for a deck boat or something around 20'

 

[Mainiac Boater]

Re: 92 Searay 180 bowrider

Thank you for the reply. Any comments about that era sea ray and/or the 4.3l mercruiser in general?

 

[BeaufortTJustice]

Re: 92 Searay 180 bowrider

18 years and only about 50 hrs of use? If it is exactly what the seller describes, then it may be worth it, but I would be concerned with how it was stored. Improper long term storage of a boat can be just as detrimental as long term use. If it was garage kept and covered after a proper "winterization" then you may be good. If it was kept out behind a barn under a tarp...you know the rest.

I would have an initial look to see if it is as good as advertised on the surface and go from there...definitely consider a professional survey.

Obvious thing to look/feel for is soft spots in floor or evidence that the floor has been recently redone (which could hide rotten stringers and such). If floor has soft spots then you can almost guarantee other structural components have water damage, such as the transom and stringers.

There are a hundred other things to look for that would be obvious to a professional, so if it passes your test, then hire one.

Also, if someone has had the boat that long and hardly ever used it, then they are probably not too emotionally attached to it and may be open to some negotiation on the price...then again, they may be thinking "I've had it this long, I can wait for the right buyer to come along and pay asking price."

You might get a feel for which is the case by talking to the seller a bit and asking some questions.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: 92 Searay 180 bowrider

if you want to carry a lot of people comfortably in a small boat, the bow rider design is the worst. You want something large, open, wide with high freeboard.
There's the deck boat/pontoon but they have their limitations.
Center consoles
Some dual consoles
Rig it yourself skiffs
A boat that is rated for X people is better suited for X-2.

 

[Mainiac Boater]

Re: 92 Searay 180 bowrider

I should have clarified carrying 6-8 people. 3 or 4 of these passengers would be children and 8 would be the absolute max on few occasions. 2 adults and 3 kids would be the normal limit.

 

[indy440]

Re: 92 Searay 180 bowrider

An 18' bow rider is very well suited for 2 adults and 3 children. I have a 17 foot and have had 5 adults and 1 child and it was only a little cramped, not bad at all though.

 

[Subliminal]

Re: 92 Searay 180 bowrider

My neighbor has a 97 Sea Ray. The other day we were looking around and pulled up the removable part of the floor and everything was dry as a bone with NO rot. And this is a boat that's been outside its entire life. Basically, other than some scuffs and stains, it's in primo condition. If this boat is in like condition, I'd say $5000 wouldn't be a bad deal at all.

Most older boats of that size don't have an hour meter on them. At this point, with no hour meter, the PO can say it has 5 hours or 5000...don't mean anything. I've had my boat since May and I've put 25 hrs on it already...and that's once a week usage with a majority of the time we're on the water the engine is off and we're swimming. 50 hrs...I could have that before winter!

The 4.3 is a pretty reliable engine, from what I understand. Old school Chevy technology...can't get much easier.

Our boat is a 18 footer. I have the 'sport seating' which is 2 seats on either side of the motor a captain's chair for me and a lounge chair for the passenger side.

I can comfortably fit 2 in the bow, myself, 2 in the back and a passenger. 6 people is totally comfortable. My neighbor's Searay is an 18 footer with an outboard, a bench in the back, two lounge seats and the bow. He can comfortably fit 2 in the bow, two facing the windshield, 2 facing backwards and 3 or 4 on the back bench. That's 9 or 10 people...which probably exceeds the boat's capacity...and it would get crowded when people tried to move around a bit more.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: 92 Searay 180 bowrider

i had an '88 SeaRay 19' Bowrider(actually 18' hull + swimplatform), with a 4.3LX Mercruiser. I disagree with some of the posters. A bow rider is a very good style of boat for what you want to do. My SR had two back-to-back seats, two jump seats and seating for 4 kids in the bow. Putting the kids in the bow is the best place, for several reasons. The driver can easily watch them, and the ride is the roughest, so it beats the snot out of them, and makes them easy to handle.

Look over that boat carefully. My SR had some real quality deficiencies in certain places, and some real quality in other places. The floor, for example, was heavily glassed in the driver seat area, and had just some resin over the plywood in the stern. Obviously the rear of the boat floor rotted out.

In addition, my SR had a quality problem under the ski locker floor. The ski locker floor was supposed to support the keel, however, the scribed plywood keel rotted out, over the years, and the keel collapsed when I jacked it up for painting. The hull also cracked along one of the strakes. I suspect the hull was not properly foam filled, or it never would have done that.

On the positive side, the hull was a good design, rode fairly dry, and had enough power to waterski with 6 adults in the boat. You needed to put everyone on the bow, and it handled like a barge, but it could be done.

 

[jmarty10]

Re: 92 Searay 180 bowrider

Mania - I have an 18' larson open bow with a 4.3. Its me the wife and three kids (10,8,7) Perfect for the family but thats about the limit. Excellent power for tubing/skiing. Get a boat surveyor/prof. inspection and negotiate down since you will probably have to put some work into it from sitting for 5 years. Good luck

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 92 Searay 180 bowrider

Where are you located? In my area $5k for that old of an 18' would be WAY overpriced.

 

[Begester]

Re: 92 Searay 180 bowrider

I had a 1994 SeaRay 180 Signature Bowrider and it was a great boat. I had the back to back seats and then 2 seats on each side of the engine cover as well as the bow seats, I could fit 8.

I had the 5.0 V8, which I'm glad I did. I never had any problems pulling wakeboarders out of the water even with a full boat. Might be something to think about.

I agree with the poster above that said to get a professional survey done, its the best $250 you'll spend on the boat. Its the only way I'll ever buy a boat.

Cheers.

 

[Mainiac Boater]

Re: 92 Searay 180 bowrider

Thanks for all the info. This boat is in Maine. The owner recently confirmed that the boat was winterized in 2005 and it hasn't been touched since. I might pass on it for that very reason. I think any motor sitting for that long, even in a heated garage, is likely going to have at least minor issues to get it back in working order.

 

[IES99]

Re: 92 Searay 180 bowrider

Thanks for all the info. This boat is in Maine. The owner recently confirmed that the boat was winterized in 2005 and it hasn't been touched since. I might pass on it for that very reason. I think any motor sitting for that long, even in a heated garage, is likely going to have at least minor issues to get it back in working order.

Don't give up unless it is too far away for a drive. Still, I wouldn't buy it without a detailed inspection, a sea trial (which means the owner has to get it running for you).

If he won't get it running so you can try it out, but the boat itself seems solid, offer a very low price (which is all this nearly 20 year old boat is really worth: say, $1500). You might get lucky and find that the engine is in decent shape.

 

[pokman]

Re: 92 Searay 180 bowrider

I got a 17ft Rinker bowrider and 5 people is decent, 6 people is pushing it. It's not so much the people but all the other stuff you bring that ads up. 6-8 people look for a bigger boat. The price is spot on for what you would pay around here in WI. Like others say a full checkover is needed. Good luck.

 

[Mainiac Boater]

Re: 92 Searay 180 bowrider

Many people have mentioned having a professional inspection performed. Who would I approach to perform such services? What should I expect from such an inspection? Keep in mind, we are talking Maine here, where what we consider big cities would be considered quaint suburbs in many other states. Would dealers that don't deal in Searays perform inspection services?

 

[Mainiac Boater]

Re: 92 Searay 180 bowrider

I looked at the boat and decided to pass. It definately looked to be in good shape (not quite like new but very good) and probably worth the money but he had the hoses off the motor and had no intention of starting the motor prior to selling. I couldn't take a gamble like that.
Sooooo...back to the advertisements.