Any issues you have had with a 1995-6 Searay 370? It has 900hrs on Merc 7.4's, closed cooling, boat is freshwater. any positive comments welcome too. thanks
That model is I believe a solid fiberglass hull so no hull side core issues around engine vents but double check that. See if the risers have spacers to get them up as high as possible. Sea Ray had some water ingestion problems in that era due to risers that didn't rise enough... Do a compression check as part of your pre purchase inspection.
Indeed, they be had issues on some boats with water ingestion, apparently sea ray wasn't able to calculate the diffence between waterline and risers The biggest issue on these boats is access for maintenance. I remember looking at them in the late 90s and the 35/39 sea Rays were very hard to work on. Ended up scratching then off my list as you couldn't reach the generator. Unless under 5' and under 105lbs ... Other things like bilge pumps, water pumps etc... Can be hard to reach too. If vee drive, like most inboard express, check the shaft seal. If conventional they can be nearly impossible to service and if dripless make sure they have been serviced to avoid failure.
I'm assuming it's a budget thing by looking at a 20+year old Ray with gas. Low hours in the last few years could be issues also. Any maintenance history? Are you going to stay on the lake or head to real water? any positive comments welcome too. Nothing comes to mind.
There's a reason the Sea Ray Sundancer is one of the most popular and best selling pleasure boat lines ever built. They are very well suited to many, many, boaters intended use. And yes it's a fact of life that some maintenance and repair work on a Sundancer requires being comfortable while hanging upside down. There is a huge volume of late 1990's models out there (thanks in part to the home equity line of credit) and they're going to be around for a long time. At 20+ years old, as a buyer it's all about how well the past owner(s) of a particular boat, have maintained it.
If you really want or need the aft lounge / sleeping area, the Sundance Model is the way to go, but SR made the 370 in an Express design in that era (1997) which I prefer for the following reasons: 14' Beam versus 12' Beam Straight Inboard versus Vee-Drive Better diesel options You do lose the aft lounge and this can be the deal breaker, and is the reason why the Sundancer became the historic success it is. Side note on the creation of the Sundancer model - the SR factory sales GM saw the Skipjack 28 out west, with the aft stateroom and sliding windows located under the helm deck, brought the news back to the plant and the rest is history, as they say.