Owned a 1999 C*C 248 Express for a couple of years. Despite the ups and downs of Chris Craft over the years, I found that vintage to be fine. A little spartan compared to Sea Ray and some others, but construction was very good. OMC (Chris Craft's owner at that time) used high quality materials and screwed it together very well. Mine had a single 5.7 V-P duo-prop and loved it. The SX series were very good outdrives. Robust and mechanically simpler than Merc Bravos.
As with any boat going on 20 years old, however, current condition is a lot more important than who built it or how well it was built when new. The best boat out there will turn to water-soaked mush if it wasn't taken care of. Do your due diligence- get a survey and mechanical inspection. Good luck!
Solittle, I've owned 2 express cruisers- the Chris and a 27' twin engine Four Winns. Never had any particular issue with exhaust fumes.
Lakesailor, you'd be best off starting your own thread in the Volvo Penta forum here. It's bad form to hijack another poster's thread.
My .02
