Newbie Question - looking at 2001 Sea Ray 182 vs 2008 Stingray 185 LX

[mermer99]

New to boating but I love boats! I'm looking at a 2001 Sea Ray 182 BR for $9K or a 2008 Stingray 185 LX for $11K. Which is a better boat as far as maintenance and resale down the road?

The Sea Ray has the Mercruiser 4.3 V6 190 HP with 384 hours and is being sold by a dealer. The Sting Ray has the 3.0 Volvo Penta with 160 hours; this one is a private seller.

Thoughts on both boats? Thanks!!!

 

[SkiGuy1980]

First thing... make sure you read the stickys at the top of this section regarding buying a new boat.

Make sure you consider how you are going to use the boat (how many on board, what activities - skiing/tubing/fishing, is there a bimini, is the 18 footer big enough for your needs). In my opinion the 18 is a good size starter boat if there's enough room for you and your crew.

I also think that condition of the boat/engine is the primary consideration rather than brand. That said, I've always liked the fit/finish on the Sea Ray. I had the 4.3L Merc with the Alpha drive on my last boat (early 90's model). That engine was always a strong performer! I really liked the combination.

The price for both models seems a little high (at least for late August in the midwest). But, you can check that out a bit on NADA guides.

Best of luck! Dave

 

[wahlejim]

Will you be doing the maintenance yourself or through a shop? Penta mechanics are becoming harder to find. Both engines are good engines and strong performers. The difference between makes:

Sea ray is heavier, better ride in chop, better fit and finish.

Stingray is built light for speed, doesn't handle chop very well. Minimal fit and finish.

It all depends on how you plan to use the boat. Above all, condition condition condition. As Dave mentioned above, prices will be dropping very soon in colder areas of the country. There are better deals to be had after labor day when owners decide whether to winterize or sell.

 

[mermer99]

Thanks for the input. I'm leaning towards the Sea Ray. I know dealerships have some markup and hopefully stand behind their sale.

 

[tpenfield]

:welcome:

the age difference makes the comparison a bit difficult.

the key advantage of the Sea Ray is the engine, but being 7 years older, may have more issues.

 

[jkust]

I'll just assume each look like they just left the showroom floor and that each is in absolutely perfect condition and spare you the now cliche, condition, condition, condition discussion.

Stingray is a budget boat in every class it is manufactured. Their hook of course is their hull design allows you to go faster with less power but at the expense of ride quality and generally the fit finish and materials are on par with the low price point. So for example while my 24 foot boat goes just under 60mph, I can tell you that I rarely go wot long but appreciate its ride quality every single second. So I'd take a slower boat but one with better ride quality which would put a Stingray off the list ignoring the lower quality interior than I'd be interested in, in the first place. Bluntly then, a 3.0 would not meet the lowest expectation and so would be a non starter as well. The 4.3 is massively more powerful than the 3.0.
The Sea Ray then is almost an orange compared to an apple as it, if my recollection is correct, is still a 90's design hold over meaning wood floors and glue down carpet right before they went to modern construction of fiberglass floors and less wood. I'm not comparing to the Stingray here but just the fact that glass floors started to be the norm in the early 2000's.

If I were you, I'd be looking at something as new as the Stingray but something that isn't Stingray ride quality. All that said, I would take the Sea Ray and its 4.3liter.

 

[wahlejim]

Thanks for the input. I'm leaning towards the Sea Ray. I know dealerships have some markup and hopefully stand behind their sale.

I would not count on any sort of warranty, maintenance items, etc being covered by a dealer. They are probably brokering the deal and are selling it as is unless specified otherwise. I would assume that they have it running good enough to sell and that is it. As soon as the papers are signed and tail lights leave the driveway, its your problem and yours alone.

I am in agreement with others who mentioned the carpeted floor vs fiberglass floor. There are plenty of good bowriders available with glass floors and snap in carpet, with the 4.3 in the $10k range.

 

[mermer99]

I would not count on any sort of warranty, maintenance items, etc being covered by a dealer. They are probably brokering the deal and are selling it as is unless specified otherwise. I would assume that they have it running good enough to sell and that is it. As soon as the papers are signed and tail lights leave the driveway, its your problem and yours alone.

I am in agreement with others who mentioned the carpeted floor vs fiberglass floor. There are plenty of good bowriders available with glass floors and snap in carpet, with the 4.3 in the $10k range.

Thanks! Give me some ideas of bowriders with fiberglass floors....

 

[wahlejim]

Pretty much all of the manufacturers from early 2000s forward started with the glass floors. I think that Mariah, Crownline, Chapparal and Cobalt started in the late 90s

 

[mermer99]

I emailed Sea Ray this morning and the 182BR is built with a fiberglass floor and stringer system. They stated this type of construction began for all Sea Ray Sport Boat models in 1997. The interior carpet is glued to the floor.

Is this the type of flooring you recommend? Thx

 

[briangcc]

The problem with glued in carpet (beyond trapping moisture for a long period of time) is that when its worn out you get to scrape/grind/cuss the old stuff out and then you're stuck with either re-gelcoating/painting the floor OR gluing in new carpet OR spending big bucks on a pad/foam solution like Seadek.

Personally I'd look for snap in carpet over glued in.

 

[jkust]

Nope, you want the superior fiberglass diamond pattern floor with snap in carpet. No need to bother with a 90's boat and technology when it is 2018 and there are a million small bow riders on the market that have the next Gen state of the art. Under 20 foot bow riders are the dime a dozen class which is great for lake boaters. Sea ray started producing their 'Sport' line of small boats which unfortunately for most of the 2000's and been a low point for them as they are extraordinarily low end for the money they charged when new. The 'sport' line started just after your subject sea ray. You had to go to the slightly larger smallest boat in the signature line to get even 50% of what competitors had in their small boats. Sea ray really dropped the ball on their smaller boats for many years in the 2000's They thought you'd buy their Toyota and move up to their Lexus when other brands gave a Lexus that just happened to be smaller.
Of course large Sea Rays are great boats.