Official 280 Sundancer Thread

Id also like to know how to remove the panel at the end of the mid berth. I have seen the pics like the ine u linked to showing it removed but how? I have removed the screws along the bottom but its pind in by the trim strip that runs along the top of the aft partition and the panel on the forward partition. tried pulling and bending it as hard as I could but its as though the end panel was put in first then the other trim put in aftwards butting up to the front of the rear panel stopping it coming out.

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aquaaddiction said:
Id also like to know how to remove the panel at the end of the mid berth. I have seen the pics like the ine u linked to showing it removed but how? I have removed the screws along the bottom but its pind in by the trim strip that runs along the top of the aft partition and the panel on the forward partition. tried pulling and bending it as hard as I could but its as though the end panel was put in first then the other trim put in aftwards butting up to the front of the rear panel stopping it coming out.

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Mine comes out easily after removing the screws but I remember Henery Boyd had a situation similar to yours, maybe he will offer some tips.
 
Hey Everyone,
Took a 2nd inspection and put a deposit down on an 08 280, twin 4.3 alpha drives. I had a couple questions as I was inspecting the boat....

First off it was on blocks during Sandy and it came off the blocks and it has some cosmetic damage. They are going to fix all of that including replacing both starters and giving a 3 year warranty on the boat. Heres what I found on my own before getting a survey done:

Inside the aft cabin screen was broken, the hatch screen/night shade doesn't hold that well. There was a a couple inches of water under the stairs. Not in the bilge box but just sitting outside around it. Even a little leaked out onto the rug. I couldn't pull the tv out, is there a lock on that? The rest of the interior was really clean and I check for stains, tears ,etc...

Outside I noticed the seat that collapses was ripped of the sliding rail. How would that happen? The rail was actually stuck and I finally got it to slide but the seat itself was not attached to it. I'm confused on how that happened unless someone really dumb pulled so hard it ripped the screws out. I noticed a fiberglass crack on the engine hatch as well.

Anything else specific I should look for? I will be testing all electronics etc... + sea trial next
 
Water in the bilge could come from the shower bilge pump not working or a leaking port light. Turn on the shower and see if the pump works. Fixing leaks is a pain in the a@@ so I wouldn't buy the boat with a known problem. Insist that they fix it.
There is a latch to release to TV inside the opening at bottom of the slide out tray.
 
Hey Jim,

Is that not normal at all for water to be in there? Because the box didn't have water in it, that bilged out. There was water outside the box which I thought maybe the box overflowed, but that does not look like it. Where does that water go? will it drain into the engine bilge from there or it is a sealed locker? When I asked the dealer he said that it was rain water, and when the boats are out on blocks and the angle isn't right it can collect in there.
 
It is a sealed locker. You will have to vacuum it out with a wet/dry vac. If the boat was not covered wind driven rain could enter around the cabin door. Otherwise it could be a port light issue. Floating off the blocks is a big red flag. Make sure you triple check for damage. Sounds like this boat has some issues. Just make sure the price reflects the problems that you need to correct
 
Woody said:
Mine comes out easily after removing the screws but I remember Henery Boyd had a situation similar to yours, maybe he will offer some tips.
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It seems the post 2002(?) 280s have a different set up for the panel at the foot of the mid berth. I say 2002 because that's what we have, it could easily cover later models. Our 280 is also a Phoenix plant boat (HIN - SERA), and this may also be one of the other Phoenix design quirks (like different canvas) that is not related to age.

I have tried to remove mine at least four times, and short of snapping the panel in half, it ain't coming out. One of the trim strips need to come out to allow the panel to be pulled in the berth area.

Henry
 
Water under the stairs is a common problem. Given the boat went through Sandy, the most logical possibility is that the port lights leaked. But it could be from poorly bedded bow rail mounts, a slightly distorted joint between the top half of the hull and bottom (caused by being on stands and blocks). Any water that comes in from the ports will drain into the sump area.

The wetness on the carpet is because the carpet goes under the stairs and is folded over the forward lip of the sump hole. If the water in the sump gets too high and wets the carpet, it will wick out into the living space.

If there are no signs of previous wetness to the carpet, or old water staining around the ports, I'd be thinking about chalking this up to a one time Sandy related issue.

If you want to know more DaveS has published a very detailed study of this problem on his 260. It is quite old, but the material is still valid and given the common components and construction methods equally applicable to the 280.

Henry
 
susanandlance said:
That boat might be more trouble than it's worth, look it over w/a microscope
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saopm said:
It is a sealed locker. You will have to vacuum it out with a wet/dry vac. If the boat was not covered wind driven rain could enter around the cabin door. Otherwise it could be a port light issue. Floating off the blocks is a big red flag. Make sure you triple check for damage. Sounds like this boat has some issues. Just make sure the price reflects the problems that you need to correct
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I agree with both of these comments. I have been looking at a lot boats lately and the Sandy boats may not be worth it and you may not notice the damage for a couple of years when things start to corrode prematurely from the salt or crap out because of silt infiltration.

Be sure to ask if the plug was in during the storm. Many of the boats that I have passed on had the plugs out and the bilge got flooded. No visible damage when it drained and dried but it will a huge issue later due to the salt and silt.

There are a TON of good 280's on the market.... you might be better off looking elsewhere....unless they are asking well below $50k for an '08 that went through the storm.

Sandy....save now, pay later.
 
Thank you for the responses. I have been looking for a 280 for a couple months but really I need to trade my 240 so that landed me at mostly marinemax's. Plus they are so close in case I have any issues. Couple things to address:

-Price-yes this is a huge factor- this boat was a trade in in Late August, listed at an outrageous 94k. Then the storm hit - they just recently had this boat sold but the purchaser could not obtain the proper financing and had to back out. Then a salesperson said around 79k which I will not do either. Now that we all know that this boat was damaged they are going to come up with a new price. Manager said,"it will be well below market".

-Damage- The damage is mostly on the port side exterior and some on the bottom by the drain plug. It is all scratches and fiberglass chips. Nothing has penetrated through the hull but a couple to the gel coat. No chip is larger than a 2 inches. They had a before and after picture of the boat. It was on blocks-drain plug out, it floated about 15 feet away and wedged itself around a telephone pole. When I went into the engine bay I could see the water line and it just came below the starters. They offered a 3 year free extended warranty the boat. They had already started the engines and there wasn't any issues. They had 13 boats at the dealer come off there blocks and none were totaled and surprisingly they say, an no one can explain, none of the engine/cabins flooded. They had about 5 feet of water in the showroom and outside where the boat was and it was really peaking for a few hours during the storm and then the water went down and the boat rested down without leaning on either side on some sand. The boat was not shrink wrapped or winterized before the storm. They did that after. It did have its regular cover on though. They guaranteed anything wrong would be fixed before sale.

-Sump pump- so if im reading everything correctly there is a chance that the water came in from one of the port lights and made its way to that area. The boat is not pitched correctly right now so its not going to drain backward. Also, this water I would assume is recent though because the carpet was wet right under the stair seam, and the water was not flooded enough in the locker area when I saw it yesterday to overflow. I know it rained earlier in the week, which tells me this is leaking in currently from somewhere.
 
TheBigb said:
It was on blocks-drain plug out, it floated about 15 feet away and wedged itself around a telephone pole. When I went into the engine bay I could see the water line and it just came below the starters. They offered a 3 year free extended warranty the boat. They had already started the engines and there wasn't any issues.

The boat was not shrink wrapped or winterized before the storm. They did that after. It did have its regular cover on though. They guaranteed anything wrong would be fixed before sale.
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I wouldn't touch this boat with a 10 ft. pole. The reason they offered a 3 year warranty is because you won't start to notice the damage until after this time. Floating with the plug out? No way. Engines aside....the electrical will be shot before 3 years and I am sure they won't warranty that.

Also it wasn't shrink wrapped during the storm and got soak during the whole thing?? Rain water and salt water pounding it....I can see why there was water in there. Again, I would not trust the electrical. I would open the panel under the helm and look at the terminals from behind to see if there is any visible corrosion at this point.

For reference....I sold my 2008 280DA for $75k last July and it was MINT, fully loaded with a generator...better than the day I bought brand new.
 
Totally agree w/Tonka, I wouldn't trade my old 2001 280 even for that boat, sight unseen.
 
Even before Sandy my surveyor over lunch told me horror stories of different boats he has seen over the years. People go to great lengths to cover up problem boats including redoing the complete interiors, etc. It takes a sharp surveyor to see the clues. On my latest boat he was suspicious because the cabin area was almost too clean. After very close examination he was able to tell it was original Formula interior.
He says boats will claim to be fresh water only and are not. He confirms it by title search. If he is suspicious of some paper trails he will use the GPS data base and stored routes to confirm the boats history.
Now is not the time to buy boats with a unknown or suspicious past.
 
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hmmm, let me see what they come back with the price. They said I could also pick any marine surveyor and they will pay for it... Maybe that will shed some more light.
 
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Two thoughts. Its all about price. Iyorf you get enough of a discount to offset the known and unknow problems then consider it. On the surveyor, find one that doesn't alot of business from the Marine Max dealer in your area.
 
JimT said:
Two thoughts. Its all about price. Iyorf you get enough of a discount to offset the known and unknow problems then consider it. On the surveyor, find one that doesn't alot of business from the Marine Max dealer in your area.
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Hey,

One that does do a lot of business with Marinemax or does not? I'm assuming does not so there is no relationship that could be a conflict.
 
Yes, you want a surveyor that doesn't do a lot of business with the dealer.
 
One other questiong that comes to mind. If this is at a Marinemax, why isn't it pitched correctly on blocks? I would assume they know how?
 
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