Making an offer, dealing with Marine Max, etc

I looked at 2 Cruisers and several 99-02 32/34/36 Sea Rays over the weekend. If we did go Sea Ray it would have to the the 03+ 340, love the lines and layout. Figure 50 hours per year on the engines. Although not a lot of hours, especially for a diesel, the safety and significantly less fuel burn would be nice. When I repowered by boat the 454's ran great, gave me 21knt cruise but my use of the boat was limited due to range. What I saw when I put in diesels was a 27knt cruise and unlimited use of boat due to range. MPG went from 0.9 to about 1.5. Although I wouldn't be limited by range with the Sea Ray it's still approaching 30-32gph and 0.8mpg whereas the diesel Cruiser would be 1.4-1.5mpg.
 
I would go for the Cruisers at 90k with diesels. It's a bigger boat and has the diesels. It seems like a win/win for you.

Doug
 
SeaNile said:
I looked at 2 Cruisers and several 99-02 32/34/36 Sea Rays over the weekend. If we did go Sea Ray it would have to the the 03+ 340, love the lines and layout. Figure 50 hours per year on the engines. Although not a lot of hours, especially for a diesel, the safety and significantly less fuel burn would be nice. When I repowered by boat the 454's ran great, gave me 21knt cruise but my use of the boat was limited due to range. What I saw when I put in diesels was a 27knt cruise and unlimited use of boat due to range. MPG went from 0.9 to about 1.5. Although I wouldn't be limited by range with the Sea Ray it's still approaching 30-32gph and 0.8mpg whereas the diesel Cruiser would be 1.4-1.5mpg.
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Very good logic... I like the PDQ Cat boats myself for which get over 5 MPG on twin yanmar diesels on a 34' boat, but they are hard to find under $400K used... Its all about supply and demand... You may find it very hard to get a diesel boat for the right price in the condition and age you want... But I hope you find it... There is a 38, 1999 Sea Ray aft cabin with diesel in Summers Point for $149K, and it only has about 60 hours on each engine...
 
SeaNile said:
...I'll admit....I'm a PITA with this and have been jumping all around on my thoughts, etc...

Thanks again.
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You need to reboot. First how many miles not hours of boating do you plan to do? I have a similar sized boat to the 340 and I have consumed about 200 gallons of gasoline since I put the boat in the water on March 26th. I have put almost 40 hours on the boat since that time but I spend most of my time at 8 mph not 24 mph which is why I used so little fuel. Why because my wife and I find it more relaxing to cruise at 1,500 rpm than 3,500 rpm and we have no destination to get to. If you are concerned about spending $1,000 to $1,500 on gasoline you need consider another recreational endeavor. Second, Marine Max is not the only entity selling Sea Rays. There are number boats in your price range offered by other parties. I am assuming you will have the boat surveyed since even the MM boat is brokered. Third there is a Cruisers 3870 docked right next to me and it is not that bad a looking boat and has an extra 2 feet of beam which gives it a much larger cockpit area than my boat. This to me would be a better reason to consider this boat not the money you would save on fuel because it is a diesel. Finally, if you really prefer diesels over gas because of performance and fuel safety, then this should be your guiding light in making your decision not simply fuel economy.:smt021
 
Wayne's World said:
You're getting the panicking attacks !!. Slow down and you'll find the boat that will fits your needs. :thumbsup:
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Absolutely correct. An acquaintance in Atlanta searched the entire country for over a year for "the" boat. He found it 11 slips from where he sold his previous boat.

This economy and subsequent buyers market ain't going anywhere for awhile.
 
Just a thought here, but if you have been looking at 1999-2003 340's why not take a look at a 1998-1999 370? I just bought one to replace my 340 and couldn't be any happier with the choice! Got into it in the price range you are looking at and have the extra beam and width to make a BIG difference. In buying a boat this size fuel efficiency, by nature, is down on the list a ways as far as priorities are concerned. I was looking for what made me smile and fit our needs. There are some great buys (depending on where you are located) on 370's out there and maybe you ought to take a look at that...just sayin'...

Good luck with the current offer on the table, but if that falls through it may be worth looking at.
 
HavnFunYet? said:
Just a thought here, but if you have been looking at 1999-2003 340's why not take a look at a 1998-1999 370? I just bought one to replace my 340 and couldn't be any happier with the choice! Got into it in the price range you are looking at and have the extra beam and width to make a BIG difference. In buying a boat this size fuel efficiency, by nature, is down on the list a ways as far as priorities are concerned. I was looking for what made me smile and fit our needs. There are some great buys (depending on where you are located) on 370's out there and maybe you ought to take a look at that...just sayin'...

Good luck with the current offer on the table, but if that falls through it may be worth looking at.
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I like the way this guy thinks:thumbsup: Makes him smile... Me too, love the look of the 370... It is definitely not the mini van of boats... I like the Cruisers, but they don't make me "smile" like a Sea Ray... :smt009 I have a Meridian across the lagoon from me, I like that too, but no smile... :smt009 Only your mechanic sees you diesel, but everyone sees you boat... I guess everyone can smell your diesels... :smt101
 
I realize my wish list may be absurd but I am sticking to it until proven wrong. If I am to buy a Sea Ray, a gas Sea Ray, it needs to be 2003+. Just like the lines, etc. Spent all day Sunday looking at numerous 1997-2002 Sea Rays and none of them did it for me. Not sure why as some were in amazing condition. 6.2 gas engines is a no-no as well. So it just all points be in the direction of a diesel Cruisers. I admit..I like the Sea Ray layout and lines of the boat better, and if they made the 2003-2008 340 with diesels it could be the perfect boat for me. For now, I have to ride out this offer on the Cruisers and see what happens. If this first deal falls through there is a beauty of a Cruisers in FL but how am I going to negotiate on a FL boat, do the survey, fly down and check it out and then factor in the transport cost. Not even sure how I would get it up here. By water is a lot of fuel, hours and opportunity for something to go wrong. By truck...is that even an option? FL boat has 1000hrs on Cat diesels.

I will part with this comment for tonight....in all the 20+ years I have been boating I have not met one boat owner with diesels who wished they had gas. I have however, met dozens of gas boat owners who wish they had diesels. Hell, I was one of the gas boat owners who had a major case of wanting diesels. Repowered with Cummins, spent a total of $1000 in actual repairs (replace fuel pump by mechanic) over 5 years and other than filter and oil changes those engines started up on a 1/2 crank and I just loved them.
 
SeaNile said:
I'd be completely happy with the 340 Sundancer but the gph is a bit high for me. I only boat around a 15 mile radius of the marina but burning 30gph adds up quickly. The restaurant is really only 8 miles away, but a saturday trip to and from the marina (lets say 20 miles) and then a Sunday trip to the river to anchor and swim is about 12 each way. So a weekend of joy riding would be about 50-60 miles...so figure 75 gallons at $3.70 is over $275. In my other boat with diesels I would do the same trips numerous times and put in 150 gallons over the course of the season.
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I am in the process of looking for a larger boat and I was going back and forth on the gas/diesel issue. For the relative short distances you are considering I do not feel the added expense of the diesels is warranted.

You will spend more for the diesel boat and more for maintenance and repair unless you are able to do some maintenance yourself. I feel your 30 gallon per hour rate is a bit high. I have carbureted 454s and I only use about 28 GPH at 3000 RPMs. I believe your fuel injected 8.1's should do better. Plus it looks like you live in the Northeast so that means your boat will be out of the water for 6 months.

Now if you feel you will do several trips per year of 75 miles or more by all means....look into the diesel boat.

But, you can buy a lot of gas for what you will spend to go diesels.
 
Actually, SeaNile, I'm surprised you had to give this much thought.
You have the comfort level with diesels. The smell of diesel and the turbo whine is in your blood. For cruising boats, bigger is always better (who DOESN'T want more living space?). I'll take (and did in the past) an older, diesel boat over a newer, gas boat every time.

Don't forget about the diesel "safety" factor, and resale as well. Good luck!
 
What a PITA this is becoming. The broker we met on Saturday only works weekends. We called (my broker actually) on Tuesday am with an offer. The message from the weekend broker was "that offer os so low the bank won't even call us back so I am not even going to present the offer...I'll have the owner call you tomorrow (Wednesday)." Here we are Thursday pm and no word from the broker yet. We called 6x today and just got VM. Dod they want to sell this boat or what? At the least I would expect the offer to be presented to the bank and a counter offer be presented to us. We will see what happens tomorrow but why would I expect tomorrow to be any different from today. I predict no progress....
 
Here is an opinion from the peanut gallery............

The broker is obligated to deliver your offer to the seller and give you an acceptance, a counter offer or a formal rejection and return your deposit.......if you made a valid offer. By that I mean a properly executed contract and a deposit for the boat. Absent the written contract or the deposit, there is no valid offer.

If the the offer was vaild and the broker responded the way you indicated, then he's trying to get you to raise your offer before he takes it to the seller.

If the seller is a financial institution, then be sure you have a drop dead date and time at which you recind your offer. Banks selling forclosed assets are famous for holding an offer while trying to leverege any other deal against it.

Your leverege with the broker is the Florida boat which is identical and much nicer. And, buying a boat in Florida does have some travel cost involved, but we do have some very skilled tradesmen and surveyors down here to help with the process. I know a great Caterpillar guy in So. Fla as well as a good hull surveyor. Boat yards are everywhere and most are very competent.
 
Even if the bank or owner were to respond with the asking price they still need to respond with some sort of counter. How do they know you wont go up to it eventually?

I would probably move on. Are you working with a broker or just speaking with the broker that has the boat listed, I'm just a little confused by what you said in the last post.
 
I originally did not have a broker and wanted to look for boats on my own but the broker at my marina insisted I use her and she will not take a fee. According to her "every buyer needs to be represented because the selling broker does not have your interest in mind" so I agreed to let her do the calling, contacting, arranging the visits and she will provide the contracts and make sure everything is OK. She even said she does not expect to be cut in on the deal because I already spoke to the selling agent. Anyway, she comes very highly recommended by at least 5 people (and that is in just 3 days time) and seems to be the real deal. I wouldn't buy a boat at this point and not get/give her something even if directly from me.

She recommended the initial price and quickly realizes the selling broker salesman is not motivated as his answer to questions was "I'll call around tomorrow and see what I can find out" and that was immediately challenged with "why not call right now, we want answers, have an offer will visually inspect by Friday, survey by Wednesday and close on Friday." her point is when dealing with a bank and repo specifics make the deal move forward. Don't kick the tires and be non specific. Give them an offer and specific dates on the process to move towards a quick close. I like that approach. Of course our offer is based upon visual inspection, sea trial, survey and mechanical survey...so I have plenty of outs if this boat is a total POS.

Hope to hear some more news tomorrow. This boat with 420 Yanmars is a good deal if the price is right.

My broker said to absolutely not go with a check, etc. How do I get my broker to up her game? We can't even get a return phone call at this point...

Found out through a little internet searching the FL boat is a two boat owner. New boat was documented on July 10, 2010 and have an email dated on July 20 asking if there had been any action on the Cruisers for sale.
 
Just found the boat info via documented vessel search, does not show who the bank is who now owns the boat. Is there a way to figure it out?
 
SeaNile said:
Just found the boat info via documented vessel search, does not show who the bank is who now owns the boat. Is there a way to figure it out?
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Be careful with this possible transaction :wow:
 
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