2003 340 what to look for

[villain style]

Hello

I'm looking at a 2003 340 this weekend. Can someone tell me things to look for when I do a visual inspection. How was this year? Options that this boat should have for convenience. What is the good and bad? It has 8.1 Horizons V-Drives 800 hours, Smartcraft and from original owner. Also its been lift kept.

Thanks..

[Kreole Kid]

Is it an early 2003 or late 2003. Reason I'm asking is because I believe SR changed the styling of the boat that year. Earlier model had the more flat bow and later model had a more curved bow. I really don't know about the interior layout on the earlier model because when I bought mine I was focusing on 2004 and newer. After I purchased her I found out about the mid year model change.

Any Hoot, a generator and a windlass anchor are a must have for a boat this size, IMHO. Also a GPS chart plotter and Radar with Sonar comes in real handy too. Good Luck

[villain style]

Is it an early 2003 or late 2003. Reason I'm asking is because I believe SR changed the styling of the boat that year. Earlier model had the more flat bow and later model had a more curved bow. I really don't know about the interior layout on the earlier model because when I bought mine I was focusing on 2004 and newer. After I purchased her I found out about the mid year model change.

Any Hoot, a generator and a windlass anchor are a must have for a boat this size, IMHO. Also a GPS chart plotter and Radar with Sonar comes in real handy too. Good Luck

It is the later model style...

[Kreole Kid]

Villain, I'm no way an expert at this, but that boat sounds like it was used a lot, which can mean good things. See what kind of maintenance records the PO has and ANY other records you can squander up. After all, it IS about the maintenance being done properly. I have heard that the 8.1's do not have the water intrusion problems that the 7.4's had because they came with the stainless steel risers on the engines. You might want to lurk around the thread titled "340 Sundancer Thread" and see what issues some of us may have had in the past. This thread relates to the exact year and model boat you are looking at...

[CJ Martin]

We are nearing 800 hours on our mains and when we splashed yesterday, both engines started right up and ran great. The most important thing is the maintenance history of the boat. I have records of everything ever done to the boat, and all major mechanical work was done by a reputable yard. Get a survey, I highly recommend http://previtimarineconsulting.com/ - Mike Previti has surveyed many SeaRays and knows what he is doing.

Best of luck, the 340 is a great boat.

-CJ

[SeaRide]

Here are a couple of links from Frank Webster regarding the Merc. 8.1, which are well worth reading.

http://clubsearay.com/showthread.php...aust+manifolds

http://clubsearay.com/showthread.php...ht=Fuel+cooler

[sporters78]

great boat! tight engine space to work on

[villain style]

Thanks for the tips everyone...