18' Sea Ray

[oldtiger]

I have been looking at a 1996 18' OB, with a 135 Mercruiser IO. Boat is very clean, but seems like it might be under powered, with 4 adults. Owner wants $5500, NADA lists at $4800. Is this worth the money?

 

[cmcpherson]

Re: 18' Sea Ray

Hard to tell about the value, it is an excellent boat and the 3.0 is a great engine. Many will tell you that it is underpowered, you won't find that boat with any other engine and there are a lot of those boats around so apparently, I am not the only one who thinks the engine is ok. Is it the fastest or does it have the most power, no but it will run forever!

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 18' Sea Ray

My uncle has a '95 SeaRay 175 with the 3.0 and it performs very well with 4 adults. In fact we were just out in it last with 5 adults and a child and were going around 40MPH and it felt fast out of the hole. He bought his boat new, has used it HARD ever since and it has been relatively problem free. He does A LOT of watersports with it as well.

 

[Suddzies]

Re: 18' Sea Ray

I own a 96' Sea Ray 175 with the 3.0 four cylinder and think it performs well. We ususally have six adults and while the boat is crowded, I would not say underpowered. Most of the time we wakeboard and the motor has no problem pulling people up. We have an aftermarket staneless prop and the boat tops out around 38 with six adults and the huge cooler needed to hydrate them. With just me and the wife, I have seen 43 (speedo, not GPS).