Buying a Sealine S28

Dino

Dino

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Hi folks,
A friend is keen to upgrade from a Bayliner bowrider to sportscruiser around 26-30ft. I acting as a consultant as he knows very little about boats. I narrowed it down to a Jeanneau Leader 805 or a Sealine S28. He loves the Sealine and it ticks all the boxes for him. We have come across two nice boats, one a 1999 and the other a 2002.
Is there anything we need to check on these before the survey? They have 2 x KAD32’s which I’m told are the best option. It will be used inland, mainly on the lake and river.
Is there a difference between 99 and 2002?
Anything else we need to look for?
 
Leader 805 is a nice boat, main negative is the canopy (a disaster to put up).

Sealine S28 again a nice boat, but be sure to get the face-lift model... blue dash and nicer interior (Think early 2000's these came out)
 
S28 all day long. The Leader is OK, but not in the same league as the Sealine IMHO. Although there was a minor facelift as mentioned, the differences are not important enough to pass up a good older one over a rough newer one. Buy on price, condition, service history, cleanliness etc etc, rather than age. Engine hours are better to be slightly high than stupidly low. Average around 50 hours a year and anything above that is getting high and below that is low. Personally I wouldn't worry unless it had averaged less than 10 hours a year, or more than 100 a year, over its lifetime. So somewhere around the 1000 hours mark is probably about right for a 20 year old boat. Having said that, I bet the hour meters won't be working on the ones you look at :D
 
Of those two no question, the Sealine S28 every time. Worth asking on the Sealine Forum as there are many owners on there.

We bought an S34 last year having looked at an S28 - wanted a cheaper smaller boat than our previous one to potter about in. S28 is great but at 6’5” it just wasn’t going to work for me so ended up with the S34.

KAD 32 is a good motor and a boat that size will go well - to put it into context our S34 has the same engines and goes okay.

I agree with other comments - buy on condition and history as opposed to age. As far as engine hours go I agree that low isn’t necessarily good but high is also not necessarily bad. Very few leisure engines will ever wear out. Our S34 had around a 1000 hours when we bought her - a 2004/5 boat.

No particular issues to look out for as far as I am aware.
 
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S28 all things being equal, except they're not.

You'll get a much newer 805 Leader with a far cheaper to service and fuel D4 for the price of the older S28 with a pair of older (tech as well as age) KAD 32s.

Which is better? If you've plenty of money the S28. If you're on a budget the newer 805 with a single more modern (far) more efficient D4 is the way to go.

Horses for course and all that.
 
ari said:
S28 all things being equal, except they're not.

You'll get a much newer 805 Leader with a far cheaper to service and fuel D4 for the price of the older S28 with a pair of older (tech as well as age) KAD 32s.

Which is better? If you've plenty of money the S28. If you're on a budget the newer 805 with a single more modern (far) more efficient D4 is the way to go.

Horses for courses and all that.
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Not sure I agree with that. Servicing costs may be reduced in the short term with a single D4 but look at longer term costs with electronic common rail diesels. KADs much simpler and DIY engines and costs for a service of an additional engine not massive if you do it yourself and if course all the benefits of twins (redundancy/manouvreing). I would also say that getting a much newer Jeanneau for the money speaks volumes :)

As you say though, horses for courses and all that - each to their own :)
 
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Hi
If these are the same price...there should be no doubt really. It’s the S28 any day of the week.
The Kad32 engines are great wee things. Only bettered by the larger option 6 cylinder versions.
Defo stay clear of the fewer found and likely earlier mercruiser diesels or perhaps not likely AD engines.
Plenty power in the wee kad32 twins and what a boat for it’s size.
 
ari said:
a pair of older (tech as well as age) KAD 32s.
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Older tech is not necessarily a bad thing . The kad engines are relatively simple to work on for routine service as I have found since starting to do my own service work a couple of years ago. I have found servicing quite enjoyable as well as saving a significant sum which is (in theory) held in reserve for any more challenging work which may require professional input. The is no plug in computer diagnostic stuff to worry about.
From what I have read the older VP engines including kad32's are more robustly engineered than the later D4 .

The kad32 pictured below is 16 years old (from commissioning of the boat in April 2003) and not looking too shabby if I say so myself. I don't consider the boat or the engines to be old but as they have hardly had a hard life.
 
Give me a Kad over a newer D series any day. The issues with early D3s, the steering ram problems in the attached DPH drives, the injector problems on the D4/D6 and the endless reports I hear of limp home error messages springing up. Couple this with computer fault code reading and clearing using software that is not available to the owner and I think my last boat will have KADs in it.
 
I've owned both KAD32's and D4's.
There are upsides and downsides to both.

KAD32 can be a bit smoky on a cold start, and is a little less refined.
The engines are very solid, but do look out for worn turbos and exhaust pipes, clogged elbows etc. I think my main concern with these would be the outdrives, which are getting old now. I know of one S28 owner that has put 2500hrs on the original drives, but I suspect he takes them off, brings them into the house and sings to them every now and again.

D4 doesn't smoke at all, and sounds smoother and quieter. Also uses less diesel than an equivalent HP KAD.
But it is a more complex engine - mine has been good, but electronic glitches would require a dealer, and there have been issues in the past with steering rams, props, gear actuators, and the cooling system, which is prone to silting up.

S28 is a great boat - ours went on several MBM cruises. For it's size, it does very well. Facelift versions with the blue dash are more desirable, but that does mean that the pre-facelift versions are correspondingly cheaper. There is nothing particular to look out for - just general condition, hatch leaks etc: ideally you want one that has been loved. Also consider Fairline Targa 29.
 
CLB said:
Give me a Kad over a newer D series any day. The issues with early D3s, the steering ram problems in the attached DPH drives, the injector problems on the D4/D6 and the endless reports I hear of limp home error messages springing up. Couple this with computer fault code reading and clearing using software that is not available to the owner and I think my last boat will have KADs in it.
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Most faults can be cleared using the EVC control panel on the dash - some codes also throw an English message, some give you a bunch of technical numbers that require you to refer to a list. If the fault won't clear, it usually either means there's a duff sensor that needs replacing or an actual fault that would need a dealer to sort out.

.
 
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Greg2 said:
Not sure I agree with that. Servicing costs may be reduced in the short term with a single D4 but look at longer term costs with electronic common rail diesels. KADs much simpler and DIY engines and costs for a service of an additional engine not massive if you do it yourself and if course all the benefits of twins (redundancy/manouvreing). I would also say that getting a much newer Jeanneau for the money speaks volumes :)

As you say though, horses for courses and all that - each to their own :)
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Big 'if', not everyone either wants or has the ability to confidently maintain or service marine diesel engines and outdrives.

Either way, twin engines double the cost of everything. Outdrive trim rams go, you know darn well the rams on the other leg are going to be next. Injectors need doing? You've doubled your costs. Double the service costs even if you do it yourself, both need oil changing, both need bellows changing, both need anodes.

And there's no doubt that everything else being equal, an older engine/drive is more likely to throw up issues than a newer one, so not only have you doubled your costs, you've increased your chances of incurring those doubling of costs.

That's not to suggest that twin engines are bad at all, and neither are older boats.

Ultimately they are all a compromise, my point is just that, when looking at a secondhand boat, going for the older boat with two engines over a newer single engine boat is not a 'no brainer' because you're increasing your costs considerably.

For those on a budget (most of us!), it's not automatically a good move.

But I agree with you, each to their own, it will make sense for some people, just as going for a newer single will make more sense for others. :)
 
ari said:
Big 'if', not everyone either wants or has the ability to confidently maintain or service marine diesel engines and outdrives.

Either way, twin engines double the cost of everything. Outdrive trim rams go, you know darn well the rams on the other leg are going to be next. Injectors need doing? You've doubled your costs. Double the service costs even if you do it yourself, both need oil changing, both need bellows changing, both need anodes.

And there's no doubt that everything else being equal, an older engine/drive is more likely to throw up issues than a newer one, so not only have you doubled your costs, you've increased your chances of incurring those doubling of costs.

That's not to suggest that twin engines are bad at all, and neither are older boats.

Ultimately they are all a compromise, my point is just that, when looking at a secondhand boat, going for the older boat with two engines over a newer single engine boat is not a 'no brainer' because you're increasing your costs considerably.

For those on a budget (most of us!), it's not automatically a good move.

But I agree with you, each to their own, it will make sense for some people, just as going for a newer single will make more sense for others. :)
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Don't disagree at all, but there are a few S28 with single engines but usually older. Won't be as quick to plane etc but I would consider one with something like a kad44.
 
MartynG said:
Older tech is not necessarily a bad thing . The kad engines are relatively simple to work on for routine service as I have found since starting to do my own service work a couple of years ago. I have found servicing quite enjoyable as well as saving a significant sum which is (in theory) held in reserve for any more challenging work which may require professional input. The is no plug in computer diagnostic stuff to worry about.
From what I have read the older VP engines including kad32's are more robustly engineered than the later D4 .

The kad32 pictured below is 16 years old (from commissioning of the boat in April 2003) and not looking too shabby if I say so myself. I don't consider the boat or the engines to be old but as they have hardly had a hard life.
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Really 16 years old, or a historic photo from when your boat was new?! That engine and bay looks immaculate - kudos to you sir!
 
Not in quite the same league as Martyn, I don't bring in my engines and sing to them.
9 Year Old D4s.

qIdSCU.jpg
 
Bigplumbs said:
You are aware that it is not normal to have an engine bay that clean don't you
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I don't see why not. Seems like part of good boat management to me.
It is not like I am obsessive about engine bay cleaning. Once clean it isn't particularly hard work to keep it that way. Little and often is the way.
 
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