I have an 2004 Sea Ray 185 Sport with the 4.3L, has been a great boat for the last four seasons. I change the oil, drive lube, and fuel filters every spring and that is it (sits in a heated garage in the winter so no winterizing). Plus, it is fun to wakeboard in January and see the look on people's faces when you get out your ski gear and it is 40 degrees.
Anyway, I looked at all the major brands and at that time Sea Ray was the best boat for the money. No wood in the boat, nice stainless steel trim, heavy snap in carpet, and a hull that is bonded/glued to the topdeck (fiberglass weld). Other brands had wood floors which can rot, cheap (thin) carpet and the top decks were just screwed to the hull--can have leaks and feel loose in heavy chop. I got a good deal with the options I wanted ($5000 off sticker) and got a trailer with brakes. This spring the oil pressure sender crapped out and $100 later the boat is back to being trouble free as always. The 4.3L goes all day pulling adults on one tank of gas which now is about $100, I was told not to run any ethanol blends as Mercruiser has had some fuel injection problems which it can be hard to find gas here without 10% ethanol. I weigh 205 and I can get up on a single ski no problem. My only problem is I don't have time to use it as much as I want and wish we could make the lake every weekend like we used to. I am just under 200 hours now and we put 110 on it the first season.
Good luck hunting as there are some great deals on lightly used boats now as people are bailing or moving up. The only thing I messed up on was not getting a tower as now I wish I had one for wakeboarding--yes I could add it but it is $2k for a factory tower and I would have to change my bimini top. Here is a picture from the winter when I decided to wakeboard during every month.
