What is the Sea Ray Sundancer 320?
The Sea Ray Sundancer 320 is a 32-foot 9-inch fiberglass express cruiser. Beam is 10 feet 7 inches, draft is 41 inches, dry weight is 13,305 pounds, fuel tank is 158 gallons. Two engine choices. The sterndrive build uses twin Mercury MerCruiser 6.2L gas engines, 350 horsepower each, on Bravo Three X drives. This is the standard setup across most of the production. The outboard build, new for 2024, uses twin Mercury 350 Verado V10 outboards with Joystick Piloting, SmartCraft digital throttle and shift, and e-Steering included. More new buyers now ask for the outboard build because it has less scheduled maintenance.
The cabin is what makes this boat worth the money. Forward stateroom with a V-berth that converts to a queen. Mid-cabin berth that fits two adults, though if you try to sit up in there you bang your head on the underside of the cockpit sole. The headroom is sized for sleeping, not for hanging out, and it is the first thing first-time express-cruiser shoppers notice on a walkthrough. Enclosed head with a stand-up shower and an electric marine toilet. Galley with a fridge, two-burner stove, and microwave. 60-gallon freshwater tank, 38-gallon holding tank. The cockpit fits eight under the radar arch, with a wet bar and grill standard from 2020 onward. From 2021, the helm has triple Garmin GPSMap displays and Mercury VesselView. The 5kW generator and reverse-cycle AC are standard from 2020.
What's it like on the water?
The 320 has a deep-V hull and weighs 13,305 pounds dry, so it is steady at idle and shrugs off marina chop. Push the throttles up and the sterndrive build is on plane in about 6 to 7 seconds. Cruise at 34 mph and the boat is planted, burning about a gallon per mile. At wide-open throttle the twin 6.2Ls push it to 44.7 mph, and the helm is comfortable through the full throttle band. The sweet spot most owners use is 25 to 30 mph, where the boat is quieter and the fuel curve is better.
We took a 2021 sterndrive 320 out of Annapolis last fall in 2-foot Chesapeake chop. The boat tracked straight, no wandering on the throttle, and the deep-V kept spray off the windshield. The Bravo Three X drives with twin counter-rotating props give you clean low-speed handling, and you can spin the boat in place at the slip without a bow thruster. The outboard V10 build with Joystick Piloting makes that even easier.
We spent a summer night aboard the same 2021 at a Chesapeake slip in 90-plus-degree heat. AC on shore power for the first half of the night, on the 5kW genset after midnight. The boat was cool and quiet enough to sleep on. That is the spec that turns a weekend boat into a livable one, and it is the part owners talk about most. Without the generator and the AC, a hot July night in a slip is a different experience.
Who is the Sundancer 320 for?
Weekending families. Friday afternoon to Sunday evening on the boat, kids or guests aboard, a queen bed forward, a kid-friendly mid-cabin, a shower, a working galley, and AC for a hot summer night. The 320 is basically a one-bedroom apartment on the water. If your weekends are marina A to anchorage B to marina C, this is your boat.
Owners stepping up from a 28-to-30-foot bowrider or a big day-boat are the second group. You get the cabin and the systems a day-boat does not have, while keeping the cockpit room and swim-platform access you already use.
Coastal cruisers doing 50 to 100 hours a season on protected water and inland lakes are the third group. People hopping between marinas. The Sea Ray dealer network is wider than any direct competitor's, and we saw the value of that firsthand last summer: a 320 owner pulled into a transient slip in Annapolis with a fuel-pump warning on the dash, walked to the marina's Sea Ray service desk, and had a tech aboard the boat inside forty minutes. That dealer footprint is a big part of why the boat keeps its value.
It is not for you if you are a day-only owner. The cabin, the generator, the AC, the holding tank: you are paying for things you will not use, and a Cobalt 336 or Regal 33 XO does the day-boat job better for less money. It is also not for you if you want to trailer the boat home. At 32 feet 9 inches and 10 feet 7 wide, you are past most state thresholds for routine trailering. A tri-axle trailer plus a tow vehicle that can pull it is a $14,000 add-on most buyers do not see coming. The 320 lives in a slip.
Pricing
A new 2026 sterndrive Sundancer 320 is roughly $398,000 to $462,000 depending on dealer, electronics, and options. The 2024-onward outboard V10 build costs more. Current-year hulls with full electronics often pass $475,000 at the dealer.
The used market is wide. The first-generation 320 (2002-2007, with Volvo diesel or V8 gas options) averages around $131,000, but it is a different boat from the current generation and the tight engine bay is a known headache on those years. For current-generation sterndrive hulls from 2018-2022 with 200 to 500 hours, expect $172,000 to $268,000 on the broader market. The outboard build averages around $389,000 used because most listings are recent-year hulls. The cheapest current-gen 320 we found was a 2018 with 700 hours at $158,000; the top was a 2026 demo at $544,000.
A clean current-generation sterndrive 320 loses about 24 to 28 percent of new MSRP over five years. That is better than anything else in the segment, and the depreciation curve flattens after year four because the dealer network keeps the used inventory moving.
Year-by-year notes
If you are shopping the current generation (2018 on), three years stand out.
The first is 2020. From this year on, the 5kW gas generator and reverse-cycle AC are standard, along with the cockpit wet bar and grill. Before 2020 these were options that not every hull got, and on the used market a 2018 or 2019 without them is worth less and harder to resell.
The second is 2021. The helm changed to triple Garmin GPSMap displays with Mercury VesselView integration. The earlier dual-display setup feels dated next to the 2021-and-newer dash, and the integrated VesselView gives you engine, fuel, and trip data on the same screen as the chart.
The third is 2024. This is the year the outboard build arrived: twin Mercury 350 Verado V10s with Joystick Piloting, SmartCraft DTS, and e-Steering all standard. If you do not want to deal with sterndrive bellows and gimbal service, this is the build. It costs more both new and used, but the maintenance bill is meaningfully lower.
Cost of ownership
Yearly running costs are higher than for a 28-to-30-foot day-boat because there is more boat to maintain, plus a generator and AC system.
Routine 100-hour service on twin Mercury 6.2L sterndrives is about $800 to $1,200 in parts and $400 to $600 per engine in dealer labor. The bellows replacement, which Mercury recommends every two to three years on Bravo Three X drives, is $3,000 to $3,800 for both drives done at a dealer. Gimbal bearing and impeller service add another $600 to $900 a year. The outboard V10 build does not have any of this: 100-hour service on the Verado V10s is about $1,400 for the pair.
Slip rental for a 33-foot boat in Chesapeake or coastal Northeast marinas is $4,500 to $11,000 a season. Bottom paint every two years is $1,800 to $2,600. Insurance on a $220,000 boat is $2,800 to $4,200 a year. Generator service is $400 to $600 annually.
If you buy a 2021 used 320 for $235,000 with 250 hours and use it 70 hours each season out of a Chesapeake slip, your total yearly cost over five years is about $18,000 to $24,000 including depreciation. We refueled the same 2021 at the end of an 80-mile day at mixed throttle settings, and the bill was $310 for 75 gallons of 89-octane.
Best year and spec to buy
For 2026, the pick is a 2020-2022 sterndrive 320 with the 5kW generator, reverse-cycle AC, triple Garmin GPSMap (2021 onward), and 200 to 500 hours on the engines. Documented bellows and impeller service. Wet bar and grill in the cockpit. These hulls go for $185,000 to $255,000 in clean condition, and they have the layout and the systems that make the boat livable.
If you would rather have outboards, the 2024-onward V10 build is the one. You pay $130,000 to $180,000 more, but you skip the bellows bill, the impeller bill, and the gimbal service. Over a five-year hold the cost evens out, and the boat is quieter at cruise. Owners who came from sterndrive boats and switched say they would not go back.
Alternatives
The Cobalt 336 is the closest cross-shop one step up. Cobalt uses better materials and hardware throughout, but the dealer network is smaller and the resale curve is not as flat. Expect to pay 10 to 15 percent more new for a comparable boat.
The Regal 33 XO is the direct competitor at the same length. Regal leans further toward day-boat use with a smaller cabin, a bigger cockpit, and a sport-cruiser feel. It costs less than a Sundancer, but the cabin is not as livable for a long weekend.
The Bayliner Ciera 8 is the budget option. It covers a similar weekending brief at a lot less money, with a build tier below Sea Ray and a smaller dealer footprint. For buyers who want a cabin cruiser without the Sundancer price, the Ciera is the place to start.