Holy Smokes

iTrader: (2)

Trying to "prove" deceit will be your biggest hurdle.

A reasonable and customary extent of inspection.... would be to fully inspect to your satisfaction. It differs from person to person and from boat to boat.

I know you've heard it here before, but a simple survey with moisture test would have easily found the problem. Dry rot will still contain moisture enough to detect.

Sorry for the bad luck.

Skullkrusher

Of course there is a question.

Previous owner did it.

He knew about it but paid someone to fix it. That shop must have ripped him off.

He knew about it but the shop told him it was no big deal.

He did fix the stringers, something must have gone wrong again.

The possibilities are endless.

Sorry about the deal but I don't see where you have a case.

2tonchevy

i have been on both sides of legal actions just like this many times over the years.....
it has been my experience that if the sale was between two private parties and there is no warranty expressed in writing...then there is virtually no chance in successfully taking action against the selling party.

if it had been a dealer sale then you may have a shot depending on the "lemon laws" of the state of sale. i would reccomend you contact the States Attorney in the state where the sale occured to find the proper course of action.

good luck to you.....

soldier4402

like others have said pvt sale your going to have big issues trying to Prove it, and most likely will spend more than the fix to do it. Best bet is to call him up and man to man ask for some sort of settlement. Dont know if you have done this yet. I have bought things before and immediately found something and called the guy and he was willing to fix somethings.

But the court is going to ask was there an expressed warranty you will say(im talking pvt sale here because dealers still have an obligation warranty or not) no. Then they will ask if you got an inspection you will say yes. They will probably say you had all the tools and time to inspect to your satisfaction, then at that point when you drove away it was yours.

To be honest with you if you repair the brakes on your truck before you sell it or repaint a door due a dent, would or should disclose it if the fix in your honest mind made it look and function to factory specs. His best defesnse in the world would be to be silent. He doesnt have to say anything in court. It would be all on you. Your best bet is to get an estimate to fix it, call him up and get whatever you can out of him. Another thing the court will look at, was the repair done, YES. Well maybe its not to your standards or others here, but it still was minimal fix that does happen.

If its a private sale your really trying to piss up a rope, how do you know it wasnt fixed right then broke again against his knowledge. Like others have said the possibilites are endless.

bowtie

When you buy something "as is", don't you understand what "as is" actually means? I understand the seller might have hidden things but in an as is sale isn't that the buyers responsibility to check it out first. Every boat or car I buy from a private seller I check out, if I get screwed I blame myself.

npx6885

After a bit of research its interesting to note the general acceptance that "as is" between private parties allows expectation that the seller is lying somewhere along the line of the sale. The lie becomes negated by simply adding "as is" somewhere in the writing. The buyer has the responsibility to verify that the product claims made by the seller are indeed true. It appears if the buyer does not discover the deceit, then the private seller has no responsibility to honor his original advertisement.

soldier4402

It does not allow expectation that he is lying. The more I get a feel for this I dont think the guy was lying he either knew about it and got it fixed to what he thought was right , or didnt know at all. AS IS doesnt imply hes lying, it implies AS IS, which means no guarentees, warranties, you check it out buy it or dont buy it.

Everything I sell to people I make a hand written contract with the dollar amount, item, date, and signaturs and it states AS IS. I let the people know as much as I know about the item for sale, I cant vouch for who I bought it from or its history. With an AS IS pvt they can not come back on you, its upon the buyer to do what he needs to do.

I think there has been plenty of info given and options. But to keep debating the fact that he lied or didnt lie is a waste of time.

CigDaze

The Legal Definition:

"The term 'as is' gives notice to buyers that they are taking a risk on the quality of the goods. The buyer is free to inspect the goods before purchase; but if any hidden defects are discovered after purchase, the buyer has no recourse against the seller. Any implied or express warranties that usually accompany goods for sale are excluded in an 'as is' sale."
-West's Encyclopedia of American Law, edition 2, 2008

npx6885

He had to know there was rot, I can't ask him for sure though as his numbers have changed. I'll try to post a pic or two of the rot tomorrow, I truly never thought anyone would put a new floor over rot, but whats done is done. I cut out the entire floor today and yes it was new glass over new wood over entirely bad stringers. He even used 1x8 painted pine to build up a portion of a stringer that crumbled. After trying several saws, blades, and every attachment that sonicrafter makes... I found that an inexpensive 3-3/8 toe kick saw from harbor freight with blade #95620 will cut fiberglass faster than anything else I found. I'm gonna try some nida-bond that I found on youtube to fill new stringers/ transom. It looks solid as a rock and will never rot. I gotta say we had fun dismantling the boat... I got this for my oldest son and at least after we're finished there will be no question as to whats been done.

ActiveThunder

And a surveyor would have had a moisture meter. Amazing little tool. I own one.