DollaBill

I tried to reply to the post all day yesterday, but for some reason I couldn't. It appears you did what you were asked to do, a "standard" survey not a mechanical survey. Apples and oranges.

The problem is lack of knowledge by the buyer.

SHARKEY-IMAGES

So Ed,
The boat did have 2- 500hp engines in the boat at the time of the survey, just one was in need of a rebuild? Obviously you reported the engine was running poorly. Perhaps with that information then, the buyer at that time should have negotiated a better price for the repair of the poorly running engine...
Hope all turns out ok for the both of you....

Edward R. Cozzi

Please note the last half of the first sentence on page one.
A surveyor cannot do destructive removals as part of a survey.

As you can see from the photo, IF THIS ENGINE IS, IN FACT, A 415 LONG BLOCK WITH 500 ACCESSORIES, that both engines look identical from the outside, which is where a surveyor is allowed to view them from. The difference would be the cam and rocker arms. These are internal parts that would require destructive removals to detect and would exceed the scope of the survey.

Please note that the starboard engine ran perfectly throughout the time the boat was here in South Florida. All engine problems were on the port side with only minor leaks repaired and adjustments done to the starboard engine.

Edward R. Cozzi

After a successful sea trial here, where both engines ran perfectly for the buyer and his wife, the boat was shipped to New Jersey. This was around early March 2004 if my memory serves me correctly.
Early in July the buyer contacts me and says that the starboard engine is a 415 with 500 accessories. For the record both engines turned the same RPM on the final sea trial and both ran perfectly until we ran out of fuel. (Never believe a gas gauge on a boat.).

In mid-July I was contacted by the buyers attorney that they are planning to sue me for $20,000 in damages, but they will settle for $17,500. Maybe a little much for a cam and set of roller rockers and the labor, don't you think?

The attorneys wanted me to submit this claim to my insurance company. I tried to explain to everybody that I have liability insurance through SAMS, but Errors & Omission insurance costs more than I make each year. Very few surveyors I know have it.

Playn

I think all post in that forum have to go thru an "administrative review" before they are posted to the thread so it may take a bit for it to be read and approved or not

Edward R. Cozzi

I'm not sure if the price was re-negotiated or not, as I was not privy to that part of the deal.

Thanks, so do I.

SHARKEY-IMAGES

Just a question:

Would the model numbers and serials numbers reveal what the engines were from OEM?

Edward R. Cozzi

Fred: I have responded in the Bad Business section, but it could be days before it appears. I'm sure this thread is okay as long as it remains polite.

X-Rated30

I was pretty sure when I posted that Ed hadn't seen it. He is no shrinking violet and I figured he would have responded there if he had known the thread was up.

I think the Bad Business forum is kind of inneffective due to the fact people don't check it very often. A thread could be up about a person for a couple of weeks before they knew to respond. During that time, people could be getting bad information. (just my .02)

With regard to the timing cover being an obvious clue that the engine was a 415hp, wouldn't you have to pull the engine to see that sort of thing? Wouldn't the bell housing block that from view? My memory of bravo bellhousings is sketchy.

X-Rated30

Another reason I am not wild about the Bad Business Forum.