Tough one to be involved with, lifters break it happens. If they broke when the buyer first fired it up then there shouldn't be $11,000 worth of damage. Not saying it doesn't need a total rebuild while they are in there, but if I thought to ask the seller for something back it would a cam and set of lifters, rest of it is up in there.

I agree with this solution for the best outcome on a not so great situation for all involved.

It sucks I get it. As is means as is. Once you take posession it's yours. I'm sorry buyer is at fault. He should have done his due diligence. Even if he had it could have checked out good and still broke when first fired. How many times have any of us ran a boat. Got to location. Went to leave hit the key and nada? It happens in boats cars anything mechanical.

Everybody has a horror story from every business. From what I've read on here Eddie and pier57 seem like the good guys. However still a horror story from each. It's a bad situation with no great ending for anyone and legally if the bill of sale says as is. Not much you can do. Especially when you walk to a judge and say I never saw it. That might work with a warranty not as is.

If you buy a house and the a/c system isn't working do you sue the realtor? No!

With 1000hp blower motors what's the chance of finding a surveyor that would touch these engines and what would it cost ?

Or you buy the house and after the survey find out the ac system isn't working. Been there and the most you can get is a refund on the survey cost per the disclaimer.

The title of this thread sums it up. Why get lawyers involved?? What happened to the days of people doing what is morally or ethically right?? Legally the buyer has no leg to stand on, but if the seller is any type of decent person, he will work with the buyer.

It's always a shame when stuff like this happens.
Based on the replies I really don't see where it appears that the seller or broker deliberatly tried to misrepresent the boat

This pretty much sums it up for me

We all place our balls on the chopping block when we purchase anything used, most especially when it's hot rods, choppers, or boats.
Due diligence in CYA goes a long long way for the buyer by utilizing a mechanic on vehicles and a surveyor on boats.
This would be a horse of a different color had the buyer simply contracted a mechanic for a dewinterize, startup and warmup to operating temperature and engage the drives in a trash can to check forward and reverse then winterizing the unit again and it failed during this procedure prior to closing the deal. He only went through half of the steps by simply having the survey.
I'm no mechanic but wonder if this could have been result of freezing temps and the startup of what is, in essence, a race engine in those temps which caused the failure of the two lifters.
How would this situation play out if the boat was fired up on the hose, ran up to operating temp, performed fine, winterized, and then on the spring startup collapsed the lifters, would it still be the sellers fault???
Others may not agree but it's an expense on the buyer must bear and any considerations offered by the seller would be a heartfelt bonus for the buyer and simply a bit of graciousness by the seller for goodwill.

I feel sorry for both buyer and seller but it is what it is and I don't see any signs of hanky panky by the sellers side

See ya,
Kelly

WTF? Some of the very best money that I have spent on boats, cars, trucks, houses, etc. was spent on the ones that I DID NOT BUY (I walked away from the deal based on what I found out). Anything "used" gets a prepurchase inspection of some kind. Based on circumstances, some more detailed that others. A 6 figure boat without a solid mechanical inspection (evidently in order to save a handful of hundred dollars) is pretty reckless buying. Eddie is one of the most honest dealing guys around, but I'd still have a prepurchase inspection if I bought a boat through him.

In a contract, "As Is" means exactly that, "As Is". How can "As Is" mean "when i get it home and run it I will let you know what i find to be wrong and then we can renegotiate the deal".

It kind of amazes me that the buyer even brings it up on a public forum (or a buddy of the buyer). If I made such a mistake (no prepurchase), I would probably attempt to keep it quiet out of embarassment.

If you purchase a big boy toy you need to do your big boy research. It's a lot of money. Believing anyone under any circumstances is foolish. I bought a Cigarette from Virginia. Flew down from upstate NY and went for a ride before pulling the trigger. Cars, trucks, boats, women, it doesn't matter. Try them out before signing on the dotted line. I bought my Nor-Tech without operating it. Attempted to run one motor on a hose but didn't have enough pressure. It was a down-poor that day and we couldn't go to the Lake. I crossed my fingers and made the deal. In my opinion had there been any problem at all whatsoever when I put the boat in the water, it would have been on me. Trust no one when you're writing a check. Do your homework or accept the results if you don't. And don't waste 10K plus on an attorney. Save that for fuel and insurance. Get it running and enjoy it!