Turbojack

I have a friend that has sold his 2003 Sea Ray 36' Cruiser. He had done a deal with a boat dealer for them to consignment the boat and signed a power of attorney for them to do all of the paper work. Every week when he went out to the boat he would check and record the hours on the hour meters to see if the dealer had taken out the boat.

He had gotten an offer on the boat but it was below his buy it price so the dealer called with the offer that was given. They wanted 10K off of his asking price. They ended up agreeing on 7500 off his original asking price. The buyers had a survey done that from what we were told cost the new owners $800+ The new owner came back and said that all the new survey found was one of the outdrives needed to have linkage adjusted and there were some burned out light bulbs. In all of the checking they did they put 1 1/2 hrs on the boat. My friend paid to have mechanic come out and fix the things the customer was wanting repaired. The deal was to close on a Friday, but they decided to come and pick up the boat on a Saturday. Last week my friend gets a number of calls from the owner of the boat dealer (not the sales man that he has been dealing with all along) telling him that the new buyers had problems with the generator and that one of the motors had blown. Said that there was little to no compression on #4 & 6, and the spark plug electrode was sitting on the top of a piston. The dealer said they wanted him to pay 1/3 of the 10k it was going to cost to put a new motor in and if he did not agree to that they were going to give him the boat back with the blown motor. Since the dealer had done the deal with a power of attorney my friend has not gotten paid yet. I had asked him if they had paid the loan off yet but he did not know the answer to that. Finding out today. He has been trying to get the computer log but they have not given that to him yet but they keep calling demanding that he agree to pay for a new motor.

My feeling are the new buyer had a survey, and put 1 1/2 hrs on the boat checking it out. We do not have any details as to how or what caused the motor to blow. They paid 7.5K less then his asking price and once they paid for it and took possession, it is their problem. What do you think?

partlowr

Unless they agreed to a warranty I see it as All Sales Final and sold As Is...especially since they even sent a surveyor out and he never discovered and compression issues. Who knows what the new owners did with the boat after they took delivery

Speedracer29

If the sales agreement specified there was no warranty, then there is no warranty. And the dealer/broker is playing with fire if they're holding back funds from a closed sales agreement. Larceny by conversion is a felony up here, your laws may be different.

Hopefully your friend has signed, dated copies of all papers related to the sale.

Nate5.0

This.

I would say at that point the issue would be between the surveyor and the new owner. The old owner is done and should be paid his money and carry on.

**** situation for the new owner but he did what he should have done and got the short straw.

The dealer as well as the old owner should be hands off at this point.

rak rua

There is no warranty on a 13 year old boat private sale. The buyers took the sensible precaution of a survey which showed only a couple of minor issues and your friend rectified them.
If there are bigger issues then let the new owner sue the surveyor for negligence. He'll have no hope of winning because surveys are such a vague thing nowadays but it's not the vendors fault.

As to why your mate allowed the keys and possession to pass to the new owner without the money in his own account is beyond me. Power of attorney, brokers, holding accounts etc should not stop full settlement. The buyer receives the goods when the purchaser receives the money.

If the broker is withholding the money in support of the purchaser's quest for financial assistance then I'd post his name here and have his reputation trashed on OSO.

We have only heard one side of the story from a second source at this stage. Not doubting you at all but most disagreements like this have two sides which differ violently from one another. Without prejudice, on the current information, I'd say your friend is getting coerced into helping fix someone else's boat.

Sorry for the buyers if their new dream boat has some problems but sometimes things just happen with boats that are very hard to predict.

RR

Turbojack

I just talked to friend. He was told they are going to take $2,500 off what they owe him for the new engine. They have not paid off the loan he had on it yet, some 10 days after they took it. They said they need to have the title from the bank before they can give him his money. They have yet to tell him how many hrs are on the engine, any other thing they have found out, or what the computer shows.

SB

iTrader: (1)

Why do the majority of motors that blow, blow right after a boat is sold / bought ?

Can someone explain to me this phenomenon. Another thread is fine.

Rookie

iTrader: (4)

I have always wondered that myself.

Rookie

iTrader: (4)

I've always wondered what recourse does one have against a surveyor? I know engines can blow anytime, but what about structural and wet/watered boats?

PigNaPoke

To SB

If you want to know my honest opinion I think there are a few main causes.

1) boat is tired so is sold in order to avoid maintenance costs...
2) the new owner is unfamiliar with the acceptable norms of the equipment because no one explained how what when and why
3) some people just can't understand what a boat will and won't do... they also don't seem to understand how long a car would last pulling a trailer at 3500rpm all day everyday.


Sounds like your friend has no liability given the survey and they took the boat.