scottgjerdingen

For many of us boats are coming out of storage and there are new toys to be bought and sold. Whenever the topic of buying a "gently used" rig comes up, conversation surrounding the value of a survey often follows. For the sake of this thread lets presume we all believe in the virtues of a survey, all surveyors are equally skilled and the question at hand is "How do I read a survey?" I'm not talking about the obvious things such as "there was a huge puddle of fresh gear oil under both drives", or, "if someone steps on the swim deck it will probably break off". What I am referring to are what I would call vague statements such as the "gelcoat is in good shape relative to the age of the boat", or, the "cracks at the top of the are hull are common given the age of the boat", or, "moisture in the transoms is good (or fair) relative to other boats of this age".

If the seller has priced their boat at a premium and is claiming it to be in excellent shape, would you expect a survey to identify defects common to many similar boats of that age or would you expect more? Likewise, if a boat is identified as being in good condition and priced as such, when a surveyor report notes "no concerns found" does that make you think the boat may be worth more than is being asked?

Maybe I should have titled this thread "when is good, good, and excellent, excellent?"...and how to determine this reading a survey :-)

(I hope I am explaining the question properly)

Maybe there should be a follow-up thread on "what to do when your survey report does not meet expectations?" and also things like what to do when the surveyor doesn't test the boat wet, or tries to charge more for this.

I apologise in advance if this topic has been covered in a post, but surprisingly I could not find one.

btw - I could be wrong, but I do not believe it takes any accreditation to be a surveyor. There are surveyors who are however accredited.

93 shooter

http://www.marinesurvey.org/us-regions/virginia.html

damdonzi

It is somewhat skewed by the buyer. If that person reads and accepts the evaluation as written, and they are comfortable with it, great. If they read it and use it as a tool to decide to move on to a different boat in better condition, that's great too. A survey is not a warranty or a warm blanket to sleep with at night. It is a tool to make an informed decision. How the buyer interprets the writing is specific to that person.

Wally

iTrader: (1)

A survey (to me) is nothing more then a piece of paper with an "opinion" by a so called expert, to make the insurance companies feel better about insuring an item sight unseen.
As for the buyers...i feel its nothing more then an extra set of eyes by someone that can possibly catch something you may have over looked or didn't know what to look for....
Details like Gel condition are relative to what you think is good or excellent...ask 10 people you will get 10 different answers.

Bottom line is if you are happy with the look of the boat and get a trusted mechanic to check the engine and drive out and maybe get a good fiberglass guy to check the hull out....then you take what the surveyor has to offer with a grain of salt

Dave M

I just recently sold a boat and the buyer insisted on a survey (buyer paid) mainly because he was buying the boat sight unseen. I met with the surveyor and watched him go through the process. I was pretty impressed with how meticulous he was. He checked a lot of stuff that I would not of checked myself as a buyer. I feel that the surveyor had substantial knowledge on motors, fiberglass, and electrical. I'm sure there are good and bad surveyors out there, but I would trust this guy's opinion, and possibly hire him myself if I was buying.

Belleair302

When i bought a boat last September my surveyor spent three hours in the marina going over the boat and had it lifted out of the water for a hull inspection. Then he undertook a sixty minute sea trial before writing a lengthy review. He noticed a variety of issues, some obvious, some more subtle...but this gave me leverage to reduce my price. The boat is a good one, but I am happy I did not pay the original figure. If done again the four areas that really concern me are engine condition, hull, electronics and hydraulics. Fluids and engine wear are vital areas too. It isn't rocket science, but like looking at a car or truck.....what is underneath is more important than a shiny topside and detailed interior.

Nate5.0

Yup

I went (as did the buyer of my boat) with Ed Cozzi and could not ask for a better report and person to go over my purchase. He was very well knowledge and I had full trust in his word and abilities to get the job done right.

scottgjerdingen

I get what you guys are saying and agree with all of it. What I was wondering if there was a bit of a formula to interpreting results where the assessment may seem vague or conflicting with other statements. I guess what I am hearing is, "generally speaking" there really are no engineering practices at play here (standardization, processes with repeatable outcomes, etc.), it is all subject to opinion. Even measures that can be quantified (e.g. moisture content) are subject to interpretation.

Having said this, I agree that a survey identifies things I would never have thought to look at and are a wise investment, I was simply wondering if there as a method to reading a survey that pulls out more value than what seems to be available on the surface (i.e. is there a "magic decoder" ring, key phrases, etc. that if understood add more value to the survey). I am probably just overthinking this.

IndyRacer

I just had a survey done yesterday on a boat that is 1,100mi. away from me.
#1 the insurance company required it in order to insure that damn thing.
#2 my last boat treated me right and I had a survey done on that one too.
#3 been boating for over 15 years all performance boats but I still feel and extra set of eyes can't hurt.
#4 which is tied to #3... I have info from many outside people who know this boat I'm looking at but still feel extra eyes help.
#5 have the compression/leakdown tests performed before the condition/value survey as no reason to move forward on the most expensive part of survey if the motors are not up to snuff.

Just to note, last boat was $50k. this one is $70k. prior to that all were under $40k. with no surveys, and on a few I had misc. issues where someone always said "well didn't you have it surveyed"...damn

Have a great summer guys!

Wally

iTrader: (1)

And there in lies the rub......number of years back i was looking at a 29 fountain twin BBC/bravo setup.....paid $300 for a survey....after he left i stayed and kept looking at the boat...stuck my head under the gunnel inside the engine compartment and looked down the drivers side of the boat that was not visible.....if i hadn't done that i would have bought a boat that had a MAJOR fiberglass repair done at some point.....Looked like someone T-boned the boat with who knows what! Had i not done that just out of luck, then no one would have caught till later and i would have been SOL