What should I check or ask for before paying for the boat

[Rob McConnell]

Hi All

I have agreed a price on a Searay 180 with a Mercury 140 outboard just outside Sydney.

I have asked for it to be compression tested and they have sent me the numbers, I will get it done in front of me before I hand over the cheque.

I will get a REVS cheque done tomorrow. What do I need?

There is no recent service records with the boat but its clean and i have seen the engine running. The dealer reckons its been lightly used but I asked for new gearbox oil and impeller, which he agreed to. No warranty because its on consignment.

I will ask for a sea trial before he get the bank cheque.

Any other advice anyone can give me??

Thanks
Rob

[bigjimg]

Have proof that the boat is unencumbered,and don't hand over any cheques,cash or sign anything until you are 100 percent satisfied that all is as it should be.Push every button and flick every switch and make sure all lights work,both on the boat and the trailer.Make sure all safety gear is on board for the state your in,engine support bracket is there as well as tiedown strap,dealers tend to make these items go missing.Check if the boat has an epirb and the one in it is registered to the boat,check expirery date if fitted.Spare tyre.Winch cable/strap,safety chain.Condition of rollers/bunks.Shake the wheels and check bearing wear.Satisfy yourself all is well it is your hard earned your handing over.Hope it all goes well.Jim

[marty666]

there should be no reason they would refuse an independant mechanic to give it a once over for you just so you have a unbiased opinion on the motors condition

[BM]

This "no warranty as its on consignment" is just plain crap!!

You are actually covered under statutory legal rights for "fit for purpose" among other things. This applies to private sales also.

And its a massive copout to say no warrant coz consignment.

When I was retailing boats it didn't matter to me whether I owned the boat or it was a consignment boat, they all had to be good. They all carried a 3 month 100% warranty too.

The customer who gets trouble with his boat won't care whether it was consignment or yard owned when he tells others of the dodgy boat he bought. As far as he is concerned it came from "x" yard and the rest of the details are irrelevant.

Tell them you want a warranty mate, at minimum the standard BIA 50:50 nonsense. At least its something. I ran with the BIA warranty briefly then switched to 100% cover as it protected the buyer FAR better. If they refuse, just tell them you are covered by statutory warranty in any case so if there is a problem you will be back.

In view of recent topics you might want to ask the dealer if he intends to pay the consignee his money....... and provide prof so you don't end up caught up in an ugly situation.

Cheers

[Rob McConnell]

Thanks for the replies. Jim I will do as you suggest on the sea trial and make sure all the equipment included in the deal is there.
BM, thanks for that information. What is a BIA warranty? I thought there was a statutory warranty but did not know if it applied to boats too.

Thanks
Rob

[BM]

The theory behind the BIA warranty is that its a 50:50 warranty. What that means is the repair bill is spilt 50:50 supposedly. Its not a 50:50 split though usually because the parts cost stated on the invoice are the retail price and of course the dealer pays a lot less for the parts which means the customer pays a lot more of the bill than 50% in reality. It doesn't take much to jiggle the hours spent to wipe out completely any cost on the dealers part. But on the positive side at least you get something!

To me the remedy was/is very simple. Make sure the boats are right before they go out the door. Then you don't have warranty issues except for the very occasional out of the blue, unforseeable problem.

Statutory warranty applies to basically everything you buy. Used to come under the Trade Practices Act but theres now a new name to that Act. I think its a federal Act also, not State.

Cheers
Don't ever trust a dealer that is selling the boat to also test it for you. I happily let anyone inspect my boats for sale as there was nothing to hide. any dealer that won't allow you to have an independent assessment then walk away or you will most likely get burnt.

Theres 2 or 3 here in Melbourne that actively discourage the customer from getting an independent check carried out and you wouldn't buy from those guys if they were the only dealers left....