Survey issues - who fixes them?

thanks to all for your replies so far. At this stage the broker has my survey list of major items to view for himelf. He was on the sea trial and there at the survey also and knows the surveyor. The broker is well aware of the issues and can not be in denial now about his advertised claim that the boat is for sale in "as new" condition...i made my initial offer based on surface level inspection and the boat being as described. Obvisouly the boat has not lived up to critical mechanical or electrical standards. The broker knows this...he has seen my list amd forwarded it to the owner who has instructed a marine electrician amd the mechanic get on the boat asap to fix this stuff. So that is good. But the out of water survey is yet to happen. So that will be interesting...even if all internal issues are resolved and most of them involve fixing and not renewing things, it could all fall over if there is osmosis or cutless bearings are stuffed etc. Time will tell. Supposed to come out pf water this week.

There are certain items i would prefer to have fixed myslef with people i trust. Exhaust fabrication is pretty easy for my mechanic to do but is a 2000 issue. Engine not reaching rpm is a pikely fuel restriction or pump issue as no smoke was pouring out the exhaust to indicate a turbo or air issue. Anyway new turbos are cheap at around 700 compaeed to maybe chasing a problem all over the place. Either way it must be fixed by seller. He acknowledges this.

if amd when it all happens i shall let you know ajd poat photos.Benn this is not the boat i spoke to you about some time ago...different boat. In the emd i could not do the wood boat thing ..i know It is not for me...i admire them but can not do the looking after as required.

Should be interesting to see how it all goes amd yes i will walk no problem if it is not what i want but i am not petty either so will let minor things slide as i can sort them out myself. The boat suits us perfectly and is a "no compromise" boat for us. This is rare. Today i am in FOrt Lauderdale ajd looked at a 70ft Hatteras cpmy and rwalise this boat is not what we want. The search will go on but in Australia we are limited compared to USA.

This thread is very interesting to me as I am about to start the survey now on a potential new to me boat. Because it is a 30 year old Taiwanese boat that has been neglected I expect the surveyor will find many things. What they are and how they will be resolved will be interesting.

The "as new" claim is embarrassing for the seller. "Ok Mr Seller, put it into the advertised condition and I`ll buy". That kind of stuff is called "puff"(sales talk), creating no legal obligation (here at least), but great for negotiating.
Some sellers won`t negotiate at all post survey. Probably leads to many an unsold boat, but leaves the buyer unhappy and out of pocket.

Yep, at the end of the day it all comes down to the simple old issues of what the seller is willing to accept (and fix), and the buyer is willing to pay (and fix).

On the advice of our broker, when we made an offer on the boat we own today in the PNW, we made the offer contingent upon three things.

1. The boat was what the seller was representing it to be-- a stock Grand Banks 36 with no wierd mofications or other changes that made the boat not what we expected it to be (we had not seen the boat yet, we only had the selling broker's pre-listing spec sheet).

2. The boat was satisfactory on our own checkout and inspection and sea trial.

3. The boat did well on the hull/systems and engine/generator surveys we would have done at our expense, with no unexpected major problems discovered.

Only if these three conditions were met were we committed to honoring our offer.

It should be noted that the seller was eager to sell the boat because he'd just bought a nearly-new GB46 (our offer had been transmitted to him as he was driving his boat to Alameda, CA from Vanvouver, BC) and he didn't want to own two boats. So his selling price was very reasonable given the age of the boat. So we were very happy with the price he was asking, as long as the three conditions above were met

The seller agreed to our conditions and we went down to California to proceed with our inspection, sea trial, and surveys.

Oh good, sounds like everybody is happy so far. Nice when it works out that way.

This was in 1998. Obviously, everything went smoothly.

kthoennes said:

Yep, at the end of the day it all comes down to the simple old issues of what the seller is willing to accept (and fix), and the buyer is willing to pay (and fix).

Click to expand...

Or maybe the buyer needs to keep looking. As the "gotchas" keep coming think of the problems the seller is hoping you don't find.

What model, size of vessel is this again?