Purchasing A Boat From A SAMS Surveyor

[Freeebird]

I have brokers ask me to do engine surveys on boats I service and I tell them no. I feel it is unethical and no matter how thorough a job, if there is a problem down the road I would not want to be the guy defending it.

Yes significant problems are required to be disclosed. But you also can't get blood out of the stone.
I think that this should have been a case of buyer beware. Who in their right mind would let a seller survey therir own boat?


I assume this is the same person who you had contact me? If so she was clueless and the few things she told me made me want to run. I offered to do a quick once over , but never heard back.
Why in the world buy a houseboat here instead of on the river close to home.

Yes, same person, and yes, she is/was admittedly clueless. I told her I knew you could be trusted, so once again, she has to bear most of the responsibility for these problems by trying to save a buck and not listening to those who were trying to help. That being said, it still puts the seller in a bad light given his profession. This again ASSUMES I'm getting the straight story from the buyer. Then again, all I've gotten is that the guy was a surveyor (I didn't know that until yesterday), and in her words, "I wish the guy I got the boat from was a little more truthful.."

[Boatsb]

Seems like she doesnt have the mindset or the finances to own a boat. Just the purchase price is not enough to afford it. Costs will arise that can not be put off. too bad theres not a way to stop these people from buying boats as they usually make them worse or even a complete loss.

[q240z]

Not to take any fault off the new owner -- the golden rule of the market, after all, is buyer beware -- but I am never surprised to hear that a certified surveyor missed or failed to mention huge problems. I have never once felt that I received good value for the price on surveys. That they're required for insurance creates a racket for all kinds of people whose motivations are, in my experience, less than noble.

Plus, there are cars that have far greater replacement value and potential for liability than most boats ever will...no survey required for them! I'm telling ya, it's a racket.

ymmv

[rsmith]

I'm thinking of becoming a surveyor, I found one of those signal flag watches in a pawn shop, Harbor Freight has cheap moisture meters and I already have topsiders and a plastic hammer, my only issue is I don't think I can sport the trimmed grey beard.

[Walter P]

You are absolutely NOT qualified without the beard.......


Walt

[Boatsb]

You are absolutely NOT qualified without the beard.......


Walt

How about the glasses and mustache?

[jim rosenthal]

One of those Groucho noses will do nicely....even comes with the glasses.

oh, and you need a dog, too, with a name like Barnacle, or Rudder, or Skipper....

[q240z]

You also need that one survey to start them all. The one with "Blue Dodger" in the description of the boat. Then, just keep recycling that one survey, leaving Blue Dodger on all of the surveys you fill out in 45 minutes or so from info you get from subsequent owners that you only partially get right anyway.

The Blue Dodger is a legacy item...it stays.

[Tim Powell]

I won't name names, but is there any legal recourse if a licensed surveyor basically breaks one off in someone to whom they sell their personal boat knowing it has a TON of issues they have failed to disclose?

I know that most used boats are sold "as is", but I have to wonder if that holds in such a situation. No, this doesn't involve me personally, but a friend has found themselves in this situation. At best, it wasn't very ethical on the part of this surveyor (Florida Gulf coast) to take advantage of a novice, but ethics and legal responsibility are two different animals. Your thoughts?

There are moral issues here. How ever if the boat was bought with a survey done by the seller i would believe there are contract issues. If no survey It is a big boys world and a lot of sharp paper works boys in it. He may have used his position as a prop to make the sell but and if he did that wayed in on the buyer i am sure. But no contract exist. Speaking from a country boy side.

[dottieshusband]

Boats and Airplanes are alike. They both come with a guarantee better than the one on a Ginzu knife. It's guaranteed that something very expensive is broken, or will soon break as soon as your check clears the bank! The best way to deal with that fact is to consider it with your purchase offer.. Take a mental set aside out of your purchase offer. Nobody has to have a boat or an airplane, they are wants, they are emotional purchases.. So it's best to let somebody disinterested and knowledgeable lead you through the purchase. The water is full of sharks, and it's easy to get bitten when you're smittin!