Boat advertised as great shape

[Oly1]

Hey just wondering if anyone has had something like this happen to them and what recourse a person might have. My fishing buddy, just bought his first boat. The boat is an 18 foot - 1990's double eagle with (quite a bit newer than boat) yamaha's. 115 2 stroke and 9.9 four stroke. The boat was advertised as great shape and motors that work great with less than 50 hours on them. The owner said that they were regularly serviced by marina and were winterized last fall by marina.

My buddy bought the boat after several discussions (including many pictures of boat and motors which looked good) with the owner and had the turn key boat delivered to the island. My buddy had a mechanic friend there when boat was delivered. They never started the motors, but the mechanic looked them over and said these look almost brand new. Everything looking good.

My buddy cleaned up the boat with his family, as this was the family boat. ( first one) He went and bought muffs and hooked up to the engines and tried to start them in the driveway. Nothing on both motors. They turned over but no fire. Being his first boat, he thought he was missing something. He called a buddy and they went over it, still nothing would run. A bit discouraged, he took the boat to the local yamaha dealer and explained everything.

The yamaha dealer went over the motors and called him back. (When the Yamaha dealer first seen the motors, he said they looked awesome and it was a shame that he was going to be using them in the salt) The ECM's were shot in both motors and it was going to be $1000 just for parts. Not sure if that was the only thing wrong as the motors wouldn't start with out that. The marina went through the boat a little more thoroughly now and found rot in the stringers and transom. The dealer said boat was unsafe to be used in current condition.

My buddy called the seller back and explained everything to him. His response was " there was lots of interest in the boat, sell it yourself". The seller then called back and said that it ran fine when he sold it to him. This was less than a week ago.

I know a long story, but is there anything that my buddy can do, except do the repairs and hopefully get the sour taste out of his mouth some day.

Oly

 

[Sentinel]

Expensive lesson. Why in the hell would you buy a boat you had not sea trialed and inspected yourself. If geographically impossible or you were not qualified hire a surveyer and or a good marine mechanic to check the boat out thoroughly. I feel bad for your buddy but he made an error and I don't think he has much recourse if he bought it from a private party as is. Buyer beware.

 

[Dogbreath]

Expensive lesson. Why in the hell would you buy a boat you had not sea trialed and inspected yourself....hire a surveyer and or a good marine mechanic to check the boat out thoroughly...Buyer beware.

^ this.......

 

[salmonkiller01]

Buying a boat sight unseen is a gamble. The buyer could have had a survey of the hull and mechanical but took the word of the seller. If both ecms are shot I would question that? Is the 9.9 hooked to the batteries?
Maybe try another dealer for just the engines to be sure. Not all tech's are the same and a second opinion may be worth it.
The transom being rotten is one thing but how did the tech inspect the stringers? They are a bit of a pain to get to in the 18 double eagles from my experience. Not sure where the boat is but have a reputable fibreglass shop inspect for rot. He owns it now and may as well fix and enjoy.

 

[uclueletcharters]

Get a copy of the ad print it just get a copy. File in small claims court there's no guarantee but there's a chance to recoup the funds. If the seller lives far away file in your town and mail the paperwork to the closest bailiff and have him served. There's a couple of hoops to jump through but it's pretty straight forward. If the ruling goes your way be sure to request an enforceable payment plan of some sort. Probably cost you $200 to file the paperwork and have the seller served. The great part is the courthouse the paperwork is filed in is the town the court date will be held in. If the seller is from out of town he will have to travel to your town to be present which if far enough away can be a deterrent not to mention the thought of court etc may make him rethink hanging you out to dry, if he's got money. If the sellers broke and spent the dollars even after a judgement it can be a long process to get the money back but it does happen. Good luck. He may be able to play dumb on the hull but the motors that's just bs.

 

[trendsetter]

Take it to a different mechanic. Maybe the first one didn't do a proper inspection. To have both motors with blown ecm (cdi units) is unlikely. My first guess would be that someone hooked up the battery cables backwards and has blown some fuses. If a second mechanic confirms then yeah, expensive lesson.

To check the stringers they would've had to drill through the floor into them to check the condition of the wood. Did they do that?

 

[Pippen]

I have to agree with Sentinel....in this day and age with scams/lousy deals everywhere I would have been extra careful/diligent if I ever chose to buy sight unseen.


In saying all of that...."if" going to small claims court route I would tell your buddy to ensure he is getting documentation from the mechanic's report and the "inspection" from the marina regarding hull/stringers. May as well get your ducks in a row if going down that route and ensure you've got paperwork from certified individuals on proper letterhead etc to present.

 

[terrin]

You will find the floor to be soft if the stringers are rotten. Its all fixable just a lot of work.