Advice needed. Sold boat, motor "blew" first time he took it out.

[thumpar]

Re: Advice needed. Sold boat, motor "blew" first time he took it out.

In most if not all states unless you misrepresent or guarantee the boat in some way it is an as-is sale even if it is not written or said.

 

[MTboatguy]

Re: Advice needed. Sold boat, motor "blew" first time he took it out.

Here in Montana, as-is, where-is means exactly that, you ran the boat for him and have no responsibility once it is towed away, you have no responsibility other than feeling sorry for him,(don't tell him that) I would simply explain, you listened to it run, you made a choice to purchase the boat, and you own it. Disappointed and sue is a long ways in between. I have purchased items in the past, that worked perfectly when I looked at it, and refused to work once I got it home, happened this weekend with a compressor I bought, but I am a big boy and willing to accept I purchased a used item that worked when I paid for it, what happened afterword is not the sellers responsibility.

Like I said, feel bad for him, but it is his problem..bought and paid for...

 

[oops!]

Re: Advice needed. Sold boat, motor "blew" first time he took it out.

I recall a post on this site from years ago about the exact same scenario. As I remember the end result was the seller got sued and lost. Even without purposely screwing someone he was found to be at fault.

after 3 different court dates....case was dsmissed.....cb won



here it is.......the epic thread by country bumpkin....

sold a boat and it busted.

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=207127&highlight=sold+boat+busted

exact same scenario.

i think don is right.....the buyer fired it up in his driveway with out the muffs

 

[mnypitboat]

Re: Advice needed. Sold boat, motor "blew" first time he took it out.

Glad you sold it in time. Tell him that.

I am kidding. But as others have said here, if you even give him a penny toward any repairs you are setting up an implied warranty. Then he can sue you. Trust me, I had a small used car dealership for a time and I learned this the hard way. I always tried to help people out, but I had one that just thought I was his bank and everything was free after I replaced a power window switch. He took me to court over some rips in the seats, after he drove it for 20k miles, and he won. Judge said sorry but you implied a warranty when you fixed the switch. So dont set yourself for that mess. It cost me $1500 over a $10 pw switch.

 

[ken_23434]

Re: Advice needed. Sold boat, motor "blew" first time he took it out.

Thanks for all the advice or comments...

I called him up and talked for a few minutes. He wasn't mad or upset w/ me at all. He had it checked out today and they said it over heated and blew the motor. Something about a hose for the freshwater cooling not being hooked up correctly. I don't think I trust that diagnosis. The fw system was replaced a couple summers ago, and it has been run (and hard) quite a few times since.

He had a 12N-M tow by Sea-Tow back to the dock. OUCH

I totally expected someone that would be yelling, cussing etc, but he wasn't. He stated the hull and the rest were in good condition and he was looking into a repower or selling off the rest of the boat.

 

[mnypitboat]

Re: Advice needed. Sold boat, motor "blew" first time he took it out.

In most if not all states unless you misrepresent or guarantee the boat in some way it is an as-is sale even if it is not written or said.

That is correct. Somebody mentioned as is where is. That is exactly meant as written. YOu can also get into a legal issue if you deliver it. If you deliver a vehicle, boat, car or whatever, they have a 3 day automatic right of refusal in the state of FL. So for anyone else out there that is selling, dont deliver it for them.

 

[oops!]

Re: Advice needed. Sold boat, motor "blew" first time he took it out.

they said it over heated and blew the motor. Something about a hose for the freshwater cooling not beingp correctly. .

the truth is .....he started it up in his drive way with no muffs and burnt the impeller.

he added that part about the hose because he didnt want to look like an idiot and dug to see if you would bite.

if the hose was im properly connected...you would have had a bilge full of water every time you started the boat.

 

[thumpar]

Re: Advice needed. Sold boat, motor "blew" first time he took it out.

the truth is .....he started it up in his drive way with no muffs and burnt the impeller.

he added that part about the hose because he didnt want to look like an idiot and dug to see if you would bite.

if the hose was im properly connected...you would have had a bilge full of water every time you started the boat.

Exactly. That is why he is not mad. He knows what he did.

 

[my1stboat1]

Re: Advice needed. Sold boat, motor "blew" first time he took it out.

honestly if you feel bad enough for the new owner... and if you made a semi decent profit you could offer him a few bucks towards a running used engine

 

[oops!]

Re: Advice needed. Sold boat, motor "blew" first time he took it out.

here is the highlights from cb's thread

Quote Originally Posted by country_bumpkin View Post
For the newbies to this thread, who don't want to take the 2 hours to read it completely, I thought I would outline a quick summary of what has happened in the last year:

July '07-Contacted by a kid in Knoxville that want's to buy my boat that was for sale on Craigslist. He drove to Nashville, we took the boat out for a 30 minute test ride with my family. My daughter even skied behind it. He liked it. He bought it. He signed a bill of sale that stated "this boat is sold as is, with no warranties". The next day, after about 4 hours on a lake in Knoxville the boat throws a rod, or something bad, it busted! Kid and Mom want to bring boat back and have me refund money. They are pretty obnoxious about it. After talking to my lawyer. I tell them no.

August '07-Get a warrant from Knoxville General Sessions Court. I'm being sued and have to travel about 400 miles round trip to appear. My lawer gets this case dismissed.

Sept '07-Get a warant from Davidson Co. General Sesions Court (Nasvhille). They have come to Nasvhille and are suing me here. They show up in court with a mechanic. My attorney gets the case postponed.

Oct '07-We go to court. They have a mechanic. I don't get a judge but some fill in attorney. SHE awards the plantiff one half the price of the boat. 2100. Her argument is that my Craigslist ad declared the engine to be in excellent condition, and that even though I had a signed bill of sale that said 'as is', I should share the cost. (I did say the engine was in excellent condition, but this was my opinion of it's condition based on how it ran for me the two years I owned it). We file an appeal.

Jan '08-Get a court date for appeal in June. Send buyer notice of appeal.

Jun '08-Send buyer evidence to be used at appeal 3-4 days prior. Go to the appeal, buyer is no show. I win.

Oct '08-Attorney calls me. Buyer claims we never notified them of the appeal. Claims house burned down and never got the mail. Re-Appeal: next Monday Oct 20th.

Oct 20th '08-I Won!

Dec '08-Sold an Iboat's Poster a car! This was funny. mtsuedi contacted me about a craigslist ad. After we talked and hung up, he called me right back and said:"did you happen to start an epic thread on Iboats called sold a boat and it busted!?" I replied:"Yes, I'm country_bumpkin!". LOL! an epic thread!, love it!

Did I leave anything out? Let me know and I'll edit the post. Thanks for all the suppport!

CB

 

[thumpar]

Re: Advice needed. Sold boat, motor "blew" first time he took it out.

honestly if you feel bad enough for the new owner... and if you made a semi decent profit you could offer him a few bucks towards a running used engine

Don't do it. That is like admitting fault.

 

[MN-WaterGuy]

Re: Advice needed. Sold boat, motor "blew" first time he took it out.

Everytime I sell anything with a motor (car, truck, boat, bike, etc), in addition to the bill of sale, I have them sign a disclaimer clearly stating that it is being purchased "As-Is" with no real or implied guarantee of operating condition. I have the buyer log date and time of transaction on the disclaimer. The only time I have deviated from this is when a guy bought a '77 Yamaha 750XS from me. He was willing to sign the disclaimer and pay in full, but asked if he could have his mechanic look at it (mechanic is in his hometown, 3 hours away) before it was "for real". He told me he would trailer the bike directly to his mechanic's after leaving my place and call back that evening. I ginned up another disclaimer with the particulars and sent him on his way. 5 hours later, I get a call from the guy saying his mechanic looked at it and "the motor is garbage, I'm bringing it back". He showed up the next day wanting his money; tries to tell me that the bike didn't leave the trailer and his mechanic said it was a bad buy. Unfortunately for him, the odometer reading was 100+ miles heavier than what was listed on the title transfer sheet (guess he forgot about that...). After informing him of the discrepancy, he hung his head and left without a word. Score one for the good guys.

 

[boaterinsd]

Re: Advice needed. Sold boat, motor "blew" first time he took it out.

Thanks for all the advice or comments...



He had a 12N-M tow by Sea-Tow back to the dock. OUCH

I totally expected someone that would be yelling, cussing etc, but he wasn't. He stated the hull and the rest were in good condition and he was looking into a repower or selling off the rest of the boat.

12n-m , is what ? Nautical Mile

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Advice needed. Sold boat, motor "blew" first time he took it out.

yes

 

[roscoe]

Re: Advice needed. Sold boat, motor "blew" first time he took it out.

Heck, I had thought about taking it out w/ the family instead of the new boat since the old one was faster and the kids liked going fast and doing the whole "Titanic" thing (leaning over the front in the wind, not the hitting an iceberg and sinking)

Please don't let your kids do this.
It is illegal in many jurisdictions because it can be deadly.
It happens every year, a kid is bounced over the bow and struck by the boat.

 

[oops!]

Re: Advice needed. Sold boat, motor "blew" first time he took it out.

Please don't let your kids do this.
It is illegal in many jurisdictions because it can be deadly.
It happens every year, a kid is bounced over the bow and struck by the boat.

whole heartedly agree.....that shot from the movie cost several lives.

when i see people doing this with there kids at 40 mph across a lake......i freek out

 

[lncoop]

Re: Advice needed. Sold boat, motor "blew" first time he took it out.

I'm sure this is a stupid question, but I didn't see it answered in the thread. When you fired it up in the driveway you were running water through it, right?

 

[jmarty10]

Re: Advice needed. Sold boat, motor "blew" first time he took it out.

Dont answer or reply to any other phone call or emails from the guy. He's fishing for something. He knows he toasted it so why would he call you???

 

[ufm82]

Re: Advice needed. Sold boat, motor "blew" first time he took it out.

Not to hijack but had a similar a couple years back with a 20' cuddy I bought with the sole purpose of flipping but that plan changed a bit. Got it cheap from a co-worker, cleaned it up and got it running right and actually kept it for a couple months before selling it. (The family liked it better than my fishing boat.) Boat ran great, had the "proper" prop, hull was clean, etc. The only issue it had that I was aware of was a leaking shifter boot. I advertised it as a decent boat that needed a few things and made it very clear it was not perfect. First looker came with the family- we started it up on the driveway with the muffs, let it warm up, looked at the gauges and checked every switch in the boat. Lights all worked, blah, blah, blah. After a two hour inspection and MY pointing out the issues I saw ( shifter boot leak, chips on swim platform, splits in cushion vinyl, etc.) the guy made me an offer that I took. He came back two days later, hooked her up and off he went.

Calls me two weeks later- says that he took the boat to the mechanic I recommended to have the shifter boot repaired. He then proceeds to tell me that the other bellows down there are "old" and the mechanic said they should be replaced as well. Not leaking, not torn, just old. He also said that the mechanic told him that the engine should be inspected for any issues as the risers were original and the boat was 12 years old. This guy says I should pay for the bellows replacements and new risers! I told him that I made him completely aware of the issues I knew about when he bought the boat, that I certainly wasn't responsible for maintenance items on what is now his boat and that I had no intention of paying for anything. He threw a fit and threatened to sue but I told him my bill-of-sale that I prepared (taken from a friend's business database) was ironclad as far as liability. As Is means As Is. No implied warranties, no responsibility after the deal and no recourse for the buyer. He whined some more and then hung up.

Be tough, stand up for yourself and don't let them intimidate you. You have no idea what he did to the boat. Or even if he had control of the boat when it blew up. Maybe a buddy was driving? Who knows.