"jps" wrote in message
...
In article , says...
"vze3j5ge" wrote in message
...
My husband and I are considering purchase of a used boat - currently
out
of the water at our marina. We've spoken to a marine surveyor we
might
hire who says that the engine can be tested to some extent on land but
that we really should put the boat in the water and check it out.
Seems
reasonable - but my question is one about procedure. Who usually pays
for the marina to put boat in and take it out again in such a case -
buyer or seller?
I never paid a fee for any boat that I sea trialed. I bought 3 of
them...and walked away from a fourth 'cause the seller and I couldn't
reach
an agreement on a lower price after the sea trial. But I still didn't
pay
for the sea trial.
Three of the four boats that I sea trialed were sold on consignment by a
dealer. The reason the dealer gets a commission on the sale of a
consignment boat is because he has to take on the responsibility and
cost of
launching the boat for sea trials.
There is no way I'd pay a dealer to launch and sea trial a boat that
he's
already getting a commission on. That's the reason he's getting a
commission...to put up with the tire kickers.
We're probably not talkin' about trailer boats Nobby.
There's no difference. It takes just as much time and effort to launch a
25' center console from a dry rack as it does a 40' Convertible. Two of the
four boats that I looked at were in dry storage and needed a forkie to put
'em in the water. Another one was at a boat dealer that was
landlocked...and the owner of the dealership trailered it 20 minutes to the
launch ramp and sea-trialed it with me.
Only one of the four was already moored at a wet slip and didn't need to be
launched.
Gould tried to make the point that there's a difference between launching
for a sea-trial, and launching for a survey. What if your surveyor travels
along for the sea-trial? Is that a sea-trial (seller pays according to
Gould)...or a survey (buyer pays according to Gould)?