Skip Gundlach wrote:

... It *is* one of the not-proven items (the only other being
the SSB) which the broker has agreed requires some consideration.

Skip, you're really trying to be 'way too scientific about this. The guy wants
to sell his boat, you want to buy it. Which of you is hungrier? Anything that
was not demonstrated to work, to your satisfaction, should be assumed
non-functional. That's the only rational way to assess it.

If your offer has been accepted and certain gear that was part of the deal turns
out to not work... write it off the top of your offer... or else swallow it.
It's a game of chicken, there is no scientific process for adjustment.

When we bought our trawler, I stated the exact principle above to the broker...
who bent over backwards to prove that all the stuff worked... but in some cases
it didn't. With the broker standing next to me, I looked it up in the West
Marine catalog, and wrote off double the retail price (for installation... and
in some cases that's a lowball figure). The owner wouldn't go for that, so I
walked. Later the broker called me back and we bought the boat... and are still
working on getting all major systems properly installed & operational.

The issue here is that you seem over committed... unwilling to walk. So why
should the broker *care* if you don't like the watermaker or the SSB?

Trying to help you out here!

Fresh Breezes- Doug King