RollerCoastr
Well-Known Member
- Nov 15, 2007
- 3,884
- Boat Info
- 1997 400DA
340HP 7.4 Mercruiser Bluewaters
Garmin 741, 742, 8212, 24HD, Intellian I2
- Engines
- 1999 280BR
Twin 250HP Merc 350 Alpha Ones
I've been helping a friend boat shop for over 2 years now. His budget and priorities have have all swung at least 180º and sometimes back again...
We stumbled across a 30-year old 32 footer for sale by an estate. It's far from perfect, but it's clear that the owner understood and cared for this boat and the accepted offer is way below what one would expect. It's been sitting for almost 3 years. A sale recently fell through. We heard from a 3rd party that it the deal crumbed due to an inexperienced and unreasonable buyer. That was supported by their reaction when my buddy contacted them to purchase their survey. They demanded full price and $400 in mechanical work they invested to get the engines to reach WOT. Ah, no, that's not how any of this works!
So he hired the same SAMS surveyor, who offered a documented survey at half-price. He re-surveyed the boat, even though it went back to storage immediately after he surveyed it a month before. Maybe that's an industry expectation?
I read the report yesterday, and I'm not impressed. 80% of it is of course boilerplate language and disclaimers. I'm fine with that - they all are. What I'm not fine with is what strikes me as lazy and incompetent content further in.
When someone familiar with boats looks at blue engines wearing a "350" plate on the valve covers, he doesn't think horsepower, right?? This certified marine surveyor wrote "engines reportedly 350 HP each".
He didn't notice a crack in a transmission bracket. When my friend asked him about, he said, "I don't do engines". We understand that surveyors aren't mechanics. I don't expect him to predict a bearing failure for chrissake, but shouldn't he notice and mention a clearly-visible crack and know the difference between CI and HP?
The report stated the vessel has an aft cabin. It doesn't. He mis-spelled windlass.
He noted that he found elevated moisture, but provided no detail of how much or where it is.
He provided some detail on other things, such as the model number of the stereo. It ended with RF. Um, dude, that's the model number of a Radio Frequency REMOTE.
Are these big red flags or am I being unreasonable for a $350 survey? He's scheduled to close in few days. After reading the survey I'm wondering if hiring someone else would be money well spent.
We stumbled across a 30-year old 32 footer for sale by an estate. It's far from perfect, but it's clear that the owner understood and cared for this boat and the accepted offer is way below what one would expect. It's been sitting for almost 3 years. A sale recently fell through. We heard from a 3rd party that it the deal crumbed due to an inexperienced and unreasonable buyer. That was supported by their reaction when my buddy contacted them to purchase their survey. They demanded full price and $400 in mechanical work they invested to get the engines to reach WOT. Ah, no, that's not how any of this works!
So he hired the same SAMS surveyor, who offered a documented survey at half-price. He re-surveyed the boat, even though it went back to storage immediately after he surveyed it a month before. Maybe that's an industry expectation?
I read the report yesterday, and I'm not impressed. 80% of it is of course boilerplate language and disclaimers. I'm fine with that - they all are. What I'm not fine with is what strikes me as lazy and incompetent content further in.
When someone familiar with boats looks at blue engines wearing a "350" plate on the valve covers, he doesn't think horsepower, right?? This certified marine surveyor wrote "engines reportedly 350 HP each".
He didn't notice a crack in a transmission bracket. When my friend asked him about, he said, "I don't do engines". We understand that surveyors aren't mechanics. I don't expect him to predict a bearing failure for chrissake, but shouldn't he notice and mention a clearly-visible crack and know the difference between CI and HP?
The report stated the vessel has an aft cabin. It doesn't. He mis-spelled windlass.
He noted that he found elevated moisture, but provided no detail of how much or where it is.
He provided some detail on other things, such as the model number of the stereo. It ended with RF. Um, dude, that's the model number of a Radio Frequency REMOTE.
Are these big red flags or am I being unreasonable for a $350 survey? He's scheduled to close in few days. After reading the survey I'm wondering if hiring someone else would be money well spent.