Engine Survey & Oil Analysis vs. ??

[mbr760]

I'm running into some scheduling conflicts with getting a surveyor and getting my boat transported. I've found a certified dealer/mechanic that can do the engine inspection and oil analysis but I'm probably going to miss my transport window if I wait to schedule a surveyor for the pre-purchase survey.

I'm going a week from tomorrow for my own pre-purchase boat test. I'm also going a day early as they are going to let me spend the night on her prior to that. I'm wondering how "at risk" i'm going to be if I spend the night poking around and testing all I can that I can test myself followed by my "test drive" and then a very thorough and professional engine inspection?

If I proceed down this path I'll have the boat in just under 2 weeks. If I don't find a surveyor who can do it before next Wednesday then I'll miss the transport window and have to wait - looks like - about 6 weeks.

I know it's pretty useless but the broker is providing me with a copy of the survey that the current owner had done. But couldn't I call that surveyor and get the "skinny" or is that being naive as well (as well as assuming the seller's survey is worth more than the paper it's written on)?

Thoughts, suggestions? (Of course I want the boat YESTERDAY!)

Thanks!

 

[jtybt15]

The more expensive the boat, the more important the survey. Don't get overly anxious at this point.

Get the earlier survey to use as a way to judge the quality of both surveys.

 

[Al_Prisco]

You want the survey before the vessel is shipped. This way the value of the vessel is documented and if there is a problem in shipment your covered. I may be able to fly there for you and make your deadline if your interested. I just returned back to N.Y. from Lopez Island, WA. for another client. Im no stranger to travel.

 

[Bill 2]

Wow! IMOH -- You are headed for getting your a$$ in a sling and should slow down. The transport of the boat is the last item on your list of "stuff" that you NEED to get done; that's just the way it is.

You are very intuitive in your questioning just how much "at risk" you may be. Again, IMHO, you should not stay aboard the boat, no matter what. I'm assuming that you don't know the owner, the broker, or the boat, and as you don't know anything about the boat, if anything goes awry, you'll become the path of least resistance, as in, 'my boat was OK when I left it -- what did you do to it?' I'm not saying that that's what would happen, but the door is wide open for that scenario. I know that the temptation is great, but please get yourself a motel room somewhere and then go aboard with the broker and your surveyor.

You should not be the one "poking around and testing" for obvious reasons. That should be left to your surveyor. Are the engines gas or diesel. If they are diesel, then the oil analysis report may be back on a rush basis within 48-hours, but it may also take 5-days or a week. How can you actually complete the transaction, close, and transport the boat without knowing the results of the oil analysis? Again, without knowing the boat, its age, etc., it's difficult to get into it too much, but think about the possibility of survey issues. Then what?

While being provided a prior copy of a survey can be helpful, it is not relevant to your transaction. You absolutely should have a survey in the now time frame; for you, your bank, and/or your insurance company. Again, the survey, even if recently performed, may be perfectly legitimate, but it should be done for you and preferably by another surveyor.

Al Prisco's offer to assist you is a very generous one. I'm sure that he has all the work locally that he can handle, but he's a professional surveyor and you'll be able to rest comfortably with his opinion.

You have considerable thinking to do regarding the sequence of events that must occur before you get this boat loaded onto a truck for transportation back to -- wherever. Please don't shortcut the deal just to meet your truckers schedule.

Good luck.

 

[Ghost]

First you get your surveys, THEN you make your purchase decision. Listening to what you are thinking. You are considering SLEEPING on the boat before everything has been evaluated. Your in danger of having emotionally committed to this boat before the objective decision. You might as well skip the surveys at this point because your objective decision making is already compromised. I'm not saying the survey's would not be valuable, just that at this point, your emotional mind will find way to rationalize away everything they will try to tell you.

You need a breather dude. Your decision process is out of whack.

bp

 

[Gary001]

Get a NEW survey before you buy the vessel. The surveyor you hire is working for you. For surveyors in your area see http://www.marinesurvey.org/for SAMS surveyors or http://www.nams-cms.org/ for NAMS surveyors.
By the way, oil analysis is useless if the oil was just changed.

Gary Washienko, SAMS AMS
Sound Marine Survey
Mamaroneck NY

 

[PascalG]

hard to reply since you don't even say what kind of boat you're alooking at !!! diesel or gas ?? that's key here... how old ? how many hours ?

the seller's survey is always good to look at but of no value... calling the seller's survey is of little value either since you dont' know their relationship. sure, he should be ethical and tell you evrything he found, but are you willing to gamble tens of thousands of dollars ?

i don't think any seller woudl let a stranger stay on the boat overnight... pre inspecting the vessel and doing a short sea trial before survey is a must, just ot make sure the boat is worth surveying.

if diesel, pay attention to the first FULL COLD start of the day... as this will reveal a lot about the engine. any smoke ? how much, what color, how long, any fuel out the exhaust, how much cranking etc... do they hunt before idle smooth out... etc.. etc..

 

[mabbott]

What is your definition of RISK?

$10K for rebuild?
$20K for remanufactured engines
$??K for replacement engines
$??K for blister/stringer/rot repairs?

As mentioned, what boat, what cost, can you get insurance without a survey?

IMHO you are putting the cart before the horse.