Putting in offer - need advice

[JENDL SEAS]

Well, buying a bigger boat. I am in New England and it is obviously very cold and boats are winterized and wrapped. How do I deal with the sea trial aspect of purchase in winter? Survey is a no brainer...just confused how to handle trial or lack thereof. Thanks in advance!

 

[Havana Shamrock]

We bought our boat in Boston a few yrs ago in March, she was indoors and made all the arrangements before the spring, we had the hull, and systems survey done before hand then when weather was permitting we had the launch and sea trials done running all wet systems, everything was in writing and contingent on the final sea trials, and oil, sample results,etc..... Just put all of your concerns in the contract prior to final delivery as per your satisfaction, and you'll be fine. They pay for the launch and captain while the survey is being performed. Hope this helps and best of luck

 

[HUMPH]

Well, buying a bigger boat. I am in New England and it is obviously very cold and boats are winterized and wrapped. How do I deal with the sea trial aspect of purchase in winter? Survey is a no brainer...just confused how to handle trial or lack thereof. Thanks in advance!

What are you looking at?

 

[JV II]

Well, buying a bigger boat. I am in New England and it is obviously very cold and boats are winterized and wrapped. How do I deal with the sea trial aspect of purchase in winter? Survey is a no brainer...just confused how to handle trial or lack thereof. Thanks in advance!

The survey is not really a no brainer if the boat is winterized. You can't check the water and AC systems or the engines. Kind of a big deal on a survey.
You can't do a sea trial or a proper survey if its winterized and wrapped. You have to unwrap and unwinterize. Unless it is a CPO dealer boat, I'd be concerned. It is is a CPO dealer boat and they warranty it, I'd sleep better.

 

[Beerlust]

Wait. Get full survey.

 

[1956olds]

I bought this past dec.The broker had the marina get hoses to run the engines ,indoors heated storage of course.and the surveyor was cnofident in his approach to this type of survey.

 

[Sum Escape]

There is no substitute for a sea trial. Systems must be run under load to catch vibrations, etc. Another example is one cannot tell how well propped the boat is without running her. Make the offer contingent on satisfactory sea trial and final related survey items to be completed in the Spring as others have stated. Good luck.

 

[mjmason1]

I bought a boat over the winter before. A preliminary survey can be done. Have the deposit kept in escrow. In the contract be sure it includes "pending a satisfactory survey and sea trial". During the sea trial in the spring you can complete the survey. I also think that when you finally get to the sea trial it will be late in the spring and the seller will be more willing to do the necessary repairs to complete the sale.
What are you looking at? Good luck.

 

[Quint4]

I once made a deal on a Bridge boat on the hard in the dealers lot. Long story short, I paid $600 for a survey and ultimately the boat would not pass a sea trial (engine trouble.....ran fine until it was put under load). Should have sea trialed it first and saved myself a lot of time and money.

I would want deal that goes in this order:
1.Satisfactory sea trial
2. Hull and systems survey
3. Engine survey with fluid samples

 

[dcharna]

I just bought my boat and I ditto most of the comments above. I added compression testing to the oil samples which I hoped would diagnose a larger problem come spring. If compression was low, I would have walked away and spent time on another purchase. I know it is not ideal conditions to compression test but it does give you some predictive results. All else is in the contract. My boat is dealer owned so I know they will back the contract. If it is a private seller, I would put money in escrow. The more the merrier.

 

[northern]

If the seller is desperate for the money before spring you could offer a price based on worst case replacement cost of items you feel could be bad. If not a contract to be finilized in the spring. Need to put in a clause that will allow you to back out without cost if you change your mind or just do not feel it is good deal.

 

[skolbe]

I know everything is frozen now. How soon will the water thaw? I bought my 260 and they dewinterized it and we did a sea trial and survey. The water was cold. Then they rewinterized it. On my 260, when I traded it they ran it in really cold water as well. The ice had just melted with an occasional chunk of ice.