Boat issues found after the survey and deal closed

[ManoBoat]

Seeing a number of threads with folks talking about problems they are trying to solve that were not found during a survey, some asking about recourse on the surveyor.

Many folks are not listing what was not found so would like to ask for members to help us prospective buyers know what was missed to help us achieve a better end.

What was missed by your or the surveyor's inspection? What did you do to fix the issue?

 

[psneeld]

Severe hydrolysis and blistering of the bottom. Ground the entire bottom paint/gel coat off..... repaired 6 foot by 6 foot area of severe hydrolysis/delamination, rebuilt with alternating layers of woven fabric and cloth, Interprotect 2000 about 6 coats and bottom painted.

I specifically told the surveyor that I didn't care about cosmetics or little stuff....just find showstoppers. He missed a big one.

Fortunately it didn't cost a lot because I did it myself. I would see how others would have been out a lot of money.

 

[firehoser75]

First off, I am not a lawyer, so take this with a grain of salt and do your own research.
Most surveyors have disclaimers in their contracts/paperwork that could make it difficult to "hold them accountable", if they are not willing to admit their error(s). Also this would depend on the exact local/state(provincial)/national laws that are applicable in your jurisdiction. However, going to court is usually not a win in any shape of the word, and could end up throwing good money after bad......but could be a consideration (depending on circumstances).
If the issues that were missed are egregious (expensive and should be obvious to a trained surveyor), possibly contacting the accrediting body that this surveyor belongs to would be at least worth a phone call or email, and if "bad enough" contacting a marine lawyer for advice would be in order??
Unfortunately this could end up being a case of "buyer beware" both for the choosing of the surveyor as well as choosing the boat.
Sorry to hear about your situation!! Good luck.

 

[Portage_Bay]

• Fuel lines when disturbed cracked and failed. On CAT 3208 NA the engine mounted fuel filter has to be moved to pull the expansion tanks. Moving the filters the lines were brittle and broke open.
• Severe bonding system failure misidentified as over zinced.
• Port strut slightly bend, not obvious to the eye, binding the shaft. Discovered when replacing PSS seals. Prop could not be turned by hand.
• Numerous leaks in the hydraulic steering system. Cross threaded fittings. Final solution was 100% replacement of the lines, most of the fittings.
• Negative (-) side of the DC system was a complete mess. Rebuilt.

A combination of expensive findings that should have been found by the hull and condition or the mechanical surveyor. That experience taught me that a survey, even by the best, is not worth as much as going over the boat myself with a fine toothed comb.

Next boat. I did better this time. Told the seller I needed a lot of time on the boat, alone, going over everything.

• The starboard alternator was pronounced dead. I found out after purchase it was an inline fuse, 60 AMP for a 90 AMP alternator labeled "Watermaker"
• 1,2,Both switch incorrectly wired. Truly bizarre wiring that resulted in dead start batts and no charge going into the house bank from the engines. That problem was partly identified during survey. Seller replaced the start batts. I straightened out the mess. Clearing these two items gave me a system that while not ideal at least works.
• DC system a complete pile of spaghetti. With dozens of abandoned wires, switches that don't do anything, old failing light fixtures being used as junction boxes. The only comment by the surveyor was the wired need to be supported every 18"

The truth is a surveyor will be on your boat for 4 to 6 hours. It is not possible to find all faults in that little time especially on an older boat.

 

[Jeff F]

Unfortunately this could end up being a case of "buyer beware" both for the choosing of the surveyor as well as choosing the boat.

Yeah, very much so.

My only unexpected experience: I had a cascading set of instrumentation failures on the maiden voyage of one of my boats. Root cause was a bad connection on the heavy ground cable from the panel. The boat had a 1500w inverter which the previous owner had used for the fridge only. The only connection to ground was through the engine wiring harness, and when I plugged a coffee maker in the harness started melting down. It wasn't a cheap fix, or even an easy diagnosis at first.

It never occurred to me to blame myself (except for ignoring the initial symptoms), the surveyor or even the PO. Sometimes stuff happens, and often a change in use patterns can uncover new gremlins.

Lots of this is contextual. There are surveyors who will supervise new builds to provide assurances to the owner. But they're not too interested in 30 year old 100k boats.

If you are in the latter category my advice to most prospective buyers is to lower your expectations and budget some money for post-purchase surprises.

 

[Comodave]

When I am buying a boat I always go spend at least a day, if it is a larger boat, and poke around on the boat. Most times the surveyor has not found anything of significance that I didn’t already find. But insurance and the banks require a survey so I have them done. So if I miss an item and the surveyor misses I figure that the blame is partly mine so I say ok, then fix it. Most of the surveyors disclaimers say something like they will only refund the cost of the survey, so that isn’t worth messing with.

 

[Lepke]

Don't expect perfection. I always find many things the surveyors miss, in my boats and others. Especially wood boats, engine rooms, and electrical.
But the surveyor doesn't really have the time. He verifies everything works and the obvious problems are covered. Most learned their trade out of a book, not experience. And wood boats require a very experienced wood boat surveyor. I've found obvious termites several places in a wood boat that passed.
Taking a surveyor to court won't gain anything.
Today the purpose of a surveyor is to placate banks and insurance companies with employees that know even less than the surveyor.