A Professional Marine Survey Can Save You Time and Money When Purchasing A Used Powerboat

Buying a used powerboat can save a great deal of money over buying a new motorboat, but if you're not careful, you could end up purchasing a boat with expensive problems that willeat up every dollar you saved, and even more — and possibly even endanger your life. A professional marine survey of the powerboat can more than pay for itself.

A marine surveyor will conduct a thorough inspection of the boat under consideration — examining everything from the flying bridge to the hull bottom — and will provide you with a comprehensive marine survey report that describes in detail every problem or potential problem that the inspection revealed.

Make Your Purchase Contingent on a Satisfactory Marine Survey

Boat buyers commonly make an offer on the vessel subject to satisfactory marine survey and sea trial. After you receive the survey report, you can then make an informed decision about whether you want to proceed with purchasing the boat. If the survey report reveals problems that are just too extensive, you may wish to cancel the purchase altogether — or you might modify your offer to make it contingent on the owner repairing certain deficiencies, or you might use the deficiencies noted in the report as bargaining points to negotiate a lower price.

You can expect to pay handsomely for an experienced marine surveyor to perform your survey. Experienced and knowledgeable marine surveyors are in demand, and for very good reasons. First, their service is critical to the purchase of a used powerboat. Anyone who spends more than a few thousand dollars for a powerboat without a marine survey is foolish. Additionally, a thorough survey is time-consuming and labor-intensive, and the experience a seasoned marine surveyor brings to the job is invaluable. Finally, a good survey can pay for itself — surveys can often save the buyer more in price concessions or owner-financed repairs than the survey itself cost. This makes the boat survey in effect free.