Selling used boat - advise

Hello.
I have found a buyer for my boat. Although I am very excited about this, I am not excited about the current weather. The guy buying it is driving a long way (900 miles). The weather calls for WIND and SNOW this Saturday!! We will be unable to lake test it. What do you all recommend? The buyer wants to put a clause in the purchase agreement regarding mechanical condition. How should this be worded? I don't want to extend a warranty to this guy beyond that the boat runs and works. But I don't want to say "as-is" to scare him. The dealership said they would de-winterize and hook it up to the machine to run and then winterize again.

I am just trying to get advise on what to do. I don't want to get a phone call weeks/months in the future saying the boat broke and I have to pay - when I can't even prove what has happened since it left my possesion. The boat works great - but I am trying to avoid any future hassles.

Thanks for any advise!

no way you sell with any warranty. you can take it into the dealer and he can watch them hook it up and run it. if he wants to pay for an inspection, he can. you shouldn't have to do this. most used boats out of warranty are sold as is.

I agree it really needs to be sold as is. I sold my sons KTM 50 dirt bike a while back to a guy who heard it run but did not bring his kid with him to test it out. Two days later I get a call from the purchaser saying the bike does'nt run and he is having all kinds of problems with it. Because I told him I would stand behind the quality of the bike he asks me to take it back. I go round and round with the guy and finally decide to take it back. It turned out that he bought the bike for his tiny daughter who was likely scared to death of it. Anyway sell it "as-is" it's the purchaser's responsibility to look it over and have it inspected by a mechanic if need be. Good luck.

are the lakes still frozen? If not, just put it in the water and drain the block and manifolds when you get home. It takes 10 minutes. If you have an onboard heater, keep that valve closed so water doesn't run through it and you don't have to drain it.

yeah i would not worry about re-winterizing the boat... you are in ohio... you really think you will have a deep freeze for a long period of time? It is going to take more than just one night at 32 degrees to crack your block. if you are really nervous just do what erik above said... no worries....

i would tell the guy to do whatever he likes to the boat while you and he are there, but once it leaves, its his. if he's smart he'll run a compression test, pull the plugs to look for fouling and a host of other things. if i were to offer him any type of warranty i would offer that there is nothing on the boat that is going to cause vibration under load(i.e. the prop and shaft a straight). but i would also put a time limit. give him 1 week to test this. other than that, i wouldnt offer him anything. you can go to a motocross dealer, walk away with a 6500 brand new bike and those arent covered by a warranty either, youre not being unreasonable.

I agree with whats being said. I am sure you want to move the boat and he wants the boat asap. If it were me, I would personally say "you have two options either: you can either take it as is, or wait until its warmer in my area and hope I still have it". (assuming your local lakes are frozen over).

Thanks for all the advice!!

I just sold my boat to a guy from Boise, and we had the same problem. He didn't want me to unwinterize it do to weather worries. I took the boat to the dealership and they did a cold compression test. The numbers are usually a little lower doing it cold, but it can be done.