What can I do legally about misrepresentation of a boat

[MissSipp]

My husband had been looking for a used boat to buy for months. He found a boat he loved on a boat resale site. We live in Mississippi and the boat was in Kentucky. The seller said the boat had 250 hours on it. Well, after driving to Kentucky, purchasing the boat, we took it to our local mercury mechanic. After thorough inspection, and compression testing: the motor is not good. Furthermore, the motor has 650 hours on it! He blatantly lied in his ad and to us about the hours on the boat because we would never had even considered it if we were told the truth of the hours. What can we do about the misrepresentation of this boat?

 

[justalayman]

How did you determine it has 650 hours on it rather than the 250 stated?

Other than that, the time to have an inspection is before you pay for
The boat.

 

[MissSipp]

Lesson learned. We had a very limited amount of time seeing that it was a 6 and a half hour drive one way, we had just enough time to inspect it ourselves, put it on the water, and get to his bank. Then drive back 7 hours and my husband be at work by 3am. Believe me when as a wife, I told you so's, isn't even worth it at this point. But, he had us fooled for sure. The boat cranked and ran without any hesitation. Turned off and recranked several times. Took the cowl off and looked over the motor(that was straight off the showroom clean) no leaks, no alarming indicators. He advertised it and assured us of the 250 hours. We get it home drop it off at our Mercury mechanic. And he ran diagnostics twice. It actually has 615.3 ECU to be exact. Compression test showed every cylinder low, best 2 at 20%, 3 at 40%, and one 60%. Bad motor. With a chance of it running forever or blowing the next crank. He advised running until it did/if it does instead of fixing it now. I contacted a lawyer through Kentucky Bar Association who said we definitely have a case of misrepresentation.

 

[Zigner]

I'm not sure I understand...did the seller promise that the boat had 250 hours, or the motor?

 

[adjusterjack]

I contacted a lawyer through Kentucky Bar Association who said we definitely have a case of misrepresentation.

So?

That opinion doesn't mean much when you consider the practical issues.

1 - You'll have to sue in KY.
2 - You'll have to travel to KY to go to court, maybe more than once. You don't get travel costs.
3 - You'll have to take time off from work. You don't get any lost earnings.
4 - You'll have to prove (not just say) that the seller had knowledge of the condition of the motor. Unless there was a visible meter connected to the motor, you aren't likely to be able to prove that the seller didn't just guess at the amount of the hours or he might have relied on what a previous owner told him.
5 - You'll have to pay your mechanic for his time and travel costs so he can testify in court. A written statement will be inadmissible because the defendant has the right to question a plaintiff's witness. Your own testimony won't mean anything because you are not experts.
6 - You operated it in the water and it ran fine and then you bought it. Difficult, if not impossible, to overcome the AS IS aspect of the deal.

 

[janiekwong]

So?

That opinion doesn't mean much when you consider the practical issues.

1 - You'll have to sue in KY.
2 - You'll have to travel to KY to go to court, maybe more than once. You don't get travel costs.
3 - You'll have to take time off from work. You don't get any lost earnings.
4 - You'll have to prove (not just say) that the seller had knowledge of the condition of the motor. Unless there was a visible meter connected to the motor, you aren't likely to be able to prove that the seller didn't just guess at the amount of the hours or he might have relied on what a previous owner told him.
5 - You'll have to pay your mechanic for his time and travel costs so he can testify in court. A written statement will be inadmissible because the defendant has the right to question a plaintiff's witness. Your own testimony won't mean anything because you are not experts.
6 - You operated it in the water and it ran fine and then you bought it. Difficult, if not impossible, to overcome the AS IS aspect of the deal.

I agree with adjusterjack, having that option won't be very practical on your end.