Broker problem

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White_Lady

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Morning folks.A friend of mine bought a boat he had seen on a brokers site,liked it, and paid for it ( crazy ). He told the broker it was for towing around to different places,and the weight on the ad confirmed this OK 2,700kl.Indeed the broker arranged to find a second hand trailor for the purpose.
When my friend drove down ( some 250 miles ) with his Landcruiser to collect his boat,the crane operator informed him it was 3.5 ton.And they concluded that with the trailor on top,it was not a legal option to tow.

What are my friend options? The broker is not making the right noises.

Thanks in advance.

Phil
 
ads from brokers, or their website,usually have some disclaimer over the details.. ie, they are offered in good faith only etc etc. Unless you could prove deception of some kind, I m not sure what can be done. What is the boat. I d guess its 26ft+ to be that heavy?
 
It would help if we knew what boat it is?

If you let us know the type and model we may be more help!

As for the weight. The weight stated will be the dry weight. So any water, sewage and fuel will add weight. If it has 250 litres of water and 400 litres of fuel in her that will explain it.

Secondly she may be full of other things like dinghys, spare outboards, flares, engine spares, large anchor and chain etc. What he needs to do is strip the boat back and thenm get her weighed.

Hope that helps but for a more specific answer tell us which model and type.

I towed a 2700KG Chapparal 240SSE and I had to be very careful about any extra weght. One good thing is that the Landcruiser will tow anything! I sold my Aquador 23HT to a guy with a landcruiser (2700KG) and when empty she towed no problem.

Cheers

Paul
 
Theres no way a Draco 2500 with twin diesels would be considered trailable, unless your using a truck as a tow vehicle or a low loader, perhaps the broker just "assumed" you knew this. Brokers ad's are always unreliable and they have disclaimers, it was probably just a cut n'paste from another ad which probably then used an old brochure originaly, the displacement quoted would be dry and may have even been for a petrol version which could be 2-300kgs lighter.

I'm afraid its a case of buyer beware, but the broker sounds like an a rse being deliberately unhelpful.
 
at 25ft, I dont think its unreasonable to think the boat is towable. Cant find any firm figures, but I ve found some ads in Scandinavia suggesting its about 2500-3000kg, probably depending on power
I think it might be worth emptying the boat, as suggested elsewhere, and finding a weighbridge, rather than base your argument on the crane driver's comment.
I would think you have a chance of getting this down to 3500kg on a trailer. You might be able to find the original weight somewhere, but you still need to think about what clobber and gear has been added since.
 
Last edited:
White_Lady said:
Thanks for comments.She is a draco 2500,with twin diesals.Broker is saying hard luck,she is yours now!
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Weights of boats are not very straightforward. Boat are given a weight by the manufacturer, but this often excludes all liquids and most kit. It can even exclude batteries.

If the boat in question is the 2500 twin cab. The brochure gives a weight of 2500kgs. This is probably with twin petrols, so the diesel version will be heavier. Add any additional kit that has been added and some fuel and the boat in question could easily top 3000kgs. Most trailers rated to 3500kgs weigh around 750kgs themselves and are therefore rated to carry boats of around 2750kgs.

The broker should have known better but was not necessarily misrepresenting, they may simply not have understood the finer points of towing law. On the other hand your friend should have done a little research and would have soon found out that the boat would have been too heavy to tow.
 
I think looking at this http://www.uktow.com/towing capacity.asp#tab1 even with the original weight of the boat advertised by the broker, you'd only have 100kg to spare without considering the trailer... a hard line I know but your mate really should have had alarms bells ringing when factoring the original details. sounds like you may have a tough time ahead sorting this one
 
oGaryo said:
I think looking at this http://www.uktow.com/towing capacity.asp#tab1 even with the original weight of the boat advertised by the broker, you'd only have 100kg to spare without considering the trailer... a hard line I know but your mate really should have had alarms bells ringing when factoring the original details. sounds like you may have a tough time ahead sorting this one
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Depends on which model of Landcruiser he had. The Amazon can tow 3500kgs.
 
hate to say this, but if the trailer was sourced to carry 2750kg, not only might you be over the total 3500kg, but the trailer might not be adequate for the boat either, if the boat is more like 3000kg.
 
White_Lady said:
Indeed the broker arranged to find a second hand trailor for the purpose.
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This may be your only recourse, if the broker supplied or brokered a trailer that was not fit for purpose then he needs to sort it out. The sale of the boat may well be a done deal, but they need to help you accomplish the tow as it sounds like this was a part of the overall sale.

How did your friend pay?
 
You don't give anywhere near enough information to advise whether there is any possibility of recourse to anyone.

1. WRT the boat, the broker was (presumably) simply a broker. The contract of sale was between the seller and your friend (the buyer). If the broker specifically represented that the boat was suitable for towing by you friend and he knew exactly what the towing vehicle was there is possibly an actionable misrepresentation but it would be hard to prove and the remedy is unclear - what's the loss?

2. WRT the trailer - was it purchased from the broker (as seller) or did the broker introduce the seller or what?

3. What does you friend wish to happen? For the purchase of the boat and/or the trailer to be unwound? Is that realistic?

I have a little but not very much sympathy. If you're new to boats it's a bit dumb to steam in without any knowledge. If you're not, you should be aware of possible pitfalls and avoid them.
 
Make sure you have a dated copy of the ad and that someone reliable has one, too.

Check with Trading Standards. If a known purchasing criterion was "towability", then it's not fit for purpose. End of story; money back.
 
sarabande said:
Make sure you have a dated copy of the ad and that someone reliable has one, too.

Check with Trading Standards. If a known purchasing criterion was "towability", then it's not fit for purpose. End of story; money back.
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Rubbish. You have no idea what you're on about. For example, how does "fitness for purpose" apply in this case?
 
The Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended by the Sale and Supply of Goods Act 1994 and the Sale and Supply of Goods to Consumers Regulations 2002). all refer to fitness for purpose.

if the purchase said, and made it clear that boat had to be suitable for trailing, and the broker says it is, but it isn't... ?

Involve TS right away - they are clued up on the details of every kind of purchase.

  • Let's hear some specific advice from you, rather than contentious woffle.
  • If you have any professional expertise in this area, then please have the courtesy to declare it.
 
There was a post on here a while back (which I think got deleted) where someone purchased a boat through a broker. The broker told the purchaser that the boat had a watermaker on board. Turned out after he had bought it that it didn´t have a watermaker. Broker said tough luck, I act for the vendor, your contract is with the vendor and you can´t rely on a word I say.

Sounds like this is a similar case and is nothing to do with the Sales of Goods Act as it is a private transaction. Caveat emptor I´m afraid.
 
I don't think there's any come back on the broker. Most consumer protection law doesn't apply to private sales of second hand items.

The only ray of hope is that the 'readout' on cranes always over reads. It's there to stop the crane operator killing himself / doing damage (unless it had a calibrated load cell on the hook which is highly unlikely).

Take the boat on it's trailer to a public weigh bridge and get a definitive answer.
 
trailing

you have more faith in TS than I do.
Still, you d have to reason there was some agreement as to the tow vehicle, and so, 3500kg. I m not sure you can argue the broker should have investigated your vehicle, its model, engine etc in order to make a judgement on your behalf as to towing capability. That surely is your responsibility.And its perfectly legal to tow more than 3500kg,licence and vehicle depending. Does the broker have a responsibility to investigate your driving licence too?
As other posts have made clear, no one knows the weight until its actually weighed ( and how many people with a boat on a trailer have ever bothered to do that?)
I dont want to get flammed for this as being irresponsible, but you dont need to hang around boats and trailers for too long to see plenty of people arent paying too much attention to the law on this matter ...

sarabande said:
The Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended by the Sale and Supply of Goods Act 1994 and the Sale and Supply of Goods to Consumers Regulations 2002). all refer to fitness for purpose.

if the purchase said, and made it clear that boat had to be suitable for trailing, and the broker says it is, but it isn't... ?

Involve TS right away - they are clued up on the details of every kind of purchase.

  • Let's hear some specific advice from you, rather than contentious woffle.
  • If you have any professional expertise in this area, then please have the courtesy to declare it.
Click to expand...
 
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