Grey Import. Should I walk away??

DoubleVision

DoubleVision

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Swmbo and I have been sniffing round a 2003 Regal Commodore 2665, Volvo 5.7 GSI on SX DP leg. The boat started life in Texas and was imported about 4 to 5 years ago. The present owners are now apparently too ill to use her and she has been standing ashore for 2-3 years on a brokers pitch. Broker says she has around 100 hours on the engine. The boat has never been CE certified and what worries me is why in that amount of time being in the UK has this not been done. The boat also has numerous electrical faults and is wired, petrol driven Gen set as well for 110 volts. The Brokers say that they will put a magic box in that will step the marina shore power down to 110V to run the cooker, microwave etc and re wire the sockets for 240V. Fair enough I thought but they are not prepared to do any of this without a deposit. My fear is that a boat without CE certification in this country of that age is uninsurable and in many cases the insurance companies dont like grey imports anyway.
That aside we fired up the engine today which sounded ok after power packing the flat batteries. On engaging gear the whole boat shook. It does it in fwd and reverse with an almighty clunk and the transom flexes in the process. Engine revs by the way 600 on tickover. I have never heard an SX drive sound like that, it was far worse than a merc alpha drive! I was told this is quite normal???? I dont think so!
To conclude I put this to the panel. Would you put a deposit on a 5 year old £42000 car with a dodgy battery, nasty clunk from the gearbox, no log book and mot, and only half the dials working on the dash before all this work had been done? Reading through this I think I`ve posted a no brainer but I would be interested to hear what you guys think? /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif We really do like this boat and want to buy it but am I being too picky? Thanks in advance for your opinions Chaps. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
you could cough for a survey on the boat, cheaper than a deposit then put a deposit down on condition all the works in he report are done. you'd probably need a survey for insurance anyway.

The CE thing would concern me as would its vat status. but I beleive there are workarounds on hte CE thing, getting it certified as class D rather than A or B
 
I always think about resale when i buy a boat, and you may have similiar problems if you ever sell it on, to those you are expressing now.

Given the market conditions, that strikes me as a reasonable sum of money to buy a UK boat that is certainly better bet to resale.

In the end you have to divorce the emotion from the purchase and your first gut feel (as posted here) is generally the best one to go with before the 'man' maths kick in, and you start to justify it!
 
I bet that quite few other people have had a look and walked away if the boat has been for sale for so long.

There's nothing wrong with walking, unless you have a significant reserve fund to bring her up to the standard you want. However, it sounds like serious time and money is needed.
 
I'm flogging my 2005 Scarani Rio 26 (Got a good spec too!) at the mo, and it's a minter for under 30K.

Why is a five year old Regal so dear? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
How much is an equivalent UK suplied boat?

I would be looking to reduce the asking price to cover all your concerns, VAT certificate can be obtained from HMRC, get the currrent owner to pay the VAT then hand you the certificate or reduce the asking price by the same amount & pay it yourself.

Factor in the CE marking & engine & drive service then get a surveyor to check her over.

It may have stood for a while if the current owner didn't do these things prior to purchase & wont take the hit now he's trying to sell.

Dont forget as a buyer you have the upper hand here, if you cant negotiate a deal then you can simply walk away.
 
Why try and get the price down to fix things?
Save yourself a boat load (!) of hassle and buy something else.
All IMHO of course /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Walk away

The group D is the Recreational Class directive, and yes going for Group D is a feasible option.

CE is a different matter. A magic box to 240 would not fix it, You would probably find yourself having to do a complete re-wire of the mains electrics. A replacement of a lot of non-ce equipment (e.g. VHF) plus the cost of the inspection.

IIRC it is illegal to sell on a boat in EU (purchased from outside EU) without CE but RYA can advise.
 
If a deal can be had to reflect the hassle of the transaction then it would be a viable option, but how much a discount depends on how you feel about the boat.

If it's too much hassle then walk away, if not then you may get it for a decent price, either way as a buyer your not going to pay top price or current market value for a boat with issues.
Problem may be getting the current owner to lower his asking price by the amount required to pay the VAT & CE marking, if he won't then it will probably be sat there in another two years.
 
[ QUOTE ]
IIRC it is illegal to sell on a boat in EU (purchased from outside EU) without CE but RYA can advise.

[/ QUOTE ]

It's actually illegal to put into use a boat without CE - CE and RCD are same thing in this context
 
Are newer USA imports easier to configure as far as electrics and appliances go?
What needs to be done to make the boat good for 230V 50Hz from 110V 60hz they use in USA?

Jeff
 
Blimey, you've only had the Rinker 10 minutes....
Anyhow, unless the Regal is an almighty bargain, and on the face of it, it isn't, I'd walk away. As a grey import it'll never be as easy to sell on even after its been certified, and do you really want the hassle and expense of sorting it out.

Transom flexing... eh? Sounds like the drive has a major problem, or somebody at Regal forgot to bond the transom in properly. Or both.

To answer to your question... No!!
 
IMHO Its way over priced for an import, it sounds to me to be a real hassle and boats that stand around unused for even a season can cause even more trouble.
I think the consensus is look for a straight UK boat, Its a buyers market at the moment so unless they knock at leasr 10k off that price you would be paying over the odds anyway.

Gary
 
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