I went to go look at a boat I was going to purchase from someone. The boat appeared to be in good running condition. The owner ran the boat with the throttle at 50% out of gear because it has to be run for a bit before it will idle. He only ran it for about 2 seconds to show it ran. We looked over the boat and everything looked good. I was there with two others for an hour or so, he said the boat was lake ready and ran fine. We purchased the boat and took it to the lake to test it.

The boat would not idle at all. The boat never left the ramp. I just let it sit on the trailor in the water trying to get it to idle, since it wouldn't engage I never even attempted to put it into gear. For the next few days I rebuilt the carb and did some minor tune up work and it was finally idleing. The next step was to make sure the boat would run! When I tested it, the boat would not engage forward gear, so I took it to a mechanic and the forward gear was stripped. The cost to fix this is $550. This is the problem I have. I believe he knew it wouldn't engage forward gear the whole time, which is why he didn't let me lake test it before I bought it. He did say it was lake ready though. I believe, because the motor wouldn't idle, he would ram it into forward gear with some throttle in to get it to go forward, and did thie enough times to strip the gear.

His story: Since the last time he took it out, he said he had the bellows replaced and the mechanic verified everything worked, so he says I must have done something to ruin the forward gear. There is no way that is the case because it was stripped which takes time and mechanics advised me there is no way this just happened, and nothing I did could have caused it because I never tried to engage any gears or take it off the trailor.

He sold me a boat that didn't work, and he will not help pay anything, so I'm considering taking him to a small claims court and was wondering if this was a valid case. I have also found out he lied to me about where he worked when he sold me the boat (he said he worked on base here), which really makes me think he's lying about it all.

Did you get a bill of sale? Or receipt?

You have two witnesses, you have the statement of the mechanic. Did he also say "As is" or write it down? That would be the one thing that would sink you in court. Buying "As is" means just that, what you see is what you get.
Sometimes an expensive lesson but no good education comes cheap. At the best, you'll have a boat that you know is good if not better when you finish rebuilding it. As to the lying, yes people do lie and it really hurts that they are so low as to lie to get what little money they can from other people. Those types are out there. In the long run they soon get a reputation and honest people avoid them. Good luck

Was it an "as is" sale? If you go and buy something from a yard sale and it doesn't work it then becomes your problem. Same case here, it is out of his hands and in to yours. What isn't his problem now, is now yours. He fooled you, you fell for it and now you have a boat that you fixed and now works because you chose to fix it and put the money into it to make it work.

Unless otherwise stated on the bill of sales all sales are "as is." The guy who said buyer be ware wasn't just talking to hear his voice. It is up to the buyer to test what he want to buy until he is statisfied, apparently you were satisfied. If you can prove in court that he misrepresented the boats condition then you might have a chance but proof is more than your one mechanic saying it was stripped before the sale.

It was not "as is", it was a running boat, and he said it was running. He never said I was buying the boat as is. He also lied about his job which he used as an excuse saying he couldn't take it on a test run with me. There is nothing in writing that states it was not as is, but there are two witnesses.

"as is" in this context means you get what you see. All sales contracts for boats, cars, motor cycles, etc... are "as is" unless you are given a wrtitten warranty. If you saw it ran and tested no further then, for the moment, you were satisfied. He may have lied about where he works but it has no bearing on the sale. I wish I could offere you more hope, you could always try to sue him in small claims and hope for a sympathetic judge. Maybe the threat of a suit will get him to budge.

If it said something specific about the condition of the boat it is not "as is." If it said nothing, it is "as is." That's the law.

What exact wording did the bill of sale say ? That is all that counts in most cases.

If the written bill of sale says running, then you have a good case.

Learning ***
If you are buying boat or car, test drive it
If you are buying a boat or car, have it checked by a certified mechanic

Random question: the OP states that the seller only ran the boat for 2 seconds, yet he was there for about an hour:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by EKit

He only ran it for about 2 seconds to show it ran. We looked over the boat and everything looked good. I was there with two others for an hour or so, he said the boat was lake ready and ran fine. We purchased the boat and took it to the lake to test it.

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Why on earth would you buy a boat that you witnessed run with the throttle at 50% for only two seconds? That would be the equivalent of starting up a car, shutting it off and saying, "The tranny seems pretty sound."

As others have said, the law is typically "as is" unless otherwise stated. And you still haven't answered as to whether there was a bill of sale or not.