North Australian FISH FINDER TM forums

Hi,

I have had a quick look around on the site but have not been able to locate the information I need.
I am looking at buying a boat privately here in darwin. I would like to know what the process is to prove ownership of the boat and transfer, the proof of rego on a trailer and also what companies do comprehensive insurance.

Thanks
Chris.

There is no boat transfers or proof of ownership that I know of. Trailer transfers are just like any other vehicle. Fill out the back of the rego paper. Buyer takes is part of the rego and both are submitted at the MVR. Insurance there is TIO, Yamaha and Club Marine just to name a few

Thankyou Lats for that info.

So how do you state that you own the boat, can someone not sell the boat to you then state that you stole it from them (especially in a cash situation).

In the past I have just made a bit of a contract/ stat dec stating the date, person, maybe a drivers licence number ( so you can check he is who he is saying he is), how much ete, and stating that there is no outstanding finance on the boat.
Biggest problem is trying to find out if there is any finance on the boat. You could buy it, and in a week the finance mob can knock on ts boor and reposses it.
If he is the first owner, go to where they purchased it, and see if it was purchase outright, or finance.

This has always been an issue, I got caught out once, it cost me an extra 10K over the price of the boat. It could have been worse. It would be interesting to hear from anyone else who had a similar problem and how they resolved it.

Gagey

Its really hard to do it here because we dont have regos but check out the old revs site - register of encumbered vehicles
http://www.ppsr.com.au/individuals/boat-search
and
http://boathistories.com/boat-hin-search.php
The repossessers wont give a rats if you have a stat dec or not but it will help when you go to court
boats and engines have serial numbers/vin/hin so do your research.
(i got the 2 websites just by doing a basic search)

trust no one

Nautilus and club marine are a good start for ins

Thankyou everyone for your information. Guess the no rego deal has its pros and cons

just use your own common sense - if it looks too good to be true then it probably is. dont rely on anyone else because youre the one who will bear the consequences if it turns to poop

Another reason for the NT to step into the 21st century. Buyer beware!

I will take down all serial numbers or compliance plate numbers. Motor, hull and trailer (and any other expensive bits of kit that are attached) You then Google these or if you want to be really pedantic, you contact the manufacturer 9or local service provider) and can track back ownership that way, at least as far as you can to ensure you aren't buying stolen gear. Make all transactions bank transactions, you can do direct transactions where the money is cleared immediately. You take the cash to the bank and get a receipt. This is if you are spending a bit of coin. Still, if the boat is stolen the seller wont want you to do any of these things and that should send up a red flag.

Ask him where he got the motor serviced and go there and check the service records, these will have a name attached, see if it matches. They may not give you the info but at least you will know if he has had it serviced recently.

If it is a small punt and cash of 1K - 2K well, as with buying a dirt bike or any other such item. do your best to ensure your don't get bitten but at the end of the day you have no real way of knowing.

Im not sure that it will cost you a great deal of $ to do the checks – just a lot of your time. Most people are too lazy to check anything and the crooks work on that idea
Many times the ‘owner’ doesn’t know it was stolen.
I once had a boat and trailer stolen in Terrigal NSW. Many years later, the cops called me advising that they had found the boat in pt Kembla and the trailer was up nth.
It had been repainted
Be very wary of boats that have been repainted. It might be legit but I bet there is something dodgey happening. (same as not buying a house that has been repainted)

Turns out that the boat had been sold 3 times since they pinched it from me and the last person did his checks.
NSW has HIN etc and was easy to track
They wanted to know if I had any photos.
I did one better. On every boat I own, I have several distinguishing numbers engraved in well-hidden locations that only I knew the positions.
Take heaps of pics and save them. Use those invisible ink pens to write your details in hidden areas. I don’t know how long they last but I now engrave my details on a small piece of ally and stick it somewhere. Im not as nimble as i once was so spending a long time on my back engraving my details is out of the question

Thankyou for the information. Ill be doing checks prior to making any payments and will be photographing everything.