Question on Contract Negotiation

Philip Greenspun's Homepage : Philip Greenspun's Homepage Discussion Forums : Aviation : One Thread
Notify me of new responses
I am buying a 2005 Cessna t182t with 1200 hours on it in Texas. The
plane has had two owners. It has 1200 hours TT.

We have got to the point in the contract negotiation where we agree
on a price - BUT, have ONE area of concern with verbiage on the
contract... before we sign and do the pre-buy inspection.

The original contract that I sent the Seller stated that:
Seller warrants: (a) the Aircraft is in airworthy condition; (b) the
Aircraft has a current annual inspection; (c) the Aircraft has a
currently effective Standard Category airworthiness certificate
issued by the Federal Aviation Administration; (d) all of the
Aircraft's logbooks are accurate and current; (e) all applicable
Airworthiness Directives have been complied with.

The contract that the Seller revised states:
Seller warrants that to the best of Sellerメs knowledge: (a) the
Aircraft is in airworthy condition; (b) the Aircraft has a current
annual inspection; (c) the Aircraft has a currently effective
Standard Category airworthiness certificate issued by the Federal
Aviation Administration; (d) all of the Aircraft's logbooks are
accurate and current; (e) all applicable Airworthiness Directives
have been complied with.

Am I ok to accept this new verbiage? We have gone through the
digital log books and will go through the hard copies when the plane
is delivered for inspection.

-- Kevin Foster, February 4, 2015

Answers

Sorry for the untimely response. I missed the email alert!

The revised language is somewhat weaker. I guess the real fight might be if an AD had been missed, were required, and then with the second language the seller could try to get out of paying for it. The seller is simply warranting something related to an internal state of mind.

-- Philip Greenspun, October 8, 2015


You would have to prove that the seller knew it wasn't airworthy or an AD had not been complied with in order to enforce the warranty. Good luck with that.

-- Don Shade, October 8, 2015

Can't speak for others, but I would be satisfied as a seller or buyer with the new verbiage. It's not a new aircraft and there could easily be something obscure that the seller honestly missed and doesn't want to be held liable in the event of a catastrophe. At the end of the day, there is no "perfect" aircraft and you are either confident and comfortable with the condition, seller and maintence records or you're not. As the new owner it's going to be you're responsibility to research the AD history and compliance, which should be done at the pre-buy anyway.

-- Richard S, October 8, 2015