carfax for boat engines?

[stackz]

is there something along the lines of carfax or autocheck for boat engines?

not as far as in accidents per say but that would let you check to see if an engine has been reported stolen in the past?

got a guy local with an engine without a title I'm interested in for the lower half but I want to check the serial numbers first to make sure I'm not buying something that is hot.

I got stuck in a situation like that in my early 20's and I dont ever want to be in that situation again. ending up with no money and no parts is not very fun. but I know there are legitimate times when people dont have titles to things.

guy "claims" it was his dads engine and his dad died but you never can be too sure.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: carfax for boat engines?

Very few states track motors so any such service would be fairly useless. If you want to do your due diligence, I would think just contacting your local police to have them check the numbers would be good.

 

[stackz]

Re: carfax for boat engines?

I was actually thinking about calling the DNR since SC does track engines. dont know if I'd be bothering them with this or not though.

sc makes you track them through past owners AND get documentation from the previous owners if you want to apply for a new title. kinda weird but I would assume this might tell me if it was ever reported stolen or not?

 

[5150abf]

Re: carfax for boat engines?

You can try SC DNR but you may not get anywhere, if the engine is from else where it will probably just return nothing, here in Indiana they don't track engines other than to know how big it is so they can tax you for it.

So it could come back clean and actually be stolen and you will never know but if you check you have at least done your part, maybe check with your local police department too, the serial number may trip something or come back clean.

 

[bassman284]

Re: carfax for boat engines?

As I read it, the seller will have to get a title before you can buy it from him. I have linked the SC reg and titling rules>

SC titling