Hi guys I'm about to buy my first backhoe in the morning. I just found it today and need to jump on it before it gets snatched away. Im curious about how to go about the transaction. Do backhoes have titles? The seller is going to give me a bill of sale. Should I check his ID to verify he is who he says he is so it matches the bill of sale? Is this the norm? I have no experience buying equiptment and don't want to get greenhorned. I'll have to arrange transport after the transaction. I'm leary about leaving it after I've surrendered the cash but dont want to miss out on this deal. Any advice is appreciated. AG
have your bank do a ucc lien search on that machines sn and get notorized bill of sale if the lien search comes up negative. also get an experienced operator to test the machine.
No title on any equipment I've ever bought or sold. If it's way below market value you may want to call local law enforcement and have them run the serial number to see if it's stolen. It is well worth the money to have a professional mechanic look over the machine before you purchase and if possible run it hard and put it thru it's paces before you buy. 20 years ago I got taken in by a slick seller who steam cleaned and put a lot of perfume on the backhoe he was selling. I ran it to make sure all the functions worked but did not run it hard. Got it home and after working it for about 30 minutes it would overheat. After some troubleshooting I found out all the cylinder liners had corrosion cavitation and needed replaced. Got the engine running well and the found the hydraulic pump leaking like a sieve. The front steer linkage had been pseudo-repaired also and a greenhorn like me didn't have enough knowledge to know what to look for. A thorough pre-buy would have saved me $$$$$
I would call your nearest dealer for the brand hoe you're buying and ask them about the serial # first as for stolen ever and second to see if there's any track history on that rig.Good luck.