when I bought my boat new (1986-1987) we negotiated an escrow agreement for $10K to be withheld until I was satisfied with the boat and commissioning. There were some of the usual set of things missing/not done properly from the factory, and dealer things that didn't go as quickly as planned, but after a oouple of months we were down to just stuff that had been ordered but not installed, and I gave them half of the money, and when it arrived and was installed I gave them the rest. The whole process took about 3 months from delivery to the yard, but that was from a bit higher quality boatbuilder (Tillotsen-Pearson, J-Boats) and probably a more involved dealer working to establish the line on the West Coast. But something anyone can do, especially in these desperate times to sell new boats. The whole world is negotiable. :)