A few weeks back we posted regarding the search for a grand piano for my wife with 40+ years of playing experience. Looking for a decent quality piano around $10K. We were given lots of good advice by members and as a result she has been playing more and more pianos looking for the "right" one.

Today we visited a dealer who sells units for banks and finance companies looking to sell reposessed new pianos from bankrupt dealers.

She played a new Charles Walter 5'9" grand - lovely action but bright tones. Beautiful solid construction but dressed in the very common polished ebony. The bank's bottom line is $12,900 plus an additional $903 for sales tax.

Then she played a new Hobart M Cable 6'1" grand - model GH87L - again a lovely action but a more mellow tone. The other thing we both like was the polished mahogany cabinet, but component quality is not up to the Walter brand. We can probably get that for about $8500 including sales tax.

Both come with 10-year component replacement warrent. The Walter provided by the dealer; the Cable being a manufacturer's warrenty. Should I be worried about the possibility of the dealer not being around should we need to make a claim on the warrenty for the Walter, or should we reasonably expect to get 10-15yrs good service from it ?

Which do members think we should chose. Are there other factors to consider.

What's the name of the dealer?

That Walter has been on Ebay for a while. I hear it's quite dirty and is being sold as is. You will need a technician to make it sound the way it should. The price is fantastic being a bank repossession. Heck at that price you should send it back to the factory and have them go over it for you.

Why does it not come with a factory waranty?

Piano Liquidators of Sturgis Michigan - owner's name is Frank

Yes ... the cabinet had many marks around the "user end" but it looked like they would wipe off and were not permanent damage to the finish - smudgy fingers !!!



The dealer indicated that for the Walter warranty we'd need to buy it from Walter at $40K or so. I think that was his meaning. Maybe Walter are not willing to offer their warranty through him because of the nature of his business - distressed sales ? ... I will go back and ask.

Do you think we need to go to the expense of having a technician check it out ? We are already over our budget by $4 grand and will need to spend another $300-$500 having a technician tune it and set it up for us after delivery. Yet we realize what a bargain it is and hate to let it pass. But then I think - there is a reason it's so cheap and hasn't sold, but not sure what that is ..... is it just the current market climate. I was reading another link where a member talked about the market being flooded with pianos and not many buyers out there.

Your thoughts ?

If we buy this piano and then have it shipped to the Walter factory in Elkhart to be checked over and set up - will they then offer some kind of manufacturer's warranty ?

It couldn't hurt to ask.