http://www.avweb.com/news/avlaw/181900-1.html
I was just about to post a link to that same article. I believe that GARA should apply after 18 years. There also is a distinction between the manufacturer and the assembler which is very important. Many of you list yourselves as the manufacturer of the plane when registering the plane. I'm not arguing one way or another, but for this discussion, I think it's clear that doing so could be a liability for you builders. I believe that the courts would, in general, hold that Van's is the manufacturer and you all are the assembler despite how you register it, but who knows. If you have told the government that you are the manufacturer, the court may take your word for it.
However, there still may be some manufacturer's liability for you builders even if you've listed Van's as the kit manufacturer on the registration. If you build the plane to the exact standards in the plans, there is really no liability for you (the owner) as the manufacturer. But, if you failed to torque this or that bolt properly there certainly is some liability as the assembler, but it's pretty slight especially if you successfully flew the plane without incident for a significant period of time. If you decide to deviate from the plans, I believe that you would be accepting that manufacturers liability for that portion of the plane which you altered (and perhaps for the entire plane since some alterations could alter nearly everything regarding stresses, etc to the plane.) More on this below.
My recommendation to anyone who sells any plane (and those who buy one) is that they should have the pre-buy be a full annual of the plane by an independant A+P. This is good for the seller in that an an independant set of eyes has looked at the plane and declared it airworthy for another year. It's good for the buyer because that A+P might find some things that perhaps the buyer wants to have fixed prior to the purchase. I know it's more expensive to do this, and finding an A+P willing to do it may be difficult for an RV. I'd still recommend trying. Everyone is better off.
There is a period of time after selling even a production aircraft in which the buyer might come back and sue the seller for poor maintenance or whatever that may have led to damage to the plane, others property, and bodily injury. The more time the buyer has the plane, the more maintenance they do on it, etc... the less that exposure becomes for the seller.
Some insurance policies do extend coverage for "Liability for the Sale of the aircraft." this coverage extends beyond the end date or date you cancel the policy. AIG and AVEMCO are the only two that I'm aware of that do so. Read your policy to see what it covers and for how long. This coverage, IMHO, was placed on these policies to cover that liability which one has for maintaining a plane they own. I don't believe it was designed to protect one from liabilities incurred as the manufacturer or assembler of the plane. But, as those coverages are currently written, I think those companies would have a hard time NOT defending you or covering a successful lawsuit against you for such an occurrence. I believe that if such suits were to become common, those companies which do currently offer that type of coverage, would re-write their policies to define that coverage better to exclude coverage for manufacturing/assembly defects.
As was stated earlier in this thread, while there hasn't been a successful suit of this kind, the real threat is of the lawsuit itself. Hiring a lawyer to defend oneself can get expensive. The "Liability for sale of the aircraft" coverage, if it is on your policy and in force, would pay for your legal defense, and offer (normally) the limits of the policy (normally $1 Million).
Forgot to add that I think "parting it out" only spreads around your liability. Even though it's no longer a plane. Unless you melted it down and sold it as a block of aluminum, I don't believe you are gaining anything. If you built the wings, and sold them seperately, then that individual could sue you over wing problems, and so on....
JT