Tulip Fever (Prebuys)

[dougmackenzie]

I remember my brother buying a C-140 for $2, 800 in 1975. It was sold recently by someone else for $37, 500. Same plane; 50-something years older. Prices are insane.

[jjohnston]

I got lucky. I stuck to my "check the logbooks and do a prebuy" guns. I lost out on quite a few airplanes, until I found a nice little gem of a TriPacer. Not the airplane I really wanted, but I was honest with myself about my "mission", and I got a nice airplane at a very reasonable price. I don't know why I didn't get beat out on it, too, but I'm glad I didn't.

[israelkozlik]

Thanks Mike. Good stuff as always.
Just a small correction. Order a new cirrus sr22 right now and the estimated delivery is mid 2024. You heard that right. 24 months out!

[azarpour]

Great presentation and a lot of good information. Thank you, Mike, for sharing your experience and knowledge with us.

[odorizedramblings]

TurboScan app is a great tool to use for log books. There are several YouTube videos on how to use it. Converts digital images into pdf. Works great, I've been using it for years.

[wareairaviationservicesllc]

I would consider an A&P overhaul as being good IF it was well documented and all the parts were inspected and certified by a reputable shop. If that is the case, the A&P is simply doing the assembly of the engine and that should not be a strike against an aircraft overall.

[bradfordparker]

Sold pa-11 on floats for 30k in 2019- now can't find one even at 100, k

[ottob.]

This video is a year old, what do you see now?

[utahgflyer]

When I bought my Mooney I paid a mechanic 1600 dollars to do a pre buy, he took my money and did a really poor job, it was a total waste of money. Not saying they can't be done right and be a good idea, but in some cases they are worthless.

[wntu]

And some CFI flew this dumpster fire to the pre-buy?

[dano]

Your webinars are sounding more like advertisements, Mike. That’s fair, I guess, considering you do them for free. But you used to educate folks and let them come to your service in appreciation of your generous help, now it’s just stories pitching a savvy service. Two grand, plus your fixed $750 fee is a significant layout for a $50k aircraft. 6 well placed labor hours will unearth all the big maintenance problems that might lie in wait to a prospective a/c buyer. And BTW, spar corrosion is no more prevalent on musketeers than any other small plane. Yeah, I own one.

[Hooknspktr]

We diverge greatly on the insistence of not having the pre buy done in the current owner's hangar. There is no rational reason the buyer can't hire a mechanic of his choice to go there and do an impartial inspection. You give a fine example of why a seller would NOT want to have the plane taken your example the plane is now stuck at another location, unairworthy and subject to storage fees until the owner can have repairs made. While there were genuine issues found, it would have been nice to find them in the home hangar so the owner is not held hostage by another shop at another location. There is no way in hell my plane leaves home base or the logbooks get out of my control until it's sold. Say the prospective buyer gets mad and walks away mid pre buy? The shop has your plane completely disassembled....do you think they'll put it back together and take the loss out of kindness? Insanity.

[stevejones]

Tulip Mania is of course, a massive exaggeration and not appropriate for many reasons. The prices of new aircraft being produced have gone from 7X the cost of used to 4.5X, assuming you're willing to wait AT LEAST 24 months, and don't encounter any new fees or charges while you're awaiting delivery. Is that a mania? Having owned aircraft for 35 years, I can't believe I'm saying this, but in the last 3 years It's has been much better place to put your money than a bank. If you don't believe that, try putting $ in a bank and saving for a new airplane. Your cash will lose AT LEAST 10%/year relative to the prices of aircraft for the forseeable future.
The example is of course, similarly extreme. Seller was student pilot, who apparently didn't even know what an annual inspection is or anything about airplanes, including his own. The repair quotes seemed pretty high, but that's not unusual.
While I agree a prebuy needs to be done by an independent A&P/IA, I see no reason why you can't do in owners hangar, assuming you have the good sense to make arrangement with A&P/IA in advance. So if you follow Mike's advise and scratch all FL & coastal aircraft off your list and insist others allow their aircraft to be taken away from home for inspection, you've eliminated a massive share of the market. Good luck with that.