Want To Buy 1965 Cessna 172 G

[gdwindowpane]

Local plane to me. Higher time engine. Gets flown pretty often. I think I could get it for $90k, pretty decent avionics? Is that where the higher price tag is coming from? It certainly isn't from the paint/exterior, interior isn't that bad.

Would be good plane to finish my PPL and work towards Instrument?

Facebook link for those on the socials... https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1DhLQhLNgL/

N3770L 1965 Cessna 172G
4084.6 total time
1532.6 since major overhaul
Complete logs (digital available for serious buyers)
Continental 300D engine
Engine Overhauled in 1996
Annual due 10/2026
Engine compressions
All better than 75/80

Avionics installed 10/22.
Aspen E5,
Uavionix AV-30-C standby Instruments and transponder
PS Engineering 8000 audio panel with Bluetooth.
Garmin 175 touchscreen GPS
Garmin GTR 200, main rasio
Narco MK12D with GS back up radio
Tailbeacon X ADSB out

 

[AvNavCom]

Ownership should be its own rating. I'd get your PPL knocked out and do a bit of flying, in as many kinds of aircraft as you can rent or scrounge a ride in. Once you know what you really want, you can buy that. Consider joining an ownership-stake club, or perhaps an established partnership. Buying an antique aircraft and learning to be an owner/caretaker while you're simultaneously working on your PPL is likely a recipe for heartburn.

And please don't kid yourself that buying an aircraft is a financially wise decision that will be cheaper than renting. If you buy, it's because you WANT it, not because it's the smart move.

 

[schmookeeg]

Price is coming from you can turn that into a money trickle at any busy flight school, not its inherent value. I love the F/G model skyhawks, and the O-300s can run long, but they're getting harder to MOH apparently. I'd stretch the wallet and get into an earlier Lycosaur skyhawk if you want to own a rental corolla. 172I ? I particularly like the L/M ones.

 

[jsstevens]

Is there a simple path to changing from the O-300 to a Lycoming O-320 ?

 

[Half Fast]

It’s 30 years SMOH. That’s a run-out engine. You might get lucky, or you might have to drop $40k or more into an OH almost immediately. Would you pay $130k for this plane?

 

[gdwindowpane]

I forgot to mention that I have a potential partner that would be 1/2 owner. So initial cost and subsequent expenses/OH would be split.

 

[Half Fast]

That distributes the risk but doesn’t really reduce it. Between the two of, you should consider establishing a contingency fund of about $50k or so.

 

[TCABM]

I forgot to mention that I have a potential partner that would be 1/2 owner. So initial cost and subsequent expenses/OH would be split.

Don’t count your chickens before they hatch. The question is can you afford to pay $90K for the plane, then afford to OH the engine tomorrow while also absorbing all the fixed costs and down time if the motor fails on day 1 of ownership.

That doesn’t include all the first year of ownership learning curves and costs.

 

[schmookeeg]

I'd argue the partnership is an added wrinkle of ownership complexity, not a 50% off coupon It can be good and it can be bad and I've seen both.

 

[ArrowFlyer86]

Not a bad looking bird.

The higher price tag is because its priced as an income earning business asset. Your offer price has to compete with what flight schools all over the country would be willing to pay for it.
And the prominent "FLY GOOD, DONT SUCK" sticker adds at least $1k to the value.

 

[Half Fast]

And the prominent "FLY GOOD, DONT SUCK" sticker adds at least $1k to the value.

Not bad. When I was racing, there was guy who had a sticker on his race car's steering wheel: "You have 0 lives left."

 

[baboss]

Technically this is a 1966 G model (s/n 17253393 thru 17254892) built in 1965.

As an 67H model owner, I'd say it's priced about right for the times/avionics, even with that paint. It seems that's just what the market is these days.
I have slightly lower TSOH/TTIS, nicer paint, and an engine monitor but this has slightly nicer avionics and a newer interior than mine. The new panel overlay is nice too, even better if the CAD files come with it.
The overhaul in 1996 is long in the tooth but Continental O300 bottom ends are tough. Cylinder replacements don't scare me anymore, I bet this has a few in the logbooks.
It's a 61-year-old plane and complete logbooks only tell a part of the story.

With a partner who's like-minded when it comes to maintenance and upgrade decisions, I'd bite once I went over it with a fine-toothed comb in person w/ a mechanic.

That's easy for me to say cause I did just that w/ my brother (@Flymy47) back in 2004 on a 67H model. The market was a little different then and we overhauled the engine as part of the purchase and were hands on with the maintenance.

From my reading/research it's $70,000-100,000+ to move from a Continental O-300 to any of the STC'd 160/180/195hp upgrades unless you're able to do some of the work yourself. There are buyers out there for still running/as removed O-300's to recoup a little.