Aircraft Evaluation & Pre-Buy Inspections

I had a pre-buy inspection done on an airplane that had no damage history, all logs going back to the original and the price point was right. Had a third party mechanic take a look at the log books first and then a quick over view of the plane. He stopped the inspection pretty quickly and said that it wasn't a good plane at all unless I wanted a project plane. Rust and corrosion all inside the cowling, among other places, and a couple of AD's that had not been complied with. The owner said all AD's and SB's had been complied with so either he really didn't know or knew and didn't care. I'm not in the same area as the plane but he had no issues handing the log books over to the mechanic and didn't try to put limits on the inspection. Good thing the inspection cost me very little. The search continues.
 
Comanches are the best bang for your buck, a nice 180 can be found in the mid 20s to low 30's
I know few guys selling pm if interested I send you the info
 
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The owner of the plane I had put through a pre-buy inspection, and subsequently turned down due to the amount of work it needed, contacted me and asked if I would still be interested if he made all of the repairs. What's the consensus on this? It needed a new right gear strut, among other things. If he makes all the repairs that the mechanic said it needed (the mechanic I had look at it, not his), would it still be worth looking into? I won't do it if he tries to raise the price because I'm not going to pay for repairs he should've done on his own.
 
LevelWing said:
The owner of the plane I had put through a pre-buy inspection, and subsequently turned down due to the amount of work it needed, contacted me and asked if I would still be interested if he made all of the repairs. What's the consensus on this? It needed a new right gear strut, among other things. If he makes all the repairs that the mechanic said it needed (the mechanic I had look at it, not his), would it still be worth looking into? I won't do it if he tries to raise the price because I'm not going to pay for repairs he should've done on his own.
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The one 2 posts ago? With rust and corrosion? Depending on the severity of it, that could be some expensive repairs.... My gut feeling is to walk.

What did it need a new strut for? What kind of plane was it?

YOU ARE NOT IN A HURRY TO BUY A PLANE :D
 
bartmc said:
The one 2 posts ago? With rust and corrosion? Depending on the severity of it, that could be some expensive repairs.... My gut feeling is to walk.

What did it need a new strut for? What kind of plane was it?

YOU ARE NOT IN A HURRY TO BUY A PLANE :D
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Yes, the one with rust and corrosion. The gear strut had to be replaced due to major pitting. You're right that I'm not in a hurry to buy a plane, so I'm not committed to this one, or any other. Just wasn't sure if it was worth pursuing if the owner fixed everything.
 
Apparently the interior is why he's pretty adamant about leaving the price that high.
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Our club has an Archer getting an complete interior refurbishment right now. With leather seats, side panels, new inertia reels and seat belts (required by an AD), new carpet, some plastic repair, and I think reworked yokes it's looking to set us back about $7k.

No PA-28 interior adds $10K to the selling price.

Nobody wants to buy a PA-28 without an IFR GPS anyway.
 
Yeah, I passed on that one (not worth the asking price) and the other one I was looking at. The amount of repair work the owner was going to have to do didn't make it worth it. I'm not going to pay for another inspection for him to find more stuff wrong -- the owner would just be getting free inspections.
 
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