Buying a plane from 1500 miles away

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Tex_Mike

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Tex_MIKE
I am interested in purchasing a 172 that is located almost 1500 miles from my home field. Looking to use a local A/P for pre-buy inspection and a local appraiser. I will also be talking to the mechanic who has done the maintenance for the last couple of years.

Being so far away from the plane is making me very nervous about getting into something I regret. That being said I will not have my bank release any funds until I see the plane in person for one final look over.

Any of you guys have experience with purchasing a plane that was based such a long distance from you? Any lessons learned specific to such a situation?
 
I do it on a regular basis, currently working four deals in FL, CA, UT and WA. See PM.

Tex_Mike said:
I am interested in purchasing a 172 that is located almost 1500 miles from my home field. Looking to use a local A/P for pre-buy inspection and a local appraiser. I will also be talking to the mechanic who has done the maintenance for the last couple of years.

Being so far away from the plane is making me very nervous about getting into something I regret. That being said I will not have my bank release any funds until I see the plane in person for one final look over.

Any of you guys have experience with purchasing a plane that was based such a long distance from you? Any lessons learned specific to such a situation?
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Tex_Mike said:
I am interested in purchasing a 172 that is located almost 1500 miles from my home field. Looking to use a local A/P for pre-buy inspection and a local appraiser. I will also be talking to the mechanic who has done the maintenance for the last couple of years.

Being so far away from the plane is making me very nervous about getting into something I regret. That being said I will not have my bank release any funds until I see the plane in person for one final look over.

Any of you guys have experience with purchasing a plane that was based such a long distance from you? Any lessons learned specific to such a situation?
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No experience, but a question:

What makes that 172 special enough to go that far to purchase it? If it was something really unique, sure, but 172's are pretty common.
 
I have bought and sold many planes.

Go see it while they are doing the annual. Look everything over. Look at the log books with the A&P doing the annual. Should be complete.

Look at the paint, tires, interior wear points, glass, overall condition.

Be objective and don't fall in love until you see it. ;)
 
Geico266 said:
Go see it while they are doing the annual. Look everything over. Look at the log books with the A&P doing the annual. Should be complete. Look at the paint, tires, interior wear points, glass, overall condition.
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Both of the airplanes I've purchased were less than 100 miles from home. I was able to go fly the plane first of all to see if I liked it. Then I was able to go back and go through everything on the plane including the logs. I knew the airplane very well before I signed the check over to the previous owner. Buying a 172 that is 1500 miles from home sounds a bit scarry to me. Like someone else said, what is so special about this 172 that makes it worth going 1500 miles for?
 
Where is it located? Good chance there is someone competent on the forum within a reasonable distance that could at least tell you if it's worth investigating further.
 
It's just a bigger challenge. I've done much better with planes close by. Folks are more comfortable with each other; shop that is close by can be used; my mechanics may know of their mechanics, etc. A broker might be a real help on a distant plane. I've purchased four now all within an hours' flight. KA was here on my home field and it was great to have had the mechanics I use be the same ones the seller used. I chased several long distance ones and they never worked out, but that was when it was a seller's market.

Good luck. Be very thorough, it would be difficult to bring it back if there were issues and might be difficult to work with an uncooperative, long distance seller. All that said, I know others that have done that. Better odds if it's not your first plane and you know a lot about that make and model.

Best,

Dave
 
Don't do anything irrevocable until someone beholden to you, and to you alone, has examined the airplane. If that means showing up with both a check and a return ticket on the airlines, so be it.
 
I bought the Cardinal RG sight unseen from 600nm away. BUT, I had a local ally with considerable Cardinal experience who had flown the plane and a shop with extensive type specific experience did the pre-buy and reported back to me. 177RGs are a lot rarer than 172s. I'm not sure I would repeat the experience if I was looking for a more common type but I think it turned out well in my case. An escrow company (Aerospace Reports) handled the closing.
 
My brother purchased a Cherokee 140 that was 1600 miles away. He had dozens of pictures sent to him, including close-ups, as well as a digital copy of all the log books. He paid for my commercial, round-trip ticket for 2 reasons . . . 1) to get my mechanical opinion, 2) to get my pilot experience to help fly the airplane back home.

A Piper Cherokee 140, 160, or 180, or a Cessana 150, 152, 172 or 182 are such simple airplanes that it's hard to go wrong, IF you know what you're looking for.

1) First of all, and a go/no-go for me . . . . How long has it been since the last major overhaul? If it's been more than 10 years, it's a no-go, and I prefer less than 5 years.

2) When the engine was overhauled, what type, and who did the overhaul? Was it a factory overhaul? Are the major parts first run or second? Did the specs just barely meet the requirements? Were NEW cylinders used? Were standard bearings used or M10? What about the accesories, such as starter, carb, alternator, vacuum pump, etc?

3) How many hours SMOH? Less than 200, I don't think I'm interested. More than 1/2 TBO, still not interested.

4) Have your local mechanic help you review the log books. You will be looking for re-occuring AD's, potential trouble spots, etc.

5) What's the avionic package look like? Old outdated equipment? Probably! Are they common enough to still get repaired? If not, I'm not interested.

6) Any signs of corrosion? Minor, ok with price reduction. Major, not interested.

These are just a few of the many things that I can think of off the top of my head. And, as mentioned already, DO NOT get your heart set on this airplane unitil you're flying back home. Remember, when this one rolled off the assembly line, so didn't thousands more just like it.
 
Ron Levy said:
Don't do anything irrevocable until someone beholden to you, and to you alone, has examined the airplane. If that means showing up with both a check and a return ticket on the airlines, so be it.
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This is what I did. It was only like 150 more to book the flight both way as opposed to one way. My plane was 1,000 miles away.
 
Bought a 172 in Maine and flew it back home to Texas, just have a local shop that you trust (or the Cessna dealership if you don't know any shops - that's what I did) handle the pre-purchase inspection. I picked up the phone, called Cessna, asked them to recommend an inspector for a pre-purchase in Maine without any other information - they gave me 3 names immediately. I set up the prepurchase (prepaid by me, in conjuction with annual which was due at that time) and got the full list of discrepancies sent to me as well as the owner. Went through them with the owner, decided on cost-sharing for fixing what I wanted fixed, and told the annual shop to do it. Flew up there a few days later (commercial) to check it out. All the paperwork and physical work matched up, took it for an hour joyride to feel it out with the owner, THEN we went across the street to the bank and did the deal, using the banks notary as witness.

I had to open a temporary checking account a couple weeks earlier with a bank that he did business with in the area so it was possible to do a right-now in-person transaction, but that kept everything above-board and honest. Once we had agreed that all was good and we both liked the deal, it was 15 minutes in the bank lobby and over with. Took 3 days flying it home and I've been entirely happy with the deal 2 years later - I put an hour on it this afternoon for no other reason than it was a pretty day and I wanted to.
 
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bartmc said:
This is what I did. It was only like 150 more to book the flight both way as opposed to one way. My plane was 1,000 miles away.
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I did the same too. Round trip ticket for me and my A&P. Made 2 trips that way, the first one we walked away from and came home on the jet, the second one we came home with the plane......money well spent and no regrets.

Take your time let the person know you are interested and have the funds available if everything is right, then pack your bags.

Good Luck, have fun :)
 
I live in extreme west Texas (El Paso) and purchased an east coast Tiger. Deal was, it needed an annual and owner agreed to have annual performed at FletchAir (tiger experts near San Antonio). I had funds in escrow at AOPA, told owner I was ready to purchase and AOPA faxed him a letter that funds were already in escrow for purchase. Owner did not want to haggle on price, BUT said he would repair/replace ANYTHING Fletchair came up with on a list at annual (airworthy or not). Ron Levy was the pilot that delivered the plane from east coast to San Antonio and said it flew fine, minor squawks. FletchAir really went through it, with a ton of items taken care of that could have possibly been deferred. Plane has been flying great.

I didn't see the Tiger until I arrived to take it home (other than pictures). Had flown to see several AC and they all fell through for one reason or another. This purchase was smooth.
 
Im in the same situation. Buying a plane based in Sheboygan WI and I live in Florida.

Anyone up there that can go take a look at it for me ? I'll pay any expenses.

Thanks
 
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