Cost of Annual: Total for both Inspection and Repairs

How much spend on Annual?

  • $1000

    Votes: 6 10.5%

  • $2000

    Votes: 8 14.0%

  • $3000

    Votes: 14 24.6%

  • $4000

    Votes: 5 8.8%

  • $5000 or more

    Votes: 16 28.1%

  • PTSD won’t let me comment on this

    Votes: 8 14.0%
  • Total voters
    57
WDD

WDD

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How much do you usually pay for an Annual (Fixed gear 4 seater - Skylane, Skyhawk, Archer, Tiger, etc.) for inspection and repairs? How big of a check do you usually write once a year?
 
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The actual annual inspection on your 182 shouldn’t be much more than 1500 bucks or so (more for the IFR cert) The real cost is to fix what is found during the inspection. No real limit on that part.
 
Annual inspection or the cost of the inspection plus all the other stuff we typically toss in at the same time?

ETA: when I worked with my IA, the annual inspection was less than $1000 on my cherokee 140
 
I've never tried to separate out just the "inspection" from repairs of stuff that was found during the inspection (yes, I do get an itemized receipt so I *could* figure it out, it's just not ever been important to me to do so). I usually also carry a squawk list of deferred items to be taken care of while the plane is in the shop.

I just pay the whole bill at the end. Not sure it's ever been less than $3000. A couple of times it's been in the $15k-25k range.
 
Just the low range of the provided poll choices hurts my soul and has me envious of you all. :oops:

My average is ~10k. However, I just stroked a $54k check for this years' annual. I only used the new shop because they were around the corner from the avionics work I had done (for another 27k) and thought their hangarload of C340s meant they could deal with a Baron simply enough. Lesson learned.
 
Low range is because poll creator doesn’t know much about annual costs. :)

I’m asking to get a real world idea of how much to plan each year.
 
The annual for my AA1A is $1,495 and for my Seneca is $2,650.

I can't directly answer the question since the total check I write varies a ton. My last annual for my AA1A had about $800 in minor repairs. My last annual on the Seneca (the first one after buying it at an auction) included two engine overhauls and two prop overhauls, so, a lot.

I also frequently use the annual time if I want to upgrade something so there's that.
 
Technically not an annual but a condition inspection, but I figure mine last week cost me about $66:
* 8 spark plugs at $2/piece = $16
* lunch for my friend who helped = $10
* kerosene to heat the hangar for two days = $35
* fiberglass and epoxy to repair a wheel pant = $5

Go experimental :)
 
Owner-assisted (impaired?) annual: $1500 flat rate
Necessary repairs: $58,000
Hell, it's in the shop so I might as well do a couple of upgrades: $35,000

Yeah, my last annual was on the pricier side.
 
My new to me airplane’s first annual is coming in at $3000 or so. Then again, in past 6 months since I bought it I replaced/overhauled 3 cylinders/pistons, fixed a blocked fuel vent that collapsed the bladders, replaced the flap limit switches, new battery, new transponder encoder. So if you spend all that before the official annual I guess I can pretend I had a good annual spend.
 
ArrowFlyer86 said:
I kinda feel like this is a good lead in to another poll:
Just how safe would you feel if you knew the Skylane you're hopping into has had 5 consecutive $1000 annuals?
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That’s not truly fair either. Is it 5 annuals with no other maintenance costs, or has the owner meticulously had squawks addressed throughout the year?
 
Yes my IA and I work on my plane all through the year, in my hangar so I can do my best to keep it flying and it all doesn't happen during annual.
 
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Dave Theisen said:
That’s not truly fair either. Is it 5 annuals with no other maintenance costs, or has the owner meticulously had squawks addressed throughout the year?
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Totally agree.
Per year maintenance expenditures are a better gauge than what you spend specifically on your mandated annual inspection and repairs.

But I will say in my experience, the guys getting $1000 annuals are not the ones staying on top of their airplanes during the year. It's the guys who have a buddy who will do their annual for dirt cheap and give them a 2 sentence logbook entry making them legal for another year.

(There's exceptions: like the owner-assisted crowd who are knee deep in their airplanes and get a lot of their worked signed off by their A&Ps... Those folk seem to keep bills low AND have healthy airplanes)
 
ArrowFlyer86 said:
I kinda feel like this is a good lead in to another poll:
Just how safe would you feel if you knew the Skylane you're hopping into has had 5 consecutive $1000 annuals?
Click to expand...

After spending a large chunk of money on an overhauled engine, etc etc etc, we (the A&P, IA, and me) on a pa-28-140,* yeah, the annual inspections were simple for a number of years. And, this is very important, I didn't defer any maintenance items that popped up during the year.

*I stopped totaling the costs for work when it topped $23,500 (in 2002) and that didn't even include the hours for the A&P and IA that I was working with (I got to do the grunt work, the dirty work, the nasty stuff (e.g.,upside down under the panel running a new p-lead - that's was just a tad uncomfortable)
 
I’m often near $3k, usually adding a task or two that’s above my abilities. I’m not big on switching shops without a valid reason, just running AD’s & such takes a little time.


I’m reminded of Batman correcting Robin.
 

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WDD said:
How much do you usually pay for an Annual (Fixed gear 4 seater - Skylane, Skyhawk, Archer, Tiger, etc.) for inspection and repairs? How big of a check do you usually write once a year?
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I just had my first annual done.

2200 base price
800 for brake repair
1400 for replacing battery support brackets
390 for JPI upgrade
$300 for Ad Log set up
$950 for combo of small stuff.

$6200 total. Cessna 182 1981.

I’m hoping next year I’m no more than 3,000 but think
 
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my annuals for a PA28R-200 have been in between 7k-14k.
there is a flat rate for the inspection (which is basically a number of hours set for by manufacturer for the plane type times the hourly rate of the shop).
In my case that runs for about 3k5.
Then whatever discrepancy is found. This can go anywhere. It depends on the mechanic on what is perceived to be necessary for sign off vs wise to do.
I prefer to have everything taken care, but that can add up, eg the 14k year included a new spinner and all new engine hoses (and those are expensive!)
That was 5k right there.
There are always squawks written up that are like minor/non safety, and depending on budget you can decide to take them or defer.
cheers!
xander
 
1k ish

Repairs are mostly oil change, grease, some safety wire, maybe replace a stripped screw

Most of the big money stuff is stuff I wanna do, upgrades and the like


I ain’t rich enough for deferred maintenance, or not getting elbows deep in my own plane, even if I had Musk money still wouldn’t be
 
Flat rate at the shop I use is $2K - plus whatever needs fixing. I had a LOT done at my recent annual and wrote a $10K check. New (factory rebuilt) mags, a cylinder overhaul, exhaust system rebuild, some gear work and a "few" other things. This was my first one with this plane and I bought it knowing of a few problems. My instructions were to "find whatever needs fixing and to not cut any corners."
 
Beachy said:
Flat rate at the shop I use is $2K - plus whatever needs fixing. I had a LOT done at my recent annual and wrote a $10K check. New (factory rebuilt) mags, a cylinder overhaul, exhaust system rebuild, some gear work and a "few" other things. This was my first one with this plane and I bought it knowing of a few problems. My instructions were to "find whatever needs fixing and to not cut any corners."
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yah like that statement, and no one said plane ownership is cheap... I think the guidance of a 5k annual is more on the lucky side then "rule". I think one should expect 10k and anything below is great.
 
xander75 said:
yah like that statement, and no one said plane ownership is cheap... I think the guidance of a 5k annual is more on the lucky side then "rule". I think one should expect 10k and anything below is great.
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My AP friends thank you for your service lol
 
How many of you have looked up the 100 hour/Annual inspection checklist from the manufacturer and seen how much there is to do?

I hear about these cheap annuals, then wonder whether things are actually being done.

The 100 hour/Annual inspection checklist from Mooney for my airplane is about 34 hours of work.
 
Pinecone said:
How many of you have looked up the 100 hour/Annual inspection checklist from the manufacturer and seen how much there is to do?

I hear about these cheap annuals, then wonder whether things are actually being done.
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You know the answer to that all too well :)
 
Agree. If my A&P did all of that in less than a week I’d take it somewhere else.

So much to look over. My guy found a rudder pulley starting to go out of round, an air vent tubing out of place and needing replaced, air filter for vacuum pump, etc. So many odds and ends. Spend the time to find and get ahead of it, vs having a vacuum failure / partial panel, rudder failure, etc.
 
Pinecone said:
How many of you have looked up the 100 hour/Annual inspection checklist from the manufacturer and seen how much there is to do?
Click to expand...

I have. On the owner-assist annuals (which, in my mind, includes the annual inspection) I've done on my cherokee, we always used Piper's current checklist.
 
The first annual inspection i did as a IA was for a six pack of BUDWEISER I charge a little more now 24-pack of classic 12 oz cans and only deal with A&P that own their own planes. They lay out all the A/D and CAWI for me to dubble check compliance with, wash and clean, open up for my inspection and close up and do all the fixing.
 
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I do a couple for $2.98; the cost of a key!

Nothing written. Handshake and either can discontinue.
 
Pinecone said:
I hear about these cheap annuals, then wonder whether things are actually being done.
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Its all relative. I've found your average owner only wants the minimum used: 43 Appx D and 43.15. When you bring up the OEM checklist or review of pertinent bulletins its followed by how much more and no thanks. Then you have other owners who expect no less than using the OEM checklist and SIDs where applicable. So it really depends on what the owner wants whether its "cheap" or not.
 
Just completed on my Tiger. $5290. Inspection, replaced carburetor with overhauled carb (shop supplied), replaced rudder springs with my rudder springs, replaced 2 cracked brake pads (shop supplied), and did some troubleshooting on my OAT probes. I removed and reinstalled seats, removed cleaned and reinstalled carpets, closed up inspection ports and tail cone, conducted the annual GI-275 battery rundown tests, borescoped the cylinders and valves.
 
bkspero said:
Just completed on my Tiger. $5290. Inspection, replaced carburetor with overhauled carb (shop supplied), replaced rudder springs with my rudder springs, replaced 2 cracked brake pads (shop supplied), and did some troubleshooting on my OAT probes. I removed and reinstalled seats, removed cleaned and reinstalled carpets, closed up inspection ports and tail cone, conducted the annual GI-275 battery rundown tests, borescoped the cylinders and valves.
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That sounds like maintenance beyond the inspection. The inspection is the inspection. Everything beyond that is maintenance items. What was the basic inspection. My Tiger runs $1100 from the P/Ia who has maintained me for 20 years now. To fix anything found start the meter running, to include any service items including oil/ filters/ brake pads, etc. it is important to understand what you are paying for under the “annual inspection” banner. Some AnPs include servicing, others don’t. One needs to ask.
 
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