how to determine value of a plane

woodstock

woodstock

Final Approach
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my trainer is a 172L. it is about 30 years old, give or take. It has a new engine and a spiffy new interior and some other new items - old panel though. (not sure how old, it could well be updated but maybe 5-10 years ago, no clue).

can you tell basic things about a plane through the N-number - are there any records to be had there? How could you get a rough estimate of worth of a plane? My CFI once offhandedly said he thought it was worth 60-70 grand, which could well be true I don't know. seems a lot for a 30 year old plane but who knows.
 
A subscription to Trade-a-plane also gives you online search capability at trade-a-plane.com and you can compare the model in question to other similar models.
 
woodstock said:
my trainer is a 172L. it is about 30 years old, give or take. It has a new engine and a spiffy new interior and some other new items - old panel though. (not sure how old, it could well be updated but maybe 5-10 years ago, no clue).
Click to expand...
The engine adds a significant something, and of course the interior is a selling point.

My CFI once offhandedly said he thought it was worth 60-70 grand, which could well be true I don't know. seems a lot for a 30 year old plane but who knows.
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Comparing to other 172s in that letter range - I thru N, that sounds optimistic. MOst of the Ms are going for around 45-55k.
 
Trade a Plane subscription also provides an aircraft value calculator.

Len
 
Greebo said:
The engine adds a significant something
Click to expand...

Chuck,

Funny, one would think that. I talked to my insurance agent yesterday regarding the fact that I'm at the tail end of putting a new engine in the plane and I want to make sure the aircraft if insured adequately.

So...putting a factory reman into the plane added a whopping $4K to the blue book value. There is no way I can replace the plane in its current state for what I'd get from the insurance company if it was totaled.

I'm in the process now of using both the AOPA and TaP tools to create an aircraft value for my insurance agent. Of course getting an increase in the hull value is only going to get me an increase in my rate as well.

Len
 
Mine is an 1971 L model. N9864G.
Minimum hull value is around $30k for insurance purposes.
Mine has faded paint. Older Avionics. And 1700 hours SMOH. if I were to try to sell it, I've been told I could expect $26-$30K at most.
But for now I ain't selling. I know if I ever do, the likelyhood of my ever owing again is pretty slim.
 
Len Lanetti said:
Chuck,

Funny, one would think that. I talked to my insurance agent yesterday regarding the fact that I'm at the tail end of putting a new engine in the plane and I want to make sure the aircraft if insured adequately.

So...putting a factory reman into the plane added a whopping $4K to the blue book value. There is no way I can replace the plane in its current state for what I'd get from the insurance company if it was totaled.

I'm in the process now of using both the AOPA and TaP tools to create an aircraft value for my insurance agent. Of course getting an increase in the hull value is only going to get me an increase in my rate as well.

Len
Click to expand...

Interesting that that is all the insurance company says an engine is worth. When Cathy and I were recently looking, we were willing to pay considerably more than that for a plane with a new engine. Not that it matters to us anymore. We (she) decided that if we could afford a plane, we could afford a second car, and the car would be more useful.
 
Greebo said:
http://www.aopa.org/members/vref/

VREF estimates are generally somewhat high, as I understand it.
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The online version of the Vref on our web site contains the retail value of the aircraft, if you call us at the Pilot Information Center 1-800-872-2672, we also have the wholesale value so that we can give you a range for the aircraft. We can also work with you on any avionics that are not listed on the web site and can generally get you to a closer price for the aircraft.
Robert Fisher
AOPA
 
I wasn't considering value from an insurance perspective, but from a "what would I pay for it" perspective. And like Joe, I'll pay more for a newer/recently overhauled engine than one which is a high time engine where I'm going to have to spend another big chunk in the near future to have it overhauled myself.
 
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