What is a Pre-Buy Inspection? What is included?

[Tony_Scarpelli]

There is no standard for this but it is a widely used term and pilots new to aviation and ownership might fall victim to failures in the prebuy. A new would be owner might shop for the best price prebuy but unlike annuals there is no standard list of what is performed.

What is a prebuy?

 

[Clark1961]

There is no standard for this but it is a widely used term and pilots new to aviation and ownership might fall victim to failures in the prebuy. A new would be owner might shop for the best price prebuy but unlike annuals there is no standard list of what is performed.

What is a prebuy?

Buyer's choice - I told the mechanic to perform an annual inspection. May as well...

 

[poadeleted20]

Right -- it's whatever the buyer wants and the seller will allow. BTW, just getting an annual may not be enought -- not all IA's do a complete and thorough review of all the maintenance records back to rolling off the production line, and that is something you really do want during a pre-buy, as surprises have been found.

 

[Tony_Scarpelli]

Excellent points Ron.

I recommend that every owner read every line on all his logs and understand each and every entry. This is the first step to me. Then go over what you find with someone more knowledgeable.

The cross checking of AD's its helpful to have someone who knows how to do that sort of thing but each person with a computer can access every ad on any model airplane. Some knowledge is gained and required when doing it. You need to know which mag manufacture and model, which fuel servo and each accessory to run the AD search on those as well as the airplane, engine.....

I recommend hiring help. If you have more money than time you might even want a broker to help you with this as he (should know the ins and outs) can find and define the prebuy.

I do as much as I can myself because by the time you spend money doing prebuys on a couple of toads it starts to get expensive. A good broker might be able to help you here too. They have contacts, and a nose to find things that the average buyer is just not prepared for.

 

[tonycondon]

my first glider i looked it over myself. didn't really know what i was looking for but it looked good. the next 2 i bought sight unseen. the last one i had a friend and experienced glider pilot who lived nearby check it out. he said it was great so i made an offer.

 

[Tom-D]

Ron's right, Why would any A&P-IA want to get the CD from OKC that tells what 337s were filed, or if the ones in the maintenance records actually got filed?

Would an annual actually tell you all the Av. equipment on the aircraft worked, and was logged properly?

I have never preformed a pre-buy on any aircraft I have bought. I know the aircraft I want, I know a good deal when I see it, and I buy what I like.

3934V was mine 20 minutes after I saw it. I walked around the aircraft, I saw what I liked, I called the owner and made an offer, He accepted, then we started the paper work. and mailed him a check.

 

[Tony_Scarpelli]

Really?

Worst case for you is a hell of a lot less cost than worst case for someone who has to pay someone else to do everything on their plane.

It is too easy for must of us to buy lipstick on a pig. Nice paint job on a POS.

Tom,

If someone pays you to do a pre-buy what advice do you give and what functions do you perform?

 

[Tom-D]

Tom,

If someone pays you to do a pre-buy what advice do you give and what functions do you perform?

That really depends upon the knowledge base of the customer. I wouldn't treat a old geezer buying a j-3 cub that knows more about them than I do, the same way that I would a 19 year old rich kid buying a G-5.

In many cases I tell the customer that I'm not the guy who you should be talking to, and to go find a person that is an expert in the type to do the mentoring process that will get them a good aircraft.

 

[Tony_Scarpelli]

That brings up a good point. Soon as you select a single or two models join the type clubs. Cherokee or Cessna 172 type clubs for example. They have some hellish good experts on there. I forget his name Larry I think, on aopa there was a guy in California that new about everything about every model, every option, every ad, service bulletin and serviceability report a Cherokee. Last I heard he bought a Seneca.

Before you spend money you can get good information yourself free or low cost from type clubs. One warning these people are in love with their models so they can also pass some unfounded euphoria.

If you buy a Bonanza or 210 there are books written by type experts for those models which pretty much make you and expert in short order. They tell you all the things to watch.

I personally like to find all the serviceability reports, service bulletins as well as ad's and try to read them understand them so that I can better ensure they were done.

 

[AggieMike88]

Before you spend money you can get good information yourself free or low cost from type clubs. One warning these people are in love with their models so they can also pass some unfounded euphoria.

Worth being repeated. Type Clubs are very valuable resources.

And add the example of Cardinal Flyers Online for those (like me) looking at the C177B's & RG's. The resources offered there for that airframe are wide, deep, and extremely valuable.

And the exuberance and euphoria about their pet birds.... yeah, that's there too!

 

[Silvaire]

A pre-buy can be anything the potential buyer, his mechanic and the seller want to agree on. It depends on where you are at in the process. If the pre-buy is to be a full blown annual inspection that is an intrusive procedure which is only going to happen once you have pretty much made a solid agreement that you ARE going to buy this aircraft barring any unforeseen issues. A deposit would most likely be involved.

Prior to that however, an overall look at the aircraft's condition, the logs and a test flight would be in order. Yes there are crooked people out there but, for the most part, folks are upright and honest. Those who fall prey to the bad ones are usually not very diligent - there's a sucker born every minute.

 

[wabower]

The buyer typically pays for the inspection and can specify any type inspection he desires in his offer sheet. If the plane is nearing the end of its inspection interval, a buyer should require such an inspection in order to recover some part of the pre-buy expense that would otherwise provide no tangible economic benefit.

A pre-buy can be anything the potential buyer, his mechanic and the seller want to agree on. It depends on where you are at in the process. If the pre-buy is to be a full blown annual inspection that is an intrusive procedure which is only going to happen once you have pretty much made a solid agreement that you ARE going to buy this aircraft barring any unforeseen issues. A deposit would most likely be involved.

Prior to that however, an overall look at the aircraft's condition, the logs and a test flight would be in order. Yes there are crooked people out there but, for the most part, folks are upright and honest. Those who fall prey to the bad ones are usually not very diligent - there's a sucker born every minute.

 

[Silvaire]

The buyer typically pays for the inspection and can specify any type inspection he desires in his offer sheet.

That's fine but it normally needs to be a solid offer. As an owner you aren't going to be too keen on letting any tire kicker send over his knuckle dragger to start taking your airplane apart, regardless if he's paying for it.

 

[wabower]

No question. Buyer will pay more for a complete inspection, seller should expect to pay more to fix squawks. The other side of the deal is that if seller is not willing to pay to fix squawks, the cost of the inspection reverts to seller. It keeps everybody honest.

An additional set of paperwork is required for the shop performing the work, but well worth-while for all concerned.

That's fine but it normally needs to be a solid offer. As an owner you aren't going to be too keen on letting any tire kicker send over his knuckle dragger to start taking your airplane apart, regardless if he's paying for it.

 

[brien23]

I have done several prebuy inspections you get what you pay for after looking at several aircraft priced lower than the going price most are not worth buying. I did find a good one once priced well below the going price the guy bought it and it realy turned out to be a great plane. That was a exception and they don't come around very often more than likely low prices mean you don't want it. Realy nice planes are easy to do prebuy on and most A&P can tell you so. Best advice if you are buying something other than a Cessna 172 or Piper 150 or other simple aircraft find someone that realy knows the type plane your looking at.

 

[Tony_Scarpelli]

That's fine but it normally needs to be a solid offer. As an owner you aren't going to be too keen on letting any tire kicker send over his knuckle dragger to start taking your airplane apart, regardless if he's paying for it.

You want to pay for my annual? OK with me if you decide to kick tires and go on down the road. The annual adds value to the next buyer.

I would let you do almost any inspection prebuy you want and my only requirement would be you give me a copy of the inspection results and fix anything you brake.

 

[kmead]

Pre-purchases are my favorite and mostly what I do since I sold the shop. I think the main reason for a pre-buy is to find out if the aircraft is as represented. Examples are, Total airframe and engine TSMOH, damage history, AD and SB compliance record, and installed equipment operational. Am I really getting the great, well maintained, squawk free aircraft that you want to sell me?

Some sellers think and advertise that the ship is 100% All service bulletins complied with? Piper SB 964B (part 1) will now cost $11,000.00 plus labor.
My latest favorite, it's a fresh annual with new filter and oil. The seller and his buddy get mad at me for dumping the fresh oil to get to the suction screen. The suction screen was full of bearing material and steel splinters (good annual!) They still bought the ship and overhauled the engine before flying again ($55,000.00). The cam was wasted and a main bearing insert was picked out. My all time favorite was the NDH ship that had an entry for a whole new wing assy (tip to tip) installed. The seller got really mad and told me that an earlier owner got concerned about some little wrinkles and replaced the whole wing ($200,000.00). That's damage history in my book.It just goes on and on, I should write a book.

Always seek out the advise or service of experts on the aircraft you're looking at.