Whats up(I mean down) with Cher 140 prices?

schmookeeg said:
Even the local "MOH to sell it" shop is running about 12,500 on O-320s.

A MOH to keep is in the 16k range :) "and up"
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Bingo, means that by the time you are done having $20k in the overhaul (you are doing the hoses and mounts right?" is very easy. Not saying don't buy one, just know what you are getting into. If the engine on your $20,000 140 starts to make metal from a purely monetary standpoint you have scrap. Just part of the game with cheap planes.
 
I feel sorry for anyone selling an airplane in this market. Some of the crazy, convoluted (if not creative) deals I've heard about lately are pretty amazing.

Example: A friend of mine just "sold" his Aztec -- a twin engine, gas guzzling load hauler that you can't give away -- to a car dealer by throwing in several cars, and receiving several almost-new cars in exchange. No cash changed hands.

The aviation market is becoming like the post-WWI German economy, where barter made more sense than cash. And every day we have fewer private pilots, which means fewer buyers.
 
Jay I sold my Cherokee about a year ago and it was a bit worse than it is today.

I did surprising well... I paid $20k about 9 years ago, put no upgrades in the plane, I just flew it the way I bought it. Normal improvements like an inexpensive upholster job.

I spent about $10 per hour for annual inspections and maintenance so maybe $11,000 over the 9 years and 1100 hrs this includes rebuilding mags, 2 new jugs, starter, and carburetor.

I sold if for only 20% less than I paid for it. I sold it the first week I told anyone it was for sale, no advertising, no subscriptions.

I didn't do some of the stupid things pilots seem to do: I didn't add the $11k maintenance I spend on the plane over the 9 years to the cost and ask $31k for it. I didn't spend $20k upgrading the avionics and expect to add that to the price I paid 9 years ago. I didn't spend $16k for a paint job and expect to get that money back. I didn't spend $20k on speed mods and expect to get full price for those.

A plane like a car has a value today and every day if you are realistic in your asking price you will get real buyers quickly.....If you are a jagoff in pricing your plane you will talk to every tirekickker in the world none with money in his pocket.
 
John221us said:
The A&Ps around here don't work for anything close to $10 an hour. Hell, my receptionist doesn't work for $10 an hour.
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Are you saying it takes your mechanic 100 hrs to top an O-320? I used to get it done in a day and a half and that was working easy.
 
One of the advantages of experimentals is you can put any engine on you want, change the cylinders out, change the mags to electronic ignitions.

The prices of experimentals seem to have leveled off after falling. I think buyers are starting to realize it is not necessarily the cost of acquisition, but the operation and maintenance costs of the old spam cans that eats you up.

RV-6s are the lowest cost right now because there are so many of them. They are a good bird. Fast, economical to fly, easy to fly when properly trained. Aerobatic also. :D
 
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