Club Homepage Forums Classified Ads Buy & Sell - Everything But Airplanes Turned down that 150M; seller got hostile

First, thanks to all of you who posted those messages concerning this 15M purchase. All of this information has been helpful. Incidently, I have been looking for at least one year. Either the airplanes I have seen turned out to be schlock, or they were purchased within 2-3 days sight unseen.

I did speak with my A&P/IA about this airplane. Two things bothered him. First, the engine was represented to be overhauled to new limits and with new parts and in fact the engine was overhauled to service limits with reconditioned parts. True, the Millenium cylinders are new to the engine a few years ago, but reconditioning them doesn't make them new. It is likely a good field overhaul, but it is a field overhaul!

Second, my A&P told me that he does lots of pre-purchase inspections (charges about $400 and needs the airplane a good 8 - 10 hours). He said many sellers from several states away fly these planes to him as part of the agreement at no charge. So why would this seller refuse to fly the airplane to my airport 30 miles away!? And, the seller insists that if he flies the plane to my airport, he wants the pilot compensated for waiting around 10 hours. Walk away from this one is his recommendation.

I called the seller and told him of my decision and why. He got very angry. "How dare you question my mechanic's work! He put his heart and soul into it! You pick too much on airplanes and you will never find one. You spoke to several IA'a? What do IA's know!? they don't overhaul engines!? Pre-purchase inspection is your responsibility, I don't need to fly the take the airplane to your A&P cause it speaks for itself! Don't come to me again if you cannot find an airplane!"

I am pretty sick about not getting this one. I did have my heart set on it. But my brain said no, and I ended up listening to it. Maybe I am too picky, but airplanes are expensive to keep up and I don't want my wallet destroyed. Anyway, my search continues.

Steve

I think the seller got hostile because "a sucker slipped away". If the plane were as marketable as he told you, he wouldn't have been so upset because the next buyer would jump right at it.

Steve:

I know the feeling. You would like to like the airplane, but it just isn't worth the dollars or something specific is wrong. I've been looking some six months now too w/out finding the right one. Sellers getting hostile because someone doesn't want to buy their airplane is something I can't understand. As buyers we really don't need to give them a reason and I seldom do. To most, I just say that I've thought about it and don't believe this is the airplane for me. Occasionally, I'll tell a seller specifically why I don't want to buy, but only when I think the seller has been up front and especially helpful.

Don

I think a sucker would have bought it. Steve is NOT a sucker here either, he used good sound judgement. It is like buying any investment... once you make the seal the deal the value could go up or down based upon market factors alone out of the buyers / sellers control. Learn from all experences and that provides you more information to make a better decison when the next opportunity comes along. Good luck again Steve and don't give up.

Will

Steven, you had already indicated some hesitancy because the plane was not exactly as advertised, and that's OK. As I've opined before, if something feels weird or not quite right, you should immediately walk away. In this kind of situation, don't explain your reasons, just walk.

I think you are going to end up spending way more than you need to because of your parameters. There are plenty of planes out there in the mid to high 20's, but many of us believe you could do just as well in the high teens or very low 20's. You are just not getting that much more for the extra 4-10 grand you want to spend. By all means, have it your way.

Listen, you've been at this for a year now. Keep doing what you're doing, lose the explanations if you decide to walk away, and realize at some point you are going to have to jump in with both feet and put your money down. Enough being a buyer - become a flyer. The view's much better up here and the flying season is nigh! [color:"green"] [/color]

And remember, no matter if you buy a $30K or a $15K plane
you'll end up putting more $$$ into it the first year than you planned.

What does everyone think? Is this reasonable? As a seller, I think I would at least want a non-refundable deposit if I was going to let someone take my plane several states away for inspection. In New England, that may not be a lot of flying, out West, you're putting hours on the Hobbs!

Personally, I would tell someone to pound salt if they couldn't find a mechanic nearby to inspect my plane. In your case however, you are nearby, but it is a catch 22; your mechanic wants to do the work in his shop but the seller doesn't want everyone hauling the plane down the road for a prebuy, and I guess I can't blame him, although at his asking price...

It's a tough one for sure.

My .02

I didn't mean anything negative about Steve. Sorry that the words didn't come out right. What I meant is that the seller thought he had a gullible buyer, but he got a wise one instead.

Hung I certainly didn't take it that way at all. I think Steve is certainly going about this in the right fashion. Hung you had some very supportive comments and I respect them.

regards,

Will

I think Greg makes a good point. Or, maybe I just do not understand a prebuy inspection. I would think it would be the same as an annual. Any ways, I don't think I would feel comfortable having an unknown person taking apart my airplane. There would definitely need to be some contractual arrangement made before hand to insure that it wasn't being disassembled unneccessarily.