Club Homepage Forums Classified Ads Buy & Sell - Everything But Airplanes High Airframe Hours ?

I've never flown in this airplane but I do know it was owned by the FBO, that's where the current owner got it from. I think he put about 300 hours on it. I'm supposed to meet him tomorrow and take another look at it. Then I'll offer him 15k. He told me he wasn't very flexible on his price, he was goining to ask 22K for it. Of course he knows I don't know too much about things. I'm actually training in a 172 at another airport.

Here's a tip, John!

Switch over to "Flat" mode (top right on the page), and you can see all of the posts in this thread at one time. You don't have to make multiple posts!

BTW, the wife and I are from Somerset!

Good question...I had to think about it again The current "offer" is 2000 hours on the engine @ 20K...which people think is too high.

If the same plane went for 15K, it's perceived to be a good deal.

Other people state that if the engine had 1000 hours on the engine, then it might be worth $20K

So I thought the difference was 1000 hours (or ~ half of TBO) which was being evaluated at $5K

This seems to make sense as an O/H is in the range of $10K

This is ultimately what I don't understand. Jeff, who would buy the aircraft from you as the "market" would come to the same conclusion that you came to?

For 150's - why would someone pay $22,000 for an engine with 400 before TBO when they'll likely have to invest $10,000 in a couple years only to have the plane be worth $25,000???

Should the plane not be priced at $25,000 minus $7700 = $17200 (The $7700 is the required investment to bring it to 0 SMOH. Formula being $10,000 divided by 1800 hours is $5.50 per hour. With 400 hours left...1400 hours times $5.50 of "value" has been lost.)

That's a logical statement - but as you know, markets (any market) are not logical. Emotion plays a huge part in any purchase. For instance, a Palestinian throws a rock at an Israeli, Wall Street gets nervous and suddenly it costs $50 to fill up my car. FUD (fear-uncertainty-doubt) and desire play a big part in any purchase.

So it is with aircraft. A brand-new engine from Continental costs $20,000. In theory, a timed-out Cessna 150 is worth zero since the engine costs more than plane. But, a plane with a timed-out engine can still fly around, so it still has some value. How much? Whatever the buyer and seller are willing to agree to.

Conversely, putting a $20,000 engine into a used Cessna 150 doesn't make it a $40,000 airplane. For $40K, one could get 4-seat 172s or Cherokees. Frankly, whether the engine is zero-time or time-out, it still flies the same. The pilot won't 'feel' $20,000 more performance or utility. So typically, they're unlikely to pay much extra. How much less? Whatever the buyer and seller agree to.

Overall, Cessna 150s seem to hover in the $22,000 price range, because that's where a majority of the population with mid-time engines resides. Have a timed-out engine? It's worth less, but not much less because it still flies around and there are plenty of buyers with money and inexperience to buy such a plane. Have a brand-new engine? It's worth more, but not much because there are plenty of other airplanes with mid-time engines and most pilots don't fly more than 1,000 hours in less than a decade.

There may be plenty of "those" buyers out there...but none that are members of this club!!

This is the best response I've ever heard on the topic...well done Kirk...and thank-you.

Bravo, Kirk. I like that phrase, too. When you put it like that, we see it all the time. Man, you have a way with words.

Rob, glad you came here first instead of falling into that category.

Stopped the other day at the airport just to kill a little time. When they asked when was I going to buy a 150, I replied that I was still looking. I mentioned this forum and about putting $10-$15K into a $15,000 plane. I think this guy summed it up pretty well. He asked me what a New P/U truck would cost,I replied,$25K-$35K. Then he asked how much would that P/U be worth in 10 years? May be $5K-8K. He said if you put money into a plane you probably will never make money but if you have $30K stuck into a C150 chances are that 10 years from now you should still be able to get $20K for it! He also said that if people kept that close of an eye on any hobby that they did , no one would ever buy a boat or spend $2500 on a hunting trip or buy a snowmobile because of the loss of money. As he put it, it is your hobby, your money don't be foolish with it and make a smart decision, but you do not owe anyone an explaination on how you enjoy yourself. I guess I am running out of excuses not to buy one! Come On Lottery!!!

Anyone can heckle. Fewer can offer experience based constructive criticism. Far fewer, yet can fully appreciate the full meaning of that statement. We don't have to justify our purchases to anyone (except perhaps our spouses). High time, low time, good paint, bad paint, new engine, old engine...if I'm happy with it...GET OFF MY TAIL!

And, Tim, the right one is out there for ya, buddy!

Amen brother.

My brother in-law told me over the holidays "How can you justify buying an airplane?".

I asked him how he can justify the motorcycle that sits in his garage all darn winter (it's 10 degrees F here tonight) when I'll be flying my airplane -- end of conversation.

Airplanes rule...especially 150's!!!