Hello everyone, I've been watcher of this forum for a couple years now but it's the first time becoming a member and posting. I live in the Pacific Northwest and have a 1991 M20J. I've owned this airplane for a few years and acquired it from the previous (2nd) owner who routinely used it to commute between Washington and California. I purchased it with the idea of fixing it up a little and selling it. I'm hoping to get some input from the forum members as to what the current M20J values might be, and if upgrading the avionics makes sense.
A little about the plane:
The bad: It's lived outside for a number of years, and as a result the paint isn't in great shape. It's somewhat faded and the fiberglass cowling has several long splits in the paint. I haven't flown it since I purchased it, but have taken proper care of the engine during that time. It has the original panel consisting of KCS55 HSI, KAP150 A/P, KLN94 GPS, Dual KX155's, KT76A transponder, ADF/DME, etc. The windshield is crazed and needs to be replaced. The interior is the original blue and in decent shape, the plastics could use a freshening.
The good: It's fairly low time with about 3000hrs and 600hrs left on the engine. Its has every option that was available as far as I can tell with speed brakes, long range tanks, and TKS anti-ice. As I mentioned above It's really only had 2 "flying" owners.
When I purchased it I figured it was worth about $100K in flying condition with the windshield replaced. My thinking was that while it needed paint and some interior work, these negatives were probably offset by the increased value of having TKS. Vref was really not much help so I figured the value was most likely the same as a nice condition M20J of similar year with newer paint, original avionics, and no TKS. In these last years I've watched the price of older 172's double, but I don't think this craziness has hit the Mooney market. I'd like to get some member's opinions of what the "real" current values are, and if upgrading the avionics makes sense to anyone. I'm in a unique position in that I own a small avionics shop so I can do pretty much anything I wanted to it at "cost." However it looks to me like there's an upper limit to the values of the short nose models. It seems like if I put in $20K in avionics it only makes the plane worth $120K, and that even going all in with a G3X, GFC500, etc maybe not much more. My current thought is that keeping the original avionics and installing ADSB may be the best ROI for me.
Am I correct in my assumptions? I'd appreciate any thoughts and I thank everyone in advance for taking the time to respond.
Jeremy
