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Good afternoon everyone, I am currently finishing up my PPL. I have a wife and a four year old. My local FBO only rents Cessna 172's @ 160hr. Wet. I expect my mission to usually include the three of us for ~ 250nm trips, but want to at least carry 3 adults and full fuel (pushing it in the 172). Above all else I want to be safe. I plan to use whatever plane I purchase to immediately start instrument training. I had originally planned on purchasing a 182, but after riding in one the other day I was more impressed with the g1000 it had than the plane itself. Im not afraid to admit this is a scary descision for me. My wife wants me to go ahead and buy something so I'll shut up about it, but it's a friggin airplane. Seems like a poor or rushed descision could lead to deadly or at least costly mistakes. Which is why I'm here. I'm confused, frustrated, and need people with experience to say you can do this, these feelings are normal, or you aren't ready. You need to back up and punt. Here is what I know (or think I know) 182: 145ktas, ~1200 lb useful, ~15 gph cruise, maintenance isn't terrible. Insurance is 1700 per yr. Mooney M20j (seems like the model for me): 150ktas, ~1000 lb useful, 10 gph cruise, maintenance doesn't seem to be terrible either insurance is 3200 per year. I had also considered 231, but keep reading conflicting articles about maintenance. Are they much more expensive to maintain? Is it worth the performance increase? One article said if you stay below 12k then buy a 201. Above buy a 252. I honestly have never been above 12k in a ga airplane, and have also read the time it takes to fill the oxygen bottles eats up the time saved on the trip. I'm looking at spending around 80k will consider going higher for good avionics. I do realize posting this on a Mooney forum will likely influence the advice but please try and be objective. I need a safe cost effective airplane that I can trust. Please help me - Travis Also, I've never actually ridden in a Mooney so if anyone is based near KDTN I'll buy the fuel!