So, I go for my first pre buy inspection tomorrow.

[flight2000]

Sorry, while I love the E model, that price tag is a little steep.  I'd be shooting for a J model as well if I were in your shoes with that kind of budget.

Brian 

[scottfromiowa]

I wish that J would have been available at THAT PRICE when I bought my '66 E in 2004. (refering to the post Parker provided) The shortbody aircraft will NOT ever achieve the pricing of the J's.  For the money you are talking I would by a nice early J over any shortbody...C or E.

[carusoam]

 

Reality check. This puts me into early 201 territory. I'm starting to think about saying goodbye to this plane and start shopping for 201s. It seems like there are a few out there that come close to what I want for the same money and would have better resale latter on. What do you think??

[triple8s]

Ballpark figures, but remember, get what fits your needs. I would like to have a 231 to get over weather but 99% of the time I dont have that to worry about, so why have the extra maintenance expense. A good C or E will be plenty of airplane for 2 or 3 people with light bags and an F or bigger for more room. No way I would EVER pay 90k for anything less than a 231, but thats me.

 

35-45k = M20C

40-55k = M20E

50-65k = M20F

70-90k = 201

90-120k = 231

[Bean]

Would you mind sharing what you had agreed to pay in the first place? The E model you are looking at seems to be quite unique.

[drpep]

Well I find it interesting the price point on a well equipped Vintage E since I have one that is relatively well equipped and is low time. I just completed my annual last week with no squaks to speak of. Happy about that. Recently I posted on this site that even though I quite enjoy the E I have always wanted a J. So, I embarked on a search despite the fact that I only purchased my E one year ago incidently for $63k CDN. In my recent  search for a J I did some serious number crunching and I would agree with others who have commented that the max an E can fetch no matter what upgrades would be no more than $70K. After that the J is what one should be looking at. I have not yet found a J  to my liking and price point but I am still looking. I  think it is possible to get a well equipped J for $80K  with NDH, so spending 90k for a tricked out E makes little sense to me.

Philip 

 

[DaV8or]

Quote: Bean

Would you mind sharing what you had agreed to pay in the first place? The E model you are looking at seems to be quite unique.

[Bean]

Given your $$$ estimate for the OH which I believe to be on the very high side, you will now pay $87,500 for 0 SMOH on the exact E model you were willing to pay $69,000 for with an unkown engine and 1400 SMOH. If you believe in the TBO numbers, you were in for an OH in the not so distant future anyways.

It seems you have been in the market for a while and you know what you want. If there is something similar or better out there with 0 SMOH and for =< $87,500 you should walk.

On the other hand, there was a recent article in The Aviation Consumer and local shops actually scored pretty well on over hauls. What do you know about the shop that is supposed to do the OH? If it is done to factory specs and has warranty, you might get the plane you want for $75,000 at 0 SMOH versus the $69,000 with an unkown engine and 1400 SMOH. If you squeeze the seller for a couple thousand $$$ more, you are pretty darn close to your original budget.

Looking at it from a different angle, if you found this exact plane on the market with NDH, a well documented recent OH, < 50 SMOH and all the upgrades you want, would you pay the $75,000 or maybe even more? 

[KLRDMD]

Quote: DaV8or

[Parker_Woodruff]

Quote: KLRDMD

Jeff's E model is still available, primarily since he still hasn't gotten around to advertising it. I'm flying it on Monday (since mine is in the shop getting an engine monitor installed).

[KLRDMD]

Quote: Parker_Woodruff

hmm looks like a pretty decent deal to me out of all the M20Es I ended up looking at the past few days.

[DaV8or]

So my first pre buy is now officially over with no plane for me at the end. The seller really didn't want to close out the contract, but today he finally agreed to terminate. Signing up for a new engine was just a bit more than I wanted to spend right now. Learned more about perchase agreement contracts than I did about the pre buy inspection process. No real hands on for me and we never got past the engine. Did learn about log books though and now I know more what to look for and am not so overwhelmed my them. Cost me a fair amount of money, but that's what plane ownership seems to be all about.

On to the next one...

[jmills]

Quote: DaV8or

So my first pre buy is now officially over with no plane for me at the end. The seller really didn't want to close out the contract, but today he finally agreed to terminate. Signing up for a new engine was just a bit more than I wanted to spend right now. Learned more about perchase agreement contracts than I did about the pre buy inspection process. No real hands on for me and we never got past the engine. Did learn about log books though and now I know more what to look for and am not so overwhelmed my them. Cost me a fair amount of money, but that's what plane ownership seems to be all about.

On to the next one...

[Qwalton]

Good luck Dave! I'm sure when it's all over you'll have a wonderful plane.