More Mooney Buying questions

[StinkBug]

I'd love any Mooney, but my budget is telling me a C or E. Looking for something solid to do my IR and Commercial training in, as well as some traveling. Good radios and a GPS are the main demands, along with an engine with some time left on it. Paint and interior are at the bottom of the list unless they are really bad.

[emill1@msn.com]

If you will send me your email, I will forward info to you.  It is pretty much spotless.  I did my IR and commercial in it, also.

[StinkBug]

message sent

[urbanti]

OP: Feel your pain. I spent a lot of money on bad prebuys looking at vintage Mooneys.

Dealing wth long-time Mooneyspace guys probably a good approach.

One of the biggest challenges in buying a vintage Mooney is that many owners are unaware of the actual condition/needs of their plane, so you can't believe anything they tell you. Similarly, their mechanic if not a specialist may be promoting the idea that the plane is in better condition and worth more than it is...

Here's the method that (finally) worked for me:

- Identify the closest Mooney specialist shops.

- Call them on the phone and speak with the owner or director of maintenance.

- Tell them what you're looking for, tell them your price point, give them your email address, and ask them for assistance identifying a good plane. All these guys know of good planes they maintain that the owner is just about to put on the market, or the guy's getting older and starting to fly less, etc.

- In a couple of weeks you'll probably get a number of suggestions of decent planes owned by reasonable people.

This is a good way to filter out the bottom of the barrel airframes, flippers, and crazy sellers.

Good luck!

Tim

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[urbanti]

OP - one additional point.

Getting a list of deficiencies from a pre-buy shouldn't necessarily always kill the deal.

If you get a scrupulous prebuy from a Mooney specialist who has no relationship to the owners and the airplane is near-perfect, you probably are dealing with a very sophisticated owner who has put a ton of money into maintenance.

If you get a great report from a prebuy by a non-specialist, you should worry about what they are not finding.

If you get a decent sized list of deficiencies and issues from a good shop, then at least you know that they really looked at the airplane

Now it's time to determine which are just run-of-the-mill stuff you should expect from a 196X airframe, and which are ominous portents of damage or neglected maintenance that forecast big expenses to come.

best

Tim

[schule]

Some really good advice here. Good research and look to protect yourself from the financial burden of issues which cost $$$$$. I have bought a couple Mooneys through AAA. Great experience. Traveled from AK for both to deal with Jimmy/David. They demanded a PPI for protection of both parties. Good luck.

[BigTex]

I had my pre-buy done at Don Maxwell's. He came up with a squawk list of 51 items including several airworthiness issues. He went though the plane with a fine tooth comb. He documented ever flaw in the airframe. Initially the list really concerned me. But as Don was going through the squawk list he assured me that overall he feels I'm buying a solid plane.

In the purchase contract, it called out that any airworthy squawks would be paid by the seller. The seller has the right to back out if he doesn't wish to fix those items. If the seller backs out, he paid for the pre-buy.

The seller covered the costs of the airworthy squawks and I now have a great plane.

[laytonl]

I bought my Mooney from AAA. Jimmy called me when we found an airplane that met my specs. He sent photos and specs and we settled the deal in 5 minutes.

I had him fly the plane to Don Maxwell for the PPI. Once the PPI showed the purchase was a go (only one airworthiness issue and the owner covered) I had Don finish up with an annual.

I never saw the airplane until I picked it up at Don's for the 700 mile trip home. The trip gave me some time to get to know the airplane.

The whole process was straight forward and painless. Jimmy is a great guy.

Lee

[gsxrpilot]

I had my pre-buy done at Don Maxwell's. He came up with a squawk list of 51 items including several airworthiness issues. He went though the plane with a fine tooth comb. He documented ever flaw in the airframe. Initially the list really concerned me. But as Don was going through the squawk list he assured me that overall he feels I'm buying a solid plane.

In the purchase contract, it called out that any airworthy squawks would be paid by the seller. The seller has the right to back out if he doesn't wish to fix those items. If the seller backs out, he paid for the pre-buy.

The seller covered the costs of the airworthy squawks and I now have a great plane.

My experience exactly. I'm now enjoying one of the best C models in the country.

[StinkBug]

Soooo I'm flying out to texas next week to take a look at an M20C that looks to fit all my requirements. Just finished reading through the logbooks and everything looks very much in order there. I'm interested to get any suggestions on who to have do the PPI on this one though. I would have Don Maxwell do it, but he's been doing all the maintenance on the plane for the last 5 years, and David at AAA tells me that Don would prefer to not inspect a plane he's done all the work on. This is my feeling as well, it's always good to get a second set of eyes on things. So with that in mind, who else is in the area that would be a good choice?

[bonal]

You might post the registration number or the add that you found it on as there may be M spacers that know about it and could provide info.

[DonMuncy]

Use Dugosh at Kerrville.

[StinkBug]

http://www.controller.com/listingsdetail/aircraft-for-sale/MOONEY-M20C-RANGER/1968-MOONEY-M20C-RANGER/1342733.htm

[chrisk]

I second the recommendation for Dugosh.  --It's a nice looking "C"!

[bonal]

Looks pretty solid can you participate with the PPL hope it works out