Who pays for the annual

[Brett Kallish]

When buying an airplane and the annual is just becomming due who pays. Is it the buyer, the seller or is it a completely negotiable thing.

Brett

[ArtVandelay]

A seller will not allow you to do a annual until you've bought it, so once you buy it, you pay for it.

[Tommy]

Everything is negotiable. I would, as a starter, ask the seller to pay for any AD issues identified or anything that was advertised working (avionics) but not. 

[gsxrpilot]

Everything is negotiable :-)  If I'm buying and want MY guy to do the annual, I would expect to take care of the annual and the cost after the purchase.  If I'm selling and you want me to pay for the annual, I would want to adjust the price of the plane and of course use MY A&P.

 

I would first negotiate a price that I would pay for the plane pending the results of a pre-buy inspection at my choice of A&P. Anything found during the pre-buy that was an Airworthy issue would be the responsibility of the seller. I would pay for the pre-buy regardless of the outcome.

[Hank]

^^^^^ This. Good common sense. Getting rare, that. .

[anthonydesmet]

Brett,

Rocker is spot on.  I'd also add that even your initial contract with agreed price based on a pre-buy AND a test flight also leave room for an amended contract based on findings.  As an example, my purchase contract was amended 3 times and the price negotiated twice based on what we found during the initial purchase inspection and the results of my test flight. Also, my airplane was 6 months from annual but since I started feeling good about the airplane and good about the guy i chose for the pre-buy I decided to start my ownership with a fresh annual which was my responsibility to pay for. I would say that if you are going into pre-buy with an airplane out of annual or annual due that month then you have a lot of negotiating room since if you walk away the owner still/should have to do an annual if he wants to get it sold.

[DrBill]

When I bought mine,  I negotiated a price with a pre-purchase inspection, seller pays all airworthy items or can cancel the sale.(like anthony, plane had 6 mos left on annual).  I felt I got a great deal so after the PPI, I paid for the plane and told the mechanic to continue as an annual.I drove the seller and his wife home. A few days later I got the plane back with a clean annual for $600 more than the PPI.

Worked for me.

Bill

[carusoam]

Great question...

Realistically though, the annual is about a $2k expense.

You are going to spend some significant coin on an independent PPI to protect your wallet.

Ask yourself the question, would I pay more if it just came through it's annual?

If you are buying a $200k long body, you are better focused on making sure all the radios are working properly.

If you are paying only $20k for a short body, everything is well worn. The only thing left is to negotiate what's left on the annual.

Hmmm, PPI extended into an annual done at an MSC sounds interesting, no?

Best regards,

-a-

[druidjaidan]

Everything is negotiable.  That said generally an annual performed by the seller at an unknown mechanic should be viewed as suspect.  We just negotiated a purchase agreement with a seller. The plane had an annual in April.  Our contract went like this:

 

Pre purchase inspection at a mechanic of my choosing at a specified airport (Don Maxwell).  Inspection is at my expense, and we will furnish a list of discrepancies at the end.  Airworthiness issues will be fixed at the seller's expense or else they will reimburse me for the cost of the prebuy.  I also have the option to walk away  at the end of the prebuy, but would forfeit my deposit.  Finally, we have the option to convert the prebuy to an annual at our discretion.

 

 

 

Worded in much heavier legalese of course.  But this gave us a the best of everything IMO.  The seller says the plane is good, and airworthiness issues are a lot less subjective than "this is worn out and needs replacement soonish".  They get to put their money where their mouth is if the plane comes up with a serious issue.  On the other hand I have room to get concessions if stuff I don't want to deal with turns up, even if it's not an airworthiness issue.  And finally I have the right (though I don't intend to exercise it in this case most likely) to continue the inspection into an annual if I choose.

 

I would be hard pressed bother with a plane that wasn't in annual unless I was myself and A&P and looking for a project.  If the seller can't even find a shady pencil pusher to sign it off that's not a good sign.

[StinkBug]

When I bought my plane I wanted a pre-buy to be done, but the annual was due in a couple months. After inspecting myself I felt pretty comfortable with the plane and decided to have a full annual done. I paid for the annual and the previous owner paid for all airworthiness items found. This seems to be a fairly common scenario with pre-buys as well, buyer pays for the inspection, seller fixes the issues. That said it's not something written in stone. Whatever works for both buyer and seller is good.

[gsxrpilot]

If the time ever comes for me to sell my C... maybe to move up to a J or K, it will come with a fresh annual from Don Maxwell.  That way when the buyer takes it in for a pre-buy, I will be confident it will pass without a single squawk.

 

But then mine won't likely be for sale unless someone comes along and talks me into selling it.

[RobertGary1]

If the time ever comes for me to sell my C... maybe to move up to a J or K, it will come with a fresh annual from Don Maxwell. That way when the buyer takes it in for a pre-buy, I will be confident it will pass without a single squawk.

But then mine won't likely be for sale unless someone comes along and talks me into selling it.

Before I started doing my own work I'd rotate between Mooney Service Centers. They'd all catch things the others didn't.

-Robert

[PMcClure]

Why not have your mechanic do the Pre-inspect and purchase the plane then roll right into the annual while still at the shop? That way any airworthy issues are uncovered and you might save a few hours doing the annual. 

[HRM]

When buying an airplane and the annual is just becomming due who pays. Is it the buyer, the seller or is it a completely negotiable thing.

Brett

 

In a sale, everything is negotiable.

 

At the end of the deal, an exchange has been made.

 

Each side has given something up in return for something else.

 

This is the way it is, regardless of how you want to describe it or discuss it.

[Brett Kallish]

Hi folks,

We'll I made my offer on a Mooney C and with a little negotiation it was accepted. Now it is just a matter of getting the purchase agreement, putting the deposit then getting the prepurchase inspection. I want to thank all of you for your thoughts and I took them into consideration as I figured out my offer.

Brett

[carusoam]

Brett,

Have you seen the thread of a similar C going through the same process that you are, concurrently?

You are never alone...

Best regards,

-a-