What constitutes damage history?

[midlifeflyer]

On 3/3/2019 at 7:35 PM, M20F said:

Damage history isn’t the problem, it’s in the log books. It is the stuff that doesn’t find itself into the log books and thus isn’t history that you have to worry about.  

This. I was involved in a lawsuit some years ago involving the term. "Damage history" is often in the eye of the beholder and a seller may behold differently than a buyer.  A buyer should treat "no damage history" as "puffery," an opinion made for promotional purposes.

Edited March 5, 2019 by midlifeflyer

[carusoam]

On 3/3/2019 at 5:17 PM, Junkman said:

Do we have anyone from the aircraft financing world on the forum? An expert in that field will be able to provide a very relevant input on this topic. I have a trainer that I couldn't get financing for because of recent sudden prop stoppages, recent being within the last 10 years. On the other hand, my Mooney had major wing damage from a large bird strike that was repaired at a service center 25 years before my purchase and that was not even a consideration in the aircraft value or financing approval.

@carusoam knows who does what around here, any point-outs on aircraft finance experts, Anthony?

Cheers,
Rick

Rick,

You got me on that one...

Jimmy from AAA went into overdrive to finish his Mooney Pricing strategy.  To help people get realistic pricing for finance purposes...

He was able to set the price for Mooneys, but couldn’t get customer financing, because he was the price setter... he needed a tool that was more reliable than the standard Vref...

The Mooney factory had a relationship with a finance house that was named Mooney Finace. Back in the day, getting finance was pretty easy... today’s banking environment has added some structure making it a bit more costly... in terms of work, documentation, and the payments....

When it came to financing the O... I checked with my Bank... they were excited when I asked... after a couple of calls, my branch manager asked what type of jet I was considering?  Their aviation loans started somewhere over a million...

So getting an aircraft loan takes somebody who knows GA aircraft...  in 2009, I was buying a plane that was 1000 miles away, the plane traveling a couple 100 miles to get a PPI, my finance was depending on the AW inspection coming from the PPI....

I went to AOPA who was working with Bank of America at the time...

Working with Jimmy, BoA, and Dmax, and delivering payments like earnest money and down payment... I probably handed the check to Jimmy from BoA...

About a year into ownership, everything was running smoothly, I refinanced my house because the interest rates for that are more consumer friendly...

The actual purchase/financing of the plane is a few steps that can be a challenge to execute...

Bottom line... see who AOPA has partnered with for finance... expect a competitive rate... but not the lowest cost, house refinance rate... 

@Seth may have some finance input. Seth at least knows finance and Mooneys at the same time.... at a higher professional level than me...

Best regards,

-a-

[Yetti]

I mean the gear is still attached to the plane soooo is it really damage history

[M20F]

On 3/3/2019 at 4:17 PM, Junkman said:

I have a trainer that I couldn't get financing for because of recent sudden prop stoppages, recent being within the last 10 years. 

I have seen financing denied for valuation but never condition.  Who was the finance organization?

[Rick Junkin]

3 hours ago, M20F said:

I have seen financing denied for valuation but never condition.  Who was the finance organization?

AOPA Finance. They couldn't find a lender that would issue with the airplane as collateral. It would have been a small loan, ~$30K. It could have been that the lenders assessed the value as less than that, but the reason I was given was the recent damage history.

But that isn't a bust on AOPA Finance, they did really well for me on finding financing for my TLS.

Cheers,
Rick

[RLCarter]

My guess is it depends on the damage, and how & when was it repaired. A gear up / prop strike 40 years and 4500hrs ago wouldn’t bother me a bit. I’m more curious about what isn’t in the logs or the one that just came out of paint