Good time to upgrade?

[MIm20c]

Having a hard time deciding on a good time to upgrade. The market is hard to judge right now. New listings are trying to command top dollar with very few to choose from. At the same time good planes are sitting for 6 months to a year and a few being removed because they just won’t sell. 

What I want?  To buy a ‘95 or newer plane for a reasonable price and sell my vintage for a reasonable amount / timeframe. 

With many sitting at home these days, with plenty of time to dream about ownership, it feels like demand is high. However, with rising insurance rates and possible future economic headwinds I don’t want the buyers pool to dry up before I sell. 
 

Thoughts?

[Kmac]

After selling my C last fall and planning to upgrade this spring I think I am going to wait just a few more months to see where things end up.  I still have access to another airplane in the time being.

Our family loves to fly out for our $100 hamburger, the shore and other destinations but currently all of that is unavailable.  The only reason to upgrade, if this pandemic persists, would be to visit family, which we would do a few times a year on top of local flights, but if that is all the airplane is for I don't know if it is worth it...

If we would visit family 4 or 5 times per year and include recurrent training I would probably only get to 30 hours per year instead of normally much more...

[Jerry 5TJ]

Sellers invariably offer their sub-standard planes at absurd prices while buyers undervalue your superior aircraft.  

[StevenL757]

1 hour ago, MIm20c said:

What I want?  To buy a ‘95 or newer plane for a reasonable price and sell my vintage for a reasonable amount / timeframe. 

Sounds like Ovation territory to me.

Some of the best models upon which to base upgrades are 1995 through 2004...

:-)

[MIm20c]

47 minutes ago, Jerry 5TJ said:

Sellers invariably offer their sub-standard planes at absurd prices while buyers undervalue your superior aircraft.  

Very true. So when I’m selling my average plane and trying to buy a newer average plane I’ll still be faced with the same dynamic. Smart planning would be to move the current plane first but I don’t want to lose my cheap hangar while searching for a replacement. 

[larryb]

If you can afford to own 2 for a time, then that's what I'd do. (and did myself)

It may take a long time to find the new plane. I looked for probably 6 months. Then the purchase process with pre-buy, weather, etc. can take a couple months. And having a plane can make it a lot easier to go look at planes for sale. 

I bought my new plane from a broker and left my old one there for him to sell.  I just wanted it sold, so I priced it attractively. 

[gsxrpilot]

5 hours ago, MIm20c said:

Very true. So when I’m selling my average plane and trying to buy a newer average plane I’ll still be faced with the same dynamic. Smart planning would be to move the current plane first but I don’t want to lose my cheap hangar while searching for a replacement. 

Yeah, whatever you do, don't lose the hangar. 

Back when I was buying my first airplane, I acquired the hangar first and had it for about 6 weeks before I had an airplane. A year ago when we started thinking of moving to Denver, I found a hangar before we found a house or had even decided to move. Hangars can be the most difficult piece of the puzzle to find, so it makes sense to hang onto one if you have one.

[Nick Pilotte]

The good thing about “moderately priced” planes is that if they are in good shape, there is a broad market for them.  They don’t tend to swing as badly on price as bad as $300k birds do.  The expensive planes suffer when economies tank just like exotic cars and boats.  So if you can manage to find a good step up now, go for it as it does take time for Pre buy and sorting out the details.  Who knows, if you buy from Gmax they may take yours on trade too.  Don’t forget sales tax implications on assets like these too.  Good luck with the search.  I hear early Ovations or Eagles are VERY nice. 

[carusoam]

Early Os are very nice...

If you are buying a Mooney and selling a Mooney in the same timeframe....

It makes sense to call someone like AAA... one negotiation in place of two... divest the old while picking up the new...

Don’t get stuck with two planes...

Don’t get stuck with no plane...

I went a year without a plane... not recommended...

With the wild swings in the Covid affected market.... this would eliminate the value change that could occur if things get worse or better....  look for stability....

Price of fuel is going to be low for a bit... go IO550!

PP thoughts only, not a sales guy...

Best regards,

-a- 

[Yetti]

So just for pretend.  Say I traded my 75 F in on a 2008 Acclaim.   Am I really going to be able to get a better "woohoo"  when I go flying?

[Hank]

Just now, Yetti said:

So just for pretend.  Say I traded my 75 F in on a 2008 Acclaim.   Am I really going to be able to get a better "woohoo"  when I go flying?

An extra 100hp (or more) would get a Yeee-haaaww!!! from me on the takeoff roll.   And a few woohoos looking at the airspeed in the climb and in cruise.     Although there would be a bigger fuel bill to go with the bigger speeds . . . .

[larryb]

2 hours ago, Yetti said:

So just for pretend.  Say I traded my 75 F in on a 2008 Acclaim.   Am I really going to be able to get a better "woohoo"  when I go flying?

Well, that depends on what you do with your 75F and what you want to do with your new Acclaim. 

 

I upgraded from a J to a FIKI Encore. Mostly I wanted more capability. My flying is 95% cross-country trips. I do very little local just-go-flying.  I found myself cancelling a lot of flights where I might touch a freezing cloud for fear of ice. A lot of those flights I cancelled probably would have been just fine. But I could not be sure. I'm not saying I go looking for widespread SLD or big weather, but now I can descend through a layer that I could not have done before. 

 

Next consideration is the turbo. Almost all of my long distance trips are at 16K to 18K.  The air is smooth, there is little other traffic. Crossing the Sierra's or Rockies is not an issue. The ability to maintain sea level climb rates to as high as you want is a game changer.

 

Garmin Pilot, over a year of cross-country flying shows the Encore 20 kt faster than the J block to block. Nice, but not a huge difference. It could be more, but I don't cruse at high power settings. 

 

Unfortunately the plane is still not bulletproof. I fly a lot in the sierras where ridge top winds are frequently 60 gusting 80 or even 100. I stay home those days.

 

Larry