Where to pre-buy?

[fluffysheap]

Hello all, new to the forum.

I've found a 1980 231 that I am likely to buy, and am soliciting recommendations about where to get a pre-buy inspection done.  The plane is in southeastern Colorado and closer is better, obviously.  However, I am willing to take it almost anywhere, if necessary to get the best inspection done.  The aircraft has reportedly lived in California, Arizona or Colorado its entire life and appears to be in good physical condition, however, I am new to Mooneys and don't really know what to look for.  The plane does have some damage history (hit by taxiing aircraft while parked), and some minor paint deterioriation, but other than that, seems pretty clean.  It does have the three common upgrades - wastegate, intercooler, and gamijectors.

 

Let me know if there's any pertinent information I left out, or if there are any recommendations.  Thanks!

[pjsny78]

My advice would be to take it to a shop that has never seen the plane before. make sure you can get an unbiased opinion and if  its within your budget get an annual done to it. you will know a lot more about the condition of a plane with an annual rather than just a few hrs of time  For a pre-buy. You can usually negotiate this as part of the deal anyways.

As far as a shop goes Don Maxwell in TX may have the best reputation in the business but that’s a long haul from California. Lasar in CA also has a good reputation.

One of my lessons learned in buying a plane and i cant stress this enough is to get a avionics pre-buy as well. you never know what someone may find and avionics are not cheap.

[bradp]

If the aircraft was in California for a while, it is quite possible (probable) that LASAR knows the airplane.  Robert Brown and Paul Lowen have extensive files on Mooneys that they have serviced.  Also, if you are willing to have the aircraft flown to them at Lampson Field, Lakeport, CA, they do a great job on prebuys.  I highly recommend them.

Lake Aero Styling and Repair -LASAR  707 263 0412

[bradp]

Interesting: The post shown from bradp was actuall from Bennett  I will log out and try again.

[Bennett]

Hopefully, this will now show Bennet as the poster.  I do recommend LASAR highly.

[fluffysheap]

Thanks for the replies.  Houston is actually closer than Lakeport, but both are pretty far.  Does Mooneyland in San Antonio do inspections, or just sales?  Their website has been a good resource for me.

[Immelman]

I haven't been there personally but a lot of folks vouch for Don Maxwell's shop in TX as a top notch MSC. I don't know whether that's a logistical possibility for this airplane in SE Colorado.

[jwilkins]

I have a 1980 231 and I love the airplane. It also has the wastegate, intercooler, and GAMIs. Since you are about halfway between Lasar and Maxwell why not call both of them and talk about the plane and the pre-buy?

I believe you are really fortunate to be within traveling distance of these two shops; both Paul and Don are two of the most experienced Mooney experts in the country. 

The original -GB engine has probably been upgraded to the -LB by now, but worth checking. I had some missing POH supplements which I replaced. The intercooler supplement is probably the most important as you DO NOT want to operate your engine with the intercooler according to the factory (non-intercooled) manual settings. A full engine OH can be, I have been told, a $40K project. You'll want to spend some time on the engine history and condition. Check for recent compliance with the service bulletin for tube corrosion. My plane still had the old style insulation which Jimmy Garrison (All American) had replaced before I even looked at the plane.  The 500 hour magneto inspection is not an AD but apparently most of the good shops pretty much insist on doing it just to be safe. If you get serious go to the FAA website and buy the CD with the aircraft records. You will have the entire registration history as well as copies of all 337's actually filed with the FAA.

Either Lasar or Maxwell will know exactly what to check, but these things you can look up in the logbooks yourself, too.

Have you joined MAPA? www.mooneypilots.com There are some good articles on line (some 231 info may be a tad out of date, but still good to review) and you will want to go to one of the MAPA Safety Foundation seminars after you buy the plane.

I'd be happy to reply in forum or by PM if you have any questiosn for another 1980 K owner.

Mooneyland has a lot of info on the website and Zef apparently has a lot of experience with Mooneys. I understand he could manage a prebuy for you. However, since you have already found the plane to look at, I'd probably go to Maxwell for the prebuy. If you can't use Lasar or Maxwell for your pre buy you might consider having someone manage the process for you. I've been accused of being too pro-MSC but for a pre-buy in Texas I can't see any reason to go anywhere other than Maxwell.

Jim