Mechanic Recommendations - Seattle, WA area

[Ayrton]

Looking for recommendations for a qualified Mooney mechanic in the Seattle, WA area for pre-buy and annual inspections.  I'm familiar with Advanced Aircraft Services in Troutdale, but am looking for someone a bit closer to Seattle (KPAE, actually).

Thanks in advance for any guidance you can provide!
 

[Fly Boomer]

11 minutes ago, Ayrton said:

Looking for recommendations for a qualified Mooney mechanic in the Seattle, WA area for pre-buy and annual inspections.  I'm familiar with Advanced Aircraft Services in Troutdale, but am looking for someone a bit closer to Seattle (KPAE, actually).

Thanks in advance for any guidance you can provide!
 

Welcome to MooneySpace!  Someone from that area will be along shortly.

[PT20J]

You might check with Crown. They have done several Mooney avionics installs and I have seen Mooneys in the shop for maintenance and annual inspection. Casey VanLier is the shop supervisor. caseyv@regalair.com, 425-355-4088.

[Ayrton]

1 hour ago, PT20J said:

You might check with Crown. They have done several Mooney avionics installs and I have seen Mooneys in the shop for maintenance and annual inspection. Casey VanLier is the shop supervisor. caseyv@regalair.com, 425-355-4088.

Thanks, @PT20J

Edited April 20 by Ayrton

[Fly Boomer]

18 minutes ago, Ayrton said:

Thanks, PT!

To let him know you have responded, you have to explicitly ping him like this @PT20J.  Doesn't work like an email "reply".

[kortopates]

Just north at Bellingham is another MSC, Command Aviation.


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[Ayrton]

Thank you, @kortopates!

[Marc_B]

@shawnd lives up there. He may have a rec as he’s had some good and bad experiences up there. 

[shawnd]

+1 on Casey at Crown. Although they are not a MSC, he is thorough and dives deep into problems to resolve them instead of applying the first potential fix after a cursory glance. Highly recommended!

[Ayrton]

Thanks, @shawnd!

[Ayrton]

Sadly, Crown was unable to help.  I'll check in with Command.

[shawnd]

Bummer - were they busy?

[Bolter]

Vertex at KAWO has been mentioned by other Mooney owners.  I saw them at the recent Aviation show at the State Fair, and they were booked out a year for annuals.  Gie them a call, if not for your pre-buy, but for your first annual.

FWIW, there are several of us in the region who can help you with getting back anf forth to TTD for Advanced.  Mine is there right now, for annual.  It would be nice to have a closer shop, but it is not untenable with Mooney speeds.  Less than an hour flight, typically.  

[Ayrton]

10 hours ago, shawnd said:

Bummer - were they busy?

@shawnd, yeah.  Said they didn't have the bandwidth right now.  Ah well...

[Ayrton]

8 hours ago, Bolter said:

Vertex at KAWO has been mentioned by other Mooney owners.  I saw them at the recent Aviation show at the State Fair, and they were booked out a year for annuals.  Gie them a call, if not for your pre-buy, but for your first annual.

FWIW, there are several of us in the region who can help you with getting back anf forth to TTD for Advanced.  Mine is there right now, for annual.  It would be nice to have a closer shop, but it is not untenable with Mooney speeds.  Less than an hour flight, typically.  

@Bolter, coincidentally I just contacted Vertex yesterday afternoon.  Just waiting to hear back.  Thanks for the tip!

[shawnd]

@Ayrton btw have you obtained a copy of the logbooks in electronic form from the seller? You can see which shops they have been to, and I would highly recommend going to a different shop. Although you have the local options, it doesn't hurt to have it be flown down to Advanced Aircraft in KTTD or Lasar (now in S39). Oregon is only about an hour away and it's a fair distance for the owner to fly to for a pre-buy. Both of these shops are MSCs and would know what to look for in detail.

Once you decide on where, you should have a checklist of specific callouts for the pre-buy and then vet to make sure their inspection list covers what you want. Happy to help if you would like with guidance etc, and of course if you want a trip down to one of these shops.

[Ayrton]

21 hours ago, Bolter said:

Vertex at KAWO has been mentioned by other Mooney owners.  I saw them at the recent Aviation show at the State Fair, and they were booked out a year for annuals.  Gie them a call, if not for your pre-buy, but for your first annual.

FWIW, there are several of us in the region who can help you with getting back anf forth to TTD for Advanced.  Mine is there right now, for annual.  It would be nice to have a closer shop, but it is not untenable with Mooney speeds.  Less than an hour flight, typically.  

@Bolter, coincidentally I just contacted Vertex yesterday afternoon.  Just waiting to hear back.  Thanks for the tip!

[Ayrton]

5 hours ago, shawnd said:

@Ayrton btw have you obtained a copy of the logbooks in electronic form from the seller? You can see which shops they have been to, and I would highly recommend going to a different shop. Although you have the local options, it doesn't hurt to have it be flown down to Advanced Aircraft in KTTD or Lasar (now in S39). Oregon is only about an hour away and it's a fair distance for the owner to fly to for a pre-buy. Both of these shops are MSCs and would know what to look for in detail.

Once you decide on where, you should have a checklist of specific callouts for the pre-buy and then vet to make sure their inspection list covers what you want. Happy to help if you would like with guidance etc, and of course if you want a trip down to one of these shops.

Amazing.  Thank you for such a thoughtful reply.  I do have the logbooks and am steering away from the shops/people who have done recent work.  I'm waiting to hear back from the owner to see what he's willing to support in terms of the pre-buy.  That's such a generous offer to help with the transport, and I will keep that in mind!  Thank you! 

 

I did get a quote from Command up in Bellingham.  It struck me as a little high ($3.8k), but my personal experience here is zero.  Waiting to hear from Vertex.

[Bolter]

20 minutes ago, Ayrton said:

Amazing.  Thank you for such a thoughtful reply.  I do have the logbooks and am steering away from the shops/people who have done recent work.  I'm waiting to hear back from the owner to see what he's willing to support in terms of the pre-buy.  That's such a generous offer to help with the transport, and I will keep that in mind!  Thank you! 

 

I did get a quote from Command up in Bellingham.  It struck me as a little high ($3.8k), but my personal experience here is zero.  Waiting to hear from Vertex.

If they provided a fixed price, they must give you a fixed list of inspection items.  The problem with this approach, is maybe they find a dealbreaker issue (corroded frame) will they continue with the process, or stop there, and bill for actual time?  Providing your own list (as suggested above) in order of your priority, will help manage the sunk cost if this is not the right plane for you.  Most things can be used as negotiation items (even metal in the oil filter) but there are few things which are probably not worth your time.  There are example lists on this site, to give a starting point.

I did a prebuy in 2022 of a 252 Encore with a well known Texas Shop (not Maxwell).  I think it was around 2k or 2.5k.  Some Mooney's have more systems than others, but should not cost more than the fixed price they charge for an annual.  I think Advanced would therefore cost less than Command quoted you and would not charge sales tax.  

-dan

[Ragsf15e]

If this is your first airplane purchase, i’d strongly recommend using the savvy pre-buy purchase. They will also help you find a shop and steer the pre-buy inspection through the big ticket items first which can keep your costs down.

[gacoon]

23 hours ago, Ayrton said:

Amazing.  Thank you for such a thoughtful reply.  I do have the logbooks and am steering away from the shops/people who have done recent work.  I'm waiting to hear back from the owner to see what he's willing to support in terms of the pre-buy.  That's such a generous offer to help with the transport, and I will keep that in mind!  Thank you! 

 

I did get a quote from Command up in Bellingham.  It struck me as a little high ($3.8k), but my personal experience here is zero.  Waiting to hear from Vertex.

Consider making it an annual if it passes up to a point

 

[Ayrton]

On 4/22/2025 at 10:21 PM, Bolter said:

If they provided a fixed price, they must give you a fixed list of inspection items.  The problem with this approach, is maybe they find a dealbreaker issue (corroded frame) will they continue with the process, or stop there, and bill for actual time?  Providing your own list (as suggested above) in order of your priority, will help manage the sunk cost if this is not the right plane for you.  Most things can be used as negotiation items (even metal in the oil filter) but there are few things which are probably not worth your time.  There are example lists on this site, to give a starting point.

I did a prebuy in 2022 of a 252 Encore with a well known Texas Shop (not Maxwell).  I think it was around 2k or 2.5k.  Some Mooney's have more systems than others, but should not cost more than the fixed price they charge for an annual.  I think Advanced would therefore cost less than Command quoted you and would not charge sales tax.  

-dan

Thanks for all of the thoughtful input, @Bolter.  The quote was not fixed price, so much as they suggested it would take them 25 hours at their typical hourly rate.  I'll give some thought to what you've written and see about finding done of those inspection item lists you mention.  Thanks again!