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FRUSTRATION IN BUYING AN AIRPLANE (RANT!)

cliffy

By cliffy
in Miscellaneous Aviation Talk

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cliffy Grand Master

cliffy

Posted
Posted

What is it about buying an airplane ?

Helping a friend look for a plane and out of  5 ads we have 

tried to contact repeatedly- only 2 have bothered to reply!

And I'm talking 4 or 5 emails and phone calls to each.

It boggles the mind.

Hank Grand Master

Hank

Posted
Posted
7 hours ago, cliffy said:

What is it about buying an airplane ?

Helping a friend look for a plane and out of  5 ads we have 

tried to contact repeatedly- only 2 have bothered to reply!

And I'm talking 4 or 5 emails and phone calls to each.

It boggles the mind.

Honey, I put the plane up for sale. See??

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Slick Nick Proficient

Slick Nick

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, ArtVandelay said:

If you deal with brokers, you won’t have this problem.

Not true here in Canada. There's a handful of brokers who will happily take your listing and do absolutely eff all with it for months and months. 

ArtVandelay Grand Master

ArtVandelay

Posted
Posted
Not true here in Canada. There's a handful of brokers who will happily take your listing and do absolutely eff all with it for months and months. 

That’s hard to believe, can’t make money if you don’t sell airplanes. Does Canada brokers not work on commission?
Schllc Grand Master

Schllc

Posted
Posted

FYI, if any of those ads were on TAP, i believe there is something wrong with their email notification system.  I was helping a friend and there was no contact info in the ad, so you had to use the email through TAP.  The owner never got the first 4 emails we sent.  It wasn't until i sent an email to tech support at TAP that an email went through.

 

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Rwsavory Mentor

Rwsavory

Posted
Posted

It's a two-way street. When you're selling your plane you get a lot of dreamers and wanna-be's. Imagine that in aviation!  LOL. I used a broker when I sold my M20C, and they told me some stories about what they had to deal with. My guess is that after a couple weeks of this individual sellers get fed up with it.

 

 

Justin Schmidt Rising Star

Justin Schmidt

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, bluehighwayflyer said:

Agreed.  I have always just sold privately to friends on a handshake at very fair pricing just not to have to deal with it.  

Unfortunately,  people with the dignity and honor for handshake deals is becoming non existent. 

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MikeOH Grand Master

MikeOH

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Justin Schmidt said:

Unfortunately,  people with the dignity and honor for handshake deals is becoming non existent. 

Well, while I agree that it's less common, that's how I bought my plane 8 years ago. Agreed on price, small down to hold it, shook hands; no written anything.  Imagine that.

Know your seller; frankly, more important than the pre-buy.

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hammdo Grand Master

hammdo

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, MikeOH said:

Well, while I agree that it's less common, that's how I bought my plane 8 years ago. Agreed on price, small down to hold it, shook hands; no written anything.  Imagine that.

Know your seller; frankly, more important than the pre-buy.

David and I, when I bought N2652W, did hand shake, I gave a down payment, then we did an agreement on paper for payment due on delivery and expectations but nothing crazy, simple contract/BOS for the FAA. Did do a title search to verify no leans — it had and old one on a financed already paid off,  but David took care of that…

-Don

 

Flyler Rising Star

Flyler

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, Schllc said:

FYI, if any of those ads were on TAP, i believe there is something wrong with their email notification system.  I was helping a friend and there was no contact info in the ad, so you had to use the email through TAP.  The owner never got the first 4 emails we sent.  It wasn't until i sent an email to tech support at TAP that an email went through.

 

This happened to me too.  I was interested in a plane and the guy simply would not answer my emails.  Found his number and called him, he was delighted that someone finally called about his plane.  I'm not sure if the emails were going to spam, but at any rate... OP should find alternate means of contact if he can't get in touch!

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Slick Nick Proficient

Slick Nick

Posted
Posted
On 2/27/2026 at 7:20 AM, ArtVandelay said:


That’s hard to believe, can’t make money if you don’t sell airplanes. Does Canada brokers not work on commission?

Airplanes aren't moving here, especially Mooneys. Far easier to take the listing for 6 months, charge a fee for it, and never have to do any actual work. Multiply that by 40 or 50 airplanes, and it's a good gig. 

The guy I bought my airplane through was exactly this. Utterly useless. Put me in contact with the seller directly which was nice, but did zero to facilitate the deal. Couldn't answer basic questions, or so much as pick up the phone half the time. I could go on for hours about this guy but I'm trying to have a peaceful morning today :)

cliffy Grand Master

cliffy

Posted
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Posted
4 hours ago, ArtVandelay said:


Ok, if you work with a good broker….

OK there in is the answer- BUT you never know when you call on an ad if its for real or a scam

And I've found 2 scams in the last 2 weeks

Flyler Rising Star

Flyler

Posted
Posted

You'll also find scam sellers.  Some are hiding things on purpose, some are just unaware. It's a jungle out there.  I finally gave up on trying to find a private sale and reached out to Jimmy at Gmax as many recommended.  I was in the bottom end of the pricing range and a novice (annoying) buyer, but he treated me pretty well.  He was straight forward with what he knew, and what he didn't know, and didn't seem interested in making any guesses.

Mooneymite Grand Master

Mooneymite

Posted
Posted

I know there are good brokers...but in all my aircraft purchases, I've always "bought the seller".  Unscrupulous sellers (or brokers) can make a bad plane look good, but visiting with the seller at his home, or hangar and getting insights into him/her is extremely revealing about the plane.  A broker might fear getting sued if he told a buyer everything he knew about a seller.

It's hard to beat a word-of-mouth, person-to-person transaction.

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1980Mooney Grand Master

1980Mooney

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Mooneymite said:

I know there are good brokers...but in all my aircraft purchases, I've always "bought the seller".  Unscrupulous sellers (or brokers) can make a bad plane look good, but visiting with the seller at his home, or hangar and getting insights into him/her is extremely revealing about the plane.  A broker might fear getting sued if he told a buyer everything he knew about a seller.

It's hard to beat a word-of-mouth, person-to-person transaction.

How valuable is that really when dealing with 40-60 year old planes that have been owned by many owners?  We have one MS member here that bought a M20J from another MS member. The selling MS member had written posts/posted pics about his plane and its care.  It was maintained by a MSC on the East Coast. He posted it for sale on MS.  Turns out the plane had corrosion in the wing that was only found in the Annual AFTER the buyer took possession. And the selling MS member washed his hands of the matter.  Maybe the selling MS member didn’t know about the corrosion (prior or prior-prior owner problem? lack of care? who knows) or maybe he did.  Anyway it cost the buying MS member many $10’s of thousands for repair by Maxwell and a year downtime.

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