I currently own a Cessna 182 and my I have suddenly developed a desire for a new plane. I am looking for something with a glass panel, air conditioning and a faster airspeed than the Cessna.
A few months back I saw a Cirrus in the $250k price range and have been watching it since then. The plane is a 2006 and loaded with some great options.
My only concern is that the plane appears to have been on the market for at least a year as have a number of the other planes I have been watching. I don’t want to buy a plane that I will have trouble selling when the time comes. Also, If I keep the plane 5-8 years and then try to sell it, I am wondering how much of a hit I am going to have to take on the original selling price.
I realize that any plane purchase is not an investment opportunity, but I don’t want to fly this plane a for several years and then have to sell it for $100K below what I paid for it.
Thanks for any advice you can provide. Jessie Paul
My wife and I usually take one trip a quarter to another state. Some of our trips have been several hundred miles. In between the trips out of state, we take a number of trips of 200-400 miles.
I just did this last year. Sold my '73 182 for an '04 SR22 G2. I’ve flown for 8 years, 1200+ hours and earned instrument, tail wheel, and CFI credentials along the way. The SR22 transition was THE BEST aviation decision I’ve made in my short aviation period. I looked at a lot of junk on the market before I found “mine”. Many planes haven’t flown for years, aging on the ramp. My advice is to work with a GREAT broker like Lone Mountain, (Paul Sallach) to find ‘the one’, and Savvy Management to manage the pre-purchase. These guys KNOW what they are doing and are looking to work with you in several more purchases in your lifetime. They are NOT ‘one and done’ type!
An 06 has more depreciation to go. At the end of the day you are going to have to accept that it is going to cost you and you’re not going to get back what you paid for. That said it is perfectly acceptable to find an aircraft from an earlier vintage to have refurbished and brought up to the standard of an 06 G2 or even a current G3 model. A 2003 centennial G1 for instance incorporates elements of a generation one and generation 2. Give me a call if you have any questions
“the plane appears to have been on the market for at least a year as have a number of the other planes I have been watching.”
This is a sign you should help them with their pricing, which may be a little high.
If you held the plane 8 years and flew it 1000 hours, and it was then worth $150,000, would that gnaw at you, or would you say that it was well worth it?
Or, plane nut and sensible man that you are, would you say BOTH?
I’d buy it as cheaply as you can, and fly the wheels off it, and call it a great bargain.
I’ve flown 182s. You will like this plane much more- it’s fast, efficient, more stable in turbulence and weather, costs about the same -maybe a tad more, and you can go a long way with it. Don’t forget the chute.
That doesn’t jive with what i’ve been reading from other recent COPA posts. Several lookers state they aren’t able to buy the G2’s at bargain prices, as some did a year or two back. Not in the market, but am of the thought that these prices have somewhat stabilized, of course what the new G5 may do to the market is yet to be seen. I doubt it will change much, and those owners who were in upside down on loans, have already been shaken out.
The G2’s that are selling for less than 200K are near, or over TBO.