The plane I just bought, the owner agreed to fly it to the pre buy if I bought the fuel.
Hour and a half flight and a hand shake deal.
I think he knew I was serious and he had nothing to hide.
Flew him back home after the pre buy......in my new plane.

I recently called on a plane I was interested in up in ND. The were no pictures in the advertisement in tradeaplane, so I naturally asked some questions and asked for pictures. The old guy started his bitching. Seems everyone wants pictures and wastes his time. I pointed out politely that if he posted pictures on the ad it would save him all that aggravation. The specs on the plane were a match for what I wanted and so I began to talk about coming to see the aircraft and mentioned that I would probably contract a local (to him) A&P to do an inspection. He started ranting about pre buy inspections and how he didn't want some southern mechanic (I am from Texas) messing around with his aircraft, that he was an A&P and had just done an annual and the plane was tip top and that a pre buy was just an annual and therefore wasn't necessary and that buyers were a lot of talk and just tire kickers, and weren't really interested in buying, etc. I told him I had cash money and was looking for an aircraft of this type. I asked him if he would buy an aircraft without inspecting it. He admitted he wouldn't, but then proceeded to defend his assertion that letting someone other than him open up the plane was too risky. I suggested that he was too attached to the aircraft to really sell it and wished him luck. It is still advertised.

littlewheelinback wrote:I recently called on a plane I was interested in up in ND. The were no pictures in the advertisement in tradeaplane, so I naturally asked some questions and asked for pictures. The old guy started his bitching. Seems everyone wants pictures and wastes his time. I pointed out politely that if he posted pictures on the ad it would save him all that aggravation. The specs on the plane were a match for what I wanted and so I began to talk about coming to see the aircraft and mentioned that I would probably contract a local (to him) A&P to do an inspection. He started ranting about pre buy inspections and how he didn't want some southern mechanic (I am from Texas) messing around with his aircraft, that he was an A&P and had just done an annual and the plane was tip top and that a pre buy was just an annual and therefore wasn't necessary and that buyers were a lot of talk and just tire kickers, and weren't really interested in buying, etc. I told him I had cash money and was looking for an aircraft of this type. I asked him if he would buy an aircraft without inspecting it. He admitted he wouldn't, but then proceeded to defend his assertion that letting someone other than him open up the plane was too risky. I suggested that he was too attached to the aircraft to really sell it and wished him luck. It is still advertised.

My guess is that the real story might be that he really doesn't want to sell the plane. But the wife wants him to sell the plane. So he put's the plane up for sale, and does what you mentioned above, then reports back to the wife that there's still no takers on his plane. So, he keeps his plane for now and has the wife convinced that nobody wants to buy his plane right now.

I've heard of story's like this. And also heard of some people asking way too much money for their planes for kind of the same theory.

58Skylane wrote:....My guess is that the real story might be that he really doesn't want to sell the plane. ...

I have seen people with airplanes for sale do the darndest things.
One guy (who parks on the ramp) doesn't advertise it except for a for sale sign in the window.....with no price and no phone number. Another guy (who rarely flies) has a similar sign in the window of his airplane .... which is always locked up in his hangar. Another guy talks on the internet sites about his airplane being for sale but when someone asks how much, he won't tell them, just says "come on over & look at it".
Supposedly these guys all do really want to sell their airplanes, but you'd sure never know it.

I kind of know how the old guy feels. I have had about twenty people look at the 150. They all like it and want to go for a ride or have me fly it up so someone can look at it. A couple people have told me their going to go to the bank and try to get a loan but no one seems to come up with any Money! I think they just want free ride.

littlewheelinback wrote:I recently called on a plane I was interested in up in ND. The were no pictures in the advertisement in tradeaplane, so I naturally asked some questions and asked for pictures. The old guy started his bitching. Seems everyone wants pictures and wastes his time. I pointed out politely that if he posted pictures on the ad it would save him all that aggravation. The specs on the plane were a match for what I wanted and so I began to talk about coming to see the aircraft and mentioned that I would probably contract a local (to him) A&P to do an inspection. He started ranting about pre buy inspections and how he didn't want some southern mechanic (I am from Texas) messing around with his aircraft, that he was an A&P and had just done an annual and the plane was tip top and that a pre buy was just an annual and therefore wasn't necessary and that buyers were a lot of talk and just tire kickers, and weren't really interested in buying, etc. I told him I had cash money and was looking for an aircraft of this type. I asked him if he would buy an aircraft without inspecting it. He admitted he wouldn't, but then proceeded to defend his assertion that letting someone other than him open up the plane was too risky. I suggested that he was too attached to the aircraft to really sell it and wished him luck. It is still advertised.

I wouldn't right it off if it looks like what you want.
Could be a project that he doesn't want to admit to, or a real gem that he thinks you are questioning? Good luck

I wouldn't write it off per se, but when I guy starts bitching about sending photos, I can tell it is going to be a big head ache. I don't want to invest in a trip and hire a mechanic just to get up there and run into a bunch of resistance. It might be a real gem...but usually when someone starts this way it means bad news. He is an A&P and used to people letting him tell them the way things are. He doesn't want someone else coming in and critiquing the aircraft and or his work or disagreeing with him about its worth. I don't try to low ball anyone in this market, but many sellers are delusional about an aircraft's worth these days. If you don't want to sell, fine. Wait for better times (if they come). But don't expect to get what the plane might have been worth at the peak of the market.

When I was shopping for the 170 several years back, an older gentleman from back east mailed me photo prints of his plane, through the postal service, in an envelope, using a stamp. I guess he just wasn't into the Internet. I appreciated his effort though.

Zane wrote:When I was shopping for the 170 several years back, an older gentleman from back east mailed me photo prints of his plane, through the postal service, in an envelope, using a stamp. I guess he just wasn't into the Internet. I appreciated his effort though.

Maybe he was just really into staying in the spirit of the vintage of his plane.