I am thinking of flying my 1995 Maule MX7-180A, 520 TTSN, from Florida to Alaska this summer and selling it there. I have had little luck selling it here. Where is best place to advertise it to interested Alaska pilots ? Would like to stir up some interest before I leave. Comments ? Thanks, Phil

alaska airmens asso. ( has paper and web site)

aeroalaska.com ( web based adds)

anchorage daily news ( adds)

craigslist..........

thats a start

Phil1947 wrote:I am thinking of flying my 1995 Maule MX7-180A, 520 TTSN, from Florida to Alaska this summer and selling it there. I have had little luck selling it here. Where is best place to advertise it to interested Alaska pilots ? Would like to stir up some interest before I leave. Comments ? Thanks, Phil

Phil I don't mean to rain on your parade, but it has been my experience that things are not selling too well here in the Great State either. About the only things moving are the real bargains, and you can move one of those anywhere. I spent over 6 months trying to sell my 180. It was a good user but by no means a perfect specimen, and I had to really keep cutting the price and offer a lot of extras to move it.

I am airplane shopping right now myself, but not for a Maule, no offense to the Maule guys, just don't want another tail dragger. It seems like anything a broker has gotten a hold of is priced out of sight, and I have had at least 4 brokers now refuse to take fair offers (considering the condition of the aircraft) to the owners. Then they'll sit there and lie right to your face about how well airplanes are selling!!!! They seem to forget that this is not 2004 anymore. I guess they'd rather sit on a customer's airplane for a couple more years. I have not as yet found anything for sale by owner that I can use, but I'm patient and will keep looking.

Good luck, a really hope you have better luck than I did.

gb

In my experience, Maules are a lot more popular in the lower 48 than in Alaska. For some years, during and right after the pipeline days, you could make good money by buying a lower 48 airplane, and flying it to AK for sale. That trend reversed probably 10 years or so back. Since then, airplanes have been selling better in the lower 48 than in AK.

Good luck, but in any case, plan to spend some time trying to sell it, especially if it's been for sale down here for a while and hasn't sold.

MTV

There is a new one out there called alaskaslist.com that has an aircraft section.

I am airplane shopping right now myself, but not for a Maule, no offense to the Maule guys, just don't want another tail dragger.

Don't let that stop you from owning a Maule...

Not to hijack the thread but...If you take an offer to a broker and he/she refuses to take it to the owner you should contact the owner. It is not up to the broker, they should take any offer to the owner. Do an "N" number search on the FAA web site which will give you the registered owner. Write/call them and inform them that you have made an offer through the broker and that they refused to pass it along. If I was the owner I'd give the broker the pink slip.

Mr. Ed wrote:Not to hijack the thread but...If you take an offer to a broker and he/she refuses to take it to the owner you should contact the owner. It is not up to the broker, they should take any offer to the owner. Do an "N" number search on the FAA web site which will give you the registered owner. Write/call them and inform them that you have made an offer through the broker and that they refused to pass it along. If I was the owner I'd give the broker the pink slip.

You are 100% correct, Mr. Ed. I would be PISSED of I were selling an aircraft and some gold chain wearing loser from the used car lot was making that decision for me. It is not their job to "hold the umbrella" on a soft market. It is their job to generate offers.

gb

Couldn't agree more with Mr. Ed
Circumvent the broker and inform the owner that he is not relaying offers. It's a real scumbag practice to withold any offer that is genuine, no matter how low it is.

As for selling any asset right now, whether it's a plane, house, car, boat or ownership in a company, people have to be prepared to accept a lot less than they could have recieved a year ago. Today the stock market is worth about 60% of what it was a year ago and you all know what has been happening to house prices. I've been watching the inventory on controller.com go through the roof over the past 6 months but sellers have not dropped prices to realistic levels in order to move these aircraft. A 'discount' of 5% or 10% off the 2007 asking price is just not enough. A lot of folks just don't want to accept this but the reality is that if I can buy a house for 60% of what I would have paid in '07 then it makes an aircraft look exceptionally expensive if it's still priced at 100% of '07 levels.

Phil - there are few assets that you can move around easier than an airplane. If you have it well advertised with detailed photos etc and priced appropriately then I don't think the current location is going to make a difference. It's not as if the guy in Fairbanks is only looking at what's in his local Maule showroom and ignoring the rest of the country.

I confess - a big part of selling Maule in Alaska is the huge thrill of flying it there, both the trip from Florida and flying around when I get there. I am not expecting on getting more for it. Will take a reasonable amount. I'll have it at Sun-N-Fun for sale. I want to take it to Alaska if there is a reasonable chance of selling it. Phil

if you have the time and money to fly it to Alaska, and explore,.....by all means do it. Hey, after that you may not want to sell it.

If you just want to fly one-way to Alaska, I'd advertise it in Alaska with an offer to Ferry it up for free. Run adds in the Anchorage and Fairbanks papers. Send flyers to the FBO's for their bulliten boards. List it on Craigs list too. I know people here who've bought and sold planes through Craigs.

Phil

Phil,
There are 3 primary things to do to sell an airplane.
1. Get the price right, it maybe a pet to you but it's a piece of iron to a buyer. BlueBook is more accurate than V-ref but both of them, are from 1 week to 3 months behind falling or riseing price trends as their information is from actual sales which have taken place and not asking prices. therefore in a down trend you have to price lower than the comparative ask prices seen in the papers.Move yourself into the shoes of a buyer not the seller. Would you answer your ad first?
2. Advertize in the active sites. Budget for it. GAMA suggested some time ago, that the average time to sell an advertized used single was 7 months.
3. When an interested party calls, emails etc., answer within 24 hrs (not when you have time, the weekend etc) and have photos ready of the plane in all it's glory but also closeups of the marks and blemishes. Have a full spec list ready and log copies of any accidents and the last 3 annuals.
Used Maules are moving if priced right, new are not so hot.
Jeremy
maules.com

To be honest with you theres probably no market for a 180hp Maule. Underpowered and high cost to insure. Only way I would by one is at the ludicrous price.

Tito wrote:To be honest with you theres probably no market for a 180hp Maule. Underpowered and high cost to insure. Only way I would by one is at the ludicrous price.

You mean you think the 180 hp is underpowered as an Alaskan Bush plane Tito? Just curious what your perspective is. I have found them to be quite reponsive in my PA neck of the woods with excellent fuel useage at 8 gph. But then again I am not flying much at higher density altitudes with very heavy loads. Certainly I would prefer a 235 in that case. Once I got to the right insurance carrier that became quite reasonable.

Tito: There are plenty of 180HP Maules in service. You may know a 160HP model is also available. Money no object - buy a 235, 260, or even turbine model. Takeoff and climb performance is spectacular w/the larger HP models. Before I purchased my 180HP Maule I spoke to two Maule experts and the factory. I was told that the 180 w/fixed prop was the most "balanced" model. Most bang for the buck. I was told also to buy the most HP that you can afford. I have enjoyed flying my 180HP Maule and have found it to be a great airplane. Economical to fly and maintain. It fit my budget and I have no regrets - except I have to sell now. Phil

Phil1947 wrote:Tito: There are plenty of 180HP Maules in service. You may know a 160HP model is also available. Money no object - buy a 235, 260, or even turbine model. Takeoff and climb performance is spectacular w/the larger HP models. Before I purchased my 180HP Maule I spoke to two Maule experts and the factory. I was told that the 180 w/fixed prop was the most "balanced" model. Most bang for the buck. I was told also to buy the most HP that you can afford. I have enjoyed flying my 180HP Maule and have found it to be a great airplane. Economical to fly and maintain. It fit my budget and I have no regrets - except I have to sell now. Phil

I would think that in terms of fuel economy, the 180HP Maule would be one of the more popular models. How often do most people need that fire breathing 260HP version? My money says not very often. Not really sure how that would play into the AK market though. I can tell you that most of the "fun" flying is over with right now. Mostly essential operations only.

Phil, not sure how you've got it priced, but if you "...have to sell now", then sadly, expect it moving in the .65 - .75 on the dollar range from a couple of years ago. You might do better if you can hang on for a while, at least I think you will. I just spent 7 months doing exactly what you are doing now, except with a C180. Finally got fed up and gave it away. Honestly, about the only real AK market right now is for either supercubs, C170's, or working aircraft like 206's and 185's, with a way better chance at selling one of those with a float kit. And I don't think they are getting top dollar then. Unfortunately, Maules kind of took a bad wrap up here years ago, and it's hard to come out of the shadow in this word of mouth state we live in. The insurance in Alaska, especially on a Maule, is a real show - stopper for a lot of folks, and it makes no sense. They are less expensive to repair than a Cessna. With only 2 outfits writing aviation insurance up here, there is no "right" company.

End of the day, the trip N. would be a lot of fun, but you'll take the same abuse from a buyer here as at home and be out expenses.

Someone explained it to me fairly clearly not long ago. How can we expect our aircraft to be worth today what they were in 2006 when the average home is worth 60% of what it was that same year?

gb

double post

All - Thanks for the feedback ... Phil

How about taking a Champ, PA11, PA12, etc in trade for the Maule ???? Phil