Posted on 09/08/2020 8:54:06 AM PDT by amorphous
I like to stay abreast of prices. Looking at the Aircraft Sales Online website, I saw an asking price for a 2003 Cessna 172S of over $175,000 and only 16 172s for sale, usually there are dozens. On trade-a-plane, I see newer 172s going for over $400,000!
Does anyone know why the vast and sudden increase in price and drop in the number of used GA aircraft for sale?
If I remember right, I bought a new skyhawk back in the early 1980’s for twenty something thousand.
I only buy used political aircraft for the savage value of the booze left behind.
I have a couple of friends who survived a “mush crash” in a 140. One told me he’ll always remember seeing the nose wheel go flying by the windscreen.
The nose gear and mains are all much more sturdy on a Cherokee than they are on a Cessna 172 and the tires are larger in diameter. The center of gravity is lower. A Cherokee is easier to land on a soft field without damaging it. There are hundreds of them based in Alaska because of this.
You are repeating arguments that have been hashed over hundreds of times mostly by newbies that have no back country flying experience. If you want to fly true back country... you probably should not be looking at a Cherokee or a 172. I use my homebuilt tail dragger for that type of situation. There is no sense chewing up a freshly ground prop on a gravel landing strip or risking damage to your landing gear.
You started this thread whining about the high cost of GA aircraft. I looked into what you said and found that it really wasn't true that they were not available and the prices had gone way up. You just do not seem to know where to look and have narrowed your range of acceptable aircraft to basically one model a newish 172. So I guess for you it is valid, but for others it is not.
Well, are the cracks fixed. Don’t want that nose dropping off again.
Used car prices are rising because Auctions are closed. It is hard to get used cars in volume and wholesale. So, most are coming through trade ins. It kills the margins.
I bought a car last week and had this very discussion with the dealer. I’ve know the guy for 30 years—our kids grew up together. So, I don’t think he was blowing smoke.
This is in the Northeast...
I mostly track 172s, so maybe it’s a model thing...
And maybe it is. Cessna model 172s are popular for many reasons.
I always feel a deep sense of sorrow for those poor bastards. One wonders what the last thoughts of those on the right side of the plane at the rear were because they had to know they were goners.
172s are popular largely because almost all civilians learn to fly in Cessnas. After I had a few hundred hours in hang gliders and ultralights I took the lessons to get my Private Pilot’s license in Cessnas. But I already had a lot of time in my friend’s various classic planes as well, so my mind was open to other types of aircraft.
You will pay a price if you do not look into other types of aircraft.
What a way to go. Horrifying.
Sure, I was commenting to my dear hubby about this very thing. “It’s a good time to sell our Cessana, darling. We’ll get more for it now than two years ago.”
Same thing happened back in the 70’s at Van Nuys Airport if I remember correctly.
The Prop of the Piper cut through the rear fuselage of the Cessna cutting the control Cables and they both went straight down.
A V-tailed Bonanza is hard to beat if you a ovoid flying into a thunderstorm. Friend had one that had been beat to death by hail and it would fly faster on less fuel than any other one for the same reason there are dimples on a golf ball. It just looked bad.
Mooney also builds a good bird if you would consider a low wing.
Probably because of the cost of getting it out of the Air and Space Museum.
Absolutely...
The wife and I had been considering trading in the old Ford 500 and buying a pre-used Boeing 747...
However this surge in prices may change our minds... At our age, 87 & 81, there's only so much canned dog food that we can eat to support our travel plans...
Pilots keeping them longer, so fewer trade-ins?
General aviation generally has been in a slump. I follow single-engine Cessna prices, mostly out of habit, and because I still own one myself. The recent increase in price and decreased numbers of used aircraft for sale tells me something has changed in GA, and was hoping someone on FR might have an idea of what it might be.
I like the plane I have now. I need to upgrade it to all glass and a zero-time factory 0-360 Lycoming.
I think you’re right.
I like high wing Cessnas for many reasons. Least of which is it’s the one I learned to fly first. My first plane was a Cessna 150 commuter. I bought it even before I had earned my pilot’s license. I like the view out of a Cessna, the ease of maintenance, not having to climb onto a wing to get inside, two doors, and other design things.
My gear retracts, but Cessna’s fixed gear is strong. Many bush operators around the world use Cessna 206s.
Both the 172 and 140 use the same size mains. The 172 has a smaller nose wheel, but it only has about 200 static lbs it needs to support, so why put a main sized tire on the nose, as Piper did. It’s not required, and only increases drag. I’ve never been in a situation where a little elevator backpressure didn’t overcome a soft-field problem in hundreds of landings and takeoffs.
There is a reason why Cherokee 140s sale for around $35k and similar year 172s go for many times that.
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