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?
Any Polaroids you find might be worth something, or get you killed if Hitlery finds you.
There is a reason why Cherokee 140s sale for around $35k and similar year 172s go for many times that.
First, that is not an accurate statement. If you are looking at airplanes manufacturered in the same year with similar hours, in similar condition, and similarly equiped... 172s sell for more than a Cherokee... typically $5,000 to $10,000 more and this is most likely because most people learned to fly in a Cessna.
On the airport where we have our house and hangar our neighbors own a wide varity of aircraft so I am not unaccustomed to this type of conversation. It is just plain silly.
Price: $ 195,000
As a CE and FE in the army ng, I found your post very full of information. Very easy to understand... It was a good read! I’m thinking about getting back into aviation. Thanks.
Ditto on this comment... :)
1964 CESSNA 172E SKYHAWK
$35,000 USD
Total Time:4900 Engine 1 Time:1159 SMOH Prop 1 Time:1140 SOH Condition:Used Year Painted:2000 Interior Year:2017 Flight Rules:VFR # of Seats:4
Its a nice looking plane with serviceable avionics and lot of time left on the Continental engine. If you wanted you could upgrade a radio or two.
I am one of the few men in history whose wife insisted that we buy a general aviation airplane. When I returned from a flight in my homebult ultralight after a couple hours flying in the Olympic Mountains, my wife said, “We need an airplane that I can go flying in too.”
We spent two years plane shopping before deciding on our Cherokee. We started out looking at tail dragger classics like Aeroncas, etc... because that is what most of our friends at the time had. Ironically the first non-classic general aviation plane we got excited about was a 1964 Cessna 172. For some reason my wife named it Elvis. Our mechanic friend did a prebuy on it and recommended that we take a pass. After that we traveled thousands of mile looking mostly at Cessnas. There was a period of time when we concentrated on Comanches as well because our good friend who was a pilot for American Airlines had a Commanche 260B and we loved that airplane.
Right after we went for a test flight in the Cherokee that we purchased almost 30 years ago and after two years of looking at planes my wife told me to buy it... basically or else. I was skeptical because the last Cherokee we had been in didn't seem to perform very well. But this one managed to get the previous owner, his wife and the two of us into the air with no issues.
It had just been painted and looked spectacular. My cousin was an upholsterer and the guy we bought it from worked for Alaska Airlines and he helped us get enough first class Alaska Airlines leather to redo the entire cabin.
I was getting sick of looking at planes also. One of my best friends was an aircraft mechanic and he used to come with us when we would look at planes. I didn't even call him to look at this one, but I did give it a serious looking over myself and watched the fresh annual being done as well. We have never regretted buying the plane and it has served as better than we could ever have expected.
The plane has never missed a beat during critical times while flying in conditions that were challenging. When you come back in the middle of the night after flying a thousand miles through heavy weather and you have low visibility and the wind is blowing so hard over the trees next to the runway that you have to do a go-around because you have been bounced around so severely... that is when you really appreciate an easy to fly airplane with gear that is 10 feet apart that you can plop on the ground in a hurry by pulling in whatever amount of flaps you need instantaneously. This is a plane that became almost an extension of my body
I have always loved getting my feet off the ground. As a kid I kept jumping off higher and higher structures and out of trees. My brother and I consrtucted huge kites and tried to tow each other aloft behind the tractor. I finally did get a respectable hang glider and then better hang gliders. Then I got an ultralight aircraft and then finally general aviation aircraft.
When you do not have an airplane any airplane will do. But now that I am older I do appreciate a very safe and simple to fly airplane. We have taken our Cherokee into some very challenging airports, a lot of people will not fly into the field that we live on. Because of its close proximity to hilly terrain we sometimes get some extreme bounciness that scares the beegeebies out of people not acustomed hitting turbulance on final.
My neighbor bought a souped up highly modified super fast Moonie for $200,000; he had a couple of scary landings and never flew it again. Before that he had a Warrier that he flew in and out of here all the time. I went for a ride with him in the Mooney, he skimmed the treetops, had full flaps and his “aibrakes” deployed and we had still used up half the runway before he had all three wheels on the ground.
I actually was not even looking for a Cherokee when we found the one that we have owned for approximately the last 30 years. We had been looking for two years; my wife put her foot down and said that it was the plane that she wanted.
I hope you are able to get back into aviation. Good luck!
Captain Christian Marty couldn’t retract the gear. There also was no possibility to stop with the great speed attained. Port engines lost power drowning in fuel spray from the ruptured tank. Control surfaces on the port wing trailing edge were melting. The Charles de Gaulle tower crew watched Air France 4590 trailing fire beyond the V1, bereft of hope. Yet, the crew fought on to gain a landing strip only one minute away by their flight.
It was as tragic as watching the ‘37’ NAS Lakehurst, NJ crash.
Sorry forgot to include the link to the nice looking $35,000 172E
That’s quite a story. Meanwhile, I called someone I know who says the flying schools since April have been going strong, and people are buying for personal use. Remember, before COVID hit, we were seeing a shortage of pilots for airlines. The thinking is that everyone is gearing up for an increase in air travel once we’re over COVID.
You, or someone, might want to jump on it. The decreasing numbers of 172s for sale are real and verified by someone I know who has been selling aircraft for 20+ years.
We got to it before the owner arrived. I could tell from a distance that we had been lied to. He told me that it was being flown regularly and was ready for the 700 mile trip back to our home. I could see from a distance that all three tires were flat. When I got close I could see that they were all weather checked and split and not safe for use. There was someone doing a preflight on an airplane tied down nearby. I asked him if he had seen the plane flown or even moved lately. He said that it had been sitting unused for years.
The pictures in the ad looked beautiful but it turned out that they were from years before. The ad promised that a fresh annual would be included in the price. I was promised that it was going to be completed before we arrived.
The shyster we were dealing with showed up and was every bit as bad as any used car salesman that I had ever dealt with. Of course the battery was dead. I pulled the prop around a couple of times and there was no compression on two of the four cylinders. This is one of the reasons that it took so long for us to find a good airplane to buy. People think that because a factory plane has to have an annual and regular maintenance to be flown legally that this means that there will be less hidden problems than with a used car.
But that is not the case. Buying a used airplane typically has more pitfalls than buying a used car and the sellers typically will attempt to mislead more often than someone trying to sell a car. We did not intend to spend two years buying an airplane. We did have many adventures during the process and learned a lot and met a lot of great people. Fortunately we had friends who helped us and by the end of our journey we were a lot more street wise.
Because of some of what you have said I was surprised to hear that you were/are already an airplane owner. It just does not feel like you are someone who went through the same type of experiences that we did. With the General Aviation fleet having gotten so much older than it was when we were looking... I do not believe that finding a good plane has gotten any easier. Good luck finding your dream 172!
With the General Aviation fleet having gotten so much older than it was when we were looking...
I looked up the old 152 I did some flying club flight training on 30 years ago and, yep, still in the air. That bird took a beating from students. I’m not sure I’d get into it again all these years later knowing it’s history.
People in the airplane brokerage business tell you that everytime you ask. I just had to pass on my buddy's Cherokee which he then sold to my neighbor, the airplane mechanic for $2300. We already have 2 airplanes in our hangar which is only 45’ x 55’ feet including the shop in the back, and I do not need another project. There could very well be a shortage developing of 150s, 152s, and 172s. We are always getting cards in the mail asking if we want to sell our airplane.
My brother is a Captain for Southwest; one of his daughters who I wouldn't currently trust to drive my dog to the vet just started flight school with the intent to follow in her dad's foot steps. My 19 year old grandson who is currently out fighting wild fires expressed an interest in learning to fly also. That is the primary reason I was very interested in buying my buddy's plane. I don't really want him out banging one of our hangar queens up. Who knows how long it is going to take for airline travel to get back to normal? So the jobs may or may not be there a couple of years from now.
Isn't that the truth. I remember complaining about rental planes making scary sounds while out flying them. At the time I was told that the plane was 20 years old and they make bad sounding noises that do not mean anything. Now the typical used plane is 40 to 70 years old and many have close to 10,000 hours on them if they have been used as trainers. Who knows how many cracks in the aluminum have been stop drilled when you start looking at the stress points. That is why getting a pre-buy inspection from a mechanic who knows the model of plane that you are buying is more important now than ever.
The boys from Airplane Repo must have been busy.
It's just a great, all-around airplane, IMO. I have taken it off-field many times, even though it's a retract. Half tanks and 20 degrees of flaps with just me on board and I can be in the air and climbing pretty quickly. The 0-360 is well known for its reliability. I think it's the perfect candidate for upgrading to a factory-new engine and glass cockpit. Some Cutlasses, used as fish spotter planes, have unbelievable numbers of hours on them. I happen to be only the second owner of the one I have now.
So, I'm not in the market for another plane, and unsure how you came to that conclusion. I was curious why 172s were disappearing from the market and why the massive increase in price was the reason for the post. I didn't intend to start a model controversy - which kind of reminds me of the gun nut arguments. To each his own, I like to say. Much depends on the flying you do and the availability of funds.
The fact 172s are in short supply and increasing in price foretells a possible GA or airline industry change, of which I'm not entirely sure. COVID is hitting the airline industry hard and probably caused many pilots to retire. Add the previous shortage of pilots before COVID, and perhaps a greater than usual need to train replacement pilots is expected? That would explain the scramble to acquire the 172. Add that to an increase in need for private use, and you have a shortage of the most successful aircraft in aviation history!
Maybe because you were complaining about the high price of aircraft and not jubilant that your 172RG is now more valuable than it once was? Just a quick refresher... do you remember what happened to airplane values when GW grounded us all for months? And how long did it take for those prices to recover? A decade maybe longer? Or maybe you have been a little cryptic... fighting about nonsense like which type os airplane is better Cessna or Piper? Not that I haven't seen this around here among those who should know better. I am sorry that I did not recognize you as the typical crusty old pilot and airplane owner that I am so familiar with. Maybe you just didn't act grumpy enough?
Something about this conversation reminds me a little of a converstaion I had with a guy who was trying to sell me a Commanchie. He was very cryptic. He forgot to mention that the plane had been completely submerged when they airport which was near a river had flooded. When I asked about the mechanic who had done the major, he insisted that I not call him. Fortunately, I already had recognized the name. He was the friend of a friend. When my friend called him he told him that the guy insisted that he not send the crank out to be magnafluxed because he was afraid it might have cracks since it was high time. And then he mentioned how the plane had been completely submerged. When I got back to the guy who had been acting like he was my best buddy... he came completely unglued when I told him what I had found out. He accused me of contacting the mechanic which actually I had not done... my friend had. But he called me every name in the book. It was a funny but typical experience that those reading this who are thinking about buying an airplane should think about. You have to look into the smallest details when considring the purchase of a plane.
Adios...
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