Buying a plane...How flamin' hard is it?!?

[KRviator]

43 minutes ago, MattP said:

@KRviator just curious if you ended up hearing any more on the debonair? A friend was looking and mentioned it, along with the fact he’s tried with the broker to get basic details and hasn’t received response. It rang a bell and I did a search on here, and voila!

 

Given it’s been up for about a year or so you’d think they’d be keen to move it?

@MattP I did yes, I briefly spoke to the owner a few months back, and again, he's not going to sell it for a dollar less than $100K even though the broker has listed it at $99K. No documents or logs are available to be sent electronically, they're held with the LAME, in Tocumwal, IIRC - so I called him and had an....interesting....discussion.

Apparently he is quite reluctant to send any documents or really assist in anything like that as he's "been in strife" for putting people off the plane somehow. He wouldn't clarify how he's managed to do that, but shortly after that discussion I had my Covid booster and the following day wound up in hospital for 3 days and off flying for a few weeks so didn't do any more follow-ups after that.

If everything checked out, it would probably be a good plane, but there's enough red flags raised so far that I've moved on now. If the broker and owner aren't going to so much as lift a finger to help a potential buyer, then go straight to the next one, IMHO. If your mate is still interested, impress on him something doesn't sit well with me about it, or she'd be in my hangar already. I can't explain what it is, but there's something there. The lack of assistance (trying to hide something maybe?), the near total lack of communication (Not really for sale?), the LAME 'getting in strife' for putting people off the plane, or just general disinterest, I dunno, but my spidey senses were tingling. 

By contrast, when I do find my next plane and list my RV, the attached PDF (Haven't fully finished it yet) will be online or emailed to anyone who wants it to help them decide. It doesn't take long to do up something similar, but if you want to sell your plane and are asking 6 figures or more, for fuxake put a bit of effort in.

Let us know how your mate goes anyway. It's a shame as she does look in good nick from the photos, but what's in the logs, or more importantly, isn't in the logs, might tell a different story...

Version 1 PDF.pdf

[MattP]

That’s interesting, and funny that my spidey senses were tingling too, but I couldn’t put my finger on it, something just not right there. He’s stuck at the same point you are, logs / docs or lack thereof. 
 

Given the age, unknown history, prehistoricish panel, low ttr engine (with no real data to understand how long you might realistically run on condition) and even with the current market craziness, this one might just be one to carve a wide berth around.

 

If all sellers offered the level of detail / transparency you did with your rv things would be a lot easier. 
 

 

[KRviator]

On 03/05/2022 at 9:41 AM, MattP said:

That’s interesting, and funny that my spidey senses were tingling too, but I couldn’t put my finger on it, something just not right there. He’s stuck at the same point you are, logs / docs or lack thereof. 
 

 

@MattP how'd your mate go with this Deb? Still listed so I'm guessing he has passed on it as well, or did he dig deep enough that he found why she won't sell?