any feedback on Van Bortel?

WannFly

WannFly

Final Approach
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looks to me the prices are little/much more than traditional ones on TAP / Controller etc. whats the deal with these guys? can anyone share first hand experience?
 
They have figured out a way to stick around decades longer than most other folks in the airplane sales biz. You do the math. I have no personal beef with them. Their longevity says something about margin if you know business. You decide if that's good or bad. :)
 
they are the best of the best ,only quality stuff.and yes it costs .but in the long run you win. i am 4 with them and 3 with indy aero.all good but paid a well deserved premium that was worth it in the long run.ask mully. the only duds were the 4 ones i found on my own . they are both in business for a long time as some folk's believe someone needs to be paid for culling s*** from reality.the cheep a holes in aviation get what they deserve .
 
Who else out there will give you a large chunk of your money back 3, 6, or 12 months after you buy and decide you don't like what you got?

At least that's what they advertise, don't know what happens in real practice.
 
They have an expensive warrior for sale that came out the rotation of a local place because of a cracked wing spar.
But, the pic of the plane in their ad looks all nice and shiny under their hangar lights, so, there's that.
 
455 Bravo Uniform said:
Who else out there will give you a large chunk of your money back 3, 6, or 12 months after you buy and decide you don't like what you got?

At least that's what they advertise, don't know what happens in real practice.
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I believe a good part of their business are repeat customers. Kind of like Cirrus.
 
Haven't bought from them but I know guys who do their ferry work. They seem land safely and get paid for their time. That's a good thing
 
I tried to find the above posters warrior and was unable I looked on there site as well as latest copy of tap
 
Ravioli said:
Easy there @hotprops... If @eman1200 said it.... It's been said!
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I checked too and it is no longer listed. so, either they sold a broken airplane or they took it off listing. it was there probably about 6 months-ish or so, my ass-umption is they didn't voluntarily take it off the market.

BTW, I know about this plane because I used to fly it, then the place I rented it from told us they found an airworthy item (I later found out the juicy details) and they were taking it off the scheduled. a week or so later it was on this site, that's why I clearly remember it. other than that I have no feedback on van bortel, that's all I know of them.
 
To be fair we don't know what if any repairs were done.


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I would pay a little extra for some peace of mind. Course they usually don't have anything I can afford anyway
 
I have done business with Howard since 1992 or so, they aren't the cheapest in town, but they will do 100% of what they say they will do, 100% of the time. I have referred several of my friends to them and they have all either bought from them or sold to them or both. Not sure about the Warrior that was on their site, but I know Howard well enough that it was either fixed or he wholesaled it.
 
FYI my intentions aren't to slam van bortel, it's more to reiterate BUYER BEWARE, regardless of who is selling the plane.
 
JCranford said:
Course they usually don't have anything I can afford anyway
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Hopefully their model is to leave room for negotiation... so if you offered 80-90% of published, they are willing to play the negotiation game.
 
I'll share my experience. Last October I bought a 2008 Columbia 400. It's my first airplane purchase. I shopped around, learned what I could, talked to a few people selling Columbia's, etc. I'm in Austin, so I drove up to Van Bortel one day and checked out their operation. I had already talked to Darryl T. on the phone - he's a former test pilot for Columbia, and now runs Van Bortel's Columbia shop. My sales guy was Randall, who I later learned is also a CFI. I bought the plane, and they have a 60-day guarantee where they'll return your money if you aren't happy. I'm sure there are some limitations (like if you damage the plane), but I put the guarantee to the test. I had several squawks in the first 60 days that they fixed for free with absolutely no problem. The squawks I remember were:

A hot magneto (the magneto was still under warranty since it had recently been replaced).
Slight nosewheel shimmy on landing.
Fixed a slow oxygen leak (O-rings replaced)
The G1000 SD card was having an issue being read - replaced it


No charge for any of this stuff, because it was all within 60 days. I've been amazed at how good the service was. Their Columbia shop is one of the best in the world - any question I have, they always have an answer. I have them do my oil changes, since they're pretty close to me.

Feel free to contact me via PM if you have more questions.
 
Thanks all for sharing... helps a lot

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2 different times I had interest in airplanes they had. I sent a email both times and never got a response. I waited a couple of days and called. I left messages on several occasions and never got a call back. So I decided I would spend my money somewhere else!
 
pigpenracing said:
2 different times I had interest in airplanes they had. I sent a email both times and never got a response. I waited a couple of days and called. I left messages on several occasions and never got a call back. So I decided I would spend my money somewhere else!
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You don't have enough epaulets for them to bother with calling you back.
 
I don't have any personal stories on Van Bortel but I have only heard and read positive things about them. This was mostly from two buyers of 182s and one buyer of a 172. They were all very happy with their respective purchase. This thread is the first time that I have heard or read anything negative about their operation and even then there appears to be very little to it. So if they have something you are interested in, take a look and make your own decision. My best guess is that you'll be happy with them.
 
SkyDog58 said:
I don't have any personal stories on Van Bortel but I have only heard and read positive things about them. This was mostly from two buyers of 182s and one buyer of a 172. They were all very happy with their respective purchase. This thread is the first time that I have heard or read anything negative about their operation and even then there appears to be very little to it. So if they have something you are interested in, take a look and make your own decision. My best guess is that you'll be happy with them.
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The guy I bought my Cherokee from was looking at a Commander from Bortel and it didn't work out. He ended up with a Mooney from someplace else. I don't think it had anything to do with their service, more what they were asking for the plane and some issues that were found with it.

So, nothing negative I've heard either.

@WannFly hope it works out for you.
 
SkyDog58 said:
I don't have any personal stories on Van Bortel but I have only heard and read positive things about them. This was mostly from two buyers of 182s and one buyer of a 172. They were all very happy with their respective purchase. This thread is the first time that I have heard or read anything negative about their operation and even then there appears to be very little to it. So if they have something you are interested in, take a look and make your own decision. My best guess is that you'll be happy with them.
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Yah, I will, whatever they have seems overpriced as compared to others listed, but if that comes with peace of mind and eventually cost less than the others listed on various places, it's a win. The only problem is, I don't have the luxury of flying there for every little squawk in their 60 day window. I will thank about it. As always thanks all for chiming in

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WannFly said:
The only problem is, I don't have the luxury of flying there for every little squawk in their 60 day window.
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A legit question for their sales team.... "Since returning to you to get the squawk fixed isn't gonna happen, how do we make it work under your customer satisfaction policy?"
 
AggieMike88 said:
Hopefully their model is to leave room for negotiation... so if you offered 80-90% of published, they are willing to play the negotiation game.
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Could those who have bought aircraft from them address this? Were you able negotiate the price, or was it take-it-or-leave-it pricing?
 
eman1200 said:
I checked too and it is no longer listed. so, either they sold a broken airplane or they took it off listing. it was there probably about 6 months-ish or so, my ass-umption is they didn't voluntarily take it off the market.

BTW, I know about this plane because I used to fly it, then the place I rented it from told us they found an airworthy item (I later found out the juicy details) and they were taking it off the scheduled. a week or so later it was on this site, that's why I clearly remember it. other than that I have no feedback on van bortel, that's all I know of them.
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I think I know where the plane ended up....
 
If you know the N#, can't you look it up?
 
Palmpilot said:
Could those who have bought aircraft from them address this? Were you able negotiate the price, or was it take-it-or-leave-it pricing?
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Note: I am a usually a terrible negotiator. Whenever I get a "good deal", it's almost always by accident.

When I first asked the prices for the plane I was interested in (over the phone), they gave me a price X. When I drove up there to look at the planes and showed more interest, my sales guy asked me what other planes I was looking at (from other sellers). I told him about the 2 other planes I was looking at. He went and talked to George Van Bortel, who came back and gave me a new price of 10% less than the first price. I didn't negotiate further, because the price was good enough at that point, and because I hate negotiating.

Bottom line - they will negotiate.


Edit: I should add something I had forgotten about. If you're interested in a plane, they will actually fly it to you (or to your mechanic for a pre-purchase inspection), to look inspect and demo. I just drove up there because I am close and had the time. Of course this kind of service is all baked into the cost, and you do pay a bit more for it I'm sure.
 
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