Lone Mountain Company - Aircraft Bidder

Justin M

Justin M

Line Up and Wait
PoA Supporter
Joined
Oct 23, 2016
Messages
953
Display Name
JM
Home Airfield
KMMU
Hi.

I am interested in an airplane for sale via aircraftbidder.com , a "Lone Mountain" company which claims to have a good reputation.

Does anyone have any experience with Lone Mountain or aircraftbidder.com?

I discovered that I cannot do a pre-buy, but I can make a visual inspection of the plane. This makes me nervous.

Also, the N number is blocked on flightaware.com so I can't see any details about previous flights which might give me a clue about when it was last flown, what it has cruised at in the past.

Any thoughts about this option for buying a plane?

I am a first-time aircraft buyer, having been part of a club for the last 10 years that has since disbanded.

Thanks for your feedback.

Justin
 
Justin M said:
Hi.

I am interested in an airplane for sale via aircraftbidder.com , a "Lone Mountain" company which claims to have a good reputation.

Does anyone have any experience with Lone Mountain or aircraftbidder.com?

I discovered that I cannot do a pre-buy, but I can make a visual inspection of the plane. This makes me nervous.

Also, the N number is blocked on flightaware.com so I can't see any details about previous flights which might give me a clue about when it was last flown, what it has cruised at in the past.

Any thoughts about this option for buying a plane?

I am a first-time aircraft buyer, having been part of a club for the last 10 years that has since disbanded.

Thanks for your feedback.

Justin
Click to expand...


You absolutely should not do this. What are you looking to buy? Try trade a plane.
 
are-you-kidding-0jcqrb.jpg
 
Nikhiln25 said:
You absolutely should not do this. What are you looking to buy? Try trade a plane.
Click to expand...
I'll post a separate thread about my aircraft purchase ideas.
 
Lone Mountain is a for real dealer. One of the biggest Cirrus dealers out there. The planes aircraft bidder have seem nice, but the no-prebuy is scary. If the price is low enough to reflect that, maybe. But what they have doesn't seem low enough in price to prevent finding a better option with a prebuy.
 
Justin M said:
I discovered that I cannot do a pre-buy, but I can make a visual inspection of the plane. This makes me nervous.

Also, the N number is blocked on flightaware.com so I can't see any details about previous flights which might give me a clue about when it was last flown, what it has cruised at in the past.

Any thoughts about this option for buying a plane?

I am a first-time aircraft buyer, having been part of a club for the last 10 years that has since disbanded.
Click to expand...
So basically it's an as-is, where-is purchase, with no way to fully assess condition and no easy way to determine recent flights. Are the log-books accessible? Have ADs been complied with? Is there damage history? Will they allow a title search and escrow? Or is this just a simple auction? Why is it being auctioned rather than just listed for sale?

I can tell you (as can many others here) that plane ownership should probably be a rating all of its own. There's a very steep learning curve and as a first-time buyer, let me politely say that you don't know what you don't know. It has been said well and often that there is nothing more expensive than a cheap airplane. I think an auction is probably the apex of that concept. Maybe you'll get a screaming deal on a fantastic aircraft. Maybe you'd be buying a paperweight that costs more to fix up than the purchase price.

As a prospective first-time owner, I advise you to make it as easy on yourself as possible. Find an aircraft that you can get with a good pre-buy (preferably by your own mechanic; you do have one, right?), that you can run through Aerospace Reports or similar company that will hold you hand through the title search and other paperwork, and that has good parts availability.
 
There's nothing inherently wrong with an as-is, where-is auction. And that's typical of auctions. Imagine if they had to facilitate pre-buy inspection for every potential bidder in a public auction. You just need to be aware of what's stated and what isn't, and bid your level of comfort based on what you know and what you can ascertain. Maybe you get lucky, maybe you don't.
 
Lindberg said:
There's nothing inherently wrong with an as-is, where-is auction. And that's typical of auctions. Imagine if they had to facilitate pre-buy inspection for every potential bidder in a public auction. You just need to be aware of what's stated and what isn't, and bid your level of comfort based on what you know and what you can ascertain. Maybe you get lucky, maybe you don't.
Click to expand...
IMO, an auction with no possibility of a pre-buy says you're expecting to sell the aircraft below the market value of a good example. Either you're looking for fast money or you're trying to avoid uncomfortable questions about the airplane. If it is a good airplane, sell it to a dealer at a discount and be done.
 
kyleb said:
IMO, an auction with no possibility of a pre-buy says you're expecting to sell the aircraft below the market value of a good example. Either you're looking for fast money or you're trying to avoid uncomfortable questions about the airplane. If it is a good airplane, sell it to a dealer at a discount and be done.
Click to expand...
Not necessarily. I've only dealt with the helicopter side but auctions are performed for many reasons and somtimes dont permit options that you would think are available.
 
As a general rule, auctions serve experienced people the best.
Since you are a first time owner, I would doubt you have the requisite knowledge and experience to properly evaluate the aircraft up for auction. Therefore, it may take longer, but is likely a much safer proposition to do a traditional purchase with a prepurchase inspection along with all the other advice given on here.

As for Loan Mountain Aircraft, they are a very large Cirrus dealer. I bought and sold my first plane (an 2004 SR20 D2) through them. They were easy to work with, did not gouge me, and I paid right around market price.

Tim
 
I dealt with them. I walked away, and I wouldn't deal with them again.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top