why so many piper aircraft for sale?

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muleywannabe

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Cherokee235
Seems like there is a huge abundance of piper single engine aircraft for sale and priced in that $20-$30K range. Yes the cessna aircraft are for sale but they seem to be asking money for them. just curious is all, I have zero plans on buying at this point.
 
Cessna has always (well, always is 5-6 years in my book) held their price better than Piper. IMHO the Cherokee 140/150/160 are the best deals in aviation right now. Cherokee is a simple plane to fly and maintain and has good manners all the way around. I had to overcome a lot to not buy a Cessna, my CFI/A&P/IA was a dyed in the wool Cessna guy.

Why the crisis? you can look at the fuel pumps vs the take home pay of the younger folks and the average age of your typical pilot mixed with medical requirments and see.

Not to mention, I took my plane in for some issues with my panel. I'll leave with a $6,000.00 bill. That's double what I paid for my car. Me and my wife do OK but that's going to sting a bit and I fly a 53 year old plane.
 
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bartmc said:
Cessna has always (well, always is 5-6 years in my book) held their price better than Cessna.
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Wait, you work for the Department of Redundancy Department, right?

I know, Friday and all. :D
 
Every year, the FAR/AIM is a little thicker. More regulations, more nit picking. It is becoming not only expensive and tedious to become a pilot, the cost of owning and operating an aircraft has gone through the roof. Because of the time and expense involved, GA has been dying a slow death.

Our government is also trying to make room for all of the drones they want to fill our airspace with in order to make sure we are all towing the line. The less GA aircraft in the skies, the better. Expect the regulations, the nit picking, and the cost to continue to climb. Also expect the price of aging GA aircraft to continue dropping as more and more people walk away from GA.

-John
 
All these pipers and cessnas are getting.......old! Many of them have old avionics! Millions of jobs , like the ones that supported or bought these aircraft new are gone! Overseas, never to return. Many have sat outside and had water leak in, or had the avionics cooked in the hot sun. The majority of this fleet is old, much of it not worth fixing, especially if not hangared. Not only single engine but twins also. Big money today to correctly support an old bonanza or worse yet to buy a new bonanza! BIG money! ( hangar it, insure it, detail it, fuel it., etc)" dogs bark and the caravan moves on".
 
I have noticed that too, the difference in price between Cessna and Pipers. I trained in the 172 but because I got a better deal with a Piper Warrior II I now am part owner of a Piper. It is tough when I take a friend in his 80s up with me, he has a very difficult time getting out of the Piper. But other than that I love the Piper.
 
People will kill me for saying this, but Pipers are just cra*pier built than most other planes. It's a Chevy at best. Ask any A&P what they think has the lowest build quality, and chances are they'll say Piper. Why pretend it's something else?

I say this as a Piper owner.
 
man, I dunno about that. We have a 64 Cherokee 235 and that thing is a tank. I still marvel at the fact that it's over 50 years old and all the body panels are stock as are the linkage/control wires. We battle our gremlins from time to time (like the nose strut that keeps collapsing) but overall, it's amazing to me how well a hangared airplane holds up over the years.

I think the gas prices are the biggest contributor...especially when a lot of us are flying planes rated to run 80/87 and all that's on the field is 100LL that's more expensive than the jet fuel. Kinda ridiculous and I'm shocked I guess that it's taken Shell/Exxon so long to come up with an alternative that can be made for at least the same price as Jet-A. I think if gas prices for GA were in the same range as 87 octane car gas we'd see a lot more people flying. I live in central TX and gas from the pump on my field is almost always under $5/gal...most often somewhere around $4.50. For those that fly out of Class C fields or up in the NE where it's over $6/gal or more...yeah...that's gonna hurt.
 
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stratobee said:
People will kill me for saying this, but Pipers are just cra*pier built than most other planes. It's a Chevy at best. Ask any A&P what they think has the lowest build quality, and chances are they'll say Piper. Why pretend it's something else?



I say this as a Piper owner.
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Gotta disagree.

I own a Cessna, a Beech and we have had a PA32RT in the family since 1980.

They all have their unique issues. If anything, I'd say Cessna is the cheapest quality in build, but not by that much. Definitely no better than Piper. IMO Beech is a little better built initially, but how well the plane is today depends almost entirely on its ownership history.
 
I think the interiors of most pipers are better constructed than the Cessna line. Also from reading the ads the pipers seem to have better avionics overall. Would take either if the price was right.
 
I have been noticing an overall slide in asking prices for all single engine aircraft. I thought things had bottomed out a couple years ago but I am thinking things are still sliding in the wrong direction.

This is a good trend if you are wanting to buy, but not so much if you are looking to trade up or buy for the first time.
 
Fearless Tower said:
Gotta disagree.

I own a Cessna, a Beech and we have had a PA32RT in the family since 1980.

They all have their unique issues. If anything, I'd say Cessna is the cheapest quality in build, but not by that much. Definitely no better than Piper. IMO Beech is a little better built initially, but how well the plane is today depends almost entirely on its ownership history.
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Yes! I think this is very true!
 
Heh - seems like I wrote this thread about two years ago or so. I was window shopping for a Cher 140 and amazed you could find beaters under $20k. Things have not changed much since.
 
stratobee said:
People will kill me for saying this, but Pipers are just cra*pier built than most other planes. It's a Chevy at best. Ask any A&P what they think has the lowest build quality, and chances are they'll say Piper. Why pretend it's something else?

I say this as a Piper owner.
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Depends on the model. The aztec amd navajo are well built. The comanche construction is a work of art. But the comanche cost too much to build. Enter the pa28, whose sole purpose was to be cheaper to build than the comanche. And it succeeded splendidly at that goal.
 
Any thoughts as to how Light Sport has figured in this?

It's still a small market, but each Light Sport sold or resold is one less older plane selling, which may have a small effect.

While Light Sport held the promise of simpler/cheaper, the action seems to be at the top end - Flight Design CTLSi's at over $160k and Carbon Cubs at near or over $200k seem to be what's selling - not so much the low end Aerotreks and the like.

I was stretching our budget to buy our Sky Arrow new in 2007 for $75.5k. A new one now is right around $100k, albeit with minor improvements.

I'm disappointed in the direction Light Sport has taken, but still very glad to have a no-medical way to stay in the air - an option that fortuitously came along at just the right time for me!

And let me add that the option to go Experimental, which I did, both drove the cost of staying in the air down immensely and greatly improved my ownership experience. That alone would push me towards Light Sport, even if the FAA later blesses flying other planes sans medical.
 
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frfly172 said:
Also from reading the ads the pipers seem to have better avionics overall.
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This is a function of the people that chose to upgrade their aircraft, not of the aircraft itself (unless there's some feature of Pipers that makes it more conducive towards upgrading). Just as easily as it might look like this month it's Pipers with better upgrades, next month it could look different (unless the look you're getting is biased towards what you're looking at).
 
I've been looking for a good deal on a Piper Cherokee since getting back in the saddle, however since moving from Dallas to Denver, I need at least 180hp. Looking!
 
I think there are more cessnas for sale but otherwise I'd say there are so many for sale because they made a lot of planes.
 
Both company's made a lot of planes and they are all old. Many abused with the crap flown out of them, poorly repaired, and current owners tired of pumping more money into them. They are sitting on ramps outside getting worse all over the country.
 
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