Hi guys,
Trying to make my first airplane purchase, and want to schedule a prebuy on a Cherokee, can anyone recommend a reputable place to get a prebuy done, preferably in southern Germany?
Anything I should look out for in the process?
From my own experience I can recommend Rieger in Straubing to you.
If possible, try to combine 100h and ARC (at sellers cost but with your participation in the amount of the costs for the pre buy) with the pre buy inspection.
Two names I can recommend from personal experience: Krüger Air Service in Mannheim. Oliver Krüger is a very experienced mechanic. ACG in Allendorf. Excellent but not really southern Germany.
A search on prebuy digs out lots of hits on how to do it, and how to not do it.
Never use anybody working for the seller.
There is a good argument that you should use someone who may be servicing the plane afterwards, but it needs to be someone you trust, because such a person will have half an eye on making money working on it, and with that is a commercial incentive to be positive on a prospective purchase which is a wreck, because a shop makes a lot of money on the dealer discount on the supply of airframe parts. And airframe parts (rather than labour) make up the bulk of the cost of defect rectification, because they are always expensive.
Don’t use someone who contacts you via a forum (any forum including EuroGA). If you get such a contact, ask for references. Too many disaster stories (sadly).
Thanks for the tips! How does one go about finding someone they can trust? I’m new to Germany so I don’t have a network of flying friends to call on for recommendations and such.
@By9468840 can help maybe?
Hi
I have a perfect guy from NL, works for a reputable flight school in Holland. He did it many times for me, travels to the spot, and has a decent fee, worth any penny. To Germany, he drives even in his car. If you need his contact, let me know.
@Zsoszo I cant see how having someone come down all the way from NL to southern Germany could help me keep the costs down haha
A prebuy is at least one whole day.
My engineer does them. He takes 2 days. 1 day to go through all the paperwork, make sure ADs etc have been complied with, etc. 1 day to inspect the plane.
A prebuy is at least one whole day.
My engineer does them. He takes 2 days. 1 day to go through all the paperwork, make sure ADs etc have been complied with, etc. 1 day to inspect the plane.
I figured as much. This is an older plane I am looking at, and the last thing I want is to buy someone elses problems for my first plane. I don’t care about speed or flashy looks at this point, just want to be able to build the hours without any major headaches to deal with. I am willing to spend as much money and time is needed to make sure every inch of this plane checks out and is in good shape (or if its not can be repaired and the price adjusted accordingly)
