In article GHE%c.2313$LT5.143@attbi_s52, "Jay Honeck"
wrote:

But I will stand by my statement that appearance matters. If a
home-owner
doesn't care enough to keep the gutters functional and proper, God only
knows what they will have done to keep the furnace and water heater
going.

Although there are, of course, exceptions to every rule, the same thing
goes
with an aircraft. In my opinion, if an owner doesn't care about the
interior and paint to keep things looking nice, God only knows what else
they've skated on. It may indicate that they simply couldn't afford to
keep an aircraft, which means that these will be the same guys who get
el-cheapo, "spray paint" annual inspections, or they may do their own
repairs without proper sign-offs.

It could mean the current owner doesn't care if the paint is pretty.
What could matter to the current owner is whether or not the
aircraft is mechanically sound. I put a lot of money into
my cherokee to give it great radios and an overhauled engine
(i.e., everything firewall forward overhauled). I don't care if the
paint is sad or the interior isn't pretty - it sure wouldn't fly
any better. Do you really want to try to tell me my aircraft is crap?



These are gross generalizations, to be sure. And, of course, a thorough
pre-buy inspection will separate these dogs from the good buys -- but not
always.

true.


Either way, a great looking plane will sell for significantly more, not
because the buyers are ignorant, but because it costs many thousands of
dollars to paint a plane, and thousands more to re-do an interior.

No, a great looking plane sells for more precisely because there
are buyers more interested in appearance than making sure the
aircraft is in good shape mechanically.

--
Bob Noel
Seen on Kerry's campaign airplane: "the real deal"
oh yeah baby.