I am looking into purchasing my own plane... I think that I am pretty
aware of the costs (as much as a non-owner can be). I would like to
hear from those of you who have unfortunately have had a bad (expensive
or otherwise)experience with a plane purchase. I will also post for good
experiences. Thanks !!

It's all good, with hind-sight.

Plane one, a Piper Warrior, was an easy buy -- but it took forever to find.
After a good pre-buy we dickered on price, the seller came down to my offer,
we shook hands, signed the paperwork, and the deal was done.

That plane flew great until my first annual, where the shop (the same one
that did the pre-buy) found $5K worth of stuff to fix. Little did I know
they were going bankrupt, and were trying to make their payroll on my
nickel. As a new owner, beware!

After that, it was (and still is) a trouble-free, great little plane.

Our second plane, a Piper Pathfinder, was a "cream-puff" we had been
drooling over on the field. We discovered that it was making metal at the
pre-buy. We offered commensurately less money, the seller agreed, and we
immediately put in an overhauled Lycoming O-540.

We spent a lot more money than we had expected, but ended up with (in our
opinion) our perfect plane. Other than basic maintenance and a fair number
of upgrades, it's been a low cost, trouble-free plane.

Buying a plane is tough, and a crap shoot -- but aircraft ownership is
easily worth the hassle.

Good luck!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"