I'm probably more paranoid than most, but I'm not sure I would even
pull the trigger on a plane without a prepurchase inspection from a
"reputable" mechanic of my choosing??? As an owner now, I can
certainly understand the reluctance in allowing "anyone" to start
pulling off inspection plates, etc. But, if I were to do some research
and felt comfortable with the shop that was going to perform the
inspection, I would probably allow it.

I had to pull teeth to get the previous owner (business) to allow me to
have my mechanic perform the inspection, especially since it was
off-site, but they reluctantly agreed and all turned out well, with the
exception that the prop was not pitched appropriately. We agreed to
split the costs of the prop adjustment, based on the price we
negotiated (ahead of time).

An interesting thing that was missed in the pre-purchase was, the
windshield was installed incorrectly and wasn't seated properly...
This got caught at my first annual and just about killed me! a $2,000+
annual was not something I was immediately prepared for!

To me, the amount of money I was about to dump into an airplane was a
small fortune! The windshield turned out to be the last of the major
issues I have had, besides some avionics related problems (knock on
wood). I couldn't imagine not doing a thorough pre-purchase inspection
and taking a risk on what that first annual might cost me!

I was fortunate enough to be fairly local to where I bought my plane,
so long distance transactions definitely present a problem. I still
think I would research mechanics in the vicinity of the plane and get
someone to represent "me", rather than the seller. After all, the
"buyer", typically pays the pre-purchase cost (any issues obviously
require negotiation as to how to proceed). Also, it's valuable and
free information to the seller, if another mechanic catches anything
significant in the pre-purchase that the seller was un-aware of.

That's just my two cents...

Best Regards,
Todd