The 201 is a great airplane. I'm not aware of too many differences in
AD's in the 201 years (other than a minor aileron hing AD which
everyone has replaced). Especially in Mooneys its important to ensure
you have all the goodies in the panel when you buy the plane.
Installation prices for everything in Mooneys is higher than anything
else. When I was calling around on "fixed price" 430 installs no shop
was willing to do a Mooney install at their "fixed price".
The one thing I would avoid is the "dual mag" engines. At one point
Lycoming was producing 201 and Arrow engines with one mag case that
contained two mags. If the case had problems (like they tend to fall
off) you are left w/o a mag. Most owners have replaced these but there
are still a lot of them out there.
Also, you may want to consider the F model Mooney as well. Its about 10
knots slower but only about 60% the price of a 201.
Also, for any Mooney with electric gear you will want to check when the
gear actuator was last disassembled and the gears removed and possibly
replaced. Its now an AD on many but not all, although all are subject
to having gears jam if not inspected. Other than that just check for
the same things you would on any other plane (rust, etc). A Mooney
knowledgable A&P is always the best way to go of course for
prepurchase.
-Robert

wrote:
Hello

I am looking at Mooney 201 airplanes, due to their performance and good
fuel consumption, and had a few questions.

1) Which model year is more desirable than other years (SB's, ADs, etc
reasons...) ?

2) Which year did the tan colored panel come out? Can an older 201 be
retrofitted with the tan panel?

3) Which autopilot is recommended? If I had two 201's side by side,
which autopilot is preferred?

etc etc

any other info on 201's is appreciated.

THANKS GUYS