1) Firewall damage. If you get a late 60's or older you want to have
had somebody wreck the firewall because then the chances are good they
replaced it with the new thicker one.

2) Engine mount. A 182 must have heat shields or the mount won't last
long at all. The shields are cheap, about $150, and eliminates mount
damage.

3) Bladders. About $1200-$1500 to replace each one but once replaced
they last a long time. Look for leaking fuel at wing root and fuel drain.

4) Air box tunnel. Check to make sure it's in good shape. Real
expensive to replace.

5) Main landing gear boxes. Check to make sure there are no cracks.
That would indicate hard landings.

6) The vertical fin attach AD. Check to make sure there are no cracks
in this bulkhead. The AD states it must be checked every 4000 hours.

The rest is nickles and dimes. Pay no attention to the gross weight of
any plane. You don't get more weight carrying ability by getting a
newer, higher gross weight plane. The newer the plane the worse they
perform. Think empty weight. Mine is a 67 and is 1740 pounds empty,
leaving a useful load of 1060. A newer plane can have a higher useful
but perform much worse because we are all using 230 HP. Stay light.

Robbie S. wrote:

I am thinking of buying a Cessna Skylane 182. Any caveats that I need to
pay attention to ? Any experiences, good or bad ? Any serious maintenance
issues ?

Thanks.

Robbie.