I heard from my dad that someone bought a Citation Ultra around here and their pre buy came in at 180K wowza, is that normal for light citations and lears? Just wondering what pre buy usually costs in those planes.

If someone takes a plane to a factory service center, they basically don't think it is airworthy until it could be mistaken for new, and they use factory parts at list prices.

Yes, I have heard of such prebuys before.

Sometimes this is a phase V used as a prebuy.

Mike C.

That's not the quote to inspect the plane unless, as mike noted, they used a major required inspection as a prebuy. Some turbine a/c have really nutty stuff (i.e. take the tail off) as part of their required inspections.

$180K as the cost of a big required inspection isn't at all bizarre.

For,piston airplanes, anyway, the most expensive prebuy is the one you didn't do!

$180k at Citation... common.

I saw $285k on a Citation II

A CJ3 I was working had an estimated $180K pre-buy by my local shop.

When I bought my Pilatus it got an annual. Ha.

$180k would be a lot on a CJ3, blue water corrosion or something.

One of the common add-on's on a Citation pre-buy is to boroscope the trailing links on such equipped airplanes. Corrosion is common in those areas and can mean trailing link replacements.

Jeff

$180k would be a lot on a CJ3, blue water corrosion or something.

$180k would be a lot on a CJ3, blue water corrosion or something.

There's a lot of factors that drive the cost of a pre-purchase inspection, where being the primary factor. The factory stores have a reputation for running up large bills.

The most important component is to manage the prebuy, if you are there and involved the chances of things going off the rails are slim.

We've seen CJ series prebuys as low as $20k (buyer and seller combined) and as high is $60k in the last year. The higher bill included precoolers.

Typically the simplicity of the CJ series keeps the prebuy cost very reasonable. The exceptions are airplanes with blue water issues, environmental corrosion, neglect...

It also depends in the scope of the prebuy, if the airplane has a recent major inspection (Doc 10) then you can expect the prebuy to be pretty reasonable, probably less than $50k unless something such as the precoolers comes up. If the airplane is coming up on a Doc 10 calendar wise and you do the Doc 10 it can be pricey... $30k to as much as $100k (expect a ton of resistance from the seller if you try to do a Doc 10 very early)

Based on the review of the logbooks, status and where the airplane has been maintained a knowledgeable CJ guy should have a pretty good idea of what the prebuy will cost.