There’s a good reason the Cessna 182 has been the most-produced non-trainer, non-combat airplane in history. It’s aviation’s Swiss Army Knife. There are many faster flying machines. There are many that are more efficient. A few single-engine airplanes will carry more. Several have larger cabins. Others will take off and land shorter. Many are cheaper. But we aren’t aware of any that do all those things so well at a better price.
Want to buy a personal airplane that has the space to carry most of the stuff that you need, at a speed that doesn’t require you to time trips with a calendar, that will go in and out of backcountry strips as well as meld with the fast-movers at metro airports, has two big doors so you can get out easily if things go south, a fuel burn you can afford and endurance that doesn’t require stopping every 30 minutes? Yep, it’s going to be a 182.