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Late-Model Cruisers: Cessna, Cirrus Are Tops

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Were not talking about Dickens 19th century London, but last week in the used aircraft market. Its the best of times if youre looking for a late-model used aircraft of any kind, the worst if youre trying to sell anything for top dollar. Stated another way, if you made a note to yourself to start shopping for a used model with glass after theyd been on the market for five year, now would be a good time. The market is awash with good deals on recent model aircraft and many of them have full glass for under $200,000-the downward pressure on prices is obvious. High inventories and brokers willing to wiggle improve buying prospects.For this article, were focusing on entry level four-place cruisers, specifically the Cirrus SR20, the Cessna 172, the Piper Archer and the Diamond DA40 Star. There are even better deals in the step-up Cirrus SR22, but we'll focus on that later. About five years ago, brokers we occasionally talk to surmised that as Cirrus, Cessna, Columbia (now Cessna), Diamond and others pumped new aircraft into the market, this flood of new airplanes would inevitably put downward price pressure on the used fleet. We seem to have crossed this dividing line, thus the used models that had been appreciating or holding their value, now no longer do. Values of older used aircraft havent yet paralleled the sort of depreciation thats standard for cars, but with fewer buyers, they simply don't retain value as they once did. The trend seems to represent an unusually good buying opportunity for owners looking to upgrade to something newer. Some surprisingly recent model aircraft are selling for prices we wouldnt have dreamed of two years ago. For our purposes, "recent" means 1997 forward-thats the year Cessna came back into the market. Two years later Cirrus introduced the SR20, then Diamond rolled out the DA40 Star.

Paul Bertorelli
Verified

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Were not talking about Dickens 19th century London, but last week in the used aircraft market. Its the best of times if youre looking for a late-model used aircraft of any kind, the worst if youre trying to sell anything for top dollar.

Stated another way, if you made a note to yourself to start shopping for a used model with glass after theyd been on the market for five year, now would be a

Late-Model Cruisers

good time. The market is awash with good deals on recent model aircraft and many of them have full glass for under $200,000-the downward pressure on prices is obvious. High inventories and brokers willing to wiggle improve buying prospects.For this article, were focusing on entry level four-place cruisers, specifically the Cirrus SR20, the Cessna 172, the Piper Archer and the Diamond DA40 Star. There are even better deals in the step-up Cirrus SR22, but we’ll focus on that later.

Tipping Point

About five years ago, brokers we occasionally talk to surmised that as Cirrus, Cessna, Columbia (now Cessna), Diamond and others pumped new aircraft into the market, this flood of new airplanes would inevitably put downward price pressure on the used fleet. We seem to have crossed this dividing line, thus the used models that had been appreciating or holding their value, now no longer do. Values of older used aircraft havent yet paralleled the sort of depreciation thats standard for cars, but with fewer buyers, they simply don’t retain value as they once did.

The trend seems to represent an unusually good buying opportunity for owners looking to upgrade to something newer. Some surprisingly recent model aircraft are selling for prices we wouldnt have dreamed of two years ago. For our purposes, “recent” means 1997 forward-thats the year Cessna came back into the market. Two years later Cirrus introduced the SR20, then Diamond rolled out the DA40 Star.

In a market as fragmented as the current one is, we think it makes sense to at least consider setting aside your preference for type of aircraft or even capability and shop strictly on price/value. In other words, the most airplane for the least money.

Weve seen enough extraordinarily good deals to almost wipe out any minor variations in speed, payload and comfort.

Rather than a specific year or model of aircraft, one way of determining relative value in the current market is to consider a median price point-we used $150,000-and compare that across the board against other used aircraft prices. For example, $150,000 might buy a 2000 Cessna 172SP with steam gauges, but it

Paul Bertorelli

Paul Bertorelli is Aviation Consumer’s Editor at Large. In addition to his valued contributions to Aviation Consumer, his in-depth video productions on sister publication AVweb cover a wide variety of topics that greatly contribute to safety, operation and aircraft ownership. When Paul isn’t writing or filming, he’s out flying his J3 Cub.