Surviving the pre-purchase inspection
This is the stage that kills deals. Not because aircraft fail inspections — every aircraft produces a discrepancy list — but because the parties never agreed what a discrepancy was before the aircraft was taken apart.
The inspection is won in the letter of intent
By the time the aircraft is at the facility, the balance of information has shifted permanently against you. The buyer's inspector has the panels off and is working through the airframe systematically; you are receiving a list. Whatever the letter of intent left undefined gets defined now, under time pressure, by the party holding the information.
So the work happens earlier. The LOI should fix the facility, the scope, the timeline, who pays for which element, the standard by which a finding is classified as an airworthiness discrepancy rather than a want, what happens to the deposit under each outcome, and the delivery condition the aircraft must meet. Written properly, the inspection becomes administration. Left vague, it becomes the second negotiation — and the second negotiation only ever moves one direction.
Three categories every finding falls into
Almost every inspection dispute is a disagreement about which of these a given item belongs to. Agree the standard in the LOI and the dispute mostly disappears.
Airworthiness discrepancy
Conventionally the seller corrects it
An overdue AD, a component beyond its life limit, corrosion beyond limits, an unairworthy or missing required item, an inoperative item required by the equipment list.
Disclosed and priced-in condition
Neither — it was in the price
Cosmetic wear you disclosed upfront, a known deferred item both parties agreed on before the LOI, an interior or paint condition reflected in the agreed number.
Buyer's want
The buyer, if they want it
An avionics upgrade, cosmetic refurbishment, a component with remaining life the buyer would prefer replaced, a modification to suit their operation.
Five things to do before the aircraft goes in
Define the scope before the aircraft moves
The letter of intent should name the inspection facility, the scope of the inspection, who pays for what, how long it has, and — most importantly — the standard by which a finding is classified. Every one of those left vague becomes a negotiation later, at a point where your aircraft is disassembled in someone else's hangar and you have very little leverage.
Do your own inspection first
Have your maintenance provider run the same checks the buyer's facility will run, before the buyer's does. Everything you find now is something you can either correct on your own schedule at your own shop's rates, or disclose upfront and price in. Everything you do not find is something the buyer discovers, at their facility, with a renegotiation attached.
Close out airworthiness items
Open airworthiness directives, overdue inspections and unresolved airworthiness squawks are not negotiating positions — they are items you will end up correcting anyway, and having them found rather than disclosed damages the credibility of everything else in your file. Clear them or price them in openly.
Get the records to the facility early
A large share of inspection delay is not mechanical, it is documentary — the facility waiting on a logbook, an AD status list or a 337. Delay costs you: the longer the aircraft sits opened up, the more the buyer's confidence erodes and the more time there is for a second opinion to arrive.
Be present, or have someone who is
Your maintenance representative should be at the inspection. Findings get characterised as they are discovered, and a finding characterised without anyone representing the aircraft tends to be characterised unfavourably. This is not about disputing genuine findings; it is about ensuring a normal wear item is recorded as a normal wear item.
The one to watch: scope creep mid-inspection. An inspection that was agreed as a defined scope and quietly expands — another borescope, another panel, a second opinion on a finding — is the most expensive thing that can happen to a seller, because every addition costs time and every finding arrives when you have least room to move.
Records go first
Get the complete, indexed file to the facility before the aircraft arrives. A large share of inspection overrun is documentary rather than mechanical, and every extra day the aircraft sits opened up costs you confidence as well as money.
Score your records before they see themPrice the outcome, not the headline
Whatever you agree to correct after inspection comes out of your proceeds. Model it into the number before you accept the offer, alongside fees and carrying cost — the sale price is not the amount that reaches you.
Model what actually reaches youPre-purchase inspection: seller FAQs
Who pays for a pre-purchase inspection?
Conventionally the buyer pays for the inspection itself — it is their due diligence — while the seller corrects airworthiness discrepancies it uncovers. Variations exist, including splitting the disassembly and reassembly cost or the seller contributing where the aircraft has been on the market a while. What matters far more than the invoice is that the letter of intent states who pays for which element, because an unstated assumption here surfaces at the worst possible moment.
What is the difference between an airworthiness discrepancy and a buyer's want?
An airworthiness discrepancy means the aircraft is not legally airworthy as it stands — an overdue airworthiness directive, a life-limited part beyond its limit, corrosion beyond allowable limits, a required item inoperative. A want is something the buyer would prefer: an avionics upgrade, cosmetic refurbishment, a component replaced early. The seller conventionally corrects the first category and not the second. Nearly every inspection dispute is really a disagreement about which category an item falls into, which is why the LOI should define the standard in advance.
Can a buyer walk away after the pre-purchase inspection?
Usually yes, within the terms the letter of intent sets out — that is what the inspection contingency is for, and it is a legitimate protection for the buyer. What the LOI should do is define the conditions: what findings permit a walk-away, what happens to the deposit in each case, and how long the buyer has to decide. An open-ended right to withdraw for any reason, with a fully refundable deposit and no deadline, is not a deal — it is a free option on your aircraft.
Should I fix squawks before the inspection or negotiate after?
Fix airworthiness items before. You will be responsible for them either way, and correcting them at your own shop on your own schedule is cheaper than correcting them at the buyer's facility under time pressure, with the buyer's confidence already dented. Discretionary items are a genuine judgement call and can reasonably be left for the negotiation — provided you disclosed them, so they are a known part of the deal rather than a discovery.
How long does a pre-purchase inspection take?
It varies enormously with the aircraft's complexity and the agreed scope — a light piston inspection and a turbine inspection with borescopes and disassembly are different undertakings. The variable within your control is documentation: a substantial share of overruns are the facility waiting on records rather than working on the aircraft. Get the complete file to them before the aircraft arrives.
What happens if the inspection finds something serious?
It becomes a commercial negotiation, and how well it goes depends almost entirely on how carefully the letter of intent was written. With a defined classification standard and a defined cap or process for discrepancies, you have a framework: the item is classified, the remedy follows. Without one, you are negotiating from inside a hangar with your aircraft in pieces and a buyer who now knows more about it than you do. That asymmetry is why the LOI is the most important document in the sale.
Don't go into an inspection alone
We get the classification standard and the scope written into the letter of intent before your aircraft goes anywhere — which is the whole game.