Americans buy a cheap Piper plane and when work starts on it they get some bad news about how repairs could cost six figures

These Americans bought a cheap Piper plane, hoping to repair it, but soon received bad news about how much it would cost.

The YouTube channel JR Aviation had become the proud new owners of a Piper PA-46 Malibu.

It was a real beauty, but its problems couldn’t easily be summarized in words.

So let a repair bill speak for itself – a six figure bill to be exact.

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How this Piper plane ended up costing a huge amount

When it comes to fixing up planes, you can’t expect it to be a cheap endeavor.

One guy over in California ended up spending six figures to fix up a $30,000 Piper Cherokee 6.

And even when they’re cheap, there’s always potential for other difficulties, as this Alaskan man found out with his $5,000 airplane.

In the case of this 1984 Piper PA, there was set to be a big bill to pay.

Jeff, the channel’s host, explained that the plane initially flew great and looked fantastic at first glance.

However, when it was taken apart for its inspection, some major issues were uncovered.

Jeff said: “We were like ‘We’re set. We’ve hit a goldmine’.

“No…this goldmine is going bust real quick.

“I don’t need to sugarcoat this…our mechanic friend called with bad news.

“They pulled off this piece near the turbo and they were met with metal shavings.

“They looked closer and it looked like one of the turbos is eating itself. Microscopic metal shavings were getting sent through the whole engine.”

You don’t have to be a plane expert to understand that this isn’t good.

Jeff initially thought that he’d have to spend $5,000 max on new turbos, but then he was told that this wasn’t the bad news.

The real bad news was that he’d need to invest in a new motor.

Metal had even found its way into the motor’s oil filter.

Jeff said: “Just about the worst news you can get when owning a plane.

“Metal is coming from multiple places.”

How much will a new engine cost?

To put things into perspective, Jeff said that this would the biggest cost out of any of the cars and planes that he’d worked on.

Jeff is no stranger to expensive projects, so this was a big statement.

An engine overhaul on a Cirrus SR20 ended up costing $45,000.

And this Piper is ‘nowhere close to that’.

One rebuilt engine that Jeff found online would cost $93,237.

And this price could skyrocket to over $120k in a worst case scenario.

For the sake of clarity, let’s just say you didn’t want a rebuilt engine and went for something that was brand new.

That would set you back around $150,000.

The cheapest option looked to be getting an overhaul at his pal’s shop, but this could still cost between $35,000 and $50,000.

And it would take the longest too.

There are no easy options, basically.

To see Jeff’s conundrum for yourself, head over to the JR Aviation YouTube channel.

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