Dylan Smith wrote
In article 5SGtc.58$3x.29@attbi_s54, Jay Honeck wrote:
Either way you cut it, if you took the amount you'd put into buying a new
2004 Toyota, you could buy a really nice little Cessna 150 and fly the pants
off it

... especially when you consider the depreciation on that Toyota, which
you just don't have with a C150 of the same price.

Sorry guys, but this is nonsense.

Sure, the brand new Toyota is going to cost about as much (maybe a bit
more) than that decades-old C-150. The insurance is going to be about
the same too - in fact, the C-150 insurance may be a bit cheaper.
That's where the similarities end.

The Toyota is going to have a warranty that covers you for 5 years.
Your maintenance expenses for those 5 years are going to be about $100
a year, assuming you do none of the work yourself. On the plane, if
you do none of the work yourself and fly 10,000+ miles a year, like
you will on the Toyota, you're looking at $2000 a year for maintenance
- minimum.

The Toyota depreciates - but so does your C-150. Every hour you fly
is about $5 of engine depreciation. Your avionics depreciate, your
paint depreciates, your engine depreciates, and even your airframe
depreciates (albeit slowly) - how much do you think a C-150 with
12,000+ hours is worth?

The Toyota (a small one providing only somewhat better comfort than a
C-150, rather than a larger one providing dramatically better comfort)
is going to get 40+ mpg. The C-150 will be lucky to get 15, and the
gas costs more.

Finally, you NEED that Toyota (or equivalent) unless you live
someplace like New York City (where the cheapest tiedown in reasonable
driving distance is $250/month) and the C-150 is discretionary.

Michael