I have been thinking about selling my pa28-235 for some time, but I dread
the process. I understand why a buyer inexperienced with the model would
want a prebuy inspection, and I respect that. But until I have a check in
my hand, the plane is still mine and I am going to treat it as such. Buyers
need to respect that.

Letting some unknown mechanic disassemble, poke and prod MY plane makes me
sick to my stomach. Every time things are disassembled/reassembled is a
chance for things to get scratched, broken, screws cross-threaded, and so
forth. Every time the plane is put in a mechanic's shop is a chance for
hangar rash. With advance apologies to the many good mechanics out there,
there are also a lot of inept ones and a few that are downright
unscrupulous. I'm not going to give one of them the chance to hold my plane
hostage at their field for a bogus squawk or something they broke.

Now is when several people will jump in with the refrain of "Ooooh, if he
won't let your mechanic do an off-field prebuy inspection, then he must be
hiding something!!! Run!!!" That's fine, please don't let the door hit
you in the *ss on your way out.

Obviously this will limit my pool of buyers, and it will take longer to
sell. The buyer will have to be someone who is experienced with pa28 and
knows what to look for. I'll be happy to remove the inspection panels and
take off the cowl, and he can come LOOK at it in MY hanger. If desired, he
can have a mechanic of his choice come and LOOK at it in my hangar. But
while the plane is still mine, it is not going to the buyer's shop or being
touched by the buyer's mechanic.

Once the plane belongs to the buyer, he can let anyone he wants do anything
he wants with it. Until then, keeping it airworthy and safe from damage is
my (and my mechanic's) job. Look but don't touch, and do it at my hangar.
A potential sale is not worth the risk of turning the plane over to a
mechanic I don't know and/or don't trust.

....Scott