Buying a plane versus renting

RD,

Its hard for me to say whether the individual plane is a good deal or not.

I would say that if the plane is as described, it could go for anywhere from
85 to 115. That is a huge range, but there have been a lot of owners
leaving these planes with banks who wholesale them to get them off the books
( many flight schools and leaseback owners did not make the money they
thought they would). I am sure someone will yell and scream that this is
too low, but I also know that others will say they have seen deals in this
range.

Is the owner of this plane an FBO owner, or is the plane on leaseback?
Sounds like it is.

If you really know all this about the plane, you may be willing to pay more
than another buyer, but remember, when you want to sell, there is no
guarantee that someone with similar knowledge will want to buy it. They
will assume a leaseback plane was abused before they even agree to a prebuy.
The prebuy can show that the leaseback experience was good for the plane
instead of bad, but no one knows unless they do the prebuy. (YOU WILL DO A
PREBUY, I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU THINK YOU KNOW!)

What other planes have you flown? How many hours do you have now? What are
you going to trade up to?

I think many here will agree that you are better off paying too much and
getting the right plane, than getting a great deal, and missing out on a
plane that would suit you better.

Also, total cost of ownership is more important than purchase price. At 500
hours and two years, you could see a 20k swing in TCO over that period.

After I tried planes other than Cessna's, I had a better respect for what
Cessna's offered, but I knew they were not what I wanted to fly anymore.
Call some other companies (Piper, Diamond, Tiger, Socata, Symphony, Liberty,
whatever), and try their planes. Tell them what you are planning to do, and
they will likely want you to try their planes before you decide. Do it.
Then you can look for a plane with more knowledge of what you want.