Goodyear, AZ 85395, US
The pre purchase inspection
The Pre-Buy Inspection
Another CRITICAL step. If you are new to airplane ownership, I HIGHLY suggest you take a look at www.savvyaviation.com . They are IMHO simply fantastic. They will go through the log books of the plane you are looking at for free to warn you of any oddities. I engaged them for $750 for the pre-buy for this plane. Just for clarity, that is in addition to the cost of the shop's pre purchase inspection cost, which I also had to pay for ($1000). They provided me three shops close to the seller, along with +/- of each from the past dealings with the shops, and quarterbacked the whole process once I decided who to use. I also immediately engaged them once I owned the plane to do the same on my plane going forward. Think of them as AAA for an airplane. They have a 24/7 "rescue line" if you need help when you are not at home. They are also happy to answer your "dumb" questions that you may have as a nervous newbie about to be owner. Additionally they provide the shop with a checklist specific to the airplane you are buying. It is comforting to know that the shop is being given a template, and you are not just hoping for the best.
A good shop is going to give you a list of things that could be an issue, are a problem, or are just FYI. In the case for 6115N, they handed me a list that was 6 pages long, with a total price tag of about $8000. As a person new to airplane ownership, I knew I wanted everything done right. The $8000 also included a full prop overhaul. The base price for that on this prop was just under $4000. The great thing about having Savvy here, was they were able to help me understand what the 6 pages meant, and what was a REAL concern vs. a no big deal type of thing.
A pre-buy is not an ANNUAL inspection. As a new airplane owner, I can tell you I would never allow you to engage an annual inspection on a plane I am selling, though I would allow anyone to do as thorough an inspection as they want to do using their choice of mechanic. The difference in case you are curious is that your mechanic may deem my airplane un-airworthy, making it impossible for me to return it home to my mechanic to assess the situation before your mechanic requires me to fix the problem he believes he has found.
If you have the pre-buy done and want to convert it to an annual inspection, as I did, you should expect to do that AFTER you have purchased the plane. It should also be noted that the fact that your pre-buy was OK, may not find all the annual related issues.