Valuing used engines

[nmarshal]

I have an opportunity to buy a used engine and need some advice on working out a fair price.
If a Lycoming of the type required for my RV-4 project can be bought new for say, $22,000, what would be a fair price for an engine with 1000 hours of flight time (assuming known history, good compressions, no accidents, etc)?
What factors would you take into account to move the price up or down?

Thanks for your help

Nigel Marshall
RV-4 Finishing
Chevreuse, France

[N941WR]

Nigel,

You can also by a new ECI "kit engine", some assembly required, for around $13K USD.

Having just worked the numbers for my insurance company. Take the purchase price, subtract the core value, say $3K, and divide that number the TBO. That comes out to $9.50 per hour.

Based on that $12,500 is a reasonable number for this engine. However, other things come in to play such as how long ago was it last overhauled, how has it been stored, what accessories are they including, how many times has it been overhauled, etc. The ECI kit engine does not come with any accessories but for that roughly that same price plus some labor, you get a brand new engine.

Just one way to look at it. You will want to run that calculation with different numbers to see what you come up with.

[miyu1975]

I, too, would love to go the ECI route...but not everyone has the proper tools and knowledge to assemble the kit engine... true?

[RScott]

One data point: I paid $13,500 for an O-320 with less than 200 hrs. TT, about 50 SMOH (overhauled because it had sat on the ramp for a few years). Complete with starter, alternator, mags, vac. pump, etc. I will probably have to buy a smaller alternator to fit inside the cowl.

[rph142]

I just got a quote yesterday for an ECI kit engine. 160hp IO-320 for 17,500...no starter, alternator, mags or bolts. 15K without the ECI injection. It seems the price goes up about $1500/yr.