Van's 2006 Kit Prices Posted

[bmurrish]

Van's has posted their 2006 Kit Prices . Not that much of an increase from what I can see.

[LettersFromFlyoverCountry]

Finishing kit up $90. wing kit up $225.. Empennage up $30.

I was running around today trying to get the specs finalized to order the finishing kit on time (I didn't make it). No great loss.

If the stock market stays at its current pace, I'll make more money by ordering now and holding off on the final payment until shipping time. But, sure wish I'd bought Google back when I was working on the wings.

[cjensen]

yep, glad i got my order in to save the $225 on the wings. i couldn't remember the exact prices before they went up, but i thought the wings looked like they went up more than the other sub kits.

[Baja_Traveler]

Ahh - you beat me to it! Quickbuild 8 went up about 3 grand, but didnt go up nearly as much as another kit I was considering (Sportsman 2+2) - they just priced themselves way over my limit (40k for airframe alone), so an RV it is for sure! Now the decision 7 or 8 - I need a ride in both before next summers purchase

[bmurrish]

The -8 SB fuselage went up a whole $200 for a 1.03% increase. That is incredibly low from what I have seen as far as the increase in the price of aluminum. Bravo to Van's for keeping the prices so low.

FWIW, I got my fuse ordered before the increase.

[Captain_John]

Bill, that is EIGHT bottles of rum!



I am glad I ordered before the increase too!

More rum for me! It helps me think...

CJ

[osxuser]

I got my tail order in on time, I don't know that the -7 tail went up at all though? Also, was the -4 wings always prepunched or is that new?

[JoeG]

For the RV-7, the price for the kit total increased by just shy of 3 percent. Still good prices though.

Joe

[LettersFromFlyoverCountry]

Originally Posted by osxuser

I got my tail order in on time, I don't know that the -7 tail went up at all though? Also, was the -4 wings always prepunched or is that new?

It went from $1465 to $1495. BTW, just have to say it is COMPLETELY lame of Van's not to announce the new prices until the first of the year. They obviously knew what they were weeks ago so why not just say what they're going to be.

Of course, their goal is to get an influx of cash at, presumably, a slow time and it's easier to do that if you get people all worked up about a mysterious price increase, rather than give them the actual numbers and let them decide if it's worth writing the check a week after Christmas or not.

I guess they're worried too many people will say the increase isn't any big deal and decide to hold onto their money for a couple more months to take advantage of higher interest rates or something.

[dan]

Originally Posted by Bob Collins

It went from $1465 to $1495. BTW, just have to say it is COMPLETELY lame of Van's not to announce the new prices until the first of the year. They obviously knew what they were weeks ago so why not just say what they're going to be.

So now it's Van's that's lame? They really snuck this price increase up on us, huh? Those 30 bucks...that covers about an hour of flying on today's avgas prices. Huge deal?

We all know the price increase happens every year. We all know it's about 3%. Van's isn't scheming or trying to screw us or con us into spending money earlier or later. Van's is gonna sell the kits now or later. They'd stand to make more money by selling more kits later, after the price increase. They're not trying to screw anybody or withholding any information. They're doing business. This VAF forum may be a community, but Van's is a business. Complain all you want. Faster builders don't have to "suffer" as many price increases, and on the flip side, the slower builders can pretty well rest assured that the kit company will still be around when they finish!

Sorry, but I get a little defensive when people criticize the best kit airplane company in existence. The same company that is enabling you to change your life.

)_( Dan
RV-7 N714D (753 hours)
http://www.rvproject.com