eric_marsh

eric_marsh

Well Known Member
I was looking at the Sonex web site and if you buy everything at once it will save about $2k. This doesn't seem to be the case on the Van's site. Am I missing anything? Purchasing and assembling one section at a time would be much easier on my budget than having to do the whole thing at once.
 
one at a time

I bought them seperate and paid as I built. I had no problems. Many with limited shop/work space also buy the kits individually. The only risk I can see would be if the kit manufacturer went out of business before you got everything you needed. That isn't a likely scenario with Van, but has happened with others in the past.
 
Depending on location, the advantage of buying multiple kits is the savings on shipping.

If you go with standard build wings and then later decide to QB the fuse, it will cost a little more in shipping and wait time.

Either way, the kit is a small part of the project cost:)
 
The 'penalty' is that prices go up. I bought my -6A tail and wings within a year of each other but it was about 7 years before I bought the fuselage kit and another 2 before I got the finishing kit. If I had bought all the kits at the same time, I'd have saved quite a bit. But you have to balance that with your budget, storage costs (if you don't already have space for the kits), and so on. I was quite happy to buy my kits as I could afford them. On the other hand, I have managed to purchase all my -10 kits in a single year this time around, so inflationary effects won't be as great for me even if I take another 14 years to get it in the air (I'm actually aiming for 2011 or 2012).
 
Van's also has a price increase every year. This year pricing goes up at the end of this month. I just sent in my order yesterday for the fusalodge and finish kit.
 
There is a potential advantage to not buying them all at once - Van is making continual improvements to the kits, and if you buy too early you don't get the improvements that were made later.

I think Van's annual price increases are not too far off the rate of inflation, so from a pure financial perspective you might as well delay buying the later kits and have the use of the money in the meantime.
 
Sonex prices.

Eric, If I remember correctly, having had the info kit from Sonex before the subkits came along, the price difference you're seeing I think is driven by the seperate crating and shipping charges. But thats my opinion, you'd probably have to cotact the company direct for an explanation.
 
The Vans website specifically states there is no price penalty for buying it in sections versus all at once, but if you are a long distance from the factory then shipping becomes a factor. Their annual price increases seem (to me) to be right in line with inflation and not out of line. I did order my finishing kit just before the end of the year though, to avoid that last end-of-year increase.
 
Will Van's deflate price?

Maybe Van's will decrease prices since there was deflation last year!:rolleyes:


Table of Inflation Rates by Month and Year (1999-2009)
Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Annual
2009 0 0.2 -0.4 -0.7 -1.3 -1.4 -2.1 -1.5 -1.3 -0.2 1.8

Unless Van's has had material increases I can't see almost any increase in their prices after last years bad economy.
 
Van?s always goes up regardless if there is deflation from what I recall. Generally, Van?s justified the price increase by also saying more things were being added to the kits to make them less labor intensive. Haven?t heard of any for this year, maybe things will pretty much be the same for all, but haven?t researched each individual kit. If no changes have been made to the kits, it seems like if there was ever a good time to justify a price decrease, it would be after ?09, and this would be the time they would finally do it. But it ain't happening.

The good news to always going up in price, is that for those that already have their aircraft bought, it helps with it generally maintaining its value and then some. For completed kits with decent workmanship, it seems many make a nice tidy profit when ready to sell. Looking at other traditionally built aluminum aircraft, I believe Van?s aircraft has the best resell value of any other experimental type in its class.
 
wait... wait... wait...

I purchase my 7 a section at a time. The biggest headeache I had was waiting. Van's estimate on shipping is really pretty close. Well, except for the qb fuse. I waited a total of six months for the fuse. They est. three and a half.
 
N282S said:
I purchase my 7 a section at a time. The biggest headeache I had was waiting. Van's estimate on shipping is really pretty close. Well, except for the qb fuse. I waited a total of six months for the fuse. They est. three and a half.
Click to expand...


True - their estimates of shipping time can be a little "loose". My 9A emp. kit was shipped to me immediately since they kept them in stock, and when I ordered the wing, fuse, and finishing kits I did so well ahead of the time that I would be finished and waiting for the parts, to avoid any downtime. When my wing and fuse kits showed up, I stopped work just long enough to unpack and inventory the kits, then went back to where I was on the previous kit. My finishing kit is scheduled to be delivered late February, and there is no way I'll be ready to start on it before mid-March. You need to be able to estimate your work speed and time remaining, and bash that up against their predicted lead time plus a couple weeks for shipping, and order early.
 
one piece at a time

I would have never been able to save enough to buy the whole kit at once. Being able to get one kit at a time made it possible for me. Even the parts can be bought as you get the $$$, lights, radios, prop, engine:eek:
 
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