Where Are All the Used DA-42s?

Any DA42 related topics.

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rwatters
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Where Are All the Used DA-42s?

Post by rwatters »

I started flying in 2005 with a DA-40 as my first plane. Now, having progressed from the DA-40 to a Columbia 400, to an Eclipse, I’m currently flying a CJ with about 2000 hours in total and I’m thinking of reducing my flying expense by going slower.

When I left the Diamond family in 2007 it was just after the DA42 was introduced and just before Diamond left all the owners I the grease with the failure of the Thielert diesels.

I’m unwilling to pay the price for a new 42 or 62 but it seems to me that there must be a story about all the old DA42’s. I can’t remember how many were produced before the Thielert debacle, but the used market seems oddly small. Controller lists a bunch of 2018 models by various dealers, but only three or 4 early da42s. That seems bizarrely low for a 600 unit plane.

Any insights?
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Re: Where Are All the Used DA-42s?

Post by TimS »

Robert,

I have been watching the DA-42 market for a while.
Not many come for sale, and they tend to move fast. Anecdotally, a fair number make it onto the "controller" or "trade-a-plane" style websites. Instead, they are sold via brokers.

Also there are multiple price points, and many engine choices; which complicate things a bit.

Tim
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Re: Where Are All the Used DA-42s?

Post by smoss »

Similar story for the DA40's... there are almost no 2008-2017 DA40's listed for sale, save for all the new ones advertised. I don't recall ever seeing any of the newer ones up for resale. Is it really such a hot market they never make it onto Controller or Trade-A-Plane?
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Re: Where Are All the Used DA-42s?

Post by jb642DA »

I think most of the planes are sold before they even come into a dealer's "inventory". I heard about our DA42 through a dealer I was already working with. It was taken in trade for a newer DA42VI. As far as I know, neither plane was advertised on TAP or Controller.
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Colin
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Re: Where Are All the Used DA-42s?

Post by Colin »

When I bought my plane I made offers on three other planes. It's a difficult market. And, has been pointed out, there are a lot of variables. I had a Google spreadsheet to keep track of all the different planes I was looking at, because some had the KAP140 autopilot (which I was tired of dealing with) and some had the GFC-700. That's a big difference in price, since I wanted to make the upgrade.
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Re: Where Are All the Used DA-42s?

Post by TimS »

Colin wrote:When I bought my plane I made offers on three other planes. It's a difficult market. And, has been pointed out, there are a lot of variables. I had a Google spreadsheet to keep track of all the different planes I was looking at, because some had the KAP140 autopilot (which I was tired of dealing with) and some had the GFC-700. That's a big difference in price, since I wanted to make the upgrade.
Colin,

Can you share the spreadsheet?

Tim
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Re: Where Are All the Used DA-42s?

Post by ultraturtle »

My local flight school snaps up all of the used DA42s they can find. They just bought 4 more, including an NG. My mechanic explained that they are incredibly reliable and inexpensive to operate and maintain in the grand scheme of things. They fly them more than 1,000 hrs per year, and think nothing of tossing out a gearbox or engine to install a new one. They make tons of money on them at ~$450/hr.
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Re: Where Are All the Used DA-42s?

Post by neema »

I'm curious to see more just to evaluate how fast ours is depreciating. Wouldn't mind getting another -VI, either, but don't know what they go for.
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Re: Where Are All the Used DA-42s?

Post by delphipro »

smoss wrote:Similar story for the DA40's... there are almost no 2008-2017 DA40's listed for sale, save for all the new ones advertised. I don't recall ever seeing any of the newer ones up for resale. Is it really such a hot market they never make it onto Controller or Trade-A-Plane?
I sold my DA40 in less than a week. It technically made it to Controller, but sold very quickly.
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Re: Where Are All the Used DA-42s?

Post by ultraturtle »

The flight school I was talking about could not find enough DA40s so ended up buying a couple of Cessnas. Looks like a seller’s market for pretty much all Diamonds.
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