The Value of a Kitfox

It is kind of sad that these planes that cost $30,000 to $50.000 to build can be found used for less than that. A lot of free labor goes into these planes. Take care, Jim Chuk

Jim,
Many of us believe that is changing (and have seen evidence) that the pricing for today's built Kitfox is diferent from your dads ole KF I, II & III.
Some of the IV's and up and certainly the 6, 7 and SS are very sofisticated / Complex planes. With the addition of glass panels, plush interiors and the Rotax 900 series engines, many of you know that a Cessna 172 doesn't have anything on one of these planes.
As always, the market will drive the sale of a plane and I have always thought it's such ashame that the Kitfox market has low-balled the values.
You see the pricing for todays SLSA coming from the factory and this should become a benchmark for the planes of today being built.
Just one guys opinion, but I believe many of you are thinking the same way. The Kitfox has graduated

I've had a thought on this for a while. I have friends that bought completed Rans, S-6 and S-7s from the "factory". The data plate said something like Builder: Rans employees builders club. These sold for not quite twice what a used Model IV would sell for. Typically a similar featured Rans would sell for significantly more than the Kitfox in the used market. I find it interesting that one company that pretty much stands by the FAA regs takes a hit on used aircraft pricing while another that appears to be assemblling comleted airplanes by slight of hand documentation has pretty much manipulated their used market pricing. I too find it sad that this is the case. I enjoy the building process and I like to tinker with my own variations, but it does cost in both time and money because of the deflated used market pricing.

I thought this topic might deserve its own thread...What are your thoughts...as a builder? as an owner? as a buyer? as someone who is entertaining the idea of building?

As someone who is thinking of building: Well you always lose the time of your labour it seems when you build. It seems that if I could buy a Kitfox for the same price I could build one I would still build it for the 'I did it' factor. But that being said when looking on Barnstormers I have yet to see a Model 7 jump up. And if it jumped up around $60,000 I would be very tempted so like it has been said before, perhaps the kitfox has graduated. Bottom line is even if I knew I was going to lose money building it I would build it anyway. I wouldnt build a plane to make money. I would build a plane to have exactly what I want, have some pride in what I have done, and I couldn't really see selling it after all the labour of love...not mentioning the selling to upgrade.

I think it is pretty common for resale purposes, that the money owners spend on upgrades and mods they can expect to get no more than about 50% back. Kind of a rule-of-thumb, and why with any used aircraft purchase people are ahead to buy a plane with all the mods and upgrades done by the prior owner. Building seems to be the same issue, taken to the extreme of the entire aircraft.

As a buyer, I appreciate all the time and money put into a plane by the seller; but market price is still market price. And a buyer seldom gets the plane at 0 time since the builder usually does at least the initial flight testing. And you always have to wonder why the builder is selling, and if it is close to 0 time what issues with either construction or performance in flight testing the builder/owner knows about and is not telling. Factory planes have some of the same issues, but with a kit plane they are exaggerated by the increased potential for builder mistakes.

I think I agree the current Kitfox models have "graduated" somewhat. Mainly because they have been produced in such numbers, with good factory support, and a well earned reputation. They have demonstrated that "even amateur builders" can produce reliable aircraft using these kits.

As a builder I appreciate the skills I learned and developed almost every day. It may sound odd but I used to not even be able to cut a board square with a hand saw. After finishing building my kitfox I admire my work now on every home project. I covered and painted my Kitfox by myself with just the polyfibre manual as instructions. I thought some of it looked rough...then I saw a Maul at the airoprt and checked out the covering. I feel really good about my covering job now.

Just looking through the classifieds on this site, there is a Kitfox Vixen with 120 HP Jab for $48,000. A Kitfox 5 for $31,000 (high hrs on engine) and a Kitfox 4 with 912 for $25,000. I've been looking at Barnstormers every day for years, and see much lower prices on Kitfoxes than a Rans 6 or 7. If the Rans are listed in the $20,000 or so they have a 582, if they have a 912, they are usually in the $40,000 range. It seems like the CH 701s also go fairly high. Don't ask me why, I've had one short ride in a 701, and one in a Rans S6 and they didn't seem like they should be priced at more than a Kitfox or Avid. Take care, Jim Chuk

I think the lower price on used kitfox planes is simply because there are more of them, something like 4000 or so. Rans and 701s number in the hundreds, so they don't complete against others of the same type too much and that keeps the price up.

Choosing a low cost engine for your kitfox can save 10 or 20k off the final build cost (not everyone needs or can afford a new rotax 912S).

Roger