Used light aircraft and microlights: where to look with €100,000

An asking-price ceiling of €100,000 opens up several options among used club aircraft and microlights. But the choice changes sharply between model families, and two aircraft carrying the same name can have very different price tags. These pointers come from 265 European listings.

Below €100,000, our snapshot includes 33 PA-28s, thirteen Robin DR400/401s and nineteen Cessna 172s. All 30 Savannahs with an advertised price also sit below that threshold. For a WT9 or VL3, the choice is narrower: just six of the 77 priced listings examined ask less than €100,000.

These prices give you a starting point for choosing which models to investigate. Reading the listings then tells you what you are comparing: an early or later version, a replacement engine, different avionics, or work that may be needed before the aircraft can fly again.

Of the 53 listings asking less than €50,000, 43 belong to these two families. All 23 Sky Rangers are below €36,000, with a median of €19,000. Twenty of the 30 priced Savannahs are below €50,000; the median across all 30 is around €40,000.

That gives you several offers to compare, rather than a single low-priced example. The configurations still need to be similar: the Sky Rangers in this snapshot range from Rotax 582 to 912 power, including Swift versions. To draw up a shortlist for visits, start with the version and engine you want, then look at the hours and documented maintenance of the available aircraft.

In our selection, 33 of the 55 priced PA-28s, thirteen of the 18 Robin DR400/401s and nineteen of the 37 Cessna 172s are advertised below this ceiling. If you want a type you know from club flying, there are several listings to examine.

The Robin offers cover different power outputs, petrol and diesel engines, and include a DR401. An older DR400/120 and a recent diesel DR401 appear in the same table: compare each with its peers, rather than with each other. The Cessna selection likewise brings early 172s together with R and S versions along with an RG and Reims Rocket versions. The aircraft's full designation matters from the start of your search.

The median for the 55 priced PA-28s is €87,000. Once the versions are separated, the reference points change substantially: €73,000 for the 32 non-Arrow PA-28s, compared with €119,000 for the 23 Arrows and PA-28Rs.

The Arrow has retractable landing gear and a variable-pitch propeller. The two groups also differ in age, engines and condition. Our snapshot does not isolate the effect of those characteristics on the roughly €46,000 gap between their medians.

If you are looking for a Warrior, other Warriors are your first comparison group. Expanding immediately to every PA-28 would bring different aircraft into your price reference. The table gives an overview of the family; your chosen version determines which listings are useful comparisons.

Only four of the 43 priced WT9s and two of the 34 VL3s fall below that threshold. The middle half of prices runs from €125,000 to €178,000 for the WT9 and €135,000 to €200,000 for the VL3. These two-seaters are thus advertised at prices comparable to, or above, those of certified aircraft in the snapshot.

The spread remains substantial within the VL3 family. An Aveko described as a 2008 model, with a Rotax 912 ULS, is advertised at €74,000. A 2019 JMB based at Amougies is advertised at €180,000, with 600 airframe hours and a Rotax 912S. These offers illustrate different configurations and generations; they do not, by themselves, measure the effect of age on price.

To compare two offers, note the installed engine, its hours and its last overhaul, separately from the airframe year and hours. Avionics and recent maintenance also belong in the comparison.

For a cross-border purchase, also check whether you can operate the aircraft in its advertised configuration in your destination country. In France, for example, the DGAC requires a French model identification sheet for a factory-built microlight acquired abroad. Clarify this using the individual aircraft's documents before arranging a visit.

A PA-28 offered at £40,000, about €48,000 at the snapshot's exchange rate, mentions an expired airworthiness review certificate. The seller invites discussion of the renewal cost. A Warrior II at €79,000, including VAT according to the listing, lists its propeller as out of time.

These are the amounts being asked for the aircraft. To compare them with other offers, you still need to establish the cost of the work and what will be done before delivery. A discount on the advertised price does not, on its own, answer those questions.

Before a visit, maintenance due dates and records of recent work can already help narrow the selection. An independent pre-purchase inspection by a professional familiar with the type, as recommended by AOPA, then helps establish the condition of the chosen aircraft.

Finally, ask the seller for the total amount and whether VAT is included or excluded. An unknown VAT basis in our snapshot means the listing does not specify it, not that a tax must be added. Resolve this before ranking two offers by acquisition cost.

In the 1 November snapshot, 289 listings in these eight families were offered for sale across the 21 source sites represented in the snapshot, including 265 with a price. This first edition records asking prices. November's edition will revisit the same families. New and disappeared listings and changes in advertised prices will be compared using a constant collection scope and selection rules; changes to sources or methodology will be reported separately.

Find current PA-28, Cessna 172 and WT9 listings on PlaneNest.

Sam Lefever, founder of PlaneNest. The Market Observatory is published monthly; the next edition is planned for late November 2026.