Gents, I’m the buyer and the one asking for advice, not the seller ! I’m the one trustworthy and the seller might be a crook, or not. : 
Sure, but an aircraft is bought “as seen” i.e. it is up to the buyer to check everything.
At least that is the legal position in most countries in Europe, AFAIK.
In the UK that is the case unless the seller makes specific warranties e.g. if the seller says “you can transfer this aircraft to X country’s registry” then you can sue him later if you can’t.
Transfers within Europe (specifically within the Part M regime) are normally OK but if you want to get a taste of what can be involved, see this
I would think the most likely problem is that the seller has done modifications or installed items without paperwork, possibly with his “friendly” maintenance company looking the other way, and when the aircraft goes onto the new registry, the CAA inspector will find this stuff…
Peter wrote:
and when the aircraft goes onto the new registry, the CAA inspector will find this stuff…
There’s no CAA inspector involved for an EASA CofA transfer. It’s purely done based on documents supplied. You need to show evidence of deregistration and send in the CofA along with the current ARC and you will get a new CofA. I believe Germany requires you to send a photo of the new registration because they are rather anal about placement, size, font etc.
Then the only thing is that you will most likely switch shops and there you always have the potential issue of different views on how the aircraft should be maintained.
Interesting – thanks!
When did this come in?
Switching maintenance companies is a big risk for sure 
Anyone available to fly to southern sweden and give on-site advice ? @boscomantico I think you’re quite close.
First I need to find a good and affordable CAMO organization to check paperwork.
If possible, get the prebuy check done by an engineer from the firm which is likely to maintain the aircraft.
But in any case use an engineer who knows the aircraft type and works for you.
That would be the ideal, but as of now I do not have the budget to have an engineer travelling to Sweden. I will have to trust on my maintenance background, although not in piston light airplanes and a CAMO reviewing the paperwork.
My main concern is, documentation wise, to identify any major maintenance that would have to be made in a near future or if there is any gap in the plane maintenance history.
If you don’t have the 1000 € to do a proper pre-buy check, where do you take the 10,000 € from to rectify problems you’ve overlooked?
The way it is often done:
- seller flies the plane to buyer’s shop
- shop performs an assessment
- seller has to pay for all identified corrective actions or walks away
- buyer can walk away if major issues surface
If you don’t have the 1000 € to do a proper pre-buy check, where do you take the 10,000 € from to rectify problems you’ve overlooked?
Indeed!
Tiago, it looks like your a bit naive about the vagaries if owning and running a 50 year-old CofA aircraft in the year 2015, on EASA register.
Don’t be blinded by the cheap purchase prices – there is a very precise reason for that. Even with a basic C150, a 10, or even 20k expense can lurk anytime (a SID, an AD, a corroded landing gear, an engine repair). Heck, even a “fairly standard” annual (with not much out of the ordinary) will easily run 5k (if you have it done entirely at a maintenance shop). Every year!
ELA1 might help a bit, but not all that much.
Another option is for an Annual to be done at the prospective buyer’s company, and the seller agrees to pay for any unscheduled items. I have seen this done on a TB20. Obviously that works only if the aircraft is due for an Annual anyway, or if the seller is very keen to sell and is happy to risk this, to demonstrate that he is being honest when he says there are no defects.
My A&P/IA/EASA66 guy says that for a certified plane prebuy he needs 2 days.
1 day is spent on paperwork (AD compliance etc) and often totally show-stopping things are found there.
1 day is spent looking at the aircraft itself.
He might be willing to do this but he has only 4-day slots, due to his job.
