Sonex value

[MichaelFarley56]

Tim always has such a nice polish on his Waiex! I'd hate to think how many hours he spends polishing but it's worth it!!

[LarryEWaiex121]

I really enjoy my Waiex. I built it with a fair amount of modern amenities and those have come in very handy on more than one occasion. EFIS, is the new standard for very good reason. Information. If that were not the case, then there wouldn't be such a scramble in the certified aircraft world to retrofit. I've flown steam gauges and EFIS for many hours and whether or not you like a particular presentation, format; its undeniable that you have information readily at hand that can make decisions much easier and faster.
Lack of a certified, powerful, "go to engine" stops many folks from seriously entertaining a used Sonex/Waiex. Pretty much the core of any airplane design is the engine.
If you either don't like working on/building them, don't trust them or have a negative feeling towards a particular engine (or all of the available engines for the design) then the prices are going to suffer. I believe that is the single largest black eye on the entire Sonex fleet at the moment.
The Aero/Vee is not enough for those that spend much time above 4,000' or fly two up. The Jabiru/Camit experiment has been hair pulling for many.
Had Jabiru been consumer focused and driven by a quality first mantra, it would have inspired many more owner, builders and resale markets.
It's no secret why Van's RV has been so successful. All their designs are built around available and very successful engines. Their efforts focused on the airframe.
Sonex aircraft are built around and array of available engines; each with some degree of likability and some degree of questionability. That is their strength in low cost and their weakness is resale.
I believe with some love and care, my Waiex will take care of me until my flying retirement.

Larry
Waiex121YX, Camit 3300 , Skyview

[dtwolcott]

Well stated VWGLEN. I didn't decide to build my waiex with the thought in mind that I could sell it in the future for a profit or break even. I built it for what it was designed to be-- cost efficient and fun to fly. Try buying a brand new spam can at the current prices and see what you would get back if you sold it with a few years.
Don

[floridasonex]

Part of the reason I think is you CAN build a Sonex for in the 20K range... obviously things are getting more expensive, but I've built my turbo (mostly from plans including WElding etc) for just over $20k. (No transponder yet) If you've spent $45k, I'm assuming a good part of it is a really high end panel, at least for a sonex?

Not really. Steam guages, transponder, comm. Garmin GPS. Factory main spars. Angle kit. Let them put flange on crank. Added hydraulic
disk brakes. Added cabin heat. Fresh air intake to carb for when it's hot out. Thermal bypass valve for oil cooler after blowing one. Nothing
extravagant. It just adds up.

RT

[Gripdana]

I built my Sonex from plans at a cost in the mid 20k's. No heat nothing extra only to the plans. The only parts I did not make were the Spar caps, welded and fiberglas parts. I have an MGL mini EFIS, ELT, MGL VHF radio. My mantra during the build was "keep it simple stupid" (KISS).