I agree. I'd like to have one especially at that price. But theres a reason a PC12 is holding value and these aren't. I don't know the reason.

Our little flight department has a Bonanza and a Meridian, and I also fly a Baron part time. I would take the Meridian over both any day. The Meridian is just in a different class. The early models were had a poor useful load because their Max-gross was less than 5000 lbs. The newer ones are a little better with a 5100lb max-gross but that's still less than a Baron. The Meridian is easier to operate, will climb at over 1000 ft/min to the mid-20's, and true out at 260 kts. The fuel penalty for the extra speed is insignificant on longer trips especially since avgas cost's more than jetA. As a corporate aircraft it's perfect out to 500nm. As a personal aircraft it would be hard to beat. Faster than a c90 on half the operating cost with the same full-fuel useful load. That is if someone can afford such toys.

I agree. I'd like to have one especially at that price. But theres a reason a PC12 is holding value and these aren't. I don't know the reason.

A guy at my home airport has a Meridian - and quite frankly I'm scared of the thing maintenance-wise because of his experiences.

I've seen the engine removed twice in the last 18 months because it had to be shipped off for repair (down several weeks). Last annual took 2 months because of issues found. Poor guy gets maybe 4-5 months a year of available flight in his plane, while it is not down. He says it is severely weight-limited when full of fuel.

Maybe this particular airplane is different - YMMV.

I had a friend purchase one new and have the same type of problems. He sold it within a year and took one heck of a loss.

Best,

Dave

Man at my home airport had a meridian, bought a baron new, sold that for his king air.
I think his take is that he has the best now...

I agree. I'd like to have one especially at that price. But theres a reason a PC12 is holding value and these aren't. I don't know the reason.

The main reasons I'd hesitate on one have more to do with the type of flying I do. I take some long trips, but I also do a lot of short hops and local sight seeing joyrides. I don't think I'd like to "pay the Piper" for the low altitude 100nm flights or the "trip round the patch and to the hangar" sunset jaunts. It's hard to get much past the Bo and still retain much in the way of guilt free "fun flight" capability. YMMV

I had a friend purchase one new and have the same type of problems. He sold it within a year and took one heck of a loss.

Best,

Wrong engine for this airframe. Piper shoud have use the -35 or -135.

Corrosion is an issue on the engine inlet because Pratt use magnesium to save weight as Piper use a bigger engine to start with.

Be careful for corrosion on a Florida based aircraft.

Great for 500-600 nm trip.

I would buy an older TBM 700.

I'd have to call him and ask him the details again (it's not a topic he likes to revisit), but it wasn't pilot error as he didn't get to fly it much. The magnesium inlet was one issue. He had a problem and Piper wouldn't fix it at their cost. There was some inane cleaning requirement after each flight or after several flights. There was another issue I don't recall and the plane was grounded for some time. At the same time, there was a recall on the piston Pipers (Malibu) I think. Another fella with a Malibu in a hanger across from me had his plane downed twice in the same year.

My friend just gave up, sold the Piper and went to another plane.

Best,

Dave

Dave,

My research shows the Meridian to have some issues and is marketed for an upgrade for a single engine guy that wants (needs) simplicity. It doesn't have the range of the Baron, and is horribly limited in load capability, but could be ok for the owner flown, one or two people with short to medium trips.

While the TBM is a better machine, the early 700s were also load limited.

For me, the Baron makes more sense and does a pretty good job.

The P&W PT-6 is considered one of the most reliable engines ever, and the lower powered ones in a Meridian should be more reliable. Not sure about unique maintenance issues with the Piper, but the engine would not be one, normally.

There was an issue with oil pumps problems on earlier Meridian that grounded a lot of them, lots of SB from Piper.

Tbm 700s carries a lot of fuel as 280 gls, leave a bit of fuel out and you can carry quit a bit as a Baron can do.