Kirk,
I know we spent a fair bit of time talking about planes previously but I think the planes have a long life ahead of them. But you can’t expect to safely fly what would be a about $2MM, if made today, 40-60 year old complicated plane on a low dollar budget. Especially if the plane needs upgrades, which they all do for practical purposes.
It’s the same situation with the entire aging fleet of GA aircraft. Only I’d much rather deal with a good 500 and it’s quirks than the same on a 310. To keep any of them reliable requires aggressive maintenance and a fair chunk of change for surprises at inopportune moments. If you expect it, you’ll find it more tolerable. If you look closely at the average 310 that hasn’t been carefully maintained, I suspect you wouldn’t have much change left from $100,000 bill when you get done fixing the corrosion, loose rivets, gear issues, wear on the mounts, etc. And this is why you don’t see the twins on ramps like you used to. Very few owners are doing what it takes to maintain the older planes in my experience. They are just consuming the last bit of life the planes have to give. By the time they are willing to sell, there’s not much worth buying.
To your question; There are a couple $150,000 planes available that you can buy now. The planes are good values, current, cared for, and which will give the next owner great service and something to build on. But they don’t have fancy glass panels, etc. I looked at another “$150,000 plane” awhile back because that’s about all I too had to spend. But it would have taken another $150,000 out of pocket on day one before I would fly it. I think someone paid $150k for it, likely not prepared for the inevitable.
Anyway, I fly mine IFR fairly regularly. So far this year; about 25 flights, 40 hours, 2 magnetos, 30 quarts of oil, 1,100 gal avgas, 1 Aspen Synthetic vision upgrade, etc.
Good times!
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N6224X/history/20190214/0000Z/KPIA/KGNV