I have always believed (but not always done) in a thorough annual as a pre-buy inspection of an aircraft. In my mind, a pre-buy should simply an annual that does not get logged into the log books (maybe because maybe the buyer and seller didn't agree...therefore the seller does not get a free annual), or gets turned into an annual if you do agree with the seller. However...recently I have been questioning my though patterns.

However, I also believe whole-heartedly in the Waddington effect. So now we have coflicting conditions: An aircraft is annualed 4 months before the sell date. Is it appropriate to do another annual in which the whole thing is torn apart and inspected, just so you have piece of mind, or do you take a reduced version of a "pre-buy" only inspection and trust the previous mechanic to a degree (especially if the log books check out, A/D's are kept up, etc)?

Along the same lines...what happens if you and your I/A take apart a plane, decide a problem needs addressed in the selling price but can't agree with the seller (therefore no signoff takes place), put the plane back together, and return the keys. Let's say you and your A&P/IA miss something, or worse, mistakenly forget to assemble something correctly (In other words, Waddington is in full affect). What kind of liability problems are you setting yourself up for? Would it have been better to do a simple pre-buy that does not require as much dissassembly? Where is the line to make the determination between a reduced inspection pre-buy and annual?

Anyway, I know this is somewhat random...but it should get the conversation started...

Thanks