Cost of maintaining a bug smasher

[u/redd-or45]

Always lots of moaning about the cost of GA. Well it is true. Couple of examples from my recent C182P annual.

1. Single seat rail replacement. Part $567 and 1 hr labor to R&R Lucky that there are PMA sources for this part other than Cessna. My A&P said the Cessna part would be significantly more expensive and take longer to source.
2. Single main gear inner tube Part $94 not sure how much labor.
3. Have not had a problem with the baggage door latch assembly but looking on the internet it appears that Cessna offers only the entire assembly at price of $2350. This is a very simple lock, latch and spring unit). Used assemblies are priced at $495. No alternative to these Cessna assemblies. Usual problem is failure of a simple spring but no new PMA spring or assembly other than Cessna. Treat your baggage door latch with care.
4. AD requiring inspection of forward cabin strut attachment bulkhead. If it needs repair the service kit from Textron $7490. Internet search shows that for the couple of decades when this was just a service advisory and not an AD the kit from Textron was priced between $1200-$1800 I think before it became an AD there were PMA service kits but the AD only allows the Textron/Cessna part number as a fix. FAA says expect 36 hours labor for the repair. So total cost would be $7490 + 36 hours labor ($4300 at the shop I use). Luckily my 182 has had this inspection in the past when it was a Cessna service advisory and no problems were found. Current annual found no problem and this inspection is now added to the AD list.

[u/Slammedtgs]

To the parts suppliers. There is a lot of overhead in the repair world.