Muncie Aviation Company

Muncie Aviation Co. is not a good place to do business. They do not stand behind the planes they sell.

I bought a new Malibu Mirage with 56 hrs, fully warrantied, which I always kept in a climate controlled hangar in Upstate NY, and flew weekly. At 290 hrs, I had to replace the 6 cylinders due to corrosion, which Lycoming does not warranty. The cost was nearly $20,000 to repair. An investigation by my FBO, indicated that the corrosion set in because the Malibu sat for too long while in Muncie’s possession, and Muncie never performed the Lycoming 480E mandatory service bulletin oil change during break in. The original oil was left in the engine for 11 months- 7 months longer than the 4 month max. The oil was changed after 45 hrs- almost twice as long as required.

On my first call to Steve Thompson, Muncie sales rep, I heard the worst customer service statement ever, “We do not warranty the planes we sell.” There’s more you should know about this man, but I’m a gentleman. Muncie Aviation was well aware they neglected to properly break in the new engine. Both log book entries and the failure to produce flight logs of the aircraft while in their possession prove this. I did inquire about a prebuy inspection, which I did for 4 previous used planes I had purchased, but was told it’s a new plane and it’s fully warrantied. Why bother? I realize my mistake, but for a Piper dealer who’s last line in their mission statement is, “And best of all - our employee-owners will do it all with a smile you’ll remember”, that hurts. To add insult to injury, after the cylinder issue, SB1288 was released- also within the warranty period. We called Muncie several times to authorize my FBO to comply with the SB. Got voicemail and never a call back. I ended up paying for that too. Obviously customer satisfaction isn't their concern.

Would you buy a plane from a company this neglectful? Trust me, there are many options where to do business, and Muncie Aviation is one I'd stay away from.