The 170 market this morning
What does a used 170 ask right now?
With 6 for sale this morning, the Cessna 170 is the 55th most-listed piston type on Barnstormers and second to the Cessna 182 among Cessna types. 2 were listed in the last 30 days and 8 came down, slower churn than the piston singles average.
Asking prices run from $9,500 to $410,000, and half of the 5 priced listings sit between $67,500 and $100,000. The median is $75,000, 27% below the piston singles median of $102,249; 9 of the 13 Cessna types here ask more. Age matters: 1940s airframes ask a median of $56,000 against $100,000 for the 1950s.
2 sellers cut price in the last 30 days, 33% of the live fleet against 27% across every type we track; the average cut took 4% off the ask.
Written from this morning's figures and how they compare with the other types on the site. It changes as the market does.
By variant
| Variant | Seen | Live | Median ask |
|---|---|---|---|
| 170B | 9 | 1 | $100,000 |
| 170A | 5 | 1 | $75,000 |
Only listings whose title names a variant. Median is over live, priced listings of that variant.
Asking price distribution
Asking prices as typed by the seller. "Call" and "make offer" are counted as unpriced.
Median asking by decade
| Built | Seen | Median ask | Cut rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1940s | 4 | $56,000 | 25% |
| 1950s | 7 | $100,000 | 29% |
Year is read from the seller's title, so 56% of 170 listings don't have one. They count everywhere else on this page but not in this table.
Be first to the next 170 that lists or drops
One Telegram message the morning a 170 appears in your budget, and another the day a seller cuts, with days listed and where the ask sits against these 6. Free during beta.
Buyer's notes
About the Cessna 170
What it is
The Cessna 170 is the four-seat taildragger Cessna built from 1948 to 1956, effectively a stretched 140 with a six-cylinder 145 hp Continental C145, later called the O-300. Something over five thousand were built across the 170, 170A and 170B. It is all metal except for the first year's fabric wing, sits on the same spring-steel gear as the 140, and is the direct ancestor of the 172.
The 170 flies like a lighter, gentler 172 with a tailwheel: honest handling, a smooth engine, a stall that is more of a mush, and a 40-degree flap setting on the 170B that lets you land in very little. It is not fast and the climb with four aboard is patient, but it will carry two people, camping gear and a dog into a grass strip and out again. Owners keep them for decades, and the owner community is large enough to matter when you need a part.
Variants that matter for price
Sellers write 170, 170A and 170B, and the B is what the fleet chases. The original 170 of 1948 has a fabric-covered wing with V-struts; the 170A of 1949 went to a metal wing, a single strut and a bigger dorsal fin; the 170B of 1952 got the new wing with the big semi-Fowler flaps, which is the wing the 172 inherited. A late 170B with a 180 hp conversion, a modern panel and a good paint job is the top of the pile. Engine conversions are common: a 180 hp Lycoming O-360 under one of the STCs transforms the takeoff and climb and is what many buyers want, while a stock O-300 airplane is cheaper.
What buyers check
The gear boxes under the cabin floor take the spring-gear loads and are where cracks and corrosion show up, so the floor comes up on a serious prebuy. Look at the tailwheel spring and its attach, the strut fittings and the wing attach points, and the belly and tailcone for corrosion. Any ground loop in the logs deserves a look at the gear box. The original Goodyear brakes are a known nuisance that most owners have swapped for Clevelands.
The O-300 is smooth and cheap to run but makes carburetor ice easily and has a few fewer parts sources every year. Fuel tanks in the wing roots can seep. An STC'd 180 hp engine with a constant-speed prop adds weight forward and needs the paperwork and the weight and balance to go with it. Expect an annual to turn up seat rail wear, a leaking fuel selector, tailwheel parts and a cracked exhaust part.
Who it suits
The 170 suits a pilot who wants a four-seat tailwheel airplane for grass strips, backcountry weekends and short trips with two people and gear. It is not fast and it is not a four-adult airplane over any distance. The cross-shop is the Cessna 172 for the same airplane without the tailwheel, the Cessna 180 for real load and speed, and a Stinson 108 or Maule for something different in the same job.
How much does a used Cessna 170 cost?
Asking prices on Barnstormers this morning run from $9,500 to $410,000, and the median is $75,000. The middle half of the 5 priced listings sit between $67,500 and $100,000. These are asking prices, not sale prices.
How many Cessna 170s are for sale right now?
6 on Barnstormers as of Oct 18, 2026. 2 were listed in the last 30 days and 8 came down. PlaneSnipe has tracked 25 since Jul 19, 2026.
How long does a Cessna 170 take to sell?
Not enough 170 listings have both appeared and closed yet to say. The survivor rate appears here once the cohort is large enough.
How often do Cessna 170 sellers cut the price?
2 price cuts in the last 30 days against 6 live listings, averaging 4% off the previous ask. Cuts are logged when the asking price drops between two consecutive mornings.
Last 30 days
Which 170 sellers cut their price in the last 30 days?
| Aircraft | Where | Listed | Asking |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1948 Cessna 170 BackcountryOct 6 | IL | 44 d | $69,500$67,500−3% |
| Cessna 170A 1951. Tsmo 868Sep 24 | AZ | 91 d | $78,500$75,000−4% |
For sale now
Which 170s are for sale right now?
Newest first. Days listed is counted from the morning we first saw the ad; listings that predate Jul 19, 2026 show the day we started watching.
| Aircraft | Where | Listed | Cuts | Asking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cessna 170 | WI | 9 d | – | $100 |
| 1952 Cessna 170B 1890 Ttsn | FL | 10 d | – | $100,000 |
| Extra 330SC 170H TT | — | 35 d | – | $410,000 |
| 1948 Cessna 170 Backcountry | IL | 44 d | 1 | $67,500 |
| 1948 Cessna 170 Project | — | 91 d | – | $9,500 |
| Cessna 170A 1951. Tsmo 868 | AZ | 91 d | 6 | $75,000 |
Cross-shop
What else does a 170 buyer look at?
Other Cessna types with a page here, then the same class at a similar asking price.
Geography and method
Where are the 170s, and how are they counted?
Where they are
How we count
Barnstormers piston categories are read once a day. A listing is "delisted" after it is missing on two consecutive mornings. Days listed starts the morning we first saw the ad, so listings that predate Jul 19, 2026 are excluded from time-on-market figures. Prices are asking prices as typed by the seller. Nothing here is an appraisal. Full methodology.