Models / Piper / PA-24 Comanche
Updated this morning · Oct 18, 2026
Piper PA-24 Comanche: prices, price cuts and days on market
27 are for sale on Barnstormers today, with a median asking price of $99,000. 41% of the ones we watched appear are still listed 30 days later, and 10 sellers cut price in the last 30 days.
The PA-24 Comanche market this morning
What does a used PA-24 Comanche ask right now?
With 27 for sale this morning, the Piper PA-24 Comanche is the 8th most-listed piston type on Barnstormers and second to the Piper PA-28 Cherokee among Piper types. 12 were listed in the last 30 days and 7 came down, about the same churn as the rest of the class. CA has the most of them (5), then TX (4).
Asking prices run from $20,000 to $239,000, and half of the 26 priced listings sit between $74,000 and $129,900. The median is $99,000, close to the piston singles median of $102,249; 4 of the 9 Piper types here ask more. Age matters: 1950s airframes ask a median of $79,825 against $95,000 for the 1960s.
10 sellers cut price in the last 30 days, 37% of the live fleet against 27% across every type we track; the average cut took 12% off the ask. Of the PA-24 Comanches we watched appear, 41% were still for sale 30 days later.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| PA-24-250 | 26 | 14 | $87,000 |
| PA-24-260 | 8 | 5 | $129,900 |
| PA-24-180 | 6 | 2 | $72,450 |
| PA-24-400 | 2 | 1 | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 10 | $79,825 | 10% |
| 1960s | 25 | $95,000 | 36% |
Year is read from the seller's title, so 31% of PA-24 Comanche listings don't have one. They count everywhere else on this page but not in this table.
Be first to the next PA-24 Comanche that lists or drops
One Telegram message the morning a PA-24 Comanche appears in your budget, and another the day a seller cuts, with days listed and where the ask sits against these 27. Free during beta.
Buyer's notes
About the Piper PA-24 Comanche
What it is
The PA-24 Comanche is the four-seat, low-wing retractable Piper built at Lock Haven from 1958 until the 1972 flood ended production, a little under five thousand airplanes in all. It was Piper's first serious attempt at a Bonanza rival: a laminar-flow wing, a stabilator, electric retractable gear with a manual extension, a big cabin for its class and engines from 180 hp up to a 400 hp eight-cylinder. It still outruns and outcarries most of the Piper singles that came after it.
Owners describe the Comanche as the most airplane you can buy for the money among single-engine retracts. Piper stopped making parts a long time ago, so the type survives on a strong owner group, salvage and a handful of specialist shops. It is stable and honest to fly, with a heavy nose in the flare on the six-cylinder versions.
Variants that matter for price
Sellers list the horsepower: PA-24-180, -250, -260 and -400. The 180 is the economy model, slower and cheaper to feed. The 250 with the carbureted O-540 was the volume seller of the early years and is regarded as the best combination of speed, simplicity and price. The 260 replaced it in 1965 with a fuel-injected IO-540 and is listed by sub-model: 260, 260B (a longer cabin with an optional third row of small seats from 1966) and 260C (1969 on, with the reshaped cowl and a gross-weight increase), plus a rare Turbo 260. The 400, with an IO-720 and fewer than two hundred built, is a collector's airplane and an expensive one to keep. Buyers hunt a 260B or 260C with tip tanks and a good panel, and a 250 with tip tanks and a mid-time engine is the pragmatic choice.
What buyers check
The landing gear is the item. The Comanche gear is driven by an electric motor through a transmission and assisted by bungees, and it has a recurring inspection every thousand hours that a buyer should confirm is done and documented. Gear collapses from worn parts or bad rigging are the type's best-known failure, so the whole system gets checked by someone who has done it before. The stabilator horn has a well-known corrosion and cracking inspection. Fuel bladders in the wings age and leak; replaced bladders with paperwork are worth asking for. The O-540 and IO-540 are solid engines with long lives. Old Piper autopilots are common and mostly unsupported, so a modern replacement adds value, as do tip tanks, gap seals, a three-blade prop and a Comanche-savvy annual in the last year. Expect an annual to turn up gear bushing wear, fuel seeps and exhaust cracks.
Who it suits
The Comanche suits a pilot who wants Bonanza speed and load without Bonanza money and who is comfortable relying on a type club and specialist shops rather than a factory. It is not a good fit for a buyer who wants parts off the shelf, and it is not a short-field airplane. Buyers cross-shop the Beech Bonanza, the Mooney M20 (faster per gallon, smaller cabin), the Cessna 210 and the Piper Arrow for something newer and slower.
How much does a used Piper PA-24 Comanche cost?
Asking prices on Barnstormers this morning run from $20,000 to $239,000, and the median is $99,000. The middle half of the 26 priced listings sit between $74,000 and $129,900. These are asking prices, not sale prices.
How many Piper PA-24 Comanches are for sale right now?
27 on Barnstormers as of Oct 18, 2026. 12 were listed in the last 30 days and 7 came down. PlaneSnipe has tracked 54 since Jul 19, 2026.
How long does a Piper PA-24 Comanche take to sell?
41% of the PA-24 Comanche listings we watched appear are still for sale 30 days later, so most take longer than that. We will publish a median once more than half of the cohort has closed.
How often do Piper PA-24 Comanche sellers cut the price?
10 price cuts in the last 30 days against 27 live listings, averaging 12% off the previous ask. Cuts are logged when the asking price drops between two consecutive mornings.
Last 30 days
Which PA-24 Comanche sellers cut their price in the last 30 days?
| Aircraft | Where | Listed | Asking |
|---|---|---|---|
| Piper Comanche 250Oct 15 | IN | 19 d | $59,900$56,500−6% |
| 1962 Piper PA-24-250 ComancheOct 10 | NC | 10 d | $50,000$25,000−50% |
| 1965 Comanche 260Oct 10 | CA | 73 d | $99,000$95,000−4% |
| 1961 Comanche 250 90 GallonsOct 9 | OH | 39 d | $99,500$89,500−10% |
| 1960 Piper Comanche 250Oct 6 | OH | 53 d | $79,000$74,000−6% |
| 1965 Comanche 260Oct 6 | CA | 73 d | $109,000$99,000−9% |
| 1965 Comanche 260Sep 29 | CA | 73 d | $125,000$109,000−13% |
| 1965 Piper Comanche 260Sep 25 | MN | 66 d | $139,900$129,900−7% |
| 1961 Comanche 250 90 GallonsSep 24 | OH | 39 d | $110,000$99,500−10% |
| 1966 Piper Comanche 260BSep 24 | MN | 34 d | $114,900$109,900−4% |
For sale now
Which PA-24 Comanches 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.
Cross-shop
What else does a PA-24 Comanche buyer look at?
Other Piper types with a page here, then the same class at a similar asking price.
Geography and method
Where are the PA-24 Comanches, 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.