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I'm new to Piano World and looking for advice on which of two pianos to invest in. Here's my situation. I have two sons playing piano and the older has outgrown the capabilities of the digital we purchased four years ago. Our budget won't allow us to spend a lot. We want to buy something of excellent quality, built to last, and have good resale. We've auditioned several pianos and narrowed our choices to two used Yamahas.

The first is a 1 year old T116. Price is offered at $3400 with ten year warranty.

The other is a 32 year old U1. S/N check shows it to be a US market piano. Price is offered at $2800 with a 5 year warranty.

Both sound great in the showroom. I intend to have a licensed technician inspect our first choice before we enter into final negotiations. Assuming we hang onto the piano for a minimum of 10 years, which is the better way to go? What is likely to be the resale value of what will then be an 11 year old T116 vs. a 42 year old U1?

I think you are looking at the wrong thing. What should be paramount is which will serve your boys better over that ten year period. The resale will probably not differ greatly.

I'd go for the newer piano, although if they have outgrown a digital, they may well outgrow an upright in less than ten years. 31 years use will likely negate any quality difference between the two pianos.

The U1 is a great piano, but it is a lot older and could require work over ten years. The T116 (which I will admit I like as a piano) likely will not.

i would take a look at a T118 as well. this is a new piano coming out of their china factory. very nice instrument and i imagine will slowly eat away at U1 sales because of the huge price difference between these two piano. Undoubtedly the U1 is a better piano, but when you weigh the differences, I really like the T118.

I agree with Christopher,
The T118 and the U1 actually have the same plate.
The T118 is just under 47" tall and the U1 is 48".
If you open the knee board on both, the U1 plate
sits about an inch above the bottom board, where the T118 plate is cut in to the bottom board and is about 1/2" lower than the pedals inside.
String lengths would then be the same, except the soundboard would be a little smaller.
It should be in the same range as the used T116.

i would also look at the Kawai K2 and K3 both are competively priced. Also,I have many customers tell me that they tend to want to buy a Yamaha due to the resale value. It is interesting though if you go onto Pianomart.com and you will see there are twice as many Yamahas on sale than Kawai's. So, one must ask themselves what makes your Yamaha distinctively better or why would they buy yours in an overcrowded market? Food for thought.

i would also look at the Kawai K2 and K3 both are competively priced. Also,I have many customers tell me that they tend to want to buy a Yamaha due to the resale value. It is interesting though if you go onto Pianomart.com and you will see there are twice as many Yamahas on sale than Kawai's. So, one must ask themselves what makes your Yamaha distinctively better or why would they buy yours in an overcrowded market? Food for thought.

Rev Woo,
Do you think that there were more Yamahas sold than the Kawai's and this is why?
Also since they has a more attractive name, more gray market ones are purchased to get more business?
I do agree to check out the K2 & K3 but I don't agree with the premise that an online piano store can be a judge of what sells. The owners of Piano-mart buy what they think will sell faster as does any store.
Twice as many Yamaha's may mean they'll sell twice as many Yamaha's in the same amount of time.
I wouldn't want to flood the floor with white elephants.

Before anyone else weighs in with more Yamaha vs. Kawai editorials, let me tell you I purchased the Yamaha U1. The T116 was sold before we could back to look at it again. I had a technician inspect the U1 and his report came back with only a comment on needed adjustment to regulation. He estimated 3 hrs of labor could correct it. The salesman at the store was happy to deduct that from his asking price. After some additional haggling, we closed the deal. Delivery is scheduled for this Friday.

Thanks to everyone that provided feedback.

Although I agree wholeheartedly about trying the equivalent Kawai models in a search for asian uprights, I find your above statement TOTALLY cheesy and salesman-like. How many pianos does Kawai make per year? How many Yamahas? Might that explain the resale market a little more accurately?