M500 LV-KIR, photographed in 2024. · Photo: Horacio Cambeiro via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
Piper · Turboprop
M500 (PA-46-500TP)
The current name for Piper's PA-46 turboprop, and the entry turbine in the M-Class below the M600 and M700 Fury.
The M500 pairs the proven Meridian airframe with Garmin's G1000 avionics and envelope protection as Piper's entry-level turbine. It suits one to three people on trips under about 500 nm; four adults with bags means fuel stops.
Buy it if
You fly yourself or with one hired pilot, usually carry one to three people on regional trips, and want a new or late-model pressurized turbine single with a factory warranty and modern Garmin safety systems.
Skip it if
You regularly fly four adults with bags beyond about 400 nm, need a toilet or a cabin you can stand in, or want 300-knot speed. A TBM 850 or 900 is faster and carries four much farther.
Biggest compromise
Payload versus fuel. With full tanks, an M500 at Piper's standard weight carries about 349 lb of people and bags after a 200 lb pilot.
The numbers that matter
Purchase price
$1.85M–$2.4M
guide value (Aircraft Bluebook, 2019–2023 models, via AvBuyer)
What it costs per year
$434K
at 300 hrs · one professional pilot
How far it flies
1,000 nm
About 410 nm with four 200 lb adults and full reserves; about 555 nm with a 45-minute reserve with passengers
How fast
260 kt
high-speed cruise
Seats
4
4 typical; 5 using the right seat
Pilots needed
1
Certified for one pilot; insurers typically want about 1,000 hours and recent type-specific training.
Price
What one costs to buy
Guide value
$1.85M–$2.4M
Other sites
Priced vs call
with a price / call for price
Only 2 of 16 listed M500s show a price: $1.895M for a 2015 and $2.25M for a 2017. Aircraft Bluebook values 2019–2023 models at $1.85–2.4M.
Price vs its family and alternatives
Scroll to explore · select a jet for details
M500 (PA-46-500TP) · This aircraft
$1.85M–$2.4M guide
Guide value, not a listed asking price.
Sits between the Meridian (PA-46-500TP) and the TBM 850 G1000 / Elite.
For sale now
None listed right now
Cost to own
What it costs per year to run
300hours / year
Per year
Per flight hour
Estimate — your operator will quote actual numbers.
Fuel, maintenance and engine program or reserve rise as you fly more. One professional pilot, hangar and insurance stay the same however much you fly.
Where the money goes
Partial estimate- One professional pilot$134,82531%
- Hangar$21,0005%
- Insurance$26,0006%
- Fuel$107,76925%
- Maintenance$85,20020%
- Engine program or reserve$58,95014%
One professional pilot is the biggest single cost at 31% of the total.
The JetGrade
64 out of 100 — Below its class average
Peer group: Piper M600, Daher TBM 850 G1000 / Elite, Daher TBM 900, Piper Meridian (PA-46-500TP)
Seven categories at a glance
- - - 70 = typical— This aircraft
Strongest on running costs, weakest on range & payload.
Grades are editorial opinions about the model, not any specific aircraft. Sponsors and affiliates have no input. Reviewed 2026-10-02.
Where it flies
Sample trips and reach
Typical trips on a map
Nonstop
Fuel stop likely
Out of reach
1 of 6 sample trips are comfortable nonstops.
Sample flight times
- 1.2 hr
Carlsbad → Las Vegas
205 nm · Short hop, well within range
- 3.3 hr
Carlsbad → Aspen
625 nm · Nonstop with two aboard; mountain airport
- 4.1 hr
Santa Ana → San José del Cabo
765 nm · One stop with four aboard; nonstop with two
- 4.9 hr
Teterboro → West Palm Beach
900 nm · Two stops with four aboard; one with three
- 6.1 hr
Dallas → Teterboro
1,190 nm · Two stops with four aboard; one with two
Carlsbad → Teterboro
2,100 nm · Impractical with four aboard; two stops with two
Lineage
What came before and after
1984–1988
PA-46-310P Malibu
The original pressurized piston PA-46 six-seater.
1989 onward
PA-46-350P Malibu Mirage
Piston PA-46 with a new engine; the turboprop's starting point.
2015–present
M500
Same airframe renamed, with upgraded Garmin cockpit and envelope protection.
What changed from the Meridian (PA-46-500TP)
- Upgraded Garmin G1000 with sharper 10-inch and 12-inch screens at launch; G1000 NXi standard from 2018.
- Garmin envelope protection, underspeed protection and a one-button level mode became standard.
- Digital pressurization control built into the Garmin avionics.
- ADS-B Out at launch, later ADS-B In and Out with a Garmin GI 275 standby instrument.
- Air conditioning, USB charging and window shades listed as standard equipment.
- Airframe, engine, weights and 170-gallon fuel capacity carried over from the late Meridian.
Size and cabin
How big it is, inside and out
Outside
Silhouette · scaled to length
Length
Wingspan
Height
Inside the cabin
Cabin length
Width
Height
Compare
How it stacks up
This aircraft
M500 (PA-46-500TP)
- JetGrade
- 64
- Price
- $1.85M–$2.4M guide
- Cost per year
- $434K
- Range
- 1,000 nm
- Speed
- 260 kt
- Seats
- 4
- Cabin length
- 12′ 3″
- Pilots
- 1
- Years built
- 2015–now
← Before
- JetGrade
- 63
- Price
- $1.28M
- Cost per year
- $418K
- Range
- 1,000 nm
- Speed
- 260 kt
- Seats
- 4
- Cabin length
- 12′ 3″
- Pilots
- 1
- Years built
- 2000–2015
Alternative
- JetGrade
- 70
- Price
- $2.4M
- Cost per year
- $510K
- Range
- 1,520 nm
- Speed
- 320 kt
- Seats
- 4
- Cabin length
- 13′ 3″
- Pilots
- 1
- Years built
- 2008–2013
Alternative
- JetGrade
- 67
- Cost per year
- $448K
- Range
- 1,658 nm
- Speed
- 274 kt
- Seats
- 4
- Cabin length
- 12′ 4″
- Pilots
- 1
- Years built
- 2016–2019
Alternative
- JetGrade
- 79
- Price
- $3M–$4.25M guide
- Cost per year
- $524K
- Range
- 1,660 nm
- Speed
- 265 kt
- Seats
- 6
- Cabin length
- 16′ 11″
- Pilots
- 1
- Years built
- 2006–2008
- Daher TBM 850 G1000 / Elite instead: Similar used-market money buys about 60 knots more speed and roughly three times the four-passenger range, at higher fuel and ownership costs.
- Piper M600 instead: Piper's next step up: a larger wing holding 260 gallons and a 600 shp engine, for much longer range at a higher price.
- Pilatus PC-12/47 instead: A far larger cabin with a cargo door and room for up to nine passengers, for a much higher purchase and operating cost.
Gold marks the best figure in each row.
Owning one
What to know before you buy
Engines & inspections
1 × Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-42A · 500 shp each
No APUEngine hours until overhaul
- Progressive inspection events · 100 hr
- Engine hot section inspection · 1,800 hr
- Engine overhaul · 3,600 hr
- Propeller overhaul · 4,000 hr
New aircraft carry a seven-year engine warranty. Ask whether the engine is on an hourly plan, what it covers and whether it transfers.
Known issues
Engine overhaul cost
A 2026 fixed-price PT6A-42A overhaul costs about $577,000, roughly a quarter to a third of a used M500's price.
Earlier G1000 on 2015–2017
Aircraft built 2015–2017 have the earlier Garmin G1000; the G1000 NXi became standard on 2018 models.
Engine inlet case corrosion
The engine's magnesium inlet case can corrode, especially on aircraft based near the coast.
Pre-buy checklist
0 of 10 checked
Piper lists about 90 authorized service centers worldwide for airframe work, and Pratt & Whitney Canada and independent shops such as StandardAero support the PT6A-42A engine, including fixed-price overhauls.
Review
The full review
Strengths
- Garmin G1000 NXi from 2018 models, with envelope protection, underspeed protection and a one-button level mode as standard.
- A 500 shp Pratt & Whitney PT6A-42A overhauled every 3,600 hours; new aircraft carry a seven-year engine warranty.
- We estimate about $434,000 a year at 300 hours with a hired pilot, less than a TBM 850 or 900.
Limitations
- With full tanks, an aircraft at Piper's standard weight carries only about 349 lb after the pilot.
- The cabin is about 4 ft 1 in wide and 3 ft 11 in tall, with 20 cu ft for bags.
- Cruise of about 260 knots is roughly 60 to 70 knots slower than a TBM 850 or 900.
The M500 is the current name for Piper's PA-46-500TP, the turboprop that sold as the Meridian from 2000 to 2015. Piper relaunched it in January 2015 at $2.26M with an upgraded Garmin G1000 cockpit and Garmin's Electronic Stability and Protection, which nudges the airplane back toward safe pitch, bank and speed. It is the entry turbine in Piper's M-Class line, below the M600 and M700 Fury, and it is still in production: Piper shipped 13 in 2025.
Pilot's take
From the cockpit, the M500 is a single-pilot turbine built on the familiar Malibu and Meridian airframe, with Garmin's autopilot and envelope protection standard and a one-button level mode for disorientation. The main discipline is weight and fuel planning. Full tanks and a full cabin do not go together, so every trip starts with a load calculation, and a fuel stop is normal with four adults aboard. Flight into known icing is approved, and the reversing propeller helps on shorter runways. Handled that way, it offers turbine reliability and pressurized cruise in the high 20,000s ft on about 40 gallons an hour.
Who this is for
Owner-pilots stepping up from a piston Malibu, Bonanza or Cirrus, and owners with one professional pilot, who fly one to three people on regional trips and want turbine reliability, pressurization and a factory warranty at the low end of turboprop costs.
Ask about this aircraft
Answers come only from our research file on the M500.
Your earlier questionsOwners
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