The Piper M600 is not the fastest single-engine turboprop you can buy. It is not the longest-ranged. But since 2020 it has offered something no other aircraft in its class can match: a certified autonomous landing system that will fly the aircraft to an airport and land it unaided if the pilot is incapacitated. That feature — sold as the HALO Safety System with Garmin Autoland — has become the defining reason many buyers choose an M600/SLS over every other single-engine turboprop on the market.

Our database covers 97 completed Piper M600 transactions. Here is what the data tells you about price, the M600 versus M600/SLS decision, and what this aircraft actually delivers.

What the Piper M600 Is

The M600 is a six-seat pressurised single-engine turboprop built by Piper Aircraft at its Vero Beach, Florida factory. It is the top of Piper's M-series line, sitting above the piston-powered M350. Production began in 2015 (with deliveries from 2016), making it a modern design from the start — not a legacy airframe updated for current buyers.

The engine is the Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-42A, producing 600 shaft horsepower. The airframe is pressurised to a differential that allows a 6,000-foot cabin altitude at the aircraft's 30,000-foot ceiling. This matters: at 30,000 feet in a pressurised cabin, a solo pilot and five passengers can fly in shirtsleeve comfort without supplemental oxygen, covering the kind of 700–1,000 nm missions that would require an airline connection in anything smaller.

Key specifications:

Engine: Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-42A (600 shp)
Maximum cruise speed: 274 KTAS at 30,000 ft
Normal cruise speed: 254 KTAS at 30,000 ft (ISA −10)
Maximum range: 1,484 nm
Maximum operating altitude: 30,000 ft (FL300)
Fuel burn: 250–308 pph (approximately 37–46 US gallons per hour)
Fuel capacity: 260 US gallons
Maximum takeoff weight: 6,000 lbs
Initial climb rate: over 1,500 fpm
Seating: up to 6 (pilot + 5)

In practical mission terms: the M600 will carry four passengers roughly 900 nm in three and a half hours with IFR reserves, at a true airspeed that makes most Part 91 turboprop flying genuinely productive. It is sized for the owner-pilot who does not want or need a two-crew jet and wants to fly themselves rather than charter.

→ Browse current Piper M600 listings on Sprinkle

M600 vs M600/SLS: The Decision That Defines the Used Market

Piper introduced the M600/SLS variant in 2020. "SLS" stands for Smooth Landing System, but the defining feature is more significant than the name suggests: the HALO (High Altitude Life-saving Operational) Safety System, which incorporates Garmin's Emergency Autoland capability.

If the pilot becomes incapacitated — through hypoxia, cardiac event, or any other incapacitation — the HALO system automatically takes control of the aircraft, selects an appropriate diversion airport (filtered by runway length, weather, and traffic), flies the approach, and lands the aircraft without pilot input. Transponder codes, cabin and cockpit announcements, and ground contact are all automated. The system can be triggered by a button reachable by a passenger, or it can activate automatically if the pilot stops interacting with the controls for a sustained period.

This is not a theoretical safety feature. It represents a genuine qualitative difference between the pre-2020 M600 and the M600/SLS, and the used market prices it accordingly.

Beyond Autoland, the SLS also adds:

Autothrottle (the base M600 has manual throttle management)
Garmin GFC 600H autopilot (replacing the GFC 600)
Synthetic vision technology on all displays
Enhanced weather and traffic systems

For a solo owner-pilot, particularly one who regularly flies IFR in IMC, the SLS upgrade addresses the most serious single-pilot risk scenario that exists. That is why SLS-equipped aircraft command a consistent premium — and why the "which variant" question is the first one to answer when shopping this type.

What They Actually Sell For

Our 97 completed transactions span the full production life of the M600, from 2016 model years through to 2023. The headline numbers:

Average sale price: $2,964,047
Minimum transaction: $1,995,000 (2016 aircraft, 2020–2021)
Maximum transaction: $3,990,000 (2023 aircraft, 2025)
Average time on market: 159 days (from 89 records with listing and sale dates)

Price is strongly correlated with model year and SLS status. Here is what the transaction data shows by year of manufacture:

Model year	Price range in our data	SLS available?
2016	$1,995,000 – $2,650,000	No
2017	$2,150,000 – $3,125,000	No
2018	$2,295,000 – $3,082,000	No
2019	$2,650,000 – $2,695,000	No
2020	$2,750,000 – $3,200,000	Yes (SLS from mid-2020)
2021	$2,850,000 – $3,500,000	Yes
2022	$3,519,764 – $3,750,000	Yes
2023	$3,375,000 – $3,990,000	Yes

New M600/SLS aircraft are currently listing around $4.4 million. A 2016 base M600 with 1,600–1,700 hours can be found in the $2.1–$2.3M range. The spread between the oldest available aircraft and a new one is therefore roughly $2.1 million — a meaningful decision point, given the SLS variant only exists from 2020 onwards.

One observation from the data: the M600 trades in 159 days on average. This is faster than the Eclipse 500 (235 days) but slower than mainstream complex piston singles. The buyer pool is smaller than for a Cirrus SR22, but serious — and well-funded.

→ See the full Piper M600 transaction history and price guide on Sprinkle

Operating Costs

The PT6A-42A is one of the most reliable engines in general aviation, with a time-between-overhaul limit of 3,500 hours and an outstanding field reliability record. Part of what you are paying for in a PT6-powered aircraft is the depth of the maintenance network — PT6-trained shops exist at most sizeable airports in North America and Europe.

Fuel burn of 37–46 US gallons per hour at cruise puts the M600 firmly in turboprop territory: more than twice the fuel cost of a fast piston single, significantly less than a light jet. At $7 per gallon Jet-A, you are looking at $260–$320 per flight hour in fuel alone.

Total operating costs, including fuel, engine reserves, maintenance, and annual fixed costs (insurance, hangar, training), typically run $800–$1,000 per flight hour at 300–400 annual hours. Fixed annual costs for hangar, insurance, and recurrent training alone will generally exceed $150,000 per year regardless of utilisation.

Piper's M600 requires recurrent type training. Multiple simulator training providers offer M600 programmes, and insurance carriers require current training for coverage. Budget for this from day one — both the time and the cost.

What Is on the Market Now

Current active listings on Sprinkle show a healthy M600 market with aircraft across the full age range:

2016 PIPER M600 — 1,691 hours, $2,240,000 (Olathe, KS)
2019 PIPER M600 — 1,030 hours (Phoenix, AZ — price on request)
2020 Piper M600 SLS — 809 hours, $2,995,000 (Taylor, TX)
2020 PIPER M600 — 775 hours, $3,100,000 (Rock Hill, SC)
2021 PIPER M600 SLS — price on request (multiple locations)
2026 PIPER M600 SLS — new, $4,414,112 (Muncie, IN)

The gap between a 2016 non-SLS aircraft and a 2020 SLS is roughly $750,000–$850,000 in the current market. Whether that premium is worth it depends on how you plan to use the aircraft. If you fly primarily VFR in day VMC conditions at lower altitudes, the SLS systems are largely irrelevant. If you are a single pilot routinely flying IFR at FL250–FL300, often without a co-pilot, the HALO system addresses a real and serious risk in a way nothing else currently available does.

→ Browse Piper M600/SLS listings on Sprinkle

Who Is the M600 For?

The Piper M600 targets a specific buyer: an owner-pilot who wants pressurised turboprop performance for 600–1,200 nm single-pilot missions, without the cost and complexity of a light jet or the two-crew requirements of more capable turboprops. It competes most directly with the TBM series (900/940/960) and the Pilatus PC-12 NG.

Against the TBM, the M600 offers a lower acquisition price and lower fixed costs — but the TBM 940 and 960 cruise faster, have more range, and in the case of the 940 offer their own autoflight/safety systems. Against the Pilatus PC-12, the M600 is more affordable to acquire and operate, but the PC-12 carries more payload and offers a larger cabin.

The M600/SLS's HALO system is currently a differentiator unique to this aircraft. Neither the TBM nor the PC-12 offers a comparable autonomous landing capability as standard, which means for solo owner-pilots who weight this risk seriously, the M600/SLS currently has no direct equivalent.

If your missions are primarily coastal hops or regional routes up to 900 nm, you fly regularly without a co-pilot, and you want to buy new or near-new at below $4 million, the M600/SLS is one of the most compelling propositions in single-engine turboprop aviation today.