The $25K LEZ is a basic VFR panel, O-235 model...therefore a little less than an O-320. The trend is for the bigger engines, but I think the O-235 will do fine for me.
That's good to hear an endorsement for the trailing edge fences on the VEZ.
Yes, the approx. $10K savings is very significant to me! Yet for significant improvement or safety, I would gladly pay the extra $10K for the LEZ. I'm just trying to figure out if the LEZ is really that much improvement over an otherwise fine aircraft.
The comment about VEZs having low prices even before the wing joint issue is very interesting. I had thought it was the wing joint and Mike Melville (on the RAF site) saying to limit planes to 2.5G's that has caused the low prices, but I guess not so.
As a potential buyer, my perception is that the VEZ had so many "corrections" to it (e.g. addition of ailerons, shortening of canard, reduction of rudder throws, upgrading to LEZ main gear, etc) that when RAF came out with the LEZ, the VEZ was abandoned by the marketplace. It seems the VEZ was the learning curve for the LEZ, which makes it a tad more difficult for the purchaser of a pre-owned VEZ to determine how up to date a particular VEZ was built. Perhaps this is why it has had perpetually lower resale. I just don't know.
I'll search for more threads on VEZ vs LEZ. It ultimately may be a personal decision, but it would still help to continue hearing opinions from active pilots.