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Old 03-08-2016, 06:26 AM   #1
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Georgia
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Bus Dealer in Indiana

Has anyone had dealings or know of someone who has has dealings with MacAllister Transportation in Indianapolis, Indiana?

They seem to have good prices on buses but just wondered.

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Old 03-08-2016, 07:16 AM   #2
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Location: Andrews,Indiana
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Year: 1991
Coachwork: Bluebird
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Haven't bought a bus from them, but parts was very helpful even though I didn't buy anything.
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Old 12-12-2016, 02:42 PM   #3
Mini-Skoolie
 
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Did you Purchase from them?

Quote:
Originally Posted by BigPaul View Post
Has anyone had dealings or know of someone who has has dealings with MacAllister Transportation in Indianapolis, Indiana?

They seem to have good prices on buses but just wondered.

I was going to ask them same question. I live in Indiana and have been there a few times now to look at their inventory. They seem to be very helpful, honest, and they have a constant influx of inventory that comes and goes. I download their pdf every Monday to see what additions they have added or sold.

So I am curious if you did purchase from them and if so what was your experience like, what did you get ect....


Thanks in advance for any help you may provide in regards to this place!

And yes they seem to have great prices and seem to be willing to wheel and deal!
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Old 12-12-2016, 11:57 PM   #4
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Their guy who handles the used inventory is Ron Garrett. He's an extremely nice guy, but I got the impression that he had a lot on his plate. MacAllister is the Blue Bird dealer for the entire state of Indiana, so he handles all of the used buses coming in on trade from the school districts they sell to. Consequently, you sometimes have to remind him several times that he promised to send you pictures of a particular bus, etc. But that said, he always eventually came through with whatever he told me he'd do.

If it weren't for finally finding the exact bus I was looking for elsewhere, I was going to buy one from him. However, I consequently can't tell you anything about actually buying from them.

They do however occasionally list used buses on eBay, and they're always a no reserve auction with a starting price much lower than their already reasonable asking prices on their inventory list.
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Old 12-13-2016, 12:01 AM   #5
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Yes I have met with Ron! I live about 15 min from there! They seem to have great prices and he seems to be very attentive! Thanks for your response!


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Old 12-13-2016, 06:14 AM   #6
Mini-Skoolie
 
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I live 100 miles south of Indy and currently in Bagram Afghanistan until next November,, I am already planning a build when I return and retire!!! Thanks for this info I will definitely look at them..
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Old 12-13-2016, 09:36 AM   #7
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I worked with Ron this year when I purchased my bus. Basically he told me the lowest price he'll accept on any used bus on the lot is $2,500. Any lower than that and they'll just scrap it. He was great to work with. I came out multiple times and checked out my bus and drove it around on the lot before I made an offer. He even arranged for the tires from another bus be swapped on to my bus because they were in much better shape. All I had to do was pay the fee the company down the road from them charges to swap them.
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Old 12-13-2016, 09:42 AM   #8
Mini-Skoolie
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rensch26 View Post
I worked with Ron this year when I purchased my bus. Basically he told me the lowest price he'll accept on any used bus on the lot is $2,500. Any lower than that and they'll just scrap it. He was great to work with. I came out multiple times and checked out my bus and drove it around on the lot before I made an offer. He even arranged for the tires from another bus be swapped on to my bus because they were in much better shape. All I had to do was pay the fee the company down the road from them charges to swap them.

That's awesome! He told me when I was looking at one of the buses that they are willing to wheel and deal, "Just make and Offer" is what he said! I appreciate your input. Where are you at in Indy? What did you end up purchasing and have you started converting yet?

I am actually making my way over there today to see some of the new inventory that just came in.
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Old 12-13-2016, 10:29 AM   #9
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always wheel and deal and be ready t owalk away from any dealer.. a price is not a price.. you can always try to talk them down.

the family friend that used to sell bluebirds years ago.. (Bluebird has always had a trade-in program.. may still be the only one who does.. not sure).. anyway the friend always said that the schools never made any money on the busses at all.. it just was a way for them to get the busses off their books.. its only been recently that school busses had any more widespread interest than just churches and the occasional hippie..

thise dealers dont give much to the schools for most of the trades.. theres bviously some busses that come from schools which are worth more but most of them you can probably get the price down pretty decently.. esp at a dealer in the midwest that wont have a huge influx of exporter business. florida dealers tend to get higher markups as the exporters come in and buy busses literally by the dozen..
-Christopher
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Old 12-13-2016, 10:30 AM   #10
Skoolie
 
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I ended up buying a '99 AmTran FE. It has the DT466 and the Allison MD3060 transmission. It's a full 40' bus originally a 84 passenger. It had about 208k miles on it and I bought it from Ron for $2800 plus the tire swap fee for a couple hundred more. I live on the southeast side of Indy out by New Palestine. My family and I like to ride ATVs and dirt bikes so we are actually making it in to a toy hauler. We removed about 20' of the body and moved the back of the bus forward. So now we have essentially an 18' bus body with about a 22' flatbed out behind it. The interior will be pretty sparse as we don't intend to live in it or anything like that. Just simply haul ATVs, go to football games, or concerts. I need to upload some pictures of it sometime. We still need to paint it in the spring but other than that we're pretty close to being done.
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Old 12-13-2016, 10:35 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cadillackid View Post

thise dealers dont give much to the schools for most of the trades.. theres bviously some busses that come from schools which are worth more but most of them you can probably get the price down pretty decently.. esp at a dealer in the midwest that wont have a huge influx of exporter business. florida dealers tend to get higher markups as the exporters come in and buy busses literally by the dozen..
-Christopher
Actually it's not unusual for the MacAllister dealer in Indy to have guys fly up from central/south america and buy a ton of buses and drive them down there. Ron told me he has guys that will link two buses up together and drive them down in pairs. But basically $2,500 is their bottom dollar. At that point they could part out the engine and trans and scrap the body and come out ahead.
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Old 01-06-2017, 11:10 PM   #12
Mini-Skoolie
 
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I am about 5 miles away and have been out there once, but I was looking for a full height short bus and the only two they had were rustier than I was comfortable buying. Ron did seem very willing to deal though. I would still be watching them if I hadn't gone to Memphis to get a bus.
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Old 01-11-2017, 12:04 PM   #13
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Has anyone been to Kerlin Bus in Silver Lake IN? They're the Thomas/IC dealer for Indiana but they have all kinds of buses on the used lots including many Bluebirds.

How rusty are Indiana buses? The ones I see on their site have plenty of stairwell rust but the pictures don't give much detail about the rest of the bus body condition-wise.
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Old 01-11-2017, 12:15 PM   #14
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salt is the primary ice melter / road treatment in indiana.. as also the busses are run during the wettest 9 months of the year as well.. busses in districts like chicago or northern indiana will be worse as the lake effect snows up there result in sometimes salt being applied almost daily to roads..

busses at the southern tip of indiana may have seen a bit less salt as believe it or not the climate varies greatly from north to south in that state as well as ohio ..

you would just have to ask for pictures of the sides to look at the rails.. and also pics from the under-carriage.

stairwell rust is always a big thing .. the drivers often point one of the right-side heater vents at the stair floor so the kids dont slip and fall.. it melts all the salty snow and results i nthe water running behind / under the rubber material and getting trapped..

your sealer however may have busses from kentucky which seems to have a pretty good track record for not being rust buckets..

Ohio Busses will be sound mechanically (inspectors are tough). but very well likely will have rust.. in ohio busses run on rural routes fair better as the old tar and gravel roads dont require salt just because frost forms on the roads like happens in the city..

they salted all the roads in columbus this morning because it got cold and humid.. frost formed on the pavement.. there wasnt even any snow ..

-Christopher
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