Buyers' market?

[Elliot Naess]

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Hi, and Happy New Year!

I've been researching skoolies for a while now, and have learned much -- specially from this forum.

From various sources, I have picked up hints of new laws about seat belts and seat upholstry (flammability) forcing many school districts to aquire new busses. If this is suddenly a widespread issue, might we be looking at a windfall of used busses on the market? What are the facts?

Most cordially,

[hoser]

Being a TAX PAYER I would HOPE they will retro fit or UPGRADE the buses rather than buy all new...

[Elliot Naess]

Good point; I pay taxes too! But as I understand it, it may be cheaper in the long run, in some cases, for the school -- and us -- to buy a new bus now rather than buy 84 new seats with built-in seatbelts and then sell the bus "on schedule" in a few years -- getting nothing for the fancy seats. If this is the case, then we -- the skoolie hobbyists -- may have a "window of opportunity". Anybody know anything?

[dammitAndy]

I dont think it would really do much good to us, if it is just a seat thing, since most of us junk them all anyway. But I'm not versed in the new laws, so I may be missing some of the others.

[lapeer20m]

it would seem logical that the older buses would be grandfathered in under the old rules. Any buses manufactured after a certian date would be required to meet the new standards. If the new rules even exist.....

[Elliot Naess]

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Update: Buyers market or not -- I paid $250 for a 1981 IH/Bluebird conventional with the MV404 gasoline engine and the AT545 auto tranny and air brakes. After an initial problem with the carburetor, it now runs like a champ! 250 bucks!

[w1bmw]

I had heard from the prior owner of my Thomas that the university was selling the old fleet because of a federal grant to purchase new buses with air conditioning. I wonder how many districts are able to get in on that action as well.

[Elliot Naess]

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Sounds about right. An old gent here in my town has a part time job driving new school buses to their new homes in rural Nor Cal. (That means he has terriffic access to the old buses and he sometimes brings one of those home and sells it out of his front yard.) He told me many of the new buses are partly paid for by the government due to new requirements. I suppose I could ask him for details, but we all know how these things go -- the real facts are buried in some locked office where the bean counters live.

The fact that First Student sold four running rust-free 1981s for $250 each tells us we live in good times! Mine has/had freshly re-uphostered seats, which suggests it was taken out of service "by surprise".

[TonyC in IOWA]

...personally on the older buses being grandfathered into the 'new law'... I dont think that would be the case with any buses used to haul kids and such around. I think they would have to buy new or retrofit, although they may be given a 'window' in which to be inline with the 'new law'. And if the example of how the government and FCA have done with high definition broadcasts then that could be..... 2045 maybe...


but in talking about seats... if anyone close to the midwest has access to any half/single green seats I am looking for two of them possibly