IS THIS BUS WORTH 10k? IF NOT, WHY?

[Miami Dreaming]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

RE: layaway sounds like a BGA bus... great group of people, super nice and been selling busses for years...pretty reputable. their busses are average, their services are good, their prices are pretty high.. ive heard better pricing from tampa bus market.. couple members here have bought from them.. some have bought from BGA too..



the bus you mentioned is a decent spec but I wouldnt pay over 5 or 6k for it..



again its how much its worth to you like others have mentioned.. but also dont blow your whole budget if you dont have to... one of my busses came from BGA.. its an average bus like any other.. ive since built it up to be what I want it to be.. but at the time I needed a bus quick, and they had the type and brand I wanted and could perform the services to it i needed done.. the price on the bus was high, I talked em down a decent amount.. and the services i had done to it were less than I could find in other market areas so the overall value to me was just right...
-Christopher

I saw that Tampa Bus Market had the same identical bus priced at 5k but I’m not sure why both busses are priced so differently considering they’re the same type of bus? Could you pitch in on this? I’m fairly new to this hobby

[Miami Dreaming]

Originally Posted by david.dgeorge07

I’m not one of the people who say that if you pay more than a couple grand for a bus you got robbed, but I have a nearly identical bus to the one you are considering and paid a bit over 5k. I have seen where people have paid as low as $3500 for similar.

If I were you I would offer $5 and walk away if you can’t agree on something below $6.5k.

All of that said, I like my bus a lot. Some people don’t like CAT but I have had a good experience so far and this bus drives much better that any of the ones I test drove and I went through close to 10.

There are a lot of busses out there.

I figured that the bus wasn’t worth anymore than 6k max but I was willing to budge for 7500, but even 7500 seems like a steep price. I noticed that busses of similar trait were going for much lower value, but I just can’t figure out why he would price the bus so high? My counter is going to be 6k, and if that can’t be accepted than I’m probably going to have to walk away. My biggest fear is paying more than I should, only later to find out I have to spend extra on repairs etc.

[PNW_Steve]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

At auction it would sell for $3k-$4k tops.
At a dealer, facebook, or craigslist its a $5k-$8k bus.
Ten k is silly money for it, imo.

Sounds right on.

I paid $3450 for my 2002 RE with 8.3, MD-3060 and 171k miles.

It did take well over a year of watching auctions daily to find it.

Bid low and bid often

[Miami Dreaming]

Wow this was more info than I thought I’d get. I really appreciate all the help everyone’s giving me.

One thing I wanted to ask, I heard that you can search up how much a bus was bought for, including maintenance history by searching up the vin number. I’m wondering if there’s some truth in this?

[david.dgeorge07]

Originally Posted by Miami Dreaming

Wow this was more info than I thought I’d get. I really appreciate all the help everyone’s giving me.



One thing I wanted to ask, I heard that you can search up how much a bus was bought for, including maintenance history by searching up the vin number. I’m wondering if there’s some truth in this?

Not that I’ve heard of.

One thing to know is that there probably is no such thing as a bus that won’t need maintenance on. Just remember that.

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by Miami Dreaming

I saw that Tampa Bus Market had the same identical bus priced at 5k but I’m not sure why both busses are priced so differently considering they’re the same type of bus? Could you pitch in on this? I’m fairly new to this hobby

The price differences are based on the delusional thought by the seller that his bus is worth more than an equivalent purchase from an over priced dealer. Some people thgink they can actually get every dollar they put in it back on the sale, doesn't usually work that way. If I think a bus is worth less than half the asking price, I normally won't even bother making an offer.

[cadillackid]

original prices of school busses sold to public school systems are public record.. for some amount of time.. but you'd likely have to go through records archives to find out what the contract was if you CARFAX'd it and found the original purchasing district.



what you'll find is they probably payed 90k for that new..



BGA's prices have always been high.. they uised to sell busses primarily for the church bus market.. so they would buy them, and do some type of "reconditioning". and would also perform services on them.. so if you were ABC church.. they would offer to remove all the school lights, paint it, change the oil, clean it up, send it to Feolas shop down the street (a very reputable shop).. the price of the bus was way higher than you could go buy it for.. but the prices of their services tend to be at or below market value.. I payed well below market value for the body work i had done on my DEV bus.. had I bought an auction bus then sent it out to several places it may have cost the same altogether in the end.. (mind you this was 3 years ago... havent priced their services since).. where people get nailed, are those that come in and just want a bus.. buy it take it home. yes you can negotiate with them like anyone else.. they are a used car dealer... the other thibng is their layaway program appeals to people.. the bus stays on the lot and you pay for it over time.. since they essentially are buying that bus upfront then taking money over time, it costs them.. many busses have a lower cash price vs layaway.. layaway works for people who dont have the psychological will-power to open a savings account and squirrel away money on their own before they go buy a bus..



BGA wasnt really geared toward the Skoolie/tine home converter, however they have a body / paint guy thats really good.. and they have taken on that market as its lucrative, ive seen them fix a botched roof-raise, fix rusty floors, all kinds of stuff they do for people;s busses.. they even did a couple busses where they fabricated and installed under-body generator slides, installed a genny and 2 camper A/C's for someone a few years back..



all that said, the busses they get are the SAME busses anyone else can get.. sure they do have some agreements with some schools now and then where they seem to obtain many of their busses.. a district in indiana sends quite a few their way.. cant remember the name of it.. some of them are pretty rusty...



that said, if you are patient and look around you'll start to see a whole world out there.. and dont be afraid to travel for the right bus.. many of us have driven a couple or more states away or clear axcross the country for the right bus.. (yes that does run up the costs with plane fares, hotels, and fuel..).. I bought a 40 year old classic in oregon last year.. flew out, hopped in, and drove it back to ohio..



if you are more comfortable with buying fro ma dealer, thats fine too.. you'll pay more, but perhaps its worth it if your time is crunched or you want to drive a bus first, have it checked out etc or are going for bank financing.. tampa bus market is definitely worth talking to... remember just because you walk in the door and talk to people doesnt mean you are obligated to buy anything.. you are the one in control.. Money talks and controls, and as the buyer you have the money...

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by PNW_Steve

Sounds right on.

I paid $3450 for my 2002 RE with 8.3, MD-3060 and 171k miles.

It did take well over a year of watching auctions daily to find it.

Bid low and bid often

Bid low and bid often- that's what I always say too. I'm currently bidding on a fire truck, a cop car, and even a meter maid cart.

[Miami Dreaming]

Does anyone know of anyone in florida who has a bus of similar specs for sale? Or possibly auction sites were I can find similar busses?

[PNW_Steve]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

Bid low and bid often- that's what I always say too. I'm currently bidding on a fire truck, a cop car, and even a meter maid cart.

I know you do..... Who do you think I got it from

[PNW_Steve]

Originally Posted by Miami Dreaming

Does anyone know of anyone in florida who has a bus of similar specs for sale? Or possibly auction sites were I can find similar busses?

govdeals.com
Www.publicsurplus.com

Unfortunately I have not seen many really good buses come out of Florida auctions. The ones that I have looked at were pretty rough.

If you are able to handle a road trip, I would be looking at buses from California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado and Arizona. I have seen some nice buses that came from auction in Texas as well.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by PNW_Steve

govdeals.com
Www.publicsurplus.com

Unfortunately I have not seen many really good buses come out of Florida auctions. The ones that I have looked at were pretty rough.

If you are able to handle a road trip, I would be looking at buses from California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado and Arizona. I have seen some nice buses that came from auction in Texas as well.

I both love buses and live in FL. I shop elsewhere.

[HazMatt]

'Nuff said!!!

[WIbluebird]

All the Florida stuff I see on Govdeals and Public Surplus have been little more than parts buses. Seems like Georgia stuff is that way as well, I see lots of buses from that state listed as "parts missing" or "tow away"

[PatrickBaptist]

Originally Posted by WIbluebird

All the Florida stuff I see on Govdeals and Public Surplus have been little more than parts buses. Seems like Georgia stuff is that way as well, I see lots of buses from that state listed as "parts missing" or "tow away"

I went to a salvage yard in Ruckersville VA, there were 70 buses to chose from that were driveable. M&M auto, they keep their inventory online.
I didn't pay $5k for mine including money spent on fuel, food, and lodging to get it. Today it doesn't even have 92k miles on it yet....
I also spent nearly an hour test driving it to see how it acted after it got up to temp, noone even went with me on the drive. Dunno what they have today but they had coach buses and med duty trucks as well. If they were not so rude with me I would plan to go back to look for other goodies but I'll look elsewhere, but for a good bus selection it worked out good for me.
I knew I'd find something I'd be driving home with that many to pick through. They buy out whole bus fleets and well I atleast didn't feel ripped off later down the road, no problems getting home either, but they won't give you a temp tag, but I made a 450mile drive without any plates somehow and never was bothered LOL.

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

Bid low and bid often- that's what I always say too. I'm currently bidding on a fire truck, a cop car, and even a meter maid cart.

it works!! you have gotten some Bad ass stuff Cheap from auctions!

[Sehnsucht]

I would use this method if I had someplace to keep all that kind of stuff! Maybe first thing I should be shopping for is land with some storage buildings.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by Sehnsucht

I would use this method if I had someplace to keep all that kind of stuff! Maybe first thing I should be shopping for is land with some storage buildings.

I just keep stuff where I'd keep any vehicle. Except the bus, that's at a buddy's property. But once its painted we can keep it here.

[PatrickBaptist]

Guess I should also add, I was living in an RV park when I bought my bus, I had a "double lot" and they allowed me to do my conversion there.

[Mom2three]

I bought a bus for $9.5 and have no regrets whatsoever. It was everything I was looking for. Auctions did not appeal to me, I wanted to know what I was buying, wanted to know everything worked and I could make the drive from where I bought it all the way home, which was over 1,000 mile drive. You can't put a price on peace of mind, IMO. It can cost ya.