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Old 01-06-2010, 06:47 PM   #1
Skoolie
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
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West Coast buses

Hey guys, all the buses I see for sale are either in the east coast or midwest. I live in Utah and have not found anything in the west for under 5000. I am looking at spending 2500 at the most.

Called the local school districts and they aren't selling any buses this year. Been checking ebay, craigs list and KSL, nothing.

I am looking to purchase this spring, anyone out west know of places that may have something in my price range?

Thanks,

Jackie

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Old 01-06-2010, 07:25 PM   #2
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Re: West Coast buses

Other than eBay and Craigslist, try publicsurplus.com, purplewave.com, floridachurchbus (for reference, their prices, among other things are outrageous), and ks-bus.com. The last one is in Lawrence, KS. That's in Eastern Kansas and I'm in the west, but we drive right past there monthly. If you found something you like, I think that we could help you get it across Kansas and maybe as far as Denver. That would only leave you one more state to go!

Good luck!
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Old 01-06-2010, 09:01 PM   #3
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Re: West Coast buses

Another (expensive) source is rockymtnbus.com. They are in Monument, Colorado I think. I don't recall where that is exactly. I'm hoping that with their prices, they are open to dealing!

Ben.
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Old 01-06-2010, 11:39 PM   #4
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Re: West Coast buses

Craigs List was my avenue of purchase. I also watches newspapers, classifieds, and spread the word around a bit and they all yielded some hits although in the in the old trusty CL add won out. Just a note... I held out and worked a guy on the price of our bus until he would come down to 1600 you might try such tactics unless your really itching to get working on the build with the economy where it is there is an advantage to having cash ....
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Old 01-07-2010, 10:44 AM   #5
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Re: West Coast buses

Thanks for the encouragement guys. And Ben, thanks for the Kansas offer. If I could get it near Denver the rest would be histore, as they say.

Jackie
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Old 01-07-2010, 12:48 PM   #6
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Re: West Coast buses


First Student lists their decomissioned buses on their web site, searchable by state, but I think they quit listing prices. Worth looking into, though. Three years ago, they were good at responding to e-mails.

I bought my buses from them in Oregon. Rust free.
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Old 01-07-2010, 06:10 PM   #7
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Re: West Coast buses

I probably will wonder what the hell I got myself into as soon as I part with the cash.
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Old 01-07-2010, 06:45 PM   #8
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Re: West Coast buses

I bought my bus from Harlow's Bus Sales they have bus barns all over the west Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, N and S Dakota maybe more. Their web site was a little out of date but I just started calling their different locations till I found what I wanted.

When I was bus shopping I found that western buses are more expensive than midwest buses at least from dealers, but I'm glad I paid a little extra every time I see the pictures of the extensive rust some of those units have.

County auctions can be a good deal if you got time to shop them and they have what you want. A buddy of mine made a good score at one, but the auctions take place infrequently and you may not want to wait 7 months for your chance to bid on the one you want.

Good luck with your search It does get a little frustrating at times, we had lots of false starts and drove lots of miles till we found ours. With all the money and time a conversion takes I'm glad we held out and got exactly what we wanted.

Take care,
Den
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Old 01-08-2010, 01:07 PM   #9
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Re: West Coast buses

I'm not in any great hurry to get the bus. Plus I'm cheap so I won't be spending, spending, spending Just don't want to be so cheap I do myself out of a good deal.

I will check out Harlow bus sales, thanks.

I now know I want at least 24 feet behind the drivers seat. I like the look of the flat face, but would probably feel safer, in case of an accident, with five feet of engine in front of me.

I am buying a diesel for the pulling power, and maybe even a stick shift.

The midwest seems to have good deals on buses. Midwest transit is one site I have been checking out.
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Old 01-08-2010, 01:27 PM   #10
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Re: West Coast buses

I bought mine at K-S Bus in Kansas, and feel like I got a decent deal. They were easy to work with, willing to negotiate, and picked me up at the airport. So if you can't find what you want at auction, and are forced to go to a dealer, I would recommend them.
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Old 01-08-2010, 02:18 PM   #11
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Re: West Coast buses

Another dealer that I know of is in Iowa. They often have buses under $2000. I called them about three weeks ago and they had several...then I found The Silver Snail in Ohio!

thomasamerican.com/buses.asp

The man to talk to is Kirby. The website isn't so much up to date, but they are really nice to talk to on the phone!

We run by there occasionally to bus kids around to the "other parents." This is another place that maybe my wife and I could help you get a bus to Denver, since we make the trip every couple months.

But you're probably going to get the best deal from a private party. Just another option!

Ben.
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Old 01-08-2010, 08:51 PM   #12
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Re: West Coast buses

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mulelover
I'm not in any great hurry to get the bus. Plus I'm cheap so I won't be spending, spending, spending Just don't want to be so cheap I do myself out of a good deal.

I will check out Harlow bus sales, thanks.

I now know I want at least 24 feet behind the drivers seat. I like the look of the flat face, but would probably feel safer, in case of an accident, with five feet of engine in front of me.

I am buying a diesel for the pulling power, and maybe even a stick shift.

The midwest seems to have good deals on buses. Midwest transit is one site I have been checking out.
I almost bought from Midwest, the sales folks and web sight are excellent and their prices aren't bad, however the rust on their buses scared me. From the pictures folk post on here of buses that show a little "surface" rust until you start demo and then they have big holes in the floor pan and the window post are rotting. I decided I wasn't committing to nothing till I could go over it closely in person. I could have bought the same bus from them for probably close to a $1000 less, but I weighed that against the cost of a long road trip back to Wyoming and the potential of not coming back with a bus at all to the added cost of buying a rust free western bus that was closer but more expensive on the front end.

Harlow's had quite a few decent buses on their Whitehall, MT lot and a good line on many others including farther north up the road in Libby, MT, they're a pretty big outfit. Just for comparative purposes, I gave $2950 for my 1994 International with a 54 passenger Bluebird coach, powered up with a DT360 engine and a 545 automatic. 104k miles, runs out strong, shifts perfect and tight in suspension and steering, fresh brakes and came with a full 65 gallon fuel tank when diesel was over $3. Tires are on the downhill side, but zero rust anywhere and not even a chip in the windshield.

Smitty's right about private party sales. If you can find the bus you want at the price point you like it's going to be the cheapest route. I looked at several in the Longmont/Denver, CO area, most of them were in a pretty poor state of maintenance or just the wrong engine/drive train and size. I'm on a time line with my bus project and it was worth a little more money to get exactly the drive train/size I wanted without spending another few months driving all over hell and gone kicking tires.

Good luck with your search, finding a good bus that suits your purpose at a decent price is half the challenge!

Take care,
Den
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Old 01-17-2010, 12:22 PM   #13
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Re: West Coast buses

Thanks Tex I have been checking out that site.

Maybe when school is out for summer they will have some busses.

Jackie
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