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01-04-2017, 06:33 PM
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#1
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: Barrie, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 42
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What States have the Best Buses to Buy?
Hey Skoolies,
I've been looking at different auctions online like Public Surplus and GovDeals but I need to know what buses from which states would have the least amount of RUST to worry about? From your collective experiences which ones should I be looking out for and are there certain School Boards that are likely to have those quality buses? I'm a Canadian and all we have here are rust buckets to buy lol salt from coast to coast. Thanks for your help.
Kelly John
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01-04-2017, 08:00 PM
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#2
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Bus Geek
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Eastern WA
Posts: 6,401
Year: 2002
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: All American RE (A3RE)
Engine: Cummins ISC (8.3)
Rated Cap: 72
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The easy choices would be:
California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas etc.....
From what I have seen hanging out in the PNW is that vehicles here don't generally have significant rust issues. I bought my from Western Oregon and Western Washington and neither has any significant rust.
Talking to others I get the impression that Colorado and Utah buses tend to be relatively free from rust issues.
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01-04-2017, 08:06 PM
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#3
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: near Christiansburg VA
Posts: 692
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Freightliner
Engine: Cummins 5.9
Rated Cap: 44 or 66? 11 rows
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On one auction for New York buses, they actually stated, "Rust issues: significant frame rot..."
Of course, it went for cheap. But I wouldn't recommend such a deal.
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01-04-2017, 08:09 PM
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#4
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Bus Crazy
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Oklahoma aka "God's blind spot"
Posts: 2,446
Year: 1989
Coachwork: 1853FC International/Navistar
Chassis: 35' Retired Air Force Ambulance
Engine: DT466, MT643
Rated Cap: 6 souls and a driver
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Mine came from Virginia... Don't know if the salt the roads, but it was warehoused most of its life.
__________________
I once complained I had no shoes....
Until I met a man with no feet
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01-04-2017, 08:55 PM
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#5
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: Barrie, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 42
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PNW_Steve
The easy choices would be:
California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas etc.....
From what I have seen hanging out in the PNW is that vehicles here don't generally have significant rust issues. I bought my from Western Oregon and Western Washington and neither has any significant rust.
Talking to others I get the impression that Colorado and Utah buses tend to be relatively free from rust issues.
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Thanks PNW_Steve,
Are there auctions or website listings of those bus sales that you can point me to?
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01-04-2017, 10:44 PM
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#6
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Bus Geek
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Eastern WA
Posts: 6,401
Year: 2002
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: All American RE (A3RE)
Engine: Cummins ISC (8.3)
Rated Cap: 72
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CanadianSkoolee
Thanks PNW_Steve,
Are there auctions or website listings of those bus sales that you can point me to?
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I bought mine on the www.govdeals.com auction site. Another with a good variety of buses is Public Surplus: Government Surplus Auctions.
I think that those two sites make up the lions share of online auctions.
I would also keep an eye on Craigslist and Ebay.
Go and ask your local school districts how they dispose of surplus. Some will negotiate and sell directly. We bought an '05 E450 cutaway from a private transportation contractor (First Students) who negotiates and sells directly. That one has 130k miles on it. Runs and drives great. We paid $2500.
If you find local buses you can get a MUCH better idea of overall condition than you can purchasing at a distant auction.
Interesting example: While shopping for the E450 we looked at another one that was offered on Public Surplus by a local district. It has some issues and we decided not to bid. An out of state bidder paid $4700 for it. We are fortunate that we went down and inspected it.
The one we bought from First Students we had the opportunity to inspect it and they even took us out on a test drive of sorts. We talked at length with the service manager and really got a good vibe on the level of maintenance that this bus had received.
My Bluebird was purchased on the GovDeals.com site "site unseen". I knew that it had some body damage. When I picked the bus up I found that the damage was a bit worse than the pictures showed. Not terrible and I am happy overall with the bus. Great drive train and it runs and drives fantastic. However, it demonstrates that buying long distance has it's risks.
Tell us more about what you are looking for and we can probably come up with more resources for you.
Lastly, keep an eye on the "Non-Affiliated Bus Sales" thread over in the classifieds.
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01-04-2017, 10:50 PM
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#7
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Bus Geek
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Houston, Texas
Posts: 8,462
Year: 1946
Coachwork: Chevrolet/Wayne
Chassis: 1- 1/2 ton
Engine: Cummins 4BT
Rated Cap: 15
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One consideration is Hill Ability". Buses from Colorado tend to have the gearing and retarders that make mountain country a little less white knuckle. Other than that...the desert SW is best for low rust. Just avoid the salted road areas.
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01-05-2017, 01:50 AM
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#8
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Bus Crazy
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Winlcok, WA
Posts: 2,233
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WA state has some of the most option rich minimum state spe'c of any state spe'c bus. A typical Type 'C' 12-row bus will cost between $10K-$15K more than an ID, MT, WY, or ND spe'c bus of the same size with the same power package.
In addition, up until the last few years WA never used any salt or deicing chemical during the winter so rust has not been an issue. Bad rust on a WA bus is when the black paint on the frame rails is no longer shiny.
Stokes Auction in Port Orchard, WA has five Blue Bird All American RE buses that will be auctioned at their next regular auction. They all appear to have luggage compartments (most likely pass through under the floor type), traction sanders, and 12" windows. Those three options tell me the buses most likely have big HP engines and while they may not have high highway speed gearing they will still most likely be able to cruise all day long at 60-65 MPH. They will most likely have the MD3060 transmission and if you can get the 6th gear unlocked you would probably be able to cruise in excess of 75 MPH.
I don't know which district owned these buses but if they came from North Kitsap SD or Central Kitsap SD they came out of fleets that are very well regarded for maintenance and spe'c'ing their buses will all of the bells and whistles.
In their November auction they sold four BB's. The highest bid was $2,400.00 for a 2002 and the other three sold for $1,400.00 a piece and they were 1998's.
I would expect the ones they have at this auction will sell for about the same price.
Stokes Consignment Auction - Vehicles
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01-05-2017, 01:57 AM
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#9
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: Barrie, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 42
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PNW_Steve
I bought mine on the www.govdeals.com auction site. Another with a good variety of buses is Public Surplus: Government Surplus Auctions.
I think that those two sites make up the lions share of online auctions.
I would also keep an eye on Craigslist and Ebay.
Go and ask your local school districts how they dispose of surplus. Some will negotiate and sell directly. We bought an '05 E450 cutaway from a private transportation contractor (First Students) who negotiates and sells directly. That one has 130k miles on it. Runs and drives great. We paid $2500.
If you find local buses you can get a MUCH better idea of overall condition than you can purchasing at a distant auction.
Interesting example: While shopping for the E450 we looked at another one that was offered on Public Surplus by a local district. It has some issues and we decided not to bid. An out of state bidder paid $4700 for it. We are fortunate that we went down and inspected it.
The one we bought from First Students we had the opportunity to inspect it and they even took us out on a test drive of sorts. We talked at length with the service manager and really got a good vibe on the level of maintenance that this bus had received.
My Bluebird was purchased on the GovDeals.com site "site unseen". I knew that it had some body damage. When I picked the bus up I found that the damage was a bit worse than the pictures showed. Not terrible and I am happy overall with the bus. Great drive train and it runs and drives fantastic. However, it demonstrates that buying long distance has it's risks.
Tell us more about what you are looking for and we can probably come up with more resources for you.
Lastly, keep an eye on the "Non-Affiliated Bus Sales" thread over in the classifieds.
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Thanks PNW_Steve, good advice.
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01-05-2017, 01:59 AM
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#10
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: Barrie, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 42
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cowlitzcoach
WA state has some of the most option rich minimum state spe'c of any state spe'c bus. A typical Type 'C' 12-row bus will cost between $10K-$15K more than an ID, MT, WY, or ND spe'c bus of the same size with the same power package.
In addition, up until the last few years WA never used any salt or deicing chemical during the winter so rust has not been an issue. Bad rust on a WA bus is when the black paint on the frame rails is no longer shiny.
Stokes Auction in Port Orchard, WA has five Blue Bird All American RE buses that will be auctioned at their next regular auction. They all appear to have luggage compartments (most likely pass through under the floor type), traction sanders, and 12" windows. Those three options tell me the buses most likely have big HP engines and while they may not have high highway speed gearing they will still most likely be able to cruise all day long at 60-65 MPH. They will most likely have the MD3060 transmission and if you can get the 6th gear unlocked you would probably be able to cruise in excess of 75 MPH.
I don't know which district owned these buses but if they came from North Kitsap SD or Central Kitsap SD they came out of fleets that are very well regarded for maintenance and spe'c'ing their buses will all of the bells and whistles.
In their November auction they sold four BB's. The highest bid was $2,400.00 for a 2002 and the other three sold for $1,400.00 a piece and they were 1998's.
I would expect the ones they have at this auction will sell for about the same price.
Stokes Consignment Auction - Vehicles
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Perfect, I'll be checking those out, Thanks cowlitzcoach.
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01-05-2017, 02:00 AM
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#11
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: Barrie, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 42
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tango
One consideration is Hill Ability". Buses from Colorado tend to have the gearing and retarders that make mountain country a little less white knuckle. Other than that...the desert SW is best for low rust. Just avoid the salted road areas.
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Thank you Tango,
Is that the company name Hill Ability? I'll Google it.
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01-05-2017, 02:02 AM
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#12
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: Barrie, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 42
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dapplecreek
On one auction for New York buses, they actually stated, "Rust issues: significant frame rot..."
Of course, it went for cheap. But I wouldn't recommend such a deal.
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I'll be staying away from anything in snow country for sure. Thanks.
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01-05-2017, 02:05 AM
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#13
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: Barrie, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 42
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Quote:
Originally Posted by milkmania
Mine came from Virginia... Don't know if the salt the roads, but it was warehoused most of its life.
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I suppose they'd use retarders and the like on their buses in Virginia too. Thanks Milkmania.
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01-05-2017, 05:00 AM
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#14
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Bus Crazy
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: EHT New Jersey
Posts: 1,134
Year: 2003
Coachwork: AmTran
Chassis: International 3000RE
Engine: T444E/AT545
Rated Cap: 75
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One other place to look for are GSA/DRMO Auctions (or the Canadian Forces Equivalent). Most GSA equipment tends to be low mileage, and well maintained. Of course, spec's may vary per bus
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01-05-2017, 06:21 AM
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#15
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Bus Geek
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Eustis FLORIDA
Posts: 23,764
Year: 1999
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Freighliner FS65
Engine: Cat 3126
Rated Cap: 15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CanadianSkoolee
I suppose they'd use retarders and the like on their buses in Virginia too. Thanks Milkmania.
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Not likely to find many retarders east of the Rockies.
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01-05-2017, 08:15 AM
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#16
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: Pensacola and Crystal River, FL
Posts: 647
Year: 1998
Coachwork: AmTran International
Chassis: 3800
Engine: Navistar 7.6L
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cowlitzcoach
Bad rust on a WA bus is when the black paint on the frame rails is no longer shiny.
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To others that would be considered "cherry".
Being from Michigan, I would not shy away from rust on the frame rails until I could swing the pointy end of a welders chip hammer and get big flakes of rust to fall off.
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01-05-2017, 10:52 AM
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#17
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Sep 2016
Location: Chapel Hill, NC
Posts: 855
Year: 2002
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: All American
Engine: Cummins 8.3/Allison MD3060
Rated Cap: 84
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DoubleO7
To others that would be considered "cherry".
Being from Michigan, I would not shy away from rust on the frame rails until I could swing the pointy end of a welders chip hammer and get big flakes of rust to fall off.
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I'm glad that didn't end up where I thought it was going.
I was expecting you to say "until I could swing the pointy end of a chipping hammer and drive it through the frame."
Haha
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01-05-2017, 11:08 AM
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#18
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Bus Crazy
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Oklahoma aka "God's blind spot"
Posts: 2,446
Year: 1989
Coachwork: 1853FC International/Navistar
Chassis: 35' Retired Air Force Ambulance
Engine: DT466, MT643
Rated Cap: 6 souls and a driver
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no retarders here
__________________
I once complained I had no shoes....
Until I met a man with no feet
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01-05-2017, 03:08 PM
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#19
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Bus Geek
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Eastern WA
Posts: 6,401
Year: 2002
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: All American RE (A3RE)
Engine: Cummins ISC (8.3)
Rated Cap: 72
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cowlitzcoach
WA state has some of the most option rich minimum state spe'c of any state spe'c bus. A typical Type 'C' 12-row bus will cost between $10K-$15K more than an ID, MT, WY, or ND spe'c bus of the same size with the same power package.
In addition, up until the last few years WA never used any salt or deicing chemical during the winter so rust has not been an issue. Bad rust on a WA bus is when the black paint on the frame rails is no longer shiny.
Stokes Auction in Port Orchard, WA has five Blue Bird All American RE buses that will be auctioned at their next regular auction. They all appear to have luggage compartments (most likely pass through under the floor type), traction sanders, and 12" windows. Those three options tell me the buses most likely have big HP engines and while they may not have high highway speed gearing they will still most likely be able to cruise all day long at 60-65 MPH. They will most likely have the MD3060 transmission and if you can get the 6th gear unlocked you would probably be able to cruise in excess of 75 MPH.
I don't know which district owned these buses but if they came from North Kitsap SD or Central Kitsap SD they came out of fleets that are very well regarded for maintenance and spe'c'ing their buses will all of the bells and whistles.
In their November auction they sold four BB's. The highest bid was $2,400.00 for a 2002 and the other three sold for $1,400.00 a piece and they were 1998's.
I would expect the ones they have at this auction will sell for about the same price.
Stokes Consignment Auction - Vehicles
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If those are 8.3 Cummins & MD3060 equipped I would suggest that you look close. That is a great combination.
If you are in BC you are close enough that an inspection trip is not out of the question.
I wish I had the funds & space to snag one or two of them....
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01-05-2017, 03:13 PM
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#20
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Bus Crazy
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Winlcok, WA
Posts: 2,233
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PNW_Steve
If those are 8.3 Cummins & MD3060 equipped I would suggest that you look close. That is a great combination.
If you are in BC you are close enough that an inspection trip is not out of the question.
I wish I had the funds & space to snag one or two of them....
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I would agree on the transmission but that vintage could have had the Cat 3126/C7 engine.
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