Hey everyone. This site has been wonderful thus far! My wife and I are looking at buying a 40FT Blue Bird All-American RE bus to convert to a RV for full time living over the next 10 years or so. Out of these three options, which one of these buses sound the best(is the first option really worth all the extra cash)? We are already set on a 40FT Blue Bird All-American RE so that is no longer up for discussion. If you could chime in on these options it would be much appreciated.
Option 1. 2002 Blue Bird All-American RE (8.3L Cummings Diesel, Allison Automatic MD 3060, air brakes, 14 Row, Lots of belly storage on both sides, tinted windows, 106,000 miles, No visible rust noted and this one looks clean as a whistle). $24,000
Option 2. 2003 Blue Bird All-American RE (5.9L Cummings Diesel, Automatic, Air Brakes, 14 Row, No belly storage, tinted windows, 94,000 miles, Some rust noted on the steps leading into bus, no visible rust on chassis). $10,000
Option 3. 2004 Blue Bird All-American RE (8.3L Cummings Diesel, Allison Automatic MD 3060, air brakes, 14 row, No belly storage, tinted windows, 131,000 miles, Michigan bus so there is quite a bit of rust, the chassis is noted to be quite rusty). $10,000
All 3 buses are 40 ft. All are running and have no known issues(although rust is a major issue in my opinion). We have the money to buy the first bus but the extra $14,000 we would save if we picked one of the other two could go a long way towards the conversion itself.
We want to get our bus this year so we can start the conversion process. We hope to be living on the bus full time by the end of 2020.
Thanks in advance for your insight!!!
Justin (Miles Of Smiles)