Would you consider this a good deal?

[RomaniGypsy]

Bottomline Auctions Inc.

2004 Thomas, full size, front engine flat nose, Cummins 5.9, AD2000. Has some rust on the underbody and "in the usual places" on the sheet metal, as well as on the metal trim inside. (Spent its whole life in northeast Ohio.) Running and driving, air brakes, tires marginal. ~72K miles, ~10K hours.

Sold for $1,550 + 15% BP = $1,782.50.

Was I wise to just "lurk" on this auction, or should I have snapped this up?

[Brad_SwiftFur]

Nah, lots of rust. Good for parts, not a conversion.

[cadillackid]

if ytou look at the rust on that one.. there to me is what appears to be rot-through on the back... rear school bus windiws are known to leak.. so when I see a lot of rust from the edges of a rib like that. and down low on the back.. it makes me think that it has rusted from the inside between the panels outward.. thats tough rust to repair.. well at least it requires cutting out the metal and replacing it.. (to do it right)..

the rust on the under-belly door doesnt bother me, nor the steps.. thats common and usually not rusted through.. however when the steps are rusty its a good idea to look at the floor just behimnd the steps underneath.. thats a big spot for complete rot-out.

in ohio the inspectors never used to care about rust.. it was all about mechanicals... however im hearing through a couple friends who drive routes that busses are being failed inspection recently for rust that previously was over-looked.. so beware of cheap busses in ohio coming up. as they may be more rusty...

one of my busses is from ohio.. it had some rust underneath.. but I was lucky it isnt a rust bucket.. my other one came from texas (and was cheaper) and has nearly zero rust..

its not uncommon for people to bid on far away auctions. and then fly down and drive their busses home...
-Christopher

[RomaniGypsy]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

if ytou look at the rust on that one.. there to me is what appears to be rot-through on the back... rear school bus windiws are known to leak.. so when I see a lot of rust from the edges of a rib like that. and down low on the back.. it makes me think that it has rusted from the inside between the panels outward.. thats tough rust to repair.. well at least it requires cutting out the metal and replacing it.. (to do it right)..

To me they all looked too rusty to be worthwhile. The mechanic at the bus yard even said that the reason why those buses were chosen for retirement (even though they all ran routes last year and were kept in good mechanical condition) is body rot.

Originally Posted by cadillackid

its not uncommon for people to bid on far away auctions. and then fly down and drive their busses home...
-Christopher

How would they know what they're getting though? Pictures don't show everything, and usually something is worse-looking in person than it is in its pictures. You can't hear it run, you basically have to take the seller's word for its mechanical condition... isn't that rather risky?

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by RomaniGypsy

To me they all looked too rusty to be worthwhile. The mechanic at the bus yard even said that the reason why those buses were chosen for retirement (even though they all ran routes last year and were kept in good mechanical condition) is body rot.



How would they know what they're getting though? Pictures don't show everything, and usually something is worse-looking in person than it is in its pictures. You can't hear it run, you basically have to take the seller's word for its mechanical condition... isn't that rather risky?

Its less risky buying a far away bus that's just been retired than any of the hyped up overpriced swill on craigslist or ebay.
I've done it twice now. I'm in FL but my buses are from KY and CO. FL buses are garbage, so no point in looking here.

[RomaniGypsy]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

Its less risky buying a far away bus that's just been retired than any of the hyped up overpriced swill on craigslist or ebay.
I've done it twice now. I'm in FL but my buses are from KY and CO. FL buses are garbage, so no point in looking here.

KY uses road salt, though surely to much less of an extent than northeast Ohio. What were the specs on that bus - how old was it when you got it, was it rusty, how long was it, and how much did you pay for it? (I'm just trying to get an idea of what to expect if I'm buying a bus from somewhere else.)

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by RomaniGypsy

KY uses road salt, though surely to much less of an extent than northeast Ohio. What were the specs on that bus - how old was it when you got it, was it rusty, how long was it, and how much did you pay for it? (I'm just trying to get an idea of what to expect if I'm buying a bus from somewhere else.)

NO RUST on the KY bus.
A tiny bit on the CO bus. Both run amazingly, as they were both driven home and are still driven here and there.

[lucasd]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

Its less risky buying a far away bus that's just been retired than any of the hyped up overpriced swill on craigslist or ebay.

Hah! That's surely one way to look at it.

I suppose there's the fact that when a retired bus is put up for auction by a school district or large organization, the person doing the listing typically doesn't get the cash from the sales as personal gain, so there's really no incentive to pretend a bus is in better condition than it really is. Craigslist... not so much.

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by lucasd

the person doing the listing typically doesn't get the cash from the sales as personal gain, so there's really no incentive to pretend a bus is in better condition than it really is. Craigslist... not so much.

I do a lot of auctions, always without going to inspect, municipalities are honest 80% of the time.

My absolute worst transaction by a scummy/dishonest municipality was a very affluent Village named Libertyville,Il. They forgot to tell me someone died in the vehicle I purchased- and it smelled like he was there a while..... I dumped vehicle for 50% loss.

Otherwise- mostly good- they will lie about rust or mechanicals. You ned to learn to read between the lines and really study photos. Police departments are liars the most frequently.

[Versatile]

Why buy a house to invest$$$$ in that you have to repair the foundation$$$$ 1st to just get it up to the baseline?

Very good example of how to spend money ,time and labor you will never get back