Austin Texas looking for a bus

[Yellow_Submarine]

Hi all, I live close to Austin TX and I am looking to buy a running bus for full time living. I need it running because I'm not a diesel mechanic although i have tinkered around with gas engines. I'm looking to spend $2500 max on the bus and have another $1000 for the roadtrip there and back. I have been perusing the forum and trying to soak it all in. I have found some helpful auction sites but I'm just not sure which ones to trust. I'm not even sure what type of bus to get. I would like to get something a little larger but it doesn't have to be full sized. I think I could manage a 30 ft long living space. Also are there certain engines or styles of bus that are better? It will be only me and the Coonhound living here. Any help on where or how to choose a bus or where or how to buy one would be much appreciated.

[Carytowncat]

Welcone to you and your furry friend. They are great companions, I feel so lucky to share this space with a wonderful furry friend.

Good luck in your search!

[Justin McCormick]

Keep an eye on craigslist, and set up an email alert for the keyword "School Bus".
For the most part busses on craigslist are overpriced, but occasionally a sweet deal will come up, and if you have an email alert set up you will be the first to know.

I am sure you have these sites already marked but just in case:
Public Surplus: Government Surplus Auctions
www.govdeals.com

I got my buss off of:
www.renebates.com
and it was a good experience using them.

From my understanding its probably best to avoid CAT if you want an easy engine to work on. I think a Cummins engine would be a good bet. I am not experienced with diesel mechanics, and have been finding it very accessible, and a good engine to learn with.

[milkmania]

My CL purchase was a sweet deal... But it took an entire year for it to come to fruition

[Justin McCormick]

Saw this today:
https://www.renebates.com/a_list.php?id=253&cat=127
Some of the busses look like they are in rough shape, but there might be some good ones in there. At least its worth looking.

[cadillackid]

looks like they yank parts off their busses.. judging by the number of them that dont run id be concerned about any that do being pieced together with hodge podge parts..

-Christopher

[Tango]

Welcome...and remember...there are some excellent skoolies to be had right here in Texas. Check with various school districts to see when they will selling off their timed out units. Most are very well maintained and buying direct will save you all the dealer markup. Plus, if you work at it and get lucky, you might be able to either score the maintenance records or at least talk to the techs who took care of them and know the real story on each bus.

Best of luck.

[FlyboyHPD]

Welcome to the Skoolie life. Like Tango said, lots of us here in Texas. Best of luck in finding what you want.

There is also a site that combines all of Craiglist based upon the radius you want to search in but I can't find the link at the moment. Perhaps someone else here has it?

[cadillackid]

theres some cool skoolies in Texas too! and im not talkin about the busses..!
-Christopher

[1olfart]

One of the sites that connects to C/L is Dailylister. I have used it for some time now with good luck. If you see something you like, in a particular city, be sure and check THAT city's C/L directly, because they miss some listing.

[Birde-mann]

you still looking for a bus?