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Old 11-13-2019, 06:25 PM   #1
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Bunch of buses in Florida on GSA

Bunch of buses for sale in Florida just listed on GSA Fleet Vehicle Auction site

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Old 11-13-2019, 06:47 PM   #2
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Thanks for the heads up.

My observation of Florida and the buses that come from there is that most districts there pretty much use their buses until they are warn out and then start robbing parts off of them.

When I was shopping for my current bus I looked at some many buses, from Florida, that where just used up that I began filtering out buses from my search that were from Florida.

Not to knock Florida, there are a number of places that I don't get excited about. I looked at some NJ buses a while back and they seemed TGTBT. They were. They looked really good from the exterior and the interiors looked good. Then I crawled under a couple of them. What I say convinced me that NJ transit could keep their buses.

I know that it is not always possible but when you can. I would suggest looking at Western buses.

Good luck.
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Old 11-13-2019, 06:50 PM   #3
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Thanks for the heads up.

My observation of Florida and the buses that come from there is that most districts there pretty much use their buses until they are warn out and then start robbing parts off of them.

When I was shopping for my current bus I looked at some many buses, from Florida, that where just used up that I began filtering out buses from my search that were from Florida.

Not to knock Florida, there are a number of places that I don't get excited about. I looked at some NJ buses a while back and they seemed TGTBT. They were. They looked really good from the exterior and the interiors looked good. Then I crawled under a couple of them. What I say convinced me that NJ transit could keep their buses.

I know that it is not always possible but when you can. I would suggest looking at Western buses.

Good luck.
And I've yet to see a Fla. bus with nice features. They always seem to be bottom line base models.
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Old 11-13-2019, 07:28 PM   #4
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These are government buses not school district buses.
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Old 11-13-2019, 08:11 PM   #5
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And I've yet to see a Fla. bus with nice features. They always seem to be bottom line base models.
Most of what I have seen offered out of Florida have been low spec and run to death.

The exception to that is a number of A3RE's that have 8.3's and air conditioning. But... Every one of those were offered as "parts missing" or "does not run".

I have seen enough of that I don't bother looking at Florida buses.
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Old 11-13-2019, 08:12 PM   #6
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And I've yet to see a Fla. bus with nice features. They always seem to be bottom line base models.
Eh, they do (or used to) order Bluebird pushers, I've seen many with 8.3 Cummins and MD3060s.

Problem is like others have said they're essentially parts buses by the time they get auctioned off or they have mechanical problems.
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Old 11-14-2019, 05:22 AM   #7
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Thanks for the heads up.

My observation of Florida and the buses that come from there is that most districts there pretty much use their buses until they are warn out and then start robbing parts off of them.

When I was shopping for my current bus I looked at some many buses, from Florida, that where just used up that I began filtering out buses from my search that were from Florida.

Not to knock Florida, there are a number of places that I don't get excited about. I looked at some NJ buses a while back and they seemed TGTBT. They were. They looked really good from the exterior and the interiors looked good. Then I crawled under a couple of them. What I say convinced me that NJ transit could keep their buses.

I know that it is not always possible but when you can. I would suggest looking at Western buses.

Good luck.
FL is just a TERRIBLE place to shop for a used school bus. Something to do with our horrible school system. Its the pits.
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Old 11-14-2019, 05:23 AM   #8
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Most of what I have seen offered out of Florida have been low spec and run to death.

The exception to that is a number of A3RE's that have 8.3's and air conditioning. But... Every one of those were offered as "parts missing" or "does not run".

I have seen enough of that I don't bother looking at Florida buses.
They auction off the runners locally and they go for ten grand and up. Ten grand for a low spec, low headroom bus with lots of miles.
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Old 11-14-2019, 05:27 AM   #9
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Bunch of buses for sale in Florida just listed on GSA Fleet Vehicle Auction site
Inoperable 2007 starting at 13 grand!
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Old 11-14-2019, 08:15 AM   #10
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I bought my first bus in Florida. It had a baseline drive train (t444e+ at542) but had relatively low miles and dual air conditioning which was nice. I got a lot of good use out of that bus with very little trouble and eventually sold it for more than I paid for it.

Only a Sith deals in absolutes... but Florida isn't where I'd start my search!
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Old 11-14-2019, 08:58 AM   #11
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I bought my first bus in Florida. It had a baseline drive train (t444e+ at542) but had relatively low miles and dual air conditioning which was nice. I got a lot of good use out of that bus with very little trouble and eventually sold it for more than I paid for it.

Only a Sith deals in absolutes... but Florida isn't where I'd start my search!
True... I've mostly seen crappy buses out of GA yet my GA shorty is real nice. Your Vista wasn't exactly a typical route bus. I'll bet it had some sort of limited use. It was especially un-crusty for a FL bus but the base model with low-spec running gear is pretty typical of FL.
You're very correct about absolutes.
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Old 11-14-2019, 09:04 AM   #12
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when I lived in st pete the number of busses that drove by me smoking or running with skipped cylinders.. dents in the body, etc was amazing.. up here in ohio they may get a bit rusty but the inspectors are sticklers they have to run.. in florida it seems esp on the west coast, pinellas and the county north.. "port richie?" the busses were ragged out...
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Old 11-14-2019, 09:09 AM   #13
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when I lived in st pete the number of busses that drove by me smoking or running with skipped cylinders.. dents in the body, etc was amazing.. up here in ohio they may get a bit rusty but the inspectors are sticklers they have to run.. in florida it seems esp on the west coast, pinellas and the county north.. "port richie?" the busses were ragged out...
Our bus yards are almost always a real sad sight. Most don't even give them an occasional bath. Buses with parts missing sit for years.
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Old 11-14-2019, 10:01 AM   #14
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Our bus yards are almost always a real sad sight. Most don't even give them an occasional bath. Buses with parts missing sit for years.
have seen some California Districts that park all their buses indoors every night and have a drive through bus wash on the lot.

Big difference. Picture a huge industrial building filled with row upon off bright shiny Crowns parked for the night.
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Old 11-14-2019, 10:34 AM   #15
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have seen some California Districts that park all their buses indoors every night and have a drive through bus wash on the lot.

Big difference. Picture a huge industrial building filled with row upon off bright shiny Crowns parked for the night.
Right?!
BUT- Imagine watching all those shiny Crowns getting their blocks and frames destroyed before being scrapped.
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Old 11-14-2019, 11:14 AM   #16
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Only a Sith deals in absolutes...
If only Siths dealt in school buses ...
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Old 11-14-2019, 12:29 PM   #17
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One thing I noticed when I was in Florida on vacation....their school bus drivers wear uniforms (at least in Fort Myers area). Presents quite the odd contrast with the raggedy ICs I saw covered in dents and blowing white smoke everywhere.
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Old 11-14-2019, 05:43 PM   #18
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Right?!
BUT- Imagine watching all those shiny Crowns getting their blocks and frames destroyed before being scrapped.
From a dream to a nightmare... Whoever thought that was a good idea should be removed from the gene pool.
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Old 11-20-2019, 06:59 PM   #19
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From a dream to a nightmare... Whoever thought that was a good idea should be removed from the gene pool.
Well that would be 80 percent of California’s population wipes out
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Old 11-20-2019, 07:50 PM   #20
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Well that would be 80 percent of California’s population wipes out
Should that bother me?
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