Non-affiliated buses for sale - thread

[Wutm8]

Hey guys, honest opinion on this one? I checked it out yesterday and liked it. Without much negotiation and dropped the price to 5K but I'm sure tax and Licensing will be included on that price AZ it's from a dealer. If anybody is familiar with this motor would really like to hear your take on it

1988 Blue Bird All American FE 84 Passenger School Bus

[deftone]

Originally Posted by Wutm8

Hey guys, honest opinion on this one? I checked it out yesterday and liked it. Without much negotiation and dropped the price to 5K but I'm sure tax and Licensing will be included on that price AZ it's from a dealer. If anybody is familiar with this motor would really like to hear your take on it

1988 Blue Bird All American FE 84 Passenger School Bus

What is the true mileage? 30k can't be right on a '88

[Elliot Naess]

Six grand is a lot for so old a bus.
What is the mileage actually?
The Cat 3208 is not a great engine. I've seen it referred to as a "throw-away" engine. And countless vehicles such as RVs with the 3208 replaced at 100,000 or so.
But on a bus this old, any sort of work may or may not have been done -- engine, transmission? Service record would really matter here.
It is a full 40 feet long.
The MT643 transmission is "the good one".

[Wutm8]

I was thinking that they had possibly thrown a new engine in there.... triple A has a lot of buses spare parts Motors Etc so when I saw 30 K I imagined they put something newer than it but I'm assuming the price would be higher. At that price if the motor is not a great one I'll probably pass on it anyway. Thanks for the input guys

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by Wutm8

Hey guys, honest opinion on this one? I checked it out yesterday and liked it. Without much negotiation and dropped the price to 5K but I'm sure tax and Licensing will be included on that price AZ it's from a dealer. If anybody is familiar with this motor would really like to hear your take on it

1988 Blue Bird All American FE 84 Passenger School Bus

I like it! Other than the price and Cat.

[Rameses]

I've never owned anything with a 3208 in it, but my understanding of it is that it's a fairly decent engine. Cat designed them to be a "disposable" engine, but they actually turned out to have a decent amount of longevity. That said, they're still a Cat and you're going to pay premium prices for any parts you need.

And I've always really liked the looks of those older All Americans with the stacked round headlights.

[Wutm8]

Originally Posted by Rameses

I've never owned anything with a 3208 in it, but my understanding of it is that it's a fairly decent engine. Cat designed them to be a "disposable" engine, but they actually turned out to have a decent amount of longevity. That said, they're still a Cat and you're going to pay premium prices for any parts you need.

And I've always really liked the looks of those older All Americans with the stacked round headlights.

that is one of the main reasons I was so drawn to it, I love the look of it. Also really like the driver's area hand the manual old school door. Will be buying for those reasons but definitely a plus

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by Rameses

I've never owned anything with a 3208 in it, but my understanding of it is that it's a fairly decent engine. Cat designed them to be a "disposable" engine, but they actually turned out to have a decent amount of longevity. That said, they're still a Cat and you're going to pay premium prices for any parts you need.

And I've always really liked the looks of those older All Americans with the stacked round headlights.

I've heard similar. That they're decent. But hard to start, thirsty, and a bit gutless on the highway. From what I understand they make better stop and go engines than they do interstate engines.

[Rameses]

Oh, forgot to mention...

With the 4.63 rear end and the MT643, it's going to go about 64 mph at 2,400 rpm (which is about where those engines like to run). But like EastCoast said, the "gutless" factory might come into play and it might not be willing to hold that speed on any semblance of an incline.

[Wutm8]

That would be a no-go then, it will be getting a lot of travel and see a lot of incline. Thanks a lot guys.

[oricha1984]

Originally Posted by Teak

Tried to post this before but somehow it didn't post ?

http://austin.craigslist.org/cto/5976948177.html

Is this a good bus price and features wise ? Any cons ? I've seen something similar a week or two ago for 2k less...Any comments appreciated - and if you come to see it, I'd love to tag along and kick the tires

Asking price 5500
fuel:*gas
odometer:*179000

Noob here, but you can find a diesel with less miles for less.

Sent from my BLU LIFE ONE X using Tapatalk

[cadillackid]

spring.. around april / may is a time i see a lot of busses locally go up for sale.. im not sure about the auction sites but I definitely see local small districts selling them... it may also be peak time for buyers as well causing busses ot bid-up.. everyone weants to start projects in the warm spring before hot summer but that can be watertight by fall... buying now has the advantage only people in southern states even consider realistically being able to work on a bus.. I realize there are those here working in cold conditions but the majority of people getting started dont want to do that.
-Christopher

[Teak]

Originally Posted by oricha1984

Asking price 5500
fuel:*gas
odometer:*179000

Noob here, but you can find a diesel with less miles for less.

Sent from my BLU LIFE ONE X using Tapatalk

I think he meant diesel...but yes, I saw a similar one a few weeks ago for 2k less. It didn't said it had a 7ft tall roof though...

[deftone]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

spring.. around april / may is a time i see a lot of busses locally go up for sale.. im not sure about the auction sites but I definitely see local small districts selling them... it may also be peak time for buyers as well causing busses ot bid-up.. everyone weants to start projects in the warm spring before hot summer but that can be watertight by fall... buying now has the advantage only people in southern states even consider realistically being able to work on a bus.. I realize there are those here working in cold conditions but the majority of people getting started dont want to do that.
-Christopher

I spoke to my local school district today and their auction is on May 13th. I guess thats going to be pretty close to a lot of others around here too.

[CaptainHooligan]

Originally Posted by deftone

I spoke to my local school district today and their auction is on May 13th. I guess thats going to be pretty close to a lot of others around here too.

I hope so. Cool user name BTW.

[Wutm8]

Originally Posted by CaptainHooligan

I hope so. Cool user name BTW.

Multiple deftones fans? Awesoooome, I'm also a fan

[cadillackid]

I got an email from onlinepros (where I bought the red bus).. they have a lot of school auctions in texas coming up.. including Cy-Fair where i got redbyrd from.. I had posted a youtube video of that bus up, and a guy who went to school there says that CyFair was exclusively DT-466 busses that are freeway capable for the longest time. they bought a few of the T-444E shorties in around year 2000 as an experiment.. then went back to all DT-466 powered busses... so its worth noting when their auctiomn comes up in February that there might be some decent busses there.. though the exporters tend to hit houston fairly hard.

here is their main site.. they have some busses in a couple auctions now buit they seemed like Junkers so I didnt post them here.. but you can also see upcoming auctions and get on their mailing list if you are looking for a texas bus... once an auction goes active you can see if it has any busses or not..

they seem to be pretty accurate in representing the busses they sell and not "pumping them up".. if they dont run they tell you..

https://www.onlinepros.com/

-Christopher

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

I got an email from onlinepros (where I bought the red bus).. they have a lot of school auctions in texas coming up.. including Cy-Fair where i got redbyrd from.. I had posted a youtube video of that bus up, and a guy who went to school there says that CyFair was exclusively DT-466 busses that are freeway capable for the longest time. they bought a few of the T-444E shorties in around year 2000 as an experiment.. then went back to all DT-466 powered busses... so its worth noting when their auctiomn comes up in February that there might be some decent busses there.. though the exporters tend to hit houston fairly hard.

here is their main site.. they have some busses in a couple auctions now buit they seemed like Junkers so I didnt post them here.. but you can also see upcoming auctions and get on their mailing list if you are looking for a texas bus... once an auction goes active you can see if it has any busses or not..

they seem to be pretty accurate in representing the busses they sell and not "pumping them up".. if they dont run they tell you..

https://www.onlinepros.com/

-Christopher

Good lookin out man!
I'll keep my eyes on them for the elusive 466/air brakes shorty I'm holding out for.
NOn-WC-lift prefered.

[Alan N]

There is an interesting bus on sandiego Craigslist.
1979 GMC. I am not smart enough to put a link in here.

[ourmefa]

Found a site with a bunch of buses today - appear to be a number of them in KS, OK and the midwest.

https://www.purplewave.com/search/bus