Possibly in the market for a Crown Supercoach II.. HELP!

[bvanausdall]

Title says it all! First time bus buyer, and I seem to fallen for to the beautiful SCII. Now, seeing as this will be my first, I don't think I'm DEADSET on the SCII, HOWEVER, I'm really leaning towards a RE model bus (personal preference). I have looked, and looked, and looked, and can't seem to find what I'm looking for. If anyone knows of decent bus, let me know!! The bigger the better!
Thanks!

[Malkieri]

Did you try calling this guy?
http://www.skoolie.net/forums/f14/19...h-ii-9368.html

[bvanausdall]

Sure haven't... I saw that earlier, but I noticed the person hadn't replied to any comments.

[Crown_Guy]

Three Crown Supercoach II for sale

There are three really great Crown Supercoach II's available here in
the Southern California area. They have just been removed from
service due to California Crown killer laws and are sitting awaiting
their fate.

I can vouch for them as I know the operator who has been running
them for the last many years. They were in regular school certified
service, until parked in December, and are still in good enough condition
to drive away to any place in the country and continue running with
no trouble for as long as the next owner takes proper care of it. If
truly interested please check out my site above with info, photos, and
my contact info. These are as good as you could ever find and they
are ready to go as soon as you are. I can and will help you with any
information, as well as instruction, and guidance in how to drive and
take care of a Crown, so you will not make serious mistakes or cost
yourself money by doing something silly that could be avoided with a
little heads up. You won't be left on your own and will be able to call
me for help until you get up to speed yourself.

[bvanausdall]

Ok, thanks.. How easy/cost effective is it to find and replace parts for Crown buses?

[Crown_Guy]

There is no other bus of any kind or brand that is easier to find parts for.

Crowns are famous for using completely generic off the shelf components
made by industry standard manufacturers. Crown was basically a coach
and body company who custom designed and built their coaches by hand
to each customers specifications. They offered many drive-line and
suspension options using components and various parts still commonly built
today and available from many sources. Even if a particular specific part is
no longer made, there is most likely thousands of them available from
salvage yards across the country. The key is that heavy duty engines and
running gear were manufactured by the thousands for trucks like
Peterbuilt, and Kenworth, which is a very good analogy because they are
also custom built and use standard running gear parts made by Cummins,
Detroit Diesel, Caterpillar, Timken, Rockwell, Allison, Fuller, Spicer, the list
is long and they are still being made today and is exactly what Crown did
for their entire production history. It would not be an exaggeration to
claim that you could still be finding newly made compatible parts to fit
a Crown for the next 100 years. They were over engineered and designed
to run for 50 years with regular maintenance in the heaviest possible
commercial service, which is usually in excess of 100k miles per year.

Their reputation is well earned in the low cost of ownership and ease
of keeping them on the road. If taken care of they will almost never
leave you on the side of the road, and if it happens, almost any truck
mechanic would be able to work on it and find parts easily. They are
well known and loved in California and Western states. For everyone
else it must sound like we're all crazy in our praise, but remember this,
for over 60 years, no other bus builder ever managed to make inroads
in selling their buses here. Crowns were king because no operator would
ever want anything else, because they were cheap to keep and always
reliable. They are only being forced to get ride of them by laws attacking
the engines using pollution regulations. Not the vehicle. They went out
of business in 1991 and every Crown seen today is at LEAST 23 years
old. Try finding ANY 23 year old school bus or even highway coach made
by anyone that can be said to have aged anywhere near as well as a
Crown that's been taken care of even a little. And most of the bad shape
ones can be repaired with a little loving care... and money, to a point
that they would still be better than new ones today. They are legend
for a reason. If you want the best, most economical to own, then you
can't go wrong with any Crown that's been taken care of. That's why
these coming right out of revenue service are such good examples to
try for. They will last years more with regular care without incurring
big expenses for repairs. For private RV use you may not even be able
to put enough miles on it to keep all the running gear in top shape. They
need to be driven hard and often to keep all the systems operating at
their peak designed maximum. Sitting around for months and months
is a lot harder on them than hard use. Consider that commercial service
is usually on the order of 5000 to 10000 miles per month, how many
miles would you think the average RV owner will be putting on his bus.
Will he put enough miles on it to wear things out compared to revenue
service? That's what you should consider when buying any bus. If it's
in great shape to start with you probably can't put enough miles on it
in your lifetime to cause any expensive repairs, unless of course you try,
and we all know folks who manage to do just that to their coaches.

These three are a very rare and special opportunity to grab a properly
maintained and CHP certified school bus right out of service which
hasn't been sitting around for very long slowly going away, and still in
prime condition.

[mokibrabrant]

"Detroit Diesel, Caterpillar, Timken, Rockwell, Allison, Fuller, Spicer, the list
is long and they are still being made today and is exactly what Crown did
for their entire production history. It would not be an exaggeration to
claim that you could still be finding newly made compatible parts to fit
a Crown for the next 100 years." Clown Guy



Your just so full of it..............Have you tried to take a two stroke Detroit Diesel "almost anywhere" and had the rack run..........I could spend a couple hours going through what you have written and simply tear it apart.

I doubt there is anyone who loves Crown as much as me: But your constant Hyperbole and pretense at understanding and representing these Coaches accurately is simply aggravating: Though you may find "compatible" parts you will also find many parts are NOT manufactured anymore: Brake Relay valves are a case in point.

As a Crown aficionado and as one who frequently passes on Crowns to others, sells them: It is very important, at least to me that any potential owner goes into ownership with eyes wide open: Are they great buses? You bet. The finest. Will you be able to wander into a parts store and find brake shoes, relay valves, alternators, belts, mechanics, or replacement engines for these coaches or cruise down the main strip of your town or even within hundreds of miles to find someone capable and competent to work on a two stroke Detroit DieseL? Absolutely Not. Those guys have and are vanishing at a far quicker rate than even Crowns.

Can virtually every part of a Crown be replaced that isn't proprietary? I would say yes. Will it be easily available and exact? I can say No. Can a part be found that with some creativity, plumbing, wiring and initiative be located that will work and perform the same function as the "replaced part"? I would say yes. But it's not often easy. And it often requires locating someone who is fully knowledgeable. One thing is sure. For some parts you are absolutely required to think outside the box to find a suitable replacement: Been there and done that. And you owe it to everyone to be careful and accurate with your representations.