Making decisions about a bus!

[avianlaw]

I've got my eye on two busses:

$7000
2002 Thomas D style (flat front) Caterpillar, with seats removed, brand new tires, service, and underspray protectant. 143k miles

$2800
1991 thomas international dt360. (dog nose front). used as activity bus in forsyth county, and also a bus for a rafting company in the mountains. It looks like it has an oil leak, and there are some electrical issues. needs new tires fairly soon. seats and luggage rack intact. ODO broken

basically, i'm wondering if the extra 4000 ish is worth it for the new tires and the newer engine, and newer body. But I know the older engine dt360 is highly revered, is pretty reliable and more amenable to a WVO conversion. or I could run it on bio, but thats hard to find. Any mechanics have opinions on the C7? (I think its a C7)

[Rusty]

You mentioned WVO in another post, besides that, what is your goal for the bus?

You either pay-up now for better maintained bus, or you pay later for one that needs repairs.

you can always offer $5k for the Thomas and see what happens.

Be patient, more than these 2 buses in the World.

[avianlaw]

Yeah, I guess i'm thinking repairs on the Cat will be more expensive potentially?

[MarkyDee]

Originally Posted by avianlaw

Yeah, I guess i'm thinking repairs on the Cat will be more expensive potentially?

Any work on a Cat will be more expensive than similar work on a Cummins, International, etc. because Cat has a lock on the market for the parts - they keep them priced higher than similar parts for the other engines. That's why Cat is dissed more on this forum - your ownership costs will probably be higher with a Cat than with the other engines.

Don't get me wrong - Cat engines are good engines, but the others are good engines as well. If the engines are similar in functionality and longevity, why pay more during its life?

[golfersmurf57]

I agree cat is rather proprietary. The cats do produce the power. I will toss this in: Overhead on a 3126 pays 25 hrs. This is due to the rack style electronic injectors which take time to set. The 3126 is frequently used in the bus venue. But on the Cummins side, the front covers like to crack and leak from the weight of steering/ fan pumps. Also expensive to have done. The international is prone for injector failure and high pressure oil pump issues as well as cam sensors. Have seen the 466e sling a belt and take out the sensor pigtail. Just more food for feeding the bulldog.

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[golfersmurf57]

Oh and the 60 series Detroit has dropped valves which basically means remove and repair/replace.

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