1997 Blue Bird All American Auction Ends Mar 4, 2016 6:00 PM PST

[Robin97396]

Public Surplus Auction #1552664 - 1997 Blue Bird All American School Bus in Renton, WA 98357 Odometer reads: 49606 miles Cummins C8.3L RE Automatic

At this time the bid is $830. It looks nice. Tried to add a pic but it wouldn't take.

I didn't really know where this thread belonged. It's not mine so I didn't think it belonged in classifieds. Just wanted to make folks aware.

[DT Rutledge]

That milage can't be right! It also shows 12709 hrs. Even at 30 miles per meter hour, thats 381,270 miles. That's pretty high.

[Robin97396]

Yeah, I'd have to agree by your calculations. I didn't even notice the hours.

[EastCoastCB]

Never go by the odometer on buses. One of the most swapped out pieces on a bus!

[DT Rutledge]

I talked to the guy at the Renton bus barn. He confirmed that the odometer was swapped out. He said the milage was more like 176K. I'm OK with that. I placed a bid on it.

[Robin97396]

That's great. I was hoping someone could make use it. Yeah, 176k is only 10k higher than where I'm sitting now. Sometimes, especially in Washington, they go really cheap and I hate seeing the bus re-sellers profit from cheap buses. They sure don't sell them cheap.
Good luck with that. I'll be watching the auction. There are a lot of buses being sold in WA as you know. That one was just less expensive and not reportedly broken.
Personally I like to bid about an hour before the auction ends so fewer people are able to bid against me, and before their server gets overloaded with bidders in the last few minutes of closing.

[M1031A1]

Originally Posted by DT Rutledge

That milage can't be right! It also shows 12709 hrs. Even at 30 miles per meter hour, thats 381,270 miles. That's pretty high.

The mileage IS correct! I suspect there's a "1" missing on the front, but I believe it has about 150K miles or so. My daily driver has 13402 hours and only 149704 miles on the clock. I have to spend a bunch of time idling rather I want to or not. There are many reasons why I have to idle. So do not trust hours equals distance. It does not.

[cowlitzcoach]

This one from Snohomish doesn't look too bad if it will start and run--5.9L 230 HP with a MT643 transmission.

The fact that is has some broken windows and other deficiencies shouldn't be an issue since most convertors remove windows anyway.

The current price sure makes it look attractive.

Public Surplus: Auction #1550899

[DT Rutledge]

M1031A1, Did you read my post? It's 176K.

[DT Rutledge]

I quit at $3300. It went to $3950.

[M1031A1]

Originally Posted by DT Rutledge

M1031A1, Did you read my post? It's 176K.

Sometimes my dyslexia kicks my butt. However, 176K miles is good.

[cowlitzcoach]

It wasn't a bad price at $3950.00. But I don't blame you for stopping at that price.

Here is another bus with a relatively low price: Public Surplus: Auction #1557631

And another one:
Public Surplus: Auction #1557632

Here is one with a lot of what needs to be done in regards to conversion already done. The current price is what the genset is worth:
Public Surplus: Auction #1551713

[Robin97396]

That bookmobile is nice. A little to much shelving, but it's half way there for a remodel. And the mileage!

[Robin97396]

You can usually pick up those larger buses in Oregon and Washington for about $2000 on the low end for a running/drive-able bus. Washington sells so many buses that it's leaning towards inconceivable. A friend of mine said people were buying buses and burying them as underground shelters, and that's supposedly why you don't see all those buses on the road as skoolies. Personally I'd choose a conex container for an underground shelter because they are stronger and they cost less than a lower end usable bus if I was going underground.
Concerning auctions, you can't compete with stupid. Some people don't seem to mind paying double as long as they win. To bad, but then someone obviously has a plan for it. It's probably a church bus now.

[EastCoastCB]

Bookmobile is an awesome way to go. Hard to beat those.

[dgorila1]

Originally Posted by Robin97396

You can usually pick up those larger buses in Oregon and Washington for about $2000 on the low end for a running/drive-able bus. Washington sells so many buses that it's leaning towards inconceivable. A friend of mine said people were buying buses and burying them as underground shelters, and that's supposedly why you don't see all those buses on the road as skoolies. Personally I'd choose a conex container for an underground shelter because they are stronger and they cost less than a lower end usable bus if I was going underground.
Concerning auctions, you can't compete with stupid. Some people don't seem to mind paying double as long as they win. To bad, but then someone obviously has a plan for it. It's probably a church bus now.

Robin,
Why are WA and OR selling so many buses? Do they have strict maintenance and inspection schedules like several states in the Northeast (NY)? DO you have any idea (in general) what mechanical condition the buses they sell are in(i.e could it be purchased, driven off the lot and 5000 miles across the U.S. to the east coast?
I like the rear engine units they use and the underbay compartments they come with. Perfect for a skoolie!

[Robin97396]

Buying a cheap bus at auction is a risk if you're not mechanically inclined. Even with a mechanic nothing is guaranteed with used buses. It's Washington that has the numbers of buses that shocks me. Oregon is about what I'd expect.
CowlitzCoach would probably be more equipped to answer your questions about Washington buses. I know nothing about what their maintenance and inspection schedules are like.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by Robin97396

Buying a cheap bus at auction is a risk if you're not mechanically inclined. Even with a mechanic nothing is guaranteed with used buses. It's Washington that has the numbers of buses that shocks me. Oregon is about what I'd expect.
CowlitzCoach would probably be more equipped to answer your questions about Washington buses. I know nothing about what their maintenance and inspection schedules are like.

Anything mechanical is a huge gamble. My 2013 Subaru has been a nightmare. It "consumes" more oil than my bus does and has since I bought it new.

[cowlitzcoach]

WA and CA most probably have the strictest inspection policies of any state or province.

Part of it starts with the original spe'c's that are required when the bus is built. On average the extra cost options that are standard on a WA spe'c bus makes the price about $10K more than other states. WA state spe'c's are actually require more content than even CA spe'c buses. What is odd is you can purchase a WA state spe'c bus and operate it in OR but an OR state spe'c bus won't pass muster in WA.

In CA the CHP inspects all school buses.

In WA the WSP inspects all school buses at least once a year and 40% of the buses are inspected a second time. The annual inspection is usually scheduled weeks in advance but the second inspection is usually done with no advance notice. As a consequence, in order to pass the spot inspection buses need to be in passable shape all the time.

As to why there are more buses available in WA and OR, it all has to do with replacement schedules.

OR is on the way to having no buses in service in the state older than 15-years old.

At one time WA had replacement schedules that were as long as 25-years. That was back in the day when Crown and Gillig still made school buses and the Crown came from the factory with a 20-year warranty. It was not unusual to find buses in fleets that were older than 30-years old. About 15-years ago a serious push was made to eliminate all buses that were made prior to 1977. That was accomplished by not allowing any bus older than model year 1977 to pass inspection. As the years have gone by the minimum spe'c's have become much more content laden and standardized while at the same time the replacement schedule has become much shorter. The replacement schedule for all Type 'C' and Type 'D' buses is now 13-years. With the way in which the state subsidizes the purchase of buses (100% of the quote price returned to the school in 13-payments) there is no reason to keep a bus around longer than 13-years.

Prior to about 2000 there were still buses in the inventory with replacement schedules ranging from 10-years for gas powered Type 'C' buses to 20-years for heavy duty Type 'D' buses. This resulted in buses staying in the fleet for an average much closer to 20-years since so many buses in WA were heavy duty Type 'D' buses.

Now that the longest schedule is 13-years the result is closer 15-years for buses staying in the fleet.

I am not that good with math so I don't know the percentages but replacing the fleet every 15-years means there are a lot more buses being bought and sold in WA than when the average was 20+ years.

Since buses are not kept as long and components seem to be holding up better than in days gone by the used buses that show up tend to be in better condition than the buses that were showing up for sale back in the day.

Back in the day I would never have suggested a church should purchase a used school bus from a school in WA state. By the time they showed up on the used market most WA state school buses were basically used up.

Now many of the school buses that are showing up for sale from WA state schools are not very used. Most are showing up with mileage in the 150K-175K miles and less than 20-years old.

With the better engines and transmissions with better brakes and a better expectation of good preventative maintenance a used WA state school bus should be a pretty good bet.

But as with anything used, caveat emptor.

Good luck!