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Old 11-12-2013, 03:55 PM   #1
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An obervation+ a question...

There seems to be one (almost) constant on reading everyones purchase of a their 1st bus:
How come everyone in California buys a bus in Tennessee and everyone in Tennessee buys a bus in California? Maybe not exactly-but it seems like a long haul is the 1st step in ownership. Is it the allure of travel or the inablity to find what you want locally ?
I feel guilty-I only had a 40 minute ride + just drove it home unregistered-struggling on hills with 2 injectors not working well.

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Old 11-12-2013, 04:25 PM   #2
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Re: An obervation+ a question...

I have been wondering the same, I only drove 10 miles to get mine. If I had known that California was giving up its older Crown buses, I would have been one of those cross country drivers too.
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Old 11-12-2013, 06:30 PM   #3
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Re: An obervation+ a question...

I bought mine 1 county and 40 miles away...hell if I lived in Kali I would so buy a Crown...sex on 6 wheels...but from TN I got a short wheel base, rut tacklin', gravel road spittin' and meth lab passing moccchhheeene
.
.
.
Now in TN they use the law to their advantage....15 years of service...period....mine was in service from date of manufacture 15 years 363(or so) days....it had to be out of service on thursday, I bought on Friday.

I had to wait 1/2hr to test drive so the cameras could be removed from inside....Thursday it hauled kids home
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Old 11-12-2013, 07:54 PM   #4
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Re: An obervation+ a question...

When we were looking, we looked nationwide but started locally and went out from there. During the searches we kept finding buses we liked in 'crazy' places like California and Oregon but as we all know, distance = $.
After looking at quite a few buses in this part of the country and having some deals fall through, we decided that we would just look for the right bus for the right price and hope we could afford to get there.

The budget was $4k. The bus was $2800. Plane tickets were $700 and we spent about $1k on fuel for the return.
Add food and 'first time ever driving across the country in OUR freakin SCHOOL BUS" souvenirs and the budget was shot, but it was absolutely worth it.

So technically, the bus was still within budget

If you asked me before we left I would have said I would like to find one close to home and try to save some dough, but hey, supposedly we only live once so to hell with it! Besides, I think even if you bought your bus down the street, the first time you crank that sucker up as the proud new owner of your skoolie is an experience all its own!
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Old 11-12-2013, 08:55 PM   #5
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Re: An obervation+ a question...

I dunno, I bought mine 1100 miles from here and they drove it to me.
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Old 11-12-2013, 09:05 PM   #6
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Re: An obervation+ a question...

Opus, that's just wrong--only kidding, that is a real success story.
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Old 11-12-2013, 09:08 PM   #7
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Re: An obervation+ a question...

Oh, they paid fuel too. It's a God thing!
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Old 11-12-2013, 11:15 PM   #8
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Re: An obervation+ a question...

Opus, your'e killing us. You know that don't you?
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Old 11-13-2013, 06:22 AM   #9
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Re: An obervation+ a question...

Quote:
Originally Posted by ol trunt
Opus, your'e killing us. You know that don't you?
Even though I only drove 10 miles, the bus depot filled my 60 gal tank before I left with it.
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Old 11-13-2013, 08:50 AM   #10
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Re: An obervation+ a question...

Ok, ok....I did however pay top dollar for the bus even though I got it for 50% of what they were asking. I would gladly pay top dollar and know what I have. If not, I'd prefer to get it for next to nothing and have to replace everything, then I would also know what I got. When I was younger, I would prefer that route.
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Old 11-13-2013, 09:03 PM   #11
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Re: An obervation+ a question...

Let's face it, Opus is a lucky so-and-so.

Mum's bus (that I put down the payment for first), was bought on Lower Burningtown, a few miles from where I was living at the time. I'm hoping I'll have the same luck in finding a bus, but I have a sneaking suspicion I'll be buying out of Louisiana or one of the Houston school district's buses.
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Old 11-14-2013, 12:06 AM   #12
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Re: An obervation+ a question...

Just stupid I guess.
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Old 11-17-2013, 06:49 AM   #13
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Re: An obervation+ a question...

I bought mine from as far away from salt on the roads as I could find. Southeastern New Mexico.
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Old 11-19-2013, 06:15 AM   #14
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Re: An obervation+ a question...

I bought 3 of my buses within 10 miles of my house. One bus i built for a customer who bought his own, and i flew to arizona and drove back to michigan with a bus i bought on ebay.

My motivation for the far away bus is that it could cruise 75mph and get 10 mpg, plus is was a city bus with air ride and 2 sets of doors.

The reality was that the bus couldn't go over 60 mph at redline, and it got 5 or 6 mpg. It was still an awesome bus, but the features that made me buy that bus didn't materialize. We drove most of the way home under 50 mph with the pedal to the metal!
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