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Old 06-26-2018, 12:49 PM   #1
Mini-Skoolie
 
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Bus Values/Prices? Need Advice

So Im looking to buy a bus and convert it. There is a local school district that has a 1998 International 3800 bus with the DT466 engine and they want $6000 for it. Seems to be pretty nice but im no mechanic. What does everyone think about that price? Is it too high? Any and all advice is appreciated.....

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Old 06-26-2018, 12:56 PM   #2
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Can be had at auction for $2k-$3k

Where is local? Fill out your profile in the UserCP.
Here's a whole bunch of them for between $250 and $1k starting bids.

https://www.govdeals.com/index.cfm?f...&sortOption=ad
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Old 06-26-2018, 01:02 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tripleb36 View Post
So Im looking to buy a bus and convert it. There is a local school district that has a 1998 International 3800 bus with the DT466 engine and they want $6000 for it. Seems to be pretty nice but im no mechanic. What does everyone think about that price? Is it too high? Any and all advice is appreciated.....
Too high a price? Depends how bad ya want it. We paid just under 5K for our 1996 International 3800 with DT466 and Allison MT643 transmission. It was very well maintained by the school district in Colorado. Came with air brakes, rear air suspension and it has an electromagnetic retarder. Pretty much checked off all the boxes on our wishlist. I know the $2500 buses are out there, but if this bus has some of the upgraded features and checks off the boxes on your wishlist, I wouldn't necessarily rule it out....but I'd try to wangle them down on price too.

Where are you located, and what are the other details of the bus (transmission, air brakes, etc.)?
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Old 06-26-2018, 01:09 PM   #4
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Too high a price? Depends how bad ya want it. We paid just under 5K for our 1996 International 3800 with DT466 and Allison MT643 transmission. It was very well maintained by the school district in Colorado. Came with air brakes, rear air suspension and it has an electromagnetic retarder. Pretty much checked off all the boxes on our wishlist. I know the $2500 buses are out there, but if this bus has some of the upgraded features and checks off the boxes on your wishlist, I wouldn't necessarily rule it out....but I'd try to wangle them down on price too.

Where are you located, and what are the other details of the bus (transmission, air brakes, etc.)?
If you'd let me know I could have saved you some money on that bus. It was me you were bidding against.
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Old 06-26-2018, 01:19 PM   #5
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If you'd let me know I could have saved you some money on that bus. It was me you were bidding against.

I thought it was a rafting outfitter from Breckenridge bidding up those buses?
Meh. We're long past those times anyway. Don't make me no never no mind....I was willing to go up to 5K and I got in $50 under.
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Old 06-26-2018, 01:52 PM   #6
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I thought it was a rafting outfitter from Breckenridge bidding up those buses?
Meh. We're long past those times anyway. Don't make me no never no mind....I was willing to go up to 5K and I got in $50 under.
It was worth it for that bus. Was a good score.
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Old 06-26-2018, 09:48 PM   #7
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Im in Colorado Springs

I updated that on my profile as well. Its from one of the local school districts. They said maybe they will take 5K. He told me these sell for more.....
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Old 06-26-2018, 10:58 PM   #8
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I updated that on my profile as well. Its from one of the local school districts. They said maybe they will take 5K. He told me these sell for more.....
Don't all sellers say that? Tranny would make a difference in price. What's in it?
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Old 06-26-2018, 11:04 PM   #9
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Allison of course...not sure which one though...
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Old 06-26-2018, 11:25 PM   #10
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Allison of course...not sure which one though...
Makes a big difference which Allison.
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Old 06-27-2018, 10:55 AM   #11
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Buses in CO

I am in search of a bus in Colorado as well.

About a month ago a friend bought a bus on public surplus for $1800 from the Roaring Fork school district in Aspen. Several others went for the low $2000s. Because they were CO Mountain buses they all had big engines, automatic chains and electromagnetic driveline brakes (which are AWESOME for driving steep hills). Her bus is in great shape, no rust and really well maintained. I got the name of the guy who bought 4 of the other buses, I'm not sure if he is willing to part with one of them, but apparently he didn't intend to buy so many and may just use them for storage on his property! PM me if you are interested in contacting him. I would buy one myself but those buses are too short for me, I need a high school bus (pun intended).

The season for bus auctions seems to have dried up on the west coast so the pickings are slim right now. I just check Craigslist regularly and govdeals and public auction once a week to look for something good nearby.

Good luck!
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Old 06-27-2018, 11:39 AM   #12
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OK so 5K is too much for this bus then I suppose?
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Old 06-27-2018, 12:00 PM   #13
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OK so 5K is too much for this bus then I suppose?
I thought it was $6K and everyone has said it's worth half that. So is $5k too much? Only your pockets know that.
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Old 06-27-2018, 12:51 PM   #14
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OK so 5K is too much for this bus then I suppose?
Colorado bus with a MT643 transmission, electromagnetic retarder, auto chain system, air brakes, no rust and well maintained was the right bus for me for 5K.

I don't know your budget, your timeline, your expectations, or how much you're willing to spend. I also don't know the specifications of the bus you're considering. It has a desirable engine and probably (as a mountain state bus) a desirable transmission with a lockup torque converter though. For me, personally, it was worth spending a little extra so I could have the exact bus I wanted when I wanted it. Only you know the answer for you though.
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Old 06-27-2018, 01:48 PM   #15
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They said they would sell it for 5K instead of 6K
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Old 06-27-2018, 05:20 PM   #16
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Value is sort of in the eye of the beholder.

A $3K bus that costs $2K to get home is not as much of a bargain compared to a $5K bus that is close to home.

The days of under $2K pricing on used buses is quickly drawing to a close. More and more schools are opting to trade their buses in for a couple of reasons. In most cases the dealer will give in trade as much or more as the school would realize at an auctions. And probably the biggest reason is that trading in a bus is very easy and painless. Even if a school sends a bus to an auction yard the school still has to go through all of the declaring surplus and advertising the sale of the surplus stuff legal notices.

A CO bus with a DT466 for $5K doesn't sound too far out of line. The same bus at Rocky Mountain Bus Sales is going to have an asking price 3X+ of what the school is asking. 2001 INTERNATIONAL BLUEBIRD - USED BUS
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Old 07-05-2018, 06:55 AM   #17
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best way to gage what a bus should cost is to do your research on line, ie, find a few sites that sell used school buses and make a comperable listing of key items - year, mileage, type, size, rust/no rust, tires, damage, etc, and cost. You’ll quickly see the range of values for any particulr bus.
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Old 07-05-2018, 12:42 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tripleb36 View Post
So Im looking to buy a bus and convert it. There is a local school district that has a 1998 International 3800 bus with the DT466 engine and they want $6000 for it. Seems to be pretty nice but im no mechanic. What does everyone think about that price? Is it too high? Any and all advice is appreciated.....

So did you end up getting the bus? I am in Colorado as well, but I already have my bus. I did the auction route, and bought a bus in the Seattle area. Doing it that way is certainly doable, and can be a bit of an exciting adventure at times. But after having done it that way, I also believe there is some added value to buying a local bus, especially if you can have it independently inspected before purchase or as contingency of the sale.



So how much more of a value is a local bus? How much is it worth to you to have to take 1 to 3 days off work, a plane ticket, an Uber, and showing up to see the bus you already bought sight unseen. Then how much in diesel to get it home, and the risk that there is an unknown problem that will strand you in the middle of nowhere. To me I assumed one day off, $300 for a last minute ticket, $50-100 for uber, and $500 in diesel, so that to me it adds up to about $1k-$1.5k for a little piece of mind. So if that bus is really everything you want, then it would probably be worth $5k to me, as the price to change anything on your bus is going to quickly dwarf that $5k even if they gave you the bus for free.



I'm surprised that a local district in Colorado is allowed to sell direct to you, most of the districts are required to sell their surplus at auction to avoid the appearance of impropriety that someone isn't making a backroom deal with a friend or associate.
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Old 07-05-2018, 12:57 PM   #19
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I'm surprised that a local district in Colorado is allowed to sell direct to you, most of the districts are required to sell their surplus at auction to avoid the appearance of impropriety that someone isn't making a backroom deal with a friend or associate.
Is the district selling it outright or through an auction?
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