How many miles in school service has your bus seen before you got it?

[SolomonEagle]

Hey there. So I roll in a 1989 international Thomas 28' conventional dt360/spicer5 speed air ride. I drove from Oregon to southern California to buy the bus. got all the tools and stuff to convert and satisfy the insurance folks. Asked a ton of questions but forgot to ask how many miles were on it(smoked too much oregon weed that day or something.lol) got all the way down there to find that the bus had over 401k miles on it in service to the school district! Has the California inspection cert still in it. Probly shouldn't of but bought it anyway.engine had been replaced. That was almost three years ago now. It has been a good bus.i love it. Just wondering if anyone else has ran into a bus being in service this long. Also thoughts on why they would keep it so long. Poor school district?

[o1marc]

The biggest concern with wear on a bus with that many miles is the engine if it was replaced 3 years ago that motor doesn't have the 400k on it and if it was done during routine maintenance chances are they took care of any other worn parts. If the bus is in good shape and rives well mileage would not be a deal breaker.

[SolomonEagle]

Yeh, true. In retrospect I should of held out. But hey, it's a dt powered 3/4 bus with a manual tranny! Don't find many of them. Having to replace parts like bushings, air bags and the compressor.it starts to ad up but as far as I am concerned I have a gem!! Has anyone else ever herd of a bus being in service that long?

[Johnny Mullet]

If it runs and drives good, keep it maintained and it will last.

[Brad_SwiftFur]

I wouldn't worry about it. Engines can be rebuilt (and often are, as yours was), other stuff can be replaced. The frame and body should last well over a million miles.