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Old 01-25-2015, 04:59 PM   #1
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Location: Berkeley, CA
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California/Oregon adventurer.

Hey y'all.
My name is Amelia, origionally from Oregon now residing in Berkeley, California and hoping to get back to Oregon this summer.

I'm in the shopping an planning phase right now, waiting for the prefect bus to make it's way into my life. I'm looking for a mid size bus, probably around a 25-30 seater. I'm planning to do the majority of my build this summer and hopefully be taking the in process bus to Burning Man and then live in it full time after!

I'm blogging all my bus progress at mellowfellowgoesforaride.blogspot.com if anyone wants to follow along!

Any East Bay bus folks want to meet up?

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Old 01-25-2015, 07:06 PM   #2
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Welcome! We are in Fl and heading to Eugene in the next year sometime. Enjoy your bus hunting. I sure did.
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Old 01-26-2015, 03:25 AM   #3
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A customer is trading in about ten buses the size you want in the next few weeks.

They are all IC CE lift equipped buses with T444E engines, Allison transmissions, and about 150K miles.

Pricing will be in the $5K neighborhood, less if you purchase before we have to do anything to them.
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Old 01-26-2015, 01:13 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cowlitzcoach View Post
A customer is trading in about ten buses the size you want in the next few weeks.

They are all IC CE lift equipped buses with T444E engines, Allison transmissions, and about 150K miles.

Pricing will be in the $5K neighborhood, less if you purchase before we have to do anything to them.
That's a little higher than I'd like to spend, what kinds of things would you be doing to them before selling and how much would it lower the cost?
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Old 01-26-2015, 06:06 PM   #5
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You might save $1,500.00 if you agree to purchase before they go into inventory.
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Old 01-29-2015, 04:42 PM   #6
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Hello, I'm in Vacaville pass thru Berkeley everyday on the way to work
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Old 01-30-2015, 02:27 PM   #7
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This is kinda funny in a way, cause I'm from California and have been in Oregon for ten years or so. Good luck with your hunt for a good bus. It's hard to find decent buses at a decent price here on the west coast. All the buses I find are on the east coast.
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Old 01-31-2015, 12:58 AM   #8
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West Coast buses simply have a better life because the climate is less harsh. Road salt wrecks havoc on most metals. After reading all the stories of all the hidden rust people find AFTER they purchase the bus for the conversion, I would think it would be worth it to find a West Coast bus and then drive it back to the East Coast or the Midwest. Someone told me once that Crowns and Gilligs were built to last for 30+ years at a minimum because the climate is far less harsh out here. Blue Birds and other East Coast dominant buses could never last 30+ years in heavy Winter climates with all the road salt. The oldest daily operating school bus in California just retired. It was a 1949 Crown. I doubt if any school bus in heavy Winter weather states could ever hope to make it 60+ years in active service. Many districts replace them after 12 to 15 years.

Crowns were made tougher because school districts in the West Coast expected their busses to last 30+ years. Crown had a 20 year warranty on all their buses. It was expected. One of my client school districts turned in five Crowns that were about 25 years old and got five brand new transit style 84 passengers buses from one of those East Coast manufacturers. The California Highway Patrol (which approves all buses for service) refused to put them into service because of all the problems they found on these brand new buses. It is all about quality control and how long the manufacturer thinks their customers expect the product to last. The customers of Crowns and Gilligs expected 30+ years of service and the manufacturer built accordingly.

Long post just to say that if you can, get a West Coast bus. It will almost always be in better shape because of the less harsh conditions in which it operated.
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Old 01-31-2015, 01:30 AM   #9
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This is true of course for the north eastern area, but I keep seeing a lot of buses for sale from North Carolina and south. Which if I'm correct, the winters there aren't too harsh. I do agree that lake effect snowstorms can wreck more havoc on any bus than all the rain from BC to California(not that they're getting a lot of rain this year, but still....).
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Old 01-31-2015, 03:46 AM   #10
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Lots of the southeast buses come from rusty climates, but I think the difference is also budget.

I hate to step on anyones toes here, but the NC and SC buses I've seen are usually a good bit rustier than many of the others I look at. Louisiana too.
Just my opinion, based on watching bus sales and auctions.
Ohio is another really rusty state, although they take very good mechanical care of their buses and they do sometimes re-panel large portions of their bus bodies. Michigan is somewhere I just wouldn't consider buying from. Low budgets and harsh winters don't mix well in buses.
I like Ky, Ga, Fl, and maybe even Tn buses from the ones in my area.
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