better states for buses

[SassyLass]

Milkmania- with access to the fleet- a tip I found in a bus garage forum.. Ask how the clean the floors. Garages that hose them out routinely reported rusted out flooring under the rubber. Less so if they only did it rarely and/or hosed them on an incline for draining along with a good airing out.

Those that reported they didn't use hoses, didn't report issues with rusting under floor coverings.

[Tango]

Texas has tons of good skoolies. No road salt, most are inland away from the Gulf and so plentiful they typically go for good prices.

[Dave588]

There's a photo posted of school buses parked in Texas half under water.probably houston? Unfortunate waste. Floods caused by rain. So I would imagine damage not being saltwater easier to replace oil and keep running?

[Scooternj]

Originally Posted by Dave588

There's a photo posted of school buses parked in Texas half under water.probably houston? Unfortunate waste. Floods caused by rain. So I would imagine damage not being saltwater easier to replace oil and keep running?

There's worse crud in floodwaters than salt. Dirt, debris, etc. So its not really a matter of change the fluids and go. It's also quite possible the electronics have taken a hit as well. Sometimes you're lucky, others not so much.

When Hurricane Floyd came through northern New Jersey 16 years ago, one of the guys in my Army Guard battalion was driving through the town of Bound Brook; hit, caught and dragged out one of their squad cars. After drying out, it *did* fire up, but it was probably written off anyway.

The insurance payout for the buses in Texas affected by these floods will probably be more than what its worth to get them road worthy again, and thus they'll be scrapped. And TBH, I'd personally avoid a flood title bus.

[ElizaHasAPlan]

IMHO, I'd think that buses from arid regions would be best as far as rust concerns go.

Places like Arizona maybe?

I live in Kentucky, and I know that they put plenty of salt on most of the roads in the winter. I know that my cars haven't escaped rust, so I can only assume that school buses don't either.

[Dave588]

Originally Posted by Scooternj

It's also quite possible the electronics have taken a hit as well.

I hadn't thought about that. Once water tops engine, it's probably better for parts.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by ElizaHasAPlan

IMHO, I'd think that buses from arid regions would be best as far as rust concerns go.

Places like Arizona maybe?

I live in Kentucky, and I know that they put plenty of salt on most of the roads in the winter. I know that my cars haven't escaped rust, so I can only assume that school buses don't either.

Colorado too. The high desert!

[WIbluebird]

Originally Posted by ElizaHasAPlan

IMHO, I'd think that buses from arid regions would be best as far as rust concerns go.

Places like Arizona maybe?

I live in Kentucky, and I know that they put plenty of salt on most of the roads in the winter. I know that my cars haven't escaped rust, so I can only assume that school buses don't either.

Arizona buses are nice. For some reason I see a lot of rear engine buses for sale in that state, typically with the longest wheelbase available and the big engines like the 8.3 cummins. I've even heard of a few tag axle Crowns out there as well

[crazycal]

Originally Posted by Dave588

There's a photo posted of school buses parked in Texas half under water.probably houston? Unfortunate waste. Floods caused by rain. So I would imagine damage not being saltwater easier to replace oil and keep running?

I'm not from Texas but I think you are mistaken. Texas has their poopoo together unlike some other states as far as I am concerned. I just picked up a bus in Texas. This district has extra buses(doing nothing but sitting) in their pool(fleet not swimming) for the express purpose of having enough seats to evacuate the whole school in the event of an emergency.

New Orleans...NOT SO MUCH!!! For a stroll down memory lane.

https://www.google.com/search?q=scho...+water+katrina

[Dave588]

School Bus Caught In Floodwater Slides Off Highway 114 « CBS Dallas / Fort Worth

This end of may flooding for texas got a disaster area with enough water to put 8" on entire state. They got police cars underwater, deaths in tx, ok and nm. Water was high enough to completely fill highway underpasses.
They had to re plan bus routes to keep drivers from driving in flooded areas.

[milkmania]

Saturday, We drove 4 hours south to Dallas, then 3 hours west to "look" at a car...
The storm just outside of Dallas had 4 lanes slowed down to 15 mph for 20 miles! We couldn't get to the shoulder, and if we did... I'd worry about getting slammed into from the back. Couldn't see !

Son sold his truck on Craigslist Memorial Day (Monday evening) after 3 EF-2 tornadoes his our little town of 6300. We've got local lakes that haven't flooded in last 100 years, cresting at 33 feet above flood stage!

Took me less than a week to figure out I wasn't going to be hauling his butt to practices twice a day

The whole drive through Texas, I was wondering about this car being flood damaged while we were on our way!

It was one of those "can't pass it up" deals...
2006 Charger R/T 5.7 Hemi
136,000 miles
Leather, sunroof, Navigation
Garage kept
New tires & Struts in January
It was "the wife's car... husband was shop manager for dealership
Clean CarFax, the people had car for 8 1/2 years
Dealer Maintained & Detailed!!!
scary fast!
$6000

NO FLOOD DAMAGE!!!

[crazycal]

Originally Posted by milkmania

Saturday, We drove 4 hours south to Dallas, then 3 hours west to "look" at a car...
The storm just outside of Dallas had 4 lanes slowed down to 15 mph for 20 miles! We couldn't get to the shoulder, and if we did... I'd worry about getting slammed into from the back. Couldn't see !

Son sold his truck on Craigslist Memorial Day (Monday evening) after 3 EF-2 tornadoes his our little town of 6300. We've got local lakes that haven't flooded in last 100 years, cresting at 33 feet above flood stage!

Took me less than a week to figure out I wasn't going to be hauling his butt to practices twice a day

The whole drive through Texas, I was wondering about this car being flood damaged while we were on our way!

It was one of those "can't pass it up" deals...
2006 Charger R/T 5.7 Hemi
136,000 miles
Leather, sunroof, Navigation
Garage kept
New tires & Struts in January
It was "the wife's car... husband was shop manager for dealership
Clean CarFax, the people had car for 8 1/2 years
Dealer Maintained & Detailed!!!
scary fast!
$6000

NO FLOOD DAMAGE!!!

I've seen bids go that high for beat up cop cars.

[crazycal]

My mistake. I thought you were talking about "a photo posted of school buses parked in Texas half under water" not a poor school bus driver waiting at a red light when a wall of water pushed her bus into a ditch. Please accept my apology.

[Dave588]

There was a photo. But I have no idea if media borrowed it from Sandy or Katrina to fill in their story. Given that buying a 10-20 year old bus is usually buyer beware, and state of disaster, who knows if opportunity to replace buses might put some buses on auction block that only had wet tires.
but, seats could be waterlogged, too.