Bus with fuel leak

[Gazolba]

Found a bus that is just what I want but is described as having a fuel leak. Its a 2000 Thomas Series C (a 3800 I believe) with V8 Diesel engine and 150k miles. No further information given. The seller wants $1000 for it. Is this likely to be an expensive fix or something simple? Should I avoid this bus? It is a long way from me so I need to drive it home.

[AlleyCat67]

Without knowing exactly where the leak is there's no way to be sure. If it's something simple like a cracked fuel line that would be a cheap and easy fix. If it's somewhere internal to the engine that's another matter entirely.

I'm guessing the seller doesn't know where it is and doesn't want to be bothered with tracking it down and fixing it himself.

My gut instinct is to forget that one and look elsewhere.

[Rameses]

Where's it located?

There're some pretty knowledgeable people on this board. If you're lucky, it might be close to one of them, and they might be willing to take a look at it for you and see what the deal is with the leak.

[jazty]

Yeah, if the seller won't do his own bit of work to figure out specifics about the bus's specs and issues (especially where the leak is coming from) then I'd either throw out a super low-ball offer, or forget about it altogether.

A year 2000 International 3800 with a diesel V8 is going to be a T444e, btw, unless he re-powered it himself.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by jazty

Yeah, if the seller won't do his own bit of work to figure out specifics about the bus's specs and issues (especially where the leak is coming from) then I'd either throw out a super low-ball offer, or forget about it altogether.

A year 2000 International 3800 with a diesel V8 is going to be a T444e, btw, unless he re-powered it himself.

I passed on a super clean shorty recently on GovDeals. Went cheap, but the seller WOULD NOT tell me the rear axle ratio no matter now much I plead with them. Such a shame, but I didn't wanna drive back home 700 miles at 45 or 50 mph and wasn't gonna chance that. To me being able to keep up with the flow of traffic is sort of a safety concern.

[AlleyCat67]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

I passed on a super clean shorty recently on GovDeals. Went cheap, but the seller WOULD NOT tell me the rear axle ratio no matter now much I plead with them. Such a shame, but I didn't wanna drive back home 700 miles at 45 or 50 mph and wasn't gonna chance that. To me being able to keep up with the flow of traffic is sort of a safety concern.

For real? Sounds like that seller just wanted to be an a$$ if he did in fact know it and refused to tell you. If he didn't know he could at least have told you that, would have been more honest.

Agreed on the speed..... if you top out at 50 you'd have to stick to back roads otherwise you'd get run over.

[EastCoastCB]

One thing I absolutely won't buy is a low-geared bus far away!

It was on GovDeals. They just COULDN'T answer the question. So yeah had to pass on that.