Govdeals

[o1marc]

I see a trend in buses currently being auction. Big hand fulls of buses from one school district starting at $500 and all ending at the same price, $2600. yup, all won by the same buyer. Buying up fleets for resale or to take to Central/South America.

[Asetechrail]

Originally Posted by o1marc

I see a trend in buses currently being auction. Big hand fulls of buses from one school district starting at $500 and all ending at the same price, $2600. yup, all won by the same buyer. Buying up fleets for resale or to take to Central/South America.

I’ve seen the same thing many times. It’s hard to compete against a reseller with deep pockets.

[cadillackid]

this is common all the time... when I was down at BGA in florida one time (that high oriced dealer).. a single guy came in. and bought 10 busses under the agreement that all would be at the port of miami in 2 days afterwords.. they never even drove em.. just started them up revved a few times and onto the next bus to look at.

when I got my red bus out of texas there was a bunch of DT466 Waynes ,they all went to the same seller.. a group of foreign guys all showed up in 2 vans while I was getting my bus and started driving off... they literally didnt check the oil, coolant, or anything.. they hopped in started up and headed down the road.. one of them they jumped the batteries with another bus.. these guys will run up the price on a bus they want well above what most any of us will pay,, they are easy to spot in an auction... many times go after conventionals with the DT466 and CUmmins 8.3's, they leave the T444E stuff and frieghlinter conventionals completely alone.. although I see them bid on the RE thomas;s at times..

-Christopher

[o1marc]

I thought I missed a couple good deals today on what I want that went for only $1700, but then realized they were from Beaverton and I don't want to travel that far.

[Jdawgsfanasty]

Originally Posted by o1marc

I see a trend in buses currently being auction. Big hand fulls of buses from one school district starting at $500 and all ending at the same price, $2600. yup, all won by the same buyer. Buying up fleets for resale or to take to Central/South America.

Yep...or Mexico...make great people haulers

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[dbhost]

If you've ever vacationed in Mexico, or points south, you might notice that most public transit busses used there, were once U.S. or Canadian school busses. They buy them for as little as they can, move them south, slap some wild paint and a fare box on them and sell them to whatever transit service will buy them for the inflated prices...

[Twigg]

Originally Posted by dbhost

If you've ever vacationed in Mexico, or points south, you might notice that most public transit busses used there, were once U.S. or Canadian school busses. They buy them for as little as they can, move them south, slap some wild paint and a fare box on them and sell them to whatever transit service will buy them for the inflated prices...

There is a very good video floating around showing the process these buses go through in Central America.

Effectively, they get a full half-life rebuild for about US$13000

When they hit the road they are very close to "as-new" condition as they can be.

[cadillackid]

im working on a guy in the Seattle Area about a 1975 Superior... Man its THE BUS id love to have but it scares me that its 3000 miles from home.... im pretty adventurous.. but hopping in a bus and driving it 3000 miles is a big trip.

-Chris

[Twigg]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

im working on a guy in the Seattle Area about a 1975 Superior... Man its THE BUS id love to have but it scares me that its 3000 miles from home.... im pretty adventurous.. but hopping in a bus and driving it 3000 miles is a big trip.

-Chris

So take one of the others and tow it home.

[1olfart]

Christopher, I bet if you want that bus, you'd be welcomed at so many Skoolie homes, that you could plan a return trip and meet a bunch of folks. It would be easy, IF more members would get on Skoolie Map, but I bet that.......
"if you buy it, they will come."

[Iceni John]

Originally Posted by dbhost

If you've ever vacationed in Mexico, or points south, you might notice that most public transit busses used there, were once U.S. or Canadian school busses. They buy them for as little as they can, move them south, slap some wild paint and a fare box on them and sell them to whatever transit service will buy them for the inflated prices...

I think that's more true of Central America than Mexico. Mexican urban or transit buses outside of the big cities such as DF or Guadalajara are usually Dina or Mercedes front-engine shorties based on a MD truck chassis, with locally-made bodies by Busscar and other manufacturers. Pretty they ain't, but they do the job perfectly well. In the biggest cities you'll find modern transit buses from all the European makers, as good and up-to-date as anything you'll see in Western Europe; Mexico City even has some double-articulated Volvos! It's actually rare to see any ex-USA buses at all in Mexico, either school buses or long-distance buses, but there are some older American school and transit buses in Tijuana (complete with hand-painted whitewall tires!) on local services there; I did see an MC9 one time in rural Guanajuato state and an Eagle at Tijuana's Central Camionera on a night service to somewhere in Baja, but they're the only US buses I've recently seen in MX in long-distance service.

It's fun traveling around Mexico seeing all the different buses there. The First-Class and Luxury-Class buses are MUCH nicer than anything in this country, and when they reach middle-age they are often demoted to Second-Class services, i.e. stopping pretty much anywhere for anyone, and keeping to the smaller roads and Libre highways. It's rare these days to see anything much older than 20 years in service anywhere, and even the Second-Class buses now almost always have A/C and loos. Some companies such as ETN are even running double-decker MANs with only 25 seats - now that's space! How can you not like 2-and-1 seats as wide as a first-class aircraft seat with 45-degree reclining and big leg rests, WiFi, cellphone charger and 120V power at every seat, tablet screens at every seat with umpteen channels to watch, separate men's and women's loos (that are always completely clean), a hot and cold water dispenser, sandwich and snacks and sodas when you board, and a strictly-observed 95 KMH speed limit to prevent speeding. I've traveled many miles by ADO, Primera Plus, ETN and other operators, and have always been very impressed with their service and comfort. Greyhound has a long way to go to approach that level of quality.

John

[2martins]

Originally Posted by 1olfart

Christopher, I bet if you want that bus, you'd be welcomed at so many Skoolie homes, that you could plan a return trip and meet a bunch of folks. It would be easy, IF more members would get on Skoolie Map, but I bet that.......
"if you buy it, they will come."

Yep, there's room in my driveway on the other side from Mobi. I'm uphill from Reno. 5 over thru the forest shortly after you get to California to 395 is better than 5 and 80 to get there from Oregon. You need a good tranny to tow over the mountains though.

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[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by 2martins

Yep, there's room in my driveway on the other side from Mobi. I'm uphill from Reno. 5 over thru the forest shortly after you get to California to 395 is better than 5 and 80 to get there from Oregon. You need a good tranny to tow over the mountains though.

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I definitely wouldnt try to tow one bus with another.. its illegal in many states as it exceeds the 65 foot total length rule that many states have for non-semi trucks.. if I do this im just gonna drive it ..

it has a fresh ford gas motor in it, trying to find out which transmission.. i think its an AT-540, but they are checking for me.. fully seated and not torn apart inside.. its a classic.. running a gasser AT-540 over the rockies is something I would take as a very slow ride.. esp since its still snowing out there.
-Christopher

[Twigg]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

I definitely wouldnt try to tow one bus with another.. its illegal in many states as it exceeds the 65 foot total length rule that many states have for non-semi trucks.. if I do this im just gonna drive it ..

it has a fresh ford gas motor in it, trying to find out which transmission.. i think its an AT-540, but they are checking for me.. fully seated and not torn apart inside.. its a classic.. running a gasser AT-540 over the rockies is something I would take as a very slow ride.. esp since its still snowing out there.
-Christopher

I was kidding about the towing

Good luck whatever you decide.

[syntel]

I bought mine from government deals.com. It cost us about $2,700. It was located in San Antonio Texas. Yes we did have to compete with other people.

[Miles O Roads]

Hoping the one I have been watching with a junk maxxpower the international buyers will stay away for maintenance reason. Bus sales Wednesday my nerves are a mess.