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Old 02-15-2023, 11:48 AM   #1
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Should I? 2001 StarTrans Freightliner shuttle bus...

I came across a 2001 StarTrans Freightliner shuttle bus this week and I'm kind of in love. The seller states they're pretty sure it's got a Cummins 5.9 230HP ISB (6 cyl) with Allison transmission, as far as they can tell, anyway. They appear to have gotten it from a government sale with about 74k miles after being used as a shuttle bus for the local VA, so I wouldn't be surprised if the mileage is accurate.

It's a flat-nose style rather than the usual van-nose style of shuttle bus, and it has a co-pilot seat. It's a 28.5 footer and doesn't appear to have much rust in the pictures. We'd have to take out the wheelchair lift, but I'm not too worried about that in the long run. The bus is about a 6 hour drive from me, so I'm trying to decide if it's worth a look and inspection. It's listed at $6500.

My use case would be full-timing it with my husband and two dogs. We'd probably be looking at a tow dolly for our Prius if we can swing that, too. Goal would be to park for 2-4 weeks at a time, so not totally stationary, but not moving around every day or two.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

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Old 02-15-2023, 12:28 PM   #2
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I'd suggest you determine which Allison tranny it has. Seems a lot of the more knowledgeable people here aren't too crazy about the AT545...

otherwise, it sounds like a desirable bus. I'd want factory A/C. I had a bus w/o A/C years ago...not much fun to drive on hot summer days.
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Old 02-15-2023, 03:00 PM   #3
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Ah, good point on the transmission side of things! I had forgotten about that. I've been looking around based on the VIN to see if anything pops up, but so far no luck (kinda figured). I'll have to see if the seller can see anything on the block or anything like that.

They did say off the bat that the AC runs well, so that's good! That'll definitely be helpful for practical reasons, like you mentioned. Thank you so much for your input, BarnYardCamp - that's super helpful!
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Old 02-15-2023, 03:21 PM   #4
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when I was trying to ID the tranny in my bus it was suggested to me to post a picture of the shifter. When I did, someone immediately replied that I did NOT have the AT545.
My tranny has a aluminum plate (tag) on it that showed it to be a Allison 2000.
That tag is about 3" x 5", on the right side of the tranny.
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Old 02-15-2023, 04:06 PM   #5
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Perfect - I passed that onto the seller and he said he's going to try and find either of those. Sounds like it's currently in the shop getting a once-over, and he's waiting on the government transfer title to finalize everything, so fingers crossed!
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Old 02-15-2023, 04:59 PM   #6
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Also....check the final gearing, make sure it doesn't top out at 50 MPH or something similar. You could change it but it's more time and money.
Good Luck
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Old 02-15-2023, 05:12 PM   #7
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Yep, I was planning to check for a governor or top speed. Good to have a reminder; thank you! =)
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Old 02-15-2023, 05:41 PM   #8
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Let us know what you do because we are really nosy..err...I mean interested.
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Old 02-15-2023, 11:03 PM   #9
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Oh, for sure! I'm also very *nosy* - ahem, interested and I know I'd want updates too. 😂 Now to just wait to hear back from the seller on the transmission... 🤞
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Old 02-16-2023, 10:05 AM   #10
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Got the pictures back from the seller! I'm not sure if the others besides the shifter will be helpful, but figured I'd include them since I've got them. If anyone has any ideas on what transmission this may be, that'd be awesome!
Attached Thumbnails
Freightliner shifter.jpg   Freightliner underneath.jpg   Freightliner underneath (2).jpg   Freightliner underneath (3).jpg  
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Old 02-16-2023, 07:33 PM   #11
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Pretty sure that's an AT545 shifter, since it only has the 3 gears.
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Old 02-16-2023, 08:27 PM   #12
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my 2 cents; From what I've learned from others on this forum...keep looking, the AT545 (if musigenesis is correct) is a deal breaker. One reason is reliability, another is fuel mileage. A bus with a locking torque converter is going to get better fuel mileage.

Now, there are a lot of folks here with much more knowledge than me so lets hear from them...
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Old 02-16-2023, 09:31 PM   #13
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Nooooooo! I was afraid of that. Dang it, this is the first shuttle bus I've seen that I got truly excited about. (Everything else I've been finding seems to be 6.0 Powerstrokes, which is also a NO. 🙄) Almost makes me wonder if it'd be worth the hassle and cost of swapping transmissions, but probably not. Oh well.

Thank you all SO much for your feedback on this! It really helped.
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Old 02-16-2023, 09:40 PM   #14
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There are a few threads on this site about transmission swaps - amazing work and interesting reads, but hardly inspiring. If you're a gearhead it's a lot of hard work and fairly expensive; if you had to hire a mechanic to do it, it would just be insanely expensive.

There are a lot of buses out there that have the mechanicals you would want from the get-go. Just keep looking and be patient.
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Old 02-16-2023, 10:08 PM   #15
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Thanks for the encouragement, musigenesis; I needed that today, 'cause I was so ready to go drive off in this bus up until the transmission. �� This is why I always check with folks who know better first, so serially - thank you! �� I've gotta expand my search to more marketplaces, I think, and just hope that the right one comes up before the summer when we'd need to start working on the conversion. ��
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