The Potential Downside of Not Doing Enough Research

[kazetsukai]

Originally Posted by Sehnsucht

I think the responses here are usually quite balanced between optimism and caution. If the responses were uniformly negative then it would drive people away from a valuable resource and wealth of experience.

Its hard to have patience for people who react negatively to challenge, many are just beyond reach. When someone "wants answers" but gets annoyed when you look for their rationale, that's usually a red flag.

[Iceni John]

As has been reiterated on the BCM and BNO forums (fora?) many times, if you choose to convert a bus you'd better have a rainy-day fund for when, not if, something goes bang and you have a large unexpected repair bill on your hands. I've set aside one of my retirement savings accounts specifically for that purpose, so if my engine or transmission carks I'll have enough to fix it, and what's more to fix it properly. If you choose to live a mobile lifestyle, you WILL eventually have a rude awakening when your glossy utopian dreams of traveling into the sunset suddenly crash and burn because something untoward happened. And, as if it needs to be stated again, anyone who finances a bus conversion using any type of credit at all, whether a loan, credit cards, or whatever you got suckered into, is a fool who deserves whatever happens. If you can't afford A) the bus itself, or B) whatever the conversion costs, or C) the long-term running costs (including the $hit-happens slush fund) without borrowing money, then quite simply a bus is not for you. And, lastly but certainly not leastly, if you can't fix most things yourself, then you need to learn. Most buses are basically simple beasts (except for newer OTR coaches such as Prevosts and MCIs), and they're designed to last a long time provided they're used and maintained correctly, so you can't blame the bus if it goes tits-up on you.

John

[cadillackid]

credit is a very udeful resource to have.. theres nothing wrong with being completely cash based.. theres also nothing wrong with using credit.. after all people buy homes and cars on credit all the time and still fix them when they break..



credit is a great resource for when you do blow something up and end up with a 5000 dollar repair bill..



obviously its like any other tool.. it can be grossly mis-used..



I hate to see the broken skoolie projects.. after all im a classic bus enthusiast.. and when someone tears a really nice classic bus into pieces for conversion only for it to end up scrapped or left to rot in a field I kind of cringe.. I want to enourage success vs failure.. peo[le dont need negativity at every turn.. perhaps reality check a little but not complete negativity..



im a creative.. a pretty dreamy impractical at times kinda guy that has wild-ass ideas.. a lot of those thungs are what has led to the success of my business.. if I had heard nothing but negativity alot of stuff wouldve never got off the ground..


sometimes you have to put down the adult anbd invoke the kid that does some frivolous but fun things.. and lives a bit in the dreams vs the practical.. practicality is often quite dry and fuddy-duddy boring..



building a dream needs some of that but it also needs some enouragement and dreaminess to it.. or it will always be some sort of "work" and never Fun!

[jimmars]

This is a fake article. No fool would put $40,000 into a $2,500 School Bus.

[T-Bolt]

Originally Posted by jimmars

This is a fake article. No fool would put $40,000 into a $2,500 School Bus.

I have hundreds of thousands invested in my bus.

After buying the bus and getting started I realized that some land to park it on would be great. So I bought 10 acres.

Now with land, I figured that a barn to build the bus in would be helpful so I built a great 40x80 pole barn.

With land and a barn, it would be much easier to work on the bus if I lived on the land. So we designed and built our dream house.

Now you can see what a huge money hole a Skoolie can be. All this and we haven't spent a single night in it yet.

[jimmars]

Exactly, everyone knows 12 year old re's for 8500 are the only bus to sink 40k or more

[vintageracer]

Originally Posted by T-Bolt

I have hundreds of thousands invested in my bus.

You mean you have Hundreds of Thousands Dollars SPENT on your bus.

An "Investment" has the potential and expectation of PROFIT!

Not gonna happen on a Skoolie!

[Shamoke]

Originally Posted by jimmars

This is a fake article. No fool would put $40,000 into a $2,500 School Bus.

The first article said she lived in San Francisco when I assume she was use to paying a couple of grand a month in rent minimum. So I can imagine plopping down 45 grand for a home of your own kind of thing was attractive to her at the time.

[Native]

Originally Posted by T-Bolt

I have hundreds of thousands invested in my bus.

After buying the bus and getting started I realized that some land to park it on would be great. So I bought 10 acres.

Now with land, I figured that a barn to build the bus in would be helpful so I built a great 40x80 pole barn.

With land and a barn, it would be much easier to work on the bus if I lived on the land. So we designed and built our dream house.

Now you can see what a huge money hole a Skoolie can be. All this and we haven't spent a single night in it yet.

My wife and I absolutely LOVED this post. Thank you!

[cadillackid]

ha!! I guess it could be similar for me.. in a different way.. I got a bus and did a little cool stuff to it.. then i got another bus and did cool stuff to that one.. then I did more cool stuff to the first one.. then i got another bus and did cool stuff to that one. . and did more cool stuff to the first one and more cool stuff to the second one.. then i got another bus that needs cool stuff done to it and did cool stuff to the first one and did cool stuff to the second one and did cool stuff to the third one...


cool stuff = time and $$
-Christopher

[nightanole]

Meh i just like the first timers, or big RV first timers, when they go into maintenance and tires.

"wat u mean its 2-4 grand for tires, thats how much the entire bus is!"
"wat you mean tires age out, these only have 30k on them, they are good for another 10 years at this pace"
"wat u mean a "simple" "oil change" is $500, my car 3.6L is only $50".

[jimmars]

If she was in san Francisco then she knows she needs emergency funds, no one remodels a bathroom in a trailer with rotting floors old roof and cracked siding.
If could be she was reading what alot of people say about buying older buses because pre-emissions and didn't understand they were going to be working on the engine themselves and like the challenge of roadside fixes, like water pump, alt, and old tires.
She was crying about not getting a job during Covid, mcdonalds would hire her.
Then she is selling for more than she put in it. LoL

[Rwnielsen]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

ha!! I guess it could be similar for me.. in a different way.. I got a bus and did a little cool stuff to it.. then i got another bus and did cool stuff to that one.. then I did more cool stuff to the first one.. then i got another bus and did cool stuff to that one. . and did more cool stuff to the first one and more cool stuff to the second one.. then i got another bus that needs cool stuff done to it and did cool stuff to the first one and did cool stuff to the second one and did cool stuff to the third one...


cool stuff = time and $$
-Christopher

I'm hesitant to ask.. But.... How many busses do you have? Do you need an intervention or maybe a program?

[Shamoke]

Originally Posted by Rwnielsen

I'm hesitant to ask.. But.... How many busses do you have? Do you need an intervention or maybe a program?

HAHAHAHAHA

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by Rwnielsen

I'm hesitant to ask.. But.... How many busses do you have? Do you need an intervention or maybe a program?

4 and all of them have seats


I dont need an intervention but I do need a bigger garage.. there is this wayne i'd kind of like to have..

[Bus'n it]

Funny thing that today I sold one of my welders to a neighbor for 1k. I bought a smaller unit that functions pretty much the same. So he tells me that all the surrounding neighbors are excited to see my bus and that it is the best project going on in the block. One has a K5 blazer under construction, one has a farm tractor under construction and another is finishing up a 64 Nova. And here I was thinking that my bus is an ugly sore sight but I was wrong. Nice to know your neighbors are root'in for you. I do agree that people need to be aware that they need to plan for things when going for a bus. I also have to agree that there seems to be alot of negativity rather than support. Perhaps there should be a sticky for first timers to read through to become aware of what they are getting into. Make it mandatory reading? After that we can all support their ideas and help them along their build. Perhaps lend a hand if we live close enough.
I personally agree with Chris regarding credit cards. You do need them but please make sure you don't abuse them and let them accumulate. We pay off our credit cards every month. They are a great tool. I use one for just the bus build to keep track of expenditures. We also have a credit union account for all the cash we dump in there from selling unneeded stuff such as tools and household items as we thin our crap down. Sold off $4200 worth of things this week. (Of course when I originally bought said things, they were much more than my recent gain)

[Oscar1]

Originally Posted by Bus'n it

Funny thing that today I sold one of my welders to a neighbor for 1k. I bought a smaller unit that functions pretty much the same. So he tells me that all the surrounding neighbors are excited to see my bus and that it is the best project going on in the block. One has a K5 blazer under construction, one has a farm tractor under construction and another is finishing up a 64 Nova. And here I was thinking that my bus is an ugly sore sight but I was wrong. Nice to know your neighbors are root'in for you. I do agree that people need to be aware that they need to plan for things when going for a bus. I also have to agree that there seems to be alot of negativity rather than support. Perhaps there should be a sticky for first timers to read through to become aware of what they are getting into. Make it mandatory reading? After that we can all support their ideas and help them along their build. Perhaps lend a hand if we live close enough.
I personally agree with Chris regarding credit cards. You do need them but please make sure you don't abuse them and let them accumulate. We pay off our credit cards every month. They are a great tool. I use one for just the bus build to keep track of expenditures. We also have a credit union account for all the cash we dump in there from selling unneeded stuff such as tools and household items as we thin our crap down. Sold off $4200 worth of things this week. (Of course when I originally bought said things, they were much more than my recent gain)

Have to agree with you on this one, way too many people jump all in first and then ask questions. Everyone has a first time but if you have a mechanical or building background you have much better chance of pulling it off. I hate seeing all these I've got no place to live so in desperation I bought a sh*tty old rust bucket money pit to live in on the side of the road and now I'm screwed even worse type scenario's. Nimble keeps pimping the used rv's and in many situations for some he's bang on that it could be their best option to get to a better place. It's funny you talk of negativity about skoolie's, I've heard some snobby rv parks only allow A class motorhome's less than 7 years old. My buddy just spent $160,000 last week on a brand new A class and by the time he'd done two hours for the ride home he had 10 items on the fix list, first trip out was a three hour trip for two nights at a local park and the list grew to two pages. I stand by my statement that factory built rv's are junk, built from the lightest, cheapest crap the manufactures can put together but we are ridiculed for starting with a heavy duty chassis and building something we can operate and maintain ourselves mostly from supplies at a big box store.
Stay safe and bus on.
Oscar

[Rwnielsen]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

4 and all of them have seats


I dont need an intervention but I do need a bigger garage.. there is this wayne i'd kind of like to have..

Thats pretty amusing, I hope to run into you some day out in the world.

[cntryby]

I know this thread is old, but its exactly what I'm doing right now.


I have a list of items to address on the bus before I begin the conversion process.


Compressor, dryer, rear air bags, weld up the timing housing, calibrate for 6th gear, windshield seal, add a fass to supply the caps and a bunch of small items like lubing the cable slides for the heater / defog ducts.


That'll be a chunk of dough right there.



After getting the bus mechanically sound, I'll take it out for a 1000 mile test run. I expect good results since I drove it around 1600 miles to get it home.



Then I'll start my conversion. I can't fathom paying anyone to do anything to the bus. It will be me and my wonderful wife out there, I need to know every detail about the bus and how to keep it rolling and everything functioning.



I hope to keep a reasonable budget. I have accumulated a lot of usable items in my 35 year career. Sheet metal, and wood will be practically no cost to me. I may have most of the wiring I will need as well. I was given a box by a family member who retired, it was full of mig consumables, mostly .035 wire, multiple spools. I'll be surprised if I go through all the welding supplies I've been saving up over the years. Will still have to buy gas though.

I have the space and the equipment to do the conversion, and I don't live in a city limit, which prevents a lot of issues I've seen other deal with.


I know I'll have expenses, appliances, solar, mini split, rivets, spray foam, butyl, raptor liner, sikaflex, plumbing, sink... etc


These are not all inclusive, but I have a fair understanding of the expenses I will incur.



The absolutely last thing I will do before hitting the road is new tires and batteries.


I have a number in my head that I believe we'll be close to when complete... it isn't cheap and I think I'll be cheaper than most.


Some of the conversions I see online are horrible in there execution. I'm not trying to get on anyone's back, but some of these conversions look like they are intended to last a few years and then be thrown away. If that's there intention that's fine they can do it anyway they want. Unfortunately some of those buses are sold to unsuspecting people who have know idea they're buying a rusty bucket of mold. The sellers strike me as the same type of people making places like Walmart not allow overnight parking.



I want to give our bus to my daughter or one of the grandchildren, So I know I'll pay extra in certain situations for a quality long term solution.



All these are considerations I made before I pulled the trigger on a bus. I'm no genius, many others do the same thing. (Which attracted me to this site)

I've found it can be difficult trying to explain a bad situation to someone for a variety of reasons. But maybe we should try a little harder, I've seen a ton of good advice given, but there seems to be a reluctance in some instances to tell someone they screwed up and need to rip it out and re-do it... correctly.

[Mudhutwarrior]

I witnessed this syndrome in the Wooden boat community. Some people got great deals and did good restorations and Wooden Boat magazine promoted them. Soon everybody with a dream bought one and over time the quality and issues leading to abandonment went full steam. Now some forty years later no yard or marina will take a wooden boat on because they have had their fill of the shenanigans. Only the moneyed few can afford it now.
Same with buses. The hippie era was limited but over time the fools jumped in and ruined it for the rest. Insurance is hard to get and parks won't have you. The Stigma is attached fully now.

Just like Wooden boat mag popularized it towards death so has Forums like this one for skoolies. I don't expect many here to not see the forest for the trees but its the same thing careening to the death of skoolies overall.
A small minority do it right and behave properly but its the unwashed masses with more ideas than brains who ruin it for everyone. Those here who lead the obviously blind posters with "You can do It" play their part in the destruction overall.
I switched to a trailer when I saw the writing on the wall just as I sold my last wooden boat twenty years ago and went fiberglass. Its a shame and more so for those who cannot see the end is coming quickly.
Not saying you have the wrong idea or lack of will to get it done. I am saying the trend is clear and the endpoint is in sight for everyone to see who is willing to.