Gonna buy a bus. Need help choosing between 2.

[RPM503]

New member, first post. Hoping for some feedback. If you could provide feedback, plus the reasoning for your opinion, that'd be great.

I'm going to buy a short school bus sometime in the next couple of weeks. I am currently looking at 2, very different buses.

About me: 53, male, 6'1" tall. Will travel with a labrador and a friend or two from time to time.

What I'm going to do with the bus...

I won't be living in it full time. I will have a home base in Portland at a family member's house where I can park it, work on it, etc.

I will be making a lot of 3-4 week trips in the western states. Staying on BLM land, National Forest Land, etc. Maybe some 4-5 day trips to eastern Oregon and Gifford Pinchot in Washington. Plus an annual 3 week trip to New Orleans.

About the two buses.

Bus #1 2011 Chevy MicroBird with GM 6.6 Diesel. 115,000 miles. 5 window. Headroom is 6'3". Asking price before negotiating is $16k.

Bus #2 1997 Ford E-450 with the vaunted 7.3 PowerStroke Diesel. 149,982 miles. 6 window. Headroom 6'4". Asking price before negotiating is $8000.

With one of them, I use most of my budget but get a newer, cleaner bus. With the other, I have more of a budget to work with but get an older, slightly bigger bus that needs some basic, inexpensive work. Maybe $2-3k.

I have time and the tools to work on the conversion. If I blow my initial budget, I'll still be able to do things, just at a slower pace, as I can afford it.

So...whatcha think?

[~GntlStone~]

FWIW and all else being equal, I would go with the ford just for the 6'4" height. By the time you insulate floor and ceiling then skin with plywood or your finished material you might find yourself hunching and ducking a bit in the Chevy. The ford, although at a higher mileage has seen less miles per year. Speaking with a bus dealer today he said he would pick the 7.3 over a Duramax diesel every time. Plus then you have close to 5k to use to upgrade and customize your rig with. Whatever you do stay away from the Ford 6.0 according to everyone I talk to.



Just my thoughts.

[CHEESE_WAGON]

Miles mean nothing, Hours tell the tale. I'd take a 7.3 over a DuraMax any day.

[RPM503]

I appreciate your feedback and your time. Thank you.

[Meathead]

149,000 miles on a Ford Powerstroke is almost broken in! I keep seeing my old 1995 F250 around town and I always stop to ask the owner how she’s doing. My welder made a distinctive pipe rack for her.

After being a fence truck for 200k miles she’s now a roofers truck at 330k miles. Not easy miles!

Can you tell I’m a fan?

Peace

[Meathead]

Ha! The only problem with my other (2005) powerstroke was when I was pulling a 28’ travel trailer.
I would forget that I had a trailer back there. When I accelerated I couldn’t even feel it. That will get you in trouble!

Peace

[Chrystals0405]

hey there,
which unit did you end up going with?
I am debating between a 05' e450 7.3L powerstroke diesel bluebird 22ft (18000 CAD), and a 1997 Bluebird 7.3 International Diesel 25 ft (9000 CAD)
Thanks!
Samantha

[Brad_SwiftFur]

The 05 Ford will likely have either a gas engine (most are alright) or the 6.0 diesel (not-so-good). Assuming the 6.0 diesel, which had major shortcomings as-built, you'll be much better off with the 7.3 (very good engines). That's not to say the 7.3 is without problems (no engine is, really) but they have excellent aftermarket parts support.


Plus it's half the price, and I'm guessing a much heavier duty chassis with more weight capacity.

[Chrystals0405]

Oops - apparently the 05 is a 7.3 powerstroke diesel engine.
Does this change your opinion?


Yes, the 97 25 ft would be a bigger chassis and more weight capacity... does that mean much worse gas mileage than the 22 ft?