Making the big move

[richie23]

Hello to all I am glad I joined this forum, I live in NJ but end of the year moving to Florida to start a small tow company. I left my job and froze my pension me and the wife are going to start a new adventure. I just won a 2005 Freightliner Thomas bus with 46k miles on it and got it for a great price. Wasn't sure if I was allowed to say how much I paid. The guy at the school said this bus was only used to train new employees and it was only 20 minutes away from where I live. I will post some pictures as I go along and I am looking forward to be part of this great group of people. I am pretty handy just learning how to weld and might need some help with solar. Yes I know will Prowse is great but seen a bunch of his videos but nothing better than talking to people who have done it through trial and error and actually working for them. My bus is dog nose and it 35ft long came with the cat c-7 engine not sure what tranny I have yet will have to check.

[o1marc]

Pricing is a big issue and often talked about here. Sounds like you got a unicorn that only saw 3k a year.So what did you give for it? It helps others while shopping because the prices have been going through the roof in the last year.

[richie23]

Originally Posted by o1marc

Pricing is a big issue and often talked about here. Sounds like you got a unicorn that only saw 3k a year.So what did you give for it? It helps others while shopping because the prices have been going through the roof in the last year.

I got it for $3700.00 on gov deals would of got it cheaper but I kept bidding against someone else he finally went to bed at 9:30 and the auction ended at midnight.

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by richie23

I got it for $3700.00 on gov deals would of got it cheaper but I kept bidding against someone else he finally went to bed at 9:30 and the auction ended at midnight.

You should have waited till 11:55pm before ever placing a bid. I never bid before 3-5 minutes before it ends. Otherwise you're just bidding against yourself. If it was just you and him, what was his bid before yours? I normally do a proxy bid, where I put in a bid that is the most I will pay. When the auction ends my bid is either not high enough, or I won it at the next increment it would have been at whatever the next highest bid was. If there's no issues, $3700 is not a bad deal these days.

[EastCoastCB]

I bid early and if anyone wants to pay more they can. Its not ebay, it auto-extends.

[Oldyeller]

Congrats on the new bus and welcome to the forum. I'm also in NJ and I'm also going to be rolling out of here in November with my first stop being Daytona Beach.

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

I bid early and if anyone wants to pay more they can. Its not ebay, it auto-extends.

This works if you're not serious about winning the item. All bidding early does is give someone else a chance to out bid you. if you didn't bid till the end, whomever is high bid thinks he's got it won, till your bid comes in at the last minute. May the previous high bidder is watching, maybe not.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by o1marc

This works if you're not serious about winning the item. All bidding early does is give someone else a chance to out bid you. if you didn't bid till the end, whomever is high bid thinks he's got it won, till your bid comes in at the last minute. May the previous high bidder is watching, maybe not.

I've done just fine, thanks.
I bid as much as i'd spend, and let the free market do its thing.
I hate having to tweak out and snipe like ebay that sucks.

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

I've done just fine, thanks.
I bid as much as i'd spend, and let the free market do its thing.
I hate having to tweak out and snipe like ebay that sucks.

It's your money. I don't understand how saving money sucks.

Sniping is no different than any other bid, it just comes in with 3 seconds to go. You place the bid like any other bid, there's no tweaking.
Why pay the most you would pay, when you can get it cheaper?

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by o1marc

It's your money. I don't understand how saving money sucks.

Sniping is no different than any other bid, it just comes in with 3 seconds to go. You place the bid like any other bid, there's no tweaking.
Why pay the most you would pay, when you can get it cheaper?

I've never had to do anything but sit back and buy cheap buses.

You do it your way I'll do it mine.

[Ronnie]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

I've never had to do anything but sit back and buy cheap buses.

You do it your way I'll do it mine.

I am with you, I put in my max and let it go. It is not a game of winning for me.



The auctions I have been on lately reset the time left if someone bids in the last 4 minutes, then each bid after that renews the 4 minute time left. Nice way to do it, cuts out the games.

[musigenesis]

I've only participated in one online bus auction ... and I lost it when nobody outbid me.

[richie23]

Originally Posted by Oldyeller

Congrats on the new bus and welcome to the forum. I'm also in NJ and I'm also going to be rolling out of here in November with my first stop being Daytona Beach.

wow oldyeller i might see you on the road I'm leaving in November I'm in South jersey i will be in Daytona this weekend as long as Spirit airlines does not cancel the flight I have to get started on this bus to have it somewhat ready for November.

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

I've only participated in one online bus auction ... and I lost it when nobody outbid me.

Wait, did you win it or lose it?

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by richie23

wow oldyeller i might see you on the road I'm leaving in November I'm in South jersey i will be in Daytona this weekend as long as Spirit airlines does not cancel the flight I have to get started on this bus to have it somewhat ready for November.

I'm heading to Daytona tomorrow morning, not in the bus though. I'll be racing on the track Fri. night in my Miata.

[Oldyeller]

Originally Posted by richie23

wow oldyeller i might see you on the road I'm leaving in November I'm in South jersey i will be in Daytona this weekend as long as Spirit airlines does not cancel the flight I have to get started on this bus to have it somewhat ready for November.

Well maybe we should keep in touch on the dates. If we're ready to roll out at the same time it might make sense to roll down together - just in case.

[richie23]

Originally Posted by Oldyeller

Well maybe we should keep in touch on the dates. If we're ready to roll out at the same time it might make sense to roll down together - just in case.

yea sounds good you never know what can happen keep in touch and when it gets closer we can see what dates and maybe we can work something out. like i said i will be flying in to Orlando tomorrow if spirit does not cancel and driving to Daytona Beach i have a condo there on the beach we love it there. I was up last night reading your post you have like 10 pages on it and you are doing a great job on the bus from what I saw with the cutting the back end and painting.

[Oldyeller]

Originally Posted by richie23

yea sounds good you never know what can happen keep in touch and when it gets closer we can see what dates and maybe we can work something out. like i said i will be flying in to Orlando tomorrow if spirit does not cancel and driving to Daytona Beach i have a condo there on the beach we love it there. I was up last night reading your post you have like 10 pages on it and you are doing a great job on the bus from what I saw with the cutting the back end and painting.

I've enjoyed the work I've done on it but, at this point, it's starting to keep me awake at night. I've got to roll out of here in the bus by November so the plan for the bus might have to be pared back accordingly.