Anyone know any good places to buy a bus in Florida, Georgia, Alabama?!

[JesusChangedMyLife]

I am looking to buy a bus, preferably Thomas. Any thoughts on bus brands? I live in North Central Florida. I am willing to go to South Florida up to Georgia/Alabama for a good bus. I would like a Thomas handicap one. I like the door access on the backside for handicap. Any thoughts or comments would be helpful and appreciated! I have looked on Facebook Market Place, Craigslist, and other places too and haven't had much luck.. I was told that licensed auctions are the best bet but I don't have a license or know of anyone. Beginner Skoolie here!

[Sehnsucht]

Private sellers often list on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace but it's buyer beware. Do your homework and know their offering better than they do themselves in order to get that price down if they'll negotiate at all.

Dealerships are an option but be prepared to pay dealership prices.

Auto auctions or heavy equipment auctions or government surplus auctions, any auction it again pays to know your stuff so you don't let yourself get bid into overpaying for something not worth it. Also if you're not allowed to examine it in advance probably a good idea to walk away. Auctions have plenty of rules but not much integrity so if you win but it won't run you're still responsible to tow, push, or teleport it off their lot or they charge you even more. Just a word of caution.

Directly to the school districts may be an option especially if there's a district that has the model of bus you're looking for. You specifically want a Thomas handicap but what size? What engine and gearing? Typically people here want bigger engine and highway gearing which usually means a larger school district which has an award winning athletic program because they spend big for team event buses. Also don't hold me to this but I think Georgia has a policy about school buses versus activity buses and if you search for an activity bus it won't be yellow or have signs and lights to remove but may also command a little higher price.

As for the region you're in, many tend to shy away from Florida buses in general. Florida is pretty flat so no beefy engines required and the buses end up rusting out by the time they reach their expected service life so you'll inherent a lifetime of constant rust mitigation.

I think North Georgia might be a good region, hilly terrain could require stronger engines and far enough from the coast to minimize rust.

Just some thoughts.

[o1marc]

You're search area eliminates virtually every good bus. Fla. is notorious for low spec buses that get used up by cannabalizing other buses until they are worthless.
Auction sites like Govdeals.com, purplewave.com, publicsurplus.com are a few of the places that schools use for liquidating the buses. The dealers get the same buses we can and then double the price. No licenses are required for bidding on any of these sites.
What you'll find on FB and CL are people who bought at auction and then double the price to flip them on FB and CL.
The auction sites mentioned will know nothing about the bus, it isn't sold at the auction site. The bus will still be at the school and any info will come from the school system selling the bus.

[JesusChangedMyLife]

Awesome! Thanks for the feedback. Especially about the engines, that makes a ton of sense. I will check out those websites too. At this point, I am willing to get a good, reasonable bus anywhere in the Southeast even South Carolina and Tennesse. I am looking for a used short bus that $5,000 or less with 200,000 miles or less would be nice. A bigger engine and highway gearing sounds ideal for me. I would definitely like to travel in it. Are Vortec engines from GM good? There is a man in Columbus, GA selling some 3500 model buses. GMC, Thomas, & Chevy Express ranging from 95k to 211k miles for reasonable prices I found on Facebook. I saw some dealerships online but wayy out of my price range. I am looking to convert for $10k or under including cost of the bus.