What’s too much for The price and mileage of a bus?????

[Theredcrow]

Hey guys, I am looking and have been doing research on a bus for a conversion. I’m wanting a 40 footer Bluebird All American with the 8.3L and MD3060 Allison Transmission engine in the back and under bay storage. I found 2 in Southern California and one is $8965 but has 362,000 miles on it. The tires look new and the engine looks remarkably clean. Is that too many miles for a bus and is that too much money. I have a fully outfitted 16 JKU that I’ll be pulling behind my bus on a car trailer once complete. Any advice would be great!

[peteg59]

Welcome to the site Theredcrow.

Is there any engine and/or transmission repair documentation on it?

That mileage sounds high for the near $9K pricetag! Unless it has verifiable engine/drivetrain work within 100K miles from now, and all 6 tires are indeed new according to the sidewall date code.

So.Cal. is an ideal location to "harvest" a bus from though.

Good luck, and post pics if everything goes in your favor...

[Simplicity]

Get in line for that bus. It's a high demand bus, so the price they demand is high.

Depending on how well the bus has been cared for, that mileage isn't a deal killer for me as far as the engine and tranny. Yet, there are a lot of other parts to a bus that wear out a lot sooner than the drive train. That's the part that concerns me.

As I suggested to another "holy grail" seeker, it wouldn't hurt to have a back up choice as to the bus/engine/tranny that would serve your purpose.

Each brand and model of bus has their pros and cons. The old blue birds don't have much headroom, the old Thomas have funky entry steps that are narrow and steep and the International's are....huh, I don't have much to say about them. At work, I've driven Internationals and Thomas, and only a couple of really old BB. I'm use to the Thomas, but I feel like the International is a good choice all around.

The T444E (higher HP versions), DT466, Cummins 5.9L, etc. seem to have good reputations.

If you asked for alternatives for engines and trannys, I'm sure you'd get some good backup choices. A bus with those alternative drive trains easier to find, more affordable and with lower miles.

Best of luck.

[Danjo]

That’s too many miles. Of course miles aren’t everything, but unless it’s backed with solid maintenance documentation that shows it’s had overhaul work, I’d pass on that.

It’s probably good just to be patient for now. Since Covid has shut down schools, there hasn’t been a need to refresh fleets.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by Danjo

That’s too many miles. Of course miles aren’t everything, but unless it’s backed with solid maintenance documentation that shows it’s had overhaul work, I’d pass on that.

It’s probably good just to be patient for now. Since Covid has shut down schools, there hasn’t been a need to refresh fleets.

Yeah, that's a lot of miles on a non-crown school bus.

[Theredcrow]

Originally Posted by peteg59

Welcome to the site Theredcrow.

Is there any engine and/or transmission repair documentation on it?

That mileage sounds high for the near $9K pricetag! Unless it has verifiable engine/drivetrain work within 100K miles from now, and all 6 tires are indeed new according to the sidewall date code.

So.Cal. is an ideal location to "harvest" a bus from though.

Good luck, and post pics if everything goes in your favor...

Thanks man for the welcome! I’m super excited to be here and eager to learn everything I can from you guys! Here are some pictures of the bus. I’m going to still look around but this is what it looks like.

[Mountain Gnome]

the pics are small, but that looks KahLeeen! Nice!

[Theredcrow]

Thanks! It’s weird, when I click on the pictures they are big. Sorry they came out s for you! But yeah it looks super clean!

[Mountain Gnome]

from my (small-view) perspective, that motor looks so clean, it may be new(er).

[Danjo]

It looks very well maintained. Is this a second-owner bus or right out of the yard?

It looks good, but considering the time and money you’ll invest in the conversion, it would be unfortunate to find yourself shelling out big money on refreshing the powertrain.

Maybe there’s some info on its maintenance? I’d dig a little deeper before abandoning it.