Bus buying advice

[Gumperoncini]

I am looking for some advice about buying a bus. I recently helped a friend buy her bus from an auction and that has proven to have been a good deal on a great bus. And now I am hooked! So I am in the market for a bus too.

I came across a bus on Craigslist that I looked at and drove and I want to know if it is something that might be a good deal. Conversely I would really like to know if it is a bad one I should stay away from.

The bus:
2000 gmc bluebird conventional 11 row (65 pass)
Cat 3126 7.2L 166k miles on engine
Unknown mileage on the rest of the bus
Alison tranny unknown model #
No retarder
Tires in good shape
No obvious leaks
3 new deep cycle batteries and a solar charger/inverter system
Conversion "complete" for a couple of 25 year old gypsies (sweetest couple, actually). I will have to take out what they did and do a proper conversion but at least I won't have to take out the seats and clean everything. But it may take a while for the patchouli smell to dissipate.

Any help is appreciated!

 

[EastCoastCB]

I'd pay more for a fresh bus from a school

I notice there was no mention of price. To me- that's a $1500 bus.

 

[brokedown-SKO]

. The CAT engine is not a highly desired motor. Most of us avoid them because any parts or service you might need will be a trip to the dealer.
. Unknown mileage on the bus but known mileage on the engine, so it's been rebuilt at some point and has added 166k miles since then It would be safe to assume it went at least that far before it needed a rebuild, and you're looking at a bus approaching 400k miles.
. They all have allison transmissions, and some are better than others. No opinion without knowing which one it has.
. No retarder, I assume that means no speed limiter? That's good if so but generally not really a problem. Depending on the transmission and gearing it may only roll comfortably at 55.
. Good tires are a plus, however be aware that bus tires almost never get "worn out", you replace them because they get too old. Old tires get hard ad lumpy and dry rot.
. No leaks? I assume you mean engine leaks. If a CAT motor isn't dripping its because it's already out of oil. All of these bus engines leak a little bit.
. Batteries and solar might be nice but you didn't mention their specs. I've seen people with a single 50w panel advertise as having solar.
. Undoing a conversion, that's goign to be a whole lot more effort tha removing seats. Seriously, almost any bus you can get the seats out in 15 minutes with 2 people. It's not that hard unless you're trying to do it by yourself. A cordless impact gun on top and a wrench on the bottom and zip zip zip. I'd take a bus with seats any day over a bus with a build I didn't want.

Right now is a really good time to be in the bus market. School just let out and fleets are flipping. This bus wouldn't be on my list at all as you didn't mention it having air conditioning... If it did, I'd agree with ECCB's price. Without AC I wouldn't consider it.

 

[Dapplecreek]

...and you can always buy some patchouli if you want an auction bus to smell like this one...

 

[Gumperoncini]

Thanks!!!!

Okay, that would be a resounding NO.

The 1500 price is not far off, I think they would have taken $2000.

I will wait for the right bus to appear at auction.

Great advice. I appreciate the help!

 

[EastCoastCB]

FWIW- a retarder is an electromagnetic driveline brake. Similar to a jake but much simpler without all those moving parts.