Got 2 Buses. Now What?

[webscape]

Hello All. I am a newbie and still working my way around this wonderful site. I understand that this site is mostly intended for Skoolies but I do notice that there are shuttle bus conversions as well.

Here's my dilemma. I bought 2 shuttle (Metro) buses at a county auction. Both are in good running condition. As a matter of fact, we drove them 1,500 miles from the auction place to our home in Southern California with no issues.

Bus 1 - 2003 E-450 6.8L Triton V10 Gas (Longer with wheelchair lift towards the back)
Bus 2 - 2004 E-450 6.0L Diesel (Shorter with wheelchair lift towards the front)

Both have over 300K miles. I heard that that 6.0 Powerstroke Diesel is quite problematic but since the mileage is up there and I am assuming that the county takes good care of their fleet that they may have fixed the issues (???).

I am debating whether to keep 1 or sell both. If I can keep one, which one should I keep? I don't intend to put a lot of mileage on the conversion since I have a full time job and can only take long vacations maybe 2 times a year. We love to do road trips and visit national parks and such.

Thank you in advance for any input or advise that the community may have.

 

[RRRVBUS]

You did 1500 miles in each with no problems, sounds like you did good no matter what you decide to do with them. I’m a diesel fan myself but the 6.0 doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. The V10 is a good motor, decent power and MPG for a gas motor. Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[Thomas1985]

I'm impressed that the Triton V10 has over 300,000 miles. My first bus is like that one but with only 150,000. My hope mine lasts that long. Surely it doesn't have much left in it? I'm curious.
It probably doesn't have the annoying emissions problems that started in 2004 unless it was already a California bus.

 

[webscape]

Thank you for the input. I think I'm going to keep the Gas V10. I also like the fact that it's longer and the wheelchair lift is towards the back. The rear area would be a better suit for a garage.

So with that being said. I am selling the other one. Anyone interested? :biggrin:

 

[cadillackid]

the 6.0 isnt a bad engine when taken care of... yes the lack of head studs was an issue in some of them.. but muich of the issues came from lack of coolant maintenance.. where the Oil cooler and EGR cooler become clogged causing issues with the EGR. and high oil temps.. high oil temps result in destroyed engines.. the main times ive heard the head bolts being an issue is when you got into heabvy towing, or guys turning their engines up with tuners.. shuttle busses live a hard life with all the stop and go but the engines generally are run for long periods of time so they warm up well, and they arent typically running mountains with towing heavy loads...

300k miles ios a lot of miles for any V-8 diesel engine, but we also dont know what work may have been done to it... its possible the engine had the updates applied to it to make it run forever... im of the mind that it just ran a 1500 mile trip so its a pretty solid drivetrain in that bus..

I dont know lots about the Triton V10.. but im guessing your MPG is a lot lower in that vs the diesel? but it probably has better power?

-Christopher