Hello everyone - New bus owner with questions

[honey.badger]

Hey everyone!

As the title of the thread mentions, I bought a bus (1999 Bluebird with a 5.9 L Diesel engine - That's all I know for now), and right now I'm questioning myself if I did the right thing or not.


And that's the reason I have so many questions, and I'd like to see if you could give me a little guidance in this new adventure.
(for context, I bought the bus 5 days ago)


1. I need to pick up my bus from NJ, and bring it to MA. I know that to drive it I need a (in my case) temp insurance, and a CDL license? Can I just drive it with my regular car license?



2. Should I hire someone to drive it back? (I'm willing to do this, since I don't want to start this adventure with the wrong foot, having a bad experience)


3. Does anyone knows someone that it'll be willing to do this? I'm trying to get the pick up coordinated for this Fri (4/28)




I know that from the outside, this look very unplanned, and it kind of is, but it's the only way I would do it without overthinking this forever...


Thank you all!

 

[DeMac]

You Can Do It

Welcome to skoolie.net, honey.badger. Buying sight unseen from NJ is ballsy.

Your auto insurance may cover newly purchaced vehicles, for a limited time. Check with your carrier. A temp/transport plate may be available through NJ. No cdl required without passengers, though we ought remove the seat bottoms, before leaving the lot. Meh.

For most of us, retrieving our bus from the auction is a rite of passage. The ride home is your bus driving crash course & the bus's drivetrain test.

Perform a pretrip inspection, make the necessary repairs, bring a credit card, spare filters & a tool kit.

Please study (& print) this pre-trip-safety-inspection-checklist, written by CHEESE_WAGON.

Yes, it's lengthy & performing the inspection will take more time than you'd prefer, but the ride home is long. While towing, shop & roadside service sucks.

 

[cadillackid]

the ride home is often your shakedown ride... if you have it transported home by a flatbed then you have no idea whether it has any potentially major issues.. I have 3 busses and drove all of them at least 1000 miles home from their purchase point.. one was 40 years old and I drove it 2700 miles..


one of them did break down.. but thats been really the only trip i ever broke down in that bus out of commission..



years ago I beleive there was a member here that nearly fully converted their bus to discover it had major league drivetrain issues.. if you discover that on your shakedown ride you can determine if its worth keeping such a bus or starting over..

 

[Meathead]

Yeah. ^^^^ What he said.

You jumped in cuz you are a honey badger. You are Fearless. You don’t give a $hit.

https://youtu.be/4r7wHMg5Yjg.

I picked up my bus and pulled right out on the highway. I was armed with 2 pieces of advice; careful with the air brakes, and wide turns.

I did call ahead and arrange to have a local shop change my oil, oil filters, and fuel filters. Ask the ppl at the auction if they know a guy. Or maybe someone here knows a guy in NJ?

Good Luck!!
[emoji3522]Dave

 

[honey.badger]

Thanks a lot, DeMac.
I contacted my insurance (the lizzard one) and they told me that they don't cover buses for a temp insurance (didn't say it was a school bus, because, well, it's not).


I'll check the pre-trip safety guide, and make sure to cover as much as i can in the days before driving it back.

 

[honey.badger]

thanks cadillackid!
My only hope is to make it back home. I know it might seem like a waste, but my idea is not to drive the bus around, but mostly keep it parked, and eventually and with time make sure that everything else is working correctly.