boojiewoojie
Senior Member
Well, I wish I could buy this one but I don't have 3500 laying around so I thought I would pass it on to someone that's ready to buy:
I passed a truck sales place in McMinnville TN the other night that has a 40' 1985 Thomas RE bus sitting on the lot for sale. The owner (who was pretty gruff with me- he kept saying "It ran 100 percent perfect from Missouri to here") said he wouldn't take less than $3500. If nobody buys it by next week he said he's gonna cut the engine and tranny out to sell. I'm not sure if it was hype or not because earlier on the phone his daughter said he's had it since June.
What I observed: It has a CAT 3208T (225 hp) with a 5 speed Eaton manual tranny. Paperwork says 220 k miles. Has the raised roof w/ the larger windows. Seats are high back transit style. Has factory air that he says doesn't work. Has air ride suspension in the back. Doesn't have the school bus flashers or stop sign so I'm assuming it was never a school bus. Appears to be in good shape- underneath it looks like it's been maintained. There's some surface rust on the panels but nothing structural and I didn't see anything that looked in danger of rusting through. The front wheels are two piece Budds and I noticed some dry rot on the front tires and some wear on the inside of the front tire.
He said it's a Kentucky bus that he bought at an auction in Missouri and that he doesn't anything about the bus. So, I asked him questions about the trip. What kind of fuel mileage? (He wasn't sure) Did it use any oil? (None) Did it smoke any (None) What was the top speed and at what RPM? (65 at 2100) Was there any play in the steering? (No- It ran 100 percent perfect) He was getting pretty irratated so I stopped there.
I live an hour and a half away- if I had the money I would certainly check it out because it's set up as a highway bus. If I knew I could sell my bus for $3500 quickly I would be really tempted by this one.
His home number is (931) 686-8508 Cell number is (931) 686-4005
I passed a truck sales place in McMinnville TN the other night that has a 40' 1985 Thomas RE bus sitting on the lot for sale. The owner (who was pretty gruff with me- he kept saying "It ran 100 percent perfect from Missouri to here") said he wouldn't take less than $3500. If nobody buys it by next week he said he's gonna cut the engine and tranny out to sell. I'm not sure if it was hype or not because earlier on the phone his daughter said he's had it since June.
What I observed: It has a CAT 3208T (225 hp) with a 5 speed Eaton manual tranny. Paperwork says 220 k miles. Has the raised roof w/ the larger windows. Seats are high back transit style. Has factory air that he says doesn't work. Has air ride suspension in the back. Doesn't have the school bus flashers or stop sign so I'm assuming it was never a school bus. Appears to be in good shape- underneath it looks like it's been maintained. There's some surface rust on the panels but nothing structural and I didn't see anything that looked in danger of rusting through. The front wheels are two piece Budds and I noticed some dry rot on the front tires and some wear on the inside of the front tire.
He said it's a Kentucky bus that he bought at an auction in Missouri and that he doesn't anything about the bus. So, I asked him questions about the trip. What kind of fuel mileage? (He wasn't sure) Did it use any oil? (None) Did it smoke any (None) What was the top speed and at what RPM? (65 at 2100) Was there any play in the steering? (No- It ran 100 percent perfect) He was getting pretty irratated so I stopped there.
I live an hour and a half away- if I had the money I would certainly check it out because it's set up as a highway bus. If I knew I could sell my bus for $3500 quickly I would be really tempted by this one.
His home number is (931) 686-8508 Cell number is (931) 686-4005
