Hey all,
Our family is going to be looking at getting ourselves a retired school bus tomorrow, so I figured I'd introduce myself, and get some feedback on the bus.
So, we're coming into a modest amount of money, and have decided that we're going to do a cross country road trip this summer, so the kids can see the west side of the US. We've done a lot of camping in our old pop-up that we pulled with our Excursion, put the Ex died, and the pop-up is far to small for our family. So the plan was either a full size van or SUV and a toy hauler, so we could fit the three kids and bring a golf cart along.
Researching over the last 6 months, it became clear we would be pushing our weight limits with a toy hauler on anything but a 3500 van or Expedition. That led me to the van based busses, as well as shorter full size busses.
The goal for us is the ultimate Family Tow Vehicle. Since we'll be hauling the camper, we don't need living space (necessarily). I more envisioning the most unique conversion van ever, complete with comfy seats, TV, and maybe some drop down bunks in the back, in case the kids want to sleep away from the old fogeies!
So, I ran across an 03 International short bus with the T444E on FB Marketplace. I'm not sure the exact length, but it looks like 6 rows of seats/6 windows per side. No handicap lift. It has 186k miles, with only a small amount of rust in one rear wheel well. I ran the vin in OnCommand, and the bad news is that it looks like it has the AT-545 (at least that's the only transmission listed). I'll try to attach some pics here. But I'd love any feedback on this platform, the trans has me worried, but the bus looks in really good shape, so maybe it'll be fine? Lol
Keep in mind, this is in PA, so the rust looks to be predominantly surface level on the under floor and frame rails. Asking price is 3700
Thanks for any feedback!
Our family is going to be looking at getting ourselves a retired school bus tomorrow, so I figured I'd introduce myself, and get some feedback on the bus.
So, we're coming into a modest amount of money, and have decided that we're going to do a cross country road trip this summer, so the kids can see the west side of the US. We've done a lot of camping in our old pop-up that we pulled with our Excursion, put the Ex died, and the pop-up is far to small for our family. So the plan was either a full size van or SUV and a toy hauler, so we could fit the three kids and bring a golf cart along.
Researching over the last 6 months, it became clear we would be pushing our weight limits with a toy hauler on anything but a 3500 van or Expedition. That led me to the van based busses, as well as shorter full size busses.
The goal for us is the ultimate Family Tow Vehicle. Since we'll be hauling the camper, we don't need living space (necessarily). I more envisioning the most unique conversion van ever, complete with comfy seats, TV, and maybe some drop down bunks in the back, in case the kids want to sleep away from the old fogeies!
So, I ran across an 03 International short bus with the T444E on FB Marketplace. I'm not sure the exact length, but it looks like 6 rows of seats/6 windows per side. No handicap lift. It has 186k miles, with only a small amount of rust in one rear wheel well. I ran the vin in OnCommand, and the bad news is that it looks like it has the AT-545 (at least that's the only transmission listed). I'll try to attach some pics here. But I'd love any feedback on this platform, the trans has me worried, but the bus looks in really good shape, so maybe it'll be fine? Lol
Keep in mind, this is in PA, so the rust looks to be predominantly surface level on the under floor and frame rails. Asking price is 3700
Thanks for any feedback!
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