Shopping in New England

[Willie_McCoy]

Hi all!
Long time lurker here. Figured it’s about time to participate in this awesome community. I live in southern New England, and I am actively searching for a bus for conversion anywhere east of the Mississippi, although I may consider a longer drive for the right bus. Hoping to do a conversion for part time use with my family (wife + 3 kids). I’ve been planning and researching for over a year now and I think I have narrowed down my options to a few models. Looking for a RE Thomas or Bluebird, late 90’s ish without emissions bs (def, dpf, etc) and a 5 speed allison. I look forward to meeting all of you and picking your brains as this project moves from the drawing board into reality.

 

[o1marc]

Welcome. Smart move to look elsewhere than home. I would not even look at any buses from there. IMHO how far I had to travel to get a bus was not as important as getting the right bus. I probably spent double what I wanted to in the end due to distance. $1500 in fuel and $320 airfare, and $1500 more than I would have liked on the bus. But in the end I have what I wanted and have not seen another available since.
I'll be in Ct. next weekend, where are you?

 

[PNW_Steve]

I agree with Marc. Too much rust typically on NE buses.

If I had a choice between travel time & costs vs rust repair time and cost I would say "ROAD TRIP"!

I was fortunate. My travel cost was less than $800 and only took two days.

 

[Willie_McCoy]

I am in RI, and your right, everything up here is trash, tons of rot. Seems like all the good ones are on the west coast but i dont think i can swing the travel costs.

 

[o1marc]

I am in RI, and your right, everything up here is trash, tons of rot. Seems like all the good ones are on the west coast but i dont think i can swing the travel costs.

Your choices seem to be spend the travel costs , or put that much into repairing a local purchase.
Keep looking, sometimes you'll find a west coast bus that is cheap enough including travel costs. I went 2600 miles for mine and ended up back in the driveway at about $5320. Still in the budget for this bus.