Tues. GovDeals Auction

[o1marc]

Who's bidding on anything on Tues.? There are fleets from Beaverton, Ore. and Pell City, Ala. Don't want to step on toes with multiple auctions of the same model buses.

 

[jjhwick119]

Who's bidding on anything on Tues.? There are fleets from Beaverton, Ore. and Pell City, Ala. Don't want to step on toes with multiple auctions of the same model buses.

I've been keeping an eye on Pell city, but haven't decided fully yet. I think we're looking for different sizes though

 

[ben2go]

I'm not bidding. I have a good idea about what you're looking for. We have the same idea about carrying our bikes with us. However, I haven't seen you mention, or I missed it, are you looking at long nose or flat nose buses?

I think I'll resume my search in the fall after I have cleared house and pocketed a little more bus bucks.

 

[o1marc]

I'm not bidding. I have a good idea about what you're looking for. We have the same idea about carrying our bikes with us. However, I haven't seen you mention, or I missed it, are you looking at long nose or flat nose buses?

I think I'll resume my search in the fall after I have cleared house and pocketed a little more bus bucks.

FE Flat nose. It weird, there are about 6 identical buses with Cummins 5.9's. 3 with AT545, and 3 with 643's. All ending at the same time. you would think the 643 ones wouls be more desireable, I would. Yet the 545 ones are already bidding up and the 643's are still at the opening bid. Uneducated bidders?

 

[Tigerman67]

FE Flat nose. It weird, there are about 6 identical buses with Cummins 5.9's. 3 with AT545, and 3 with 643's. All ending at the same time. you would think the 643 ones wouls be more desireable, I would. Yet the 545 ones are already bidding up and the 643's are still at the opening bid. Uneducated bidders?

Could be someone trying to get some buses with similar parts to their existing buses? big churches, small private school, something like that. I would imagine if you had 3 or 4 buses to support, life would be much easier if your buses were identical or at least close.

One of the advantages we have to is that most of us could care less how the seats look, as we are going to be getting rid of them immediately.

I wonder if some of it also has to do with what order the buses are listed in. Do they stop when they find a bus they want to bid on?

I'm out on Pell city, too far and I have too much going on in the next couple of weeks. I will watch them though, curious to see what multiples does to the price. Does it attract fleet guys and drive the price up, or is there enough product that most people get what they want at a decent price?

 

[jjhwick119]

I will watch them though, curious to see what multiples does to the price. Does it attract fleet guys and drive the price up, or is there enough product that most people get what they want at a decent price?

i was just bidding on 1 of 5 buses from a school district locally, 1 10 window and 4 12 window ce200, and they all got bought up by the same buyer. They were also 2004's though which im sure attracts more fleet guys or schools

 

[ben2go]

FE Flat nose. It weird, there are about 6 identical buses with Cummins 5.9's. 3 with AT545, and 3 with 643's. All ending at the same time. you would think the 643 ones wouls be more desireable, I would. Yet the 545 ones are already bidding up and the 643's are still at the opening bid. Uneducated bidders?

Ok cool. I prefer the dog nose but would not pass up a flatty. I think it may be buyers ignorance but Tigerman67 may be onto something. The 5.9 tho, is a pretty indestructible engine. I would pass on the 545. Way to many horror stories floating around about them crapping out. Of course you probably know better than I about them.

 

[Robin97396]

When I bought my bus I was simply happy that it was an automatic. Didn't know about the 545 at all. Yes, I'd go with uninformed buyer. I was. Most people that come here are unaware of the 545 until they start getting educated.

 

[o1marc]

Could be someone trying to get some buses with similar parts to their existing buses? big churches, small private school, something like that. I would imagine if you had 3 or 4 buses to support, life would be much easier if your buses were identical or at least close.

One of the advantages we have to is that most of us could care less how the seats look, as we are going to be getting rid of them immediately.

I wonder if some of it also has to do with what order the buses are listed in. Do they stop when they find a bus they want to bid on?

I'm out on Pell city, too far and I have too much going on in the next couple of weeks. I will watch them though, curious to see what multiples does to the price. Does it attract fleet guys and drive the price up, or is there enough product that most people get what they want at a decent price?

If I was bidding on parts buses I would not bid on the ones that have the parts that would go bad in my existing models, but bid on the ones that have the better replacement parts.

 

[RRRVBUS]

You got people bidding for different reasons. Some plan to use as a school bus,some want to build a skoolie,some for storage, parts and,scrap metal.

 

[Veganswandering]

Looks like the ones in Pell city I was watching went for 4-5 thousand. I was only looking at the 5.9 with the 643. Seems high for the risk.

 

[o1marc]

Well I signed on at 10:30am thinking it was an end time of 11:00am, the 2 I was looking at were already gone. There was a 3rd one that ended at 7:45pm, but a few minutes before ending it jumped up and extended it for another hour. I was high bidder up to $3200 but never reached reserve, dang how high is the reserve on these? Seemed high for these model buses. Does anyone know how to view closed auctions at GovDeals?

 

[Tigerman67]

If I was bidding on parts buses I would not bid on the ones that have the parts that would go bad in my existing models, but bid on the ones that have the better replacement parts.

Actually I was thinking if you are a small organization and you want to increase your fleet from say 3 buses to 4. If your 4th bus is the same model as one of the other 3 or preferably the same as all the other buses, you simplify what parts you want sitting around as spares, and any training you might have to do for both your drivers and your mechanics if they are identical.

 

[Tigerman67]

Well I signed on at 10:30am thinking it was an end time of 11:00am, the 2 I was looking at were already gone. There was a 3rd one that ended at 7:45pm, but a few minutes before ending it jumped up and extended it for another hour. I was high bidder up to $3200 but never reached reserve, dang how high is the reserve on these? Seemed high for these model buses. Does anyone know how to view closed auctions at GovDeals?

I was curious the same thing, I had a bunch of them on my watch list because I wanted to just see the results to see how things went and see what the spread was between the various buses but they are gone from my watch list now.

I do have one email from govdeals saying an auction you are watching is ending soon. It has a direct link to one of the auction, but if you follow it, it simply says
"This item is no longer available.
It has either sold or has been withdrawn"

 

[TrailLifeBill]

Bought mine from Pell City yesterday - wish I'd seen this thread before then. But I have no idea whether the guy bidding against me was looking for a skoolie. I drove up on Monday to look at the lot and decide which one(s) I might want, and the staff member said that a fella named Jose had been there looking for a bunch to export - so that's who I might have been against. It went for a little more than I hoped, but I think (pray) I did OK. Picking it up Friday.

 

[o1marc]

Bought mine from Pell City yesterday - wish I'd seen this thread before then. But I have no idea whether the guy bidding against me was looking for a skoolie. I drove up on Monday to look at the lot and decide which one(s) I might want, and the staff member said that a fella named Jose had been there looking for a bunch to export - so that's who I might have been against. It went for a little more than I hoped, but I think (pray) I did OK. Picking it up Friday.

What did you get and what did you pay, don't leave us in suspense.

 

[TrailLifeBill]

1999 TC2000 84pax 5.9 Cummins Allison 643 116,647 miles underneath storage

$4,750

 

[o1marc]

1999 TC2000 84pax 5.9 Cummins Allison 643 116,647 miles underneath storage

$4,750

That's one I would have bid on, but would have quit long before it got to what you paid. Was that item 99-02 or 99-12?

Looks like you got 99-12 for $4300, same bus, 99-02, sold for $3800. The 3rd one that had a bit of rust on the inside front panel did not sell with my $3200 bid. I just talked to Ala. and their auctions have a $3500 reserve. I bid up to $3200 on one and they are checking to see if they will 2nd chance it to me at that price, not what my bid would have been to win it ($2800).

 

[TrailLifeBill]

99-12 was originally my first choice - but after visiting and talking with the bus dispatcher, she told me that 99-14 was on a shorter route and the husband of the driver was their maintenance man who "babied" her bus - so we went with 99-14. Main issue with it is driver's seat is split open - sounds like a good excuse for air ride seat to me. I think 99-12 went for similar price - we watched it as we were waiting for ours to end. We were at $3500 for the longest - then someone jumped in the last half hour or so.

 

[Tigerman67]

Thanks for sharing Traillifebill,

After talking to the local guys, did you have high confidence that the mileage was actually correct? Maybe I am too cynical, but always get a little suspicious if a bus has low mileage and I don't have a likely reason (maybe a church bus that is used only once a week or something).