Tues. GovDeals Auction

[TrailLifeBill]

She said it was a "short route" bus for a inner city elementary school. (Could be good or bad, depending on idling time, whether engine had time to get to temp, etc) All in all, it just came down to gut feeling - and trusting what we were told. Both buses looked well kept, didn't see signs of butchered wiring, floors felt solid. Proof will be in the drive home, I suppose. Putting together a tool bag and pre-trip checklist now.

 

[o1marc]

So it looks like the next set of options are the 10 buses coming up in Beaverton, Ore. on Sat.. Choices are some TC1000's which I'm not really interested in due to 5.9/545 combos. A few 2000 Thomas MPV's that have the same drive train and then a few 2003 MPV's with Cat 3126 (207hp) with Allison AT2000 tranny's. Leaning towards those last examples, any thoughts? Sucks for me that they are so far away, but suppose I could side track a trip to see my bro in Seattle.

 

[Robin97396]

Hey, don't be bidding up my buses now!

 

[o1marc]

Hey, don't be bidding up my buses now!

Well lets get together so we aren't stepping on toes. There's multiples of each. You won't see a bid from me until about 1 minute before it ends.

 

[Robin97396]

I've been watching those because they were still so low, and that bus barn really got ignored last year and let go of buses for $500. I don't need another bus, but there's always the potential to flip it if they go cheap enough. A couple of those have replaced transmission within the last 10k miles. I don't need another bus, but if any running buses sell for half what I paid for my TC1000 I might have to buy one for another rolling storage unit. There seem to be a lot of people watching them now. I don't expect any half priced buses.

 

[o1marc]

I've been watching those because they were still so low, and that bus barn really got ignored last year and let go of buses for $500. I don't need another bus, but there's always the potential to flip it if they go cheap enough. A couple of those have replaced transmission within the last 10k miles. I don't need another bus, but if any running buses sell for half what I paid for my TC1000 I might have to buy one for another rolling storage unit. There seem to be a lot of people watching them now. I don't expect any half priced buses.

Well how about helping me get my first bus before you start hoarding the good deals.:Thanx:

 

[Asetechrail]

Well how about helping me get my first bus before you start hoarding the good deals.:Thanx:

Well carp, now I am going to have to go watch them too just too see the fireworks! Just kidding but off I go to look them up.

 

[blondemoment]

first post, just jumping in

https://www.govdeals.com/index.cfm?fa=Main.Item&itemid=209&acctid=5213


I been reading for quite sometime and have a couple questions for the more knowledgeable
this is the style bus I would like to have, from what I understand this engine/tranny combo is good?
I would like to know what is the interior height and length of this type of bus?
Would it have screws inside, not rivets? I've read somewhere that Thomas uses screws more than rivets.
What are the chances is would have double pane windows since I see it has the snow chains underneath?

thank you for any guidance you all can offer,

Cat

 

[Robin97396]

https://www.govdeals.com/index.cfm?fa=Main.Item&itemid=209&acctid=5213


I been reading for quite sometime and have a couple questions for the more knowledgeable
this is the style bus I would like to have, from what I understand this engine/tranny combo is good?
I would like to know what is the interior height and length of this type of bus?
Would it have screws inside, not rivets? I've read somewhere that Thomas uses screws more than rivets.
What are the chances is would have double pane windows since I see it has the snow chains underneath?

thank you for any guidance you all can offer,

Cat

Nice choice. There’s a lot of people watching the Beaverton buses. Maybe we shouldn’t have talked about them online so much in the past few days. They’re still very reasonably priced, even compared to what I paid for a ’97 TC1000 several years ago.
Thomas bodies usually have screws, but never say never. Having the Allison 2000 transmission will help make up for having the smaller cummins. The 5.9 is common in this medium size bus. Having a good transmission is not, as these usually have a 545.
A lot of people will shy away from this particular bus because it has a Cat engine. It’s a Ford or Chevy type of situation mostly. Cat engines are dependable if you’ve got a good engine, and if you have problems they are a bit more expensive to fix. You see Cat equipment sitting beside the freeway every time there’s a construction project, so you know they can’t be all bad.
The rear tires kind of look like bandaid caps but it’s hard to tell in pics. Those automatic tire chains are a nice feature.
I think this is a nice choice. I personally don’t particularly like Cat engines, but it looks like it’s in good shape so I’d be interested in hearing it run. Started when it’s cold and hearing it warm up would be nice.
Good luck.

 

[blondemoment]

thank for taking time to answer, have a great day! cat

 

[o1marc]

Lots of good deals going at 7:00pm there in Beaverton. Can't be late to the show like last time I logged in 15 minutes late. I bet both buses go for more than I'm willing to go ($3500). One is already over $3k, the other at $2350. They will both spike with minutes to go. Even the 5.9/at545's are going for over $3500.

 

[Robin97396]

Did anybody get any of these Beaverton buses? More remaining but they seem to be getting bid up pretty high.

 

[o1marc]

Did anybody get any of these Beaverton buses? More remaining but they seem to be getting bid up pretty high.

Don't think any have ended yet. But they are bidding high.

 

[RRRVBUS]

Lots of good deals going at 7:00pm there in Beaverton. Can't be late to the show like last time I logged in 15 minutes late. I bet both buses go for more than I'm willing to go ($3500). One is already over $3k, the other at $2350. They will both spike with minutes to go. Even the 5.9/at545's are going for over $3500.

If the PNW buses are rust free or close to it I can see why people would go after them pretty aggressively. Good luck!!! It’s neat to sit ringside and watch the process of people buying their buses. I’ve never bid in any auction so it’s exciting to watch n learn.

 

[PNW_Steve]

If the PNW buses are rust free or close to it I can see why people would go after them pretty aggressively. Good luck!!! It’s neat to sit ringside and watch the process of people buying their buses. I’ve never bid in any auction so it’s exciting to watch n learn.

My Bluebird came from the Portland area and I have found zero rust so far. I suspect that buses from the East side of the state may be a different story. Much more snow than the West side.

 

[o1marc]

Well the search continues. The one I was looking at was over $3k by the time auction was scheduled to end. The extended time option added over another $1500, it'll sell for over $5k.

Sold for $4950.69
2003 MPV, CAT3126/AD2000

Even the 2000 TC1000's with a 5.9/545 went for $4K

 

[o1marc]

So I started to watch the truck race and kill some time till the 7:00pm auction. Hit the bowl a few times, started watching UFC, and then Oh Fark, the auction ended without me. As I had expected all the TC1000, TC2000, and MPV's sold for more than $4k. So come on guy's where are all these $1500-$2000 deals I keep hearing about?

 

[Robin97396]

Well, first when you find a bunch of buses like that you got to avoid talking about them online. There are many readers here that also want buses, and if you evaluate the bus online it solves a big problem for some of those people. You loose a bus and we probably get a another newb here.

You can post photos and descriptions, but not locations and definitely not links unless you PM them. Honestly I thought the market seemed a lot quieter. My bus is still for sale for the discount price of $50k.