Sunday, November 11, 2007

Used School Bus For Sale Review


Looking for a used school bus for sale can be a lot of work and when searching all over the country for a deal there's some reluctance in most people when they can't touch what there thinking of buying and not knowing the seller's credibility.
I've been using Ebay for years and it's the top "brand name" for buying and selling on the Internet. Sellers and buyers are held accountable with a feedback score from previous transactions that everyone can view, when you click on a product all the seller's history is located at the top right hand corner.
Ebay auctions usually run for 10 days at a time and you are notified by email if you've won the auction item or the it's come to an end.
So I'm going to write random reviews on a used school bus for sale on Ebay that I think meets all the requirements for price and condition.
Below I will make comments on the vehicle description [italicized with the * sign] to let you know what my opinions are either good or bad.

1993 Bluebird Vehicle Description

1993 72 Passenger TC2000 School Bus

6 Cylinder 5.9 Cummins Turbocharged diesel engine
*Cummins diesels are well suited for this application, I like the B Series Cummins even though it will lack that extra power when climbing a steep grade. A Very reliable engine that has a good track record and will serve it's owner well.

4 Speed Allison Transmission (approx 10,000 miles on rebuild- 5/28/04 - 153573 miles)
*The Allison is great for a fleet school bus and is very dependable when maintained properly. It will probably be an electronic 3000 series which has minor glitches with wiring but no "lemon" problems from factory that I've ever experienced. It's had a recent rebuild adding to the value so regular maintenance will be you're only concern.

162,684 miles total
*Lots of life left since we've had buses up to 240,000 miles

Bus Condition

Paint is faded, has some surface rust, however no thru holes
*Easily repaired and obviously no major body rust

Undercarrigage is rusty
*Not uncommon for body crossmembers to show rust, this can be repaired but depending how bad the rust is most times does not interfere with the integrity of the bus structure.

Bus has been used as a fleet spare for the last two years
*typical for older buses to spend their final years as a spare. Very low mileage during this phase.

Has been replaced by a new bus in the fleet
*All School Bus Fleets must retire a bus at a pre-determined mileage and year

Tire Condition - Front 25-30% Rear 35 - 40%
*Above the tire wear bars, no reason to replace tires yet.

Inside of the bus is in good shape
*Looking at the advertisement photos everything looks good. During service years the seats and trim take a beating but have to be repaired on the spot. The floor gets washed a lot through the years and since there is a wood subfloor under the linoleum you might see some lumps.

Seller Comment: I am listing the bus for the school district that owned and operated this bus since new.
*School Districts generally have an extensive Preventive Maintenance Program. This bus should have the service records right from the day it went into service. When our shop sells a bus the log book goes with the bus. This will give you a detailed account of repairs and maintenance.


Email if you have additional questions or would like to view the bus prior to the end of the auction
*Ask your questions directly to the seller who is acting as a middleman for this transaction. There no limit to any inquiries you may have...

Conclusion:

Overall this is a very good used bus with no immediate attention required, the seller has bidding going on right now [just over 1000.00$ U.S.] with a Reserve amount in place. There is also a Buy It Now Price of $ 3500.00. Still a very fair amount...

If you've never used Ebay before registering is free..

You just need a user name & password to start bidding.



Note: Bidding ends Nov. 15/07 at 9:26 PST

View other used school buses for sale Here
just enter "school bus" into the search box

Stay Tuned for my next review on a Used School Bus For Sale

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