Found a bus...now what?

[lostagain]

What Clifford said. I have driven buses for 45 years, have owned two bus conversions. Now have a Country Coach motor home. It is an older high end motor home that is very well built. It handles on the road as well or better than any late model MCI or Prevost. So no, you cannot lump all sticks  and staples in the same basket. You can buy a used high end motor home for pennies on the dollar.

[luvrbus]

What Clifford said. I have driven buses for 45 years, have owned two bus conversions. Now have a Country Coach motor home. It is an older high end motor home that is very well built. It handles on the road as well or better than any late model MCI or Prevost. So no, you cannot lump all sticks  and staples in the same basket. You can buy a used high end motor home for pennies on the dollar.

I never worry about our safety in our Magna the double box frame from front to rear this thing will take a hit

[chessie4905]

consider a school bus to start with. then you can develop your skills and learn important layout needs. they are really cheap used as no subsidy when they hit ten years old. Very reliable too. THEN, if really serious after some use, you can look for a nice coach shell.
takes a lot of talent, woodworking, plumbing, electrical, design and layout, etc.

[richard5933]

I never worry about our safety in our Magna the double box frame from front to rear this thing will take a hit

What did that safety and quality cost you though? How does it compare in price to the average bus conversion?

[lostagain]

2000s Country Coach or similar for less than $100,000. Clifford's and ours are 2007 and over $100,000. That is comparable to a professionally done bus conversion. Or a really good DIY one in those years.

[kyle4501]

Newell builds around 35 coaches per year, most are custom built to the buyer's request.

Newells of the 80's can be had for less than $35k. - These won't have slides & '87 was the first of the 102" wide.

Newell uses lots of standard parts, so that's been helpful 


Another coach that is often overlooked, BARTH.

[Ed Hackenbruch]

I was looking at Barths before i found my 5a, at the time they were just out of my price range. The very first day of fulltiming, we stopped at the Barth rally at Quartzsite so that i could meet several people that i had come to know on the Barth website....still have it on my favorites list and look at it once in awhile. In fact, i looked at it earlier this morning.

[RJ]

This bus is H8H 649  #102.

JazzBus -

H8H649-102 was delivered new in September of 1979 as fleet number 173 to Bill Rohrbaugh's Charter Service, HQ'd in Manchester, MD. I also note that this is one of the few Buffalos that came from the factory with the optional V-730 Allison automatic transmission, most were manual 4-spds, so it's a rather rare coach.

This is a Rust Belt bus, so look closely around all the driver's window, the "D" windows, the upstairs skylight windows, and the big rear window, as these are all areas that are prone to rusting on this GMC.

One of the reasons this model is not that popular for conversions is because of the "stadium seating" up front. Thus you lose approximately 8' of floor space compared to a coach with a flat floor front to rear. This, for some folk, is offset by the three huge baggage bins for house systems and "stuff."

Personally, since it's still a seated coach, I would purchase it and then turn around and donate it to the Museum of Bus Transportation in Hershey, PA (or the one in NJ), primarily due to it's rare option of the automatic from new. Take the tax write-off and go searching for an Eagle, MCI or Prevost that's already converted (especially one from a new shell) to live with for awhile and then remodel to suit mama's tastes. But that's just me.

It's your money, time, and energy, do it YOUR way. . .

FWIW & HTH. . .

[thejumpsuitman]

The owning of a vintage bus is it’s own “hobby”, and a costly one.  There is no way to logically justify one for personal use as an RV unless you can fix/work on them yourself.

They will break down when least expected and far from home, cost hunderds of $ just to tow for the repair that will cost thousands of $$ more when you get it there and possibly take weeks to do...  (that is if you can find a place even willing to work on it in the first place). 

It is very easy to spend over $20,000 in a single year making repairs that you never saw coming.  And remember, even if you can do the often unexpected work yourself, you still need to pay for expensive parts and have the proper location, tools, and equipment to work safely. 

By the way, I wouldn’t even think about taking a bus on a trip without having a $10,000 emergency repair fund.

I recently talked someone out of pursuing a bus for the above reasons (which are sadly all from personal experience).  Buying a bus is signing up for guaranteed financial pain...  But they are cool.   

[chessie4905]

WA. preaching this to new fanatics for years. I bought a new tt and used Duramax for Alaska trip this very reason. Canada closed the border, so currently touring US this summer. Hopefully next May. When back, will sell both, and back to Coach.