Hello, I have just come into $6,000 and I have decided to buy a bus to live/travel in. I would like something diesel of course, maybe a GMC 4104-or 6 because I like the size and they seem to be cheaper. It needs to be in California so I can look at it. I have been looking on eBay and Craigslist faithfully and have stumbled across only a couple. Does anyone here have one for sale, or can you point me in another direction to look? Of course I would like for it to run, but amount of conversion or age is not really important. Also, do any of you have any advice on the aforementioned GMC's as conversions?
Thank You!
Welcome!
I don't know much about the 4104's but they are neat looking older coaches. A friend of mine in the Santa Clarita area has one that was owned by some guy who used to do TV crazy stunts, like sitting on a bus and getting knocked off going under a bridge. Just can't remember his name. Anyway, hope you find your dream and you enjoy this crazy bus life. It's addicting!
Good Luck and Happy Trails,
Paul
Good luck with your search. Do not get in a rush & don't allow any seller to pressure you into a rush. If you do, you may end up spending lots for junk. I know from personal experience :(
Learn as much as you can about the brakes & engine etc so you can weed out the real duds before you spend cash on having a good mechanic go over it before you buy it.
Paul, after the second bridge, he couldn't remember his name either lol.
Quote from: Dreamscape on May 15, 2008, 06:16:41 PM
Welcome!
I don't know much about the 4104's but they are neat looking older coaches. A friend of mine in the Santa Clarita area has one that was owned by some guy who used to do TV crazy stunts, like sitting on a bus and getting knocked off going under a bridge. Just can't remember his name. Anyway, hope you find your dream and you enjoy this crazy bus life. It's addicting!
Good Luck and Happy Trails,
Paul
Super Dave Osborn?
There you go! You get the star Charley!
The bus my friend has was in his last movie. That 671 sure does sound mean.
Now I have no excuses anymore for having CRS.
Ive got $8000,00 But it aint enough , unless you can do a Bunch of work. Carpentry, electric, Mech, Plumbing... etc etc..
People still think a Totaly gutted out shell is worth $10,000 to $15,000 bucks. Both are on ebay now.. LOL they must be Gold plated.. Doesnt mean you CANT find one, it will take time and lots of looking.. Dont give up and DONT be to Ankcous,,, Ancois,,, In a Hurry ;D
Paul...
Superpickle,
$8K is enough if you go with a 4104. You need to be willing to look for months to find the right one. Every once in a while the under $10k bargain pops up. I have seen several before the fuel hike, and I expect to see even more as the summer progresses.
Laryn
cc_racer,
You will find a lot about GMs by using the search feature. I am posting an example below:
http://www.busconversions.com/bbs/index.php?topic=2029.0
We will do our best to answer any questions you have.
Welcome,
Laryn
You could use that 8K for a down payment....
Bill
might find a good solid schoolie conversion for 6k.
I strongly urge you to learn how much it cost to operate and maintain a bus properly.
Not knowing your financial situation other than what your bus budget is, I say look for something other than a bus.
Watch out for the schoolie conversions-some insurance companies will NOT insure them, and some RV parks will just plainly say no. Good Luck, TomC
IMHO with $6000 you should be looking for something other than a bus. $6k is about what I budget for annual maintenance and we've got a unit that is in pretty good shape. In other words, it is going to cost you a lot more than $6k annually just to keep your $6k bus on the road. You can have a lot of run RVing in less expensive units than busses. Sometimes its good to walk before you run.
Hello! Just wanted to let you know in case you hadn't seen the listing on cl- for the eagle conversion in Elk River Minnesota. $6500 good luck with your bus shopping!! :-*
Bob, what all do you do to your bus that cost so much a year to maintain? A good MCI wouldn't cost nearly as much, LOL!
JC
not hard to rack up 6k in maint. between shop labor rates and materials.
oil changes on Engine and Genset, A/C service, lubes
thats only 80 hours labor at 75/hr
If your bus is caught up maintenancewise, it doesn't need 80 hours a year to keep it up. Also like a lot of us, I do my own and that't all part of the hobby.
In my '57 Courier conversion, 10 to 15 000 kms a year, this winter I put new air bags at the rear: about $500, a rebuilt air comp. $600, both of wich amortised over several years, rear tires $400, oil and misc. parts maybe $200 or $300. That's less than $2000. The labor doing it is fun and to me.
In the '95 102D3 of the hockey team's: 40 000 kms a year: a new clutch $9000 incl. prof. labor but that's amortised over many years, 2 oil changes @ $120 each, a rebuilt alternator $1200 again that will last many years, 2 DOT inspections $300, fix leak in A.C. $500, misc. parts $1000. I do most of it myself except things like a clutch. It's still not close to $6000. Sure every year something else comes up that needs replacing like brakes, air bags, tires, side windows that crack, trans. oil, coolant, etc, etc. but it is used commercially on charters as well. That bus is well maintained, we don't skimp on anything. I suppose if we had to pay $100/hr to get it all done, it would get to the $6000 or more.
So if you buy a bus for $6000, you have to budget for fixing everything that was neglected by the P.O. Then depending on use, see how much maintenance is going to be. Doing it yourself makes a big difference $$wise.
Bottom line is: it is not cheap even doing it yourself. But neither is any form of travel like flights, hotels, restaurants, etc.
JC
i'm not saying that is a norm (6k) I have gone years with nothing other than oil changes as maint costs. I think I went 7 years on the 4104 with nothing other than oil changes and that included a PA-CA round trip twice, Two trips to FL and a trip to AL.
but if you are a strick low budget....a bus is likely not the best choice....not hard to have a breakdown with a several thousand dollar bill.
had some work done to the MCI 96A3 I am selling and some of the stuff was particulaly stuborn to get off...requiring alot of heating.....all done at a shop...the bill adds up quick
Tekebird, I agree. I was thinking about it this afternoon and I bet if I looked at the financial statement for the team bus, yearly maintenance is probably more than $6K, and that's most of it done by volunteers like myself. Insurance I forgot you have to account for as well. But my '57 MCI doesn't cost nearly that because it isn't driven as much for one thing.
JC
I think when you start adding everything up honestly it doesn't take long to get north of $6k annually and you don't have to hire the labour for that either. Its surprising how many of those $1500 or $2500 bills you get annually and even though you can amortize that particular bill over 5 or 8 years if there's another one just like it next year for something else then you end up needing some significant coin year after year. Lots of people operate on depreciation but I refuse to do that. I like my equipment to be as close to new condition all the time as possible. Obviously a 25 year old bus isn't "new" but I don't skimp on the maintenance just because it won't fall off tomorrow. For example - shortly after we bought it I had a hub run warmer than I thought it should so I changed all the wheel bearings - that was a big bill but I won't ever have to do that again. Last fall I had a leaky airbag on the front so I changed all the bags and the shocks. Again it was a heavy bill but we won't have to do that again for 12 or 15 years. The alternative is you wait until it leaves you on the side of the road some day and that can really mess up your day. We spend quite a bit more than $6k annually in maintenance but I don't think it is realistic to spend much less than that.
JC, you coming to BusN'USA again this year?
I would really like to. I will try. If Valerie (my wife) isn't going to a horse show that week-end, she would probably come with me. Also depends what my 2 teenage boys are up to that week. Hanging out with a bunch of bus-nuts woudn't be cool so I'll see if they can hook up with their friends. In any case, I'll let you know. Looking forward to seeing you and your wife and all the others. It was so great last year. So many buses, not two the same!
JC